07.16.2023 - Growing with Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9

Matthew 13:1–9 NIV

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Matthew 13:18–23 NIV

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

7/16/2023

Children’s Moment:

As Jesus traveled around the countryside with his disciples, large crowds often gathered around him to hear him teach. He often taught them by using parables. A parable is a story that Jesus made up to help people understand what he wanted to teach them.

Listen to the story that Jesus told.

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he scattered the seed, some fell on the hard path nearby and the birds came and ate it up.

As the farmer continued to plant the seeds, some of them fell on soil that was full of rocks. There was not much dirt around the rocks so the seeds started to sprout and grow the very next day. The only problem was, there was little dirt, so the plants didn't put down roots which would help them become strong and healthy. In the afternoon, the sun was very hot so the plants that had started to grow in the rocky soil withered and died because they had no root in the ground.

Some of the other seeds fell on soil that had been taken over with weeds and thorns. The weeds and thorns grew faster and taller than the plants from the seeds, so they choked out the plants that the sower wanted to grow.

Finally, some seed fell on the good soil that had been plowed, fertilized, and weeded to make a good place for the seed to grow. Those seeds made healthy plants and produced good fruit. (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

The seed that the sower was planting in the story represents the teachings of God's Word. Our heart represents the soil where the sower planted the seeds.

If our heart are hard, filled with anger and bitterness, the stories we hear from the Bible falls on hard ground and never grows, just like the seed that fell on the hard ground in the parable that Jesus told.

There are other times when we hear the Word of God and we get excited about it, but then our excitement fades away because our understanding is too shallow. That's the way it was with the seed that fell on the rocky soil.

Sometimes we hear God’s Word and we believe what it says, but we want to keep on doing the same things we have been doing. That is like planting the seed in with a bunch of weeds. I'm sure you can guess what happens. The weeds will soon take over!

The last seed is the best, it fell on the good ground. If you learn from what you hear in Sunday School and church, the seed that Jesus plants in your heart will grow. Your life will produce good fruit just like Jesus intended. You will be helping others to grow in their knowledge and understanding of God's love.

Let’s pray and ask God to help us to be good soil today.

God, we ask that you would help us to be like the good soil in our lesson today. Help us to listen to your Word and grow up to be who you want us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Before you grab your treat out of the basket I have a packet of seeds for you to take home today to remember our story.

Growing with Jesus

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Gardeners and Gardens

It is no accident that God put the first people He created into a Garden. We learn by example, and watching God tend the Garden of Eden with them could have given Adam and Eve some incredible insight into How God wanted to grow them both.

I suspect that many of you have experience with gardening. Some of you are farmers by profession and have spent your lives becoming experts at caring for and using the soil God has given us. You know the tips and tricks to a good harvest. You also know how much we all depend upon God doing His part to bring the sunshine and the rain at the right times. Taking care of the land and helping it bring forth fruit is a partnership with God.

Our scripture today is a parable that teaches us more than gardening practices. It is meant to teach us about our relationship with Jesus. His most important garden is not a place in the ground. The Garden that Jesus truly wants to grow is among all of us. Jesus wants His Word to grow in our lives.

Hard and Rocky Soil

Last Sunday, I told you that if you spent time with Jesus each week, you would notice real, measurable differences in your life. We cannot make that growth happen because we are not solely responsible for our relationship with Jesus. It is a partnership that we can choose to either help or hinder as we trust in Jesus to do His part.

The Parable of the Sower shows us that God is willing to work with anyone and that everyone has room to grow. That is an appealing message to our cultures today and to the first century as well, when cultures mixed, and cultural identity was difficult to maintain. Jesus gives us some standards to grow into in this parable as

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Jesus starts with those of us who have no connection to Him. The hard soil or the path represents the hardest cases He has to deal with. Most farmers today, and likely those in the time of Jesus, recognized that sowing seed on hard soil or soil that was made hard by constant walking and driving is a waste of seed. We plant fields and gardens, not roads and sidewalks. We are not surprised when we hear that the seed that fell upon the hard paths was eaten by birds. Any tiny bit of miraculous growth that occurred there would likely be stepped on or rolled over by a wagon wheel, perhaps on the way to work in the fields where the real, expected growth was happening.

This tells us two important things. First, it tells us that God is willing to send His Word to people who refuse to or are unable to receive it. Indeed, Jesus said that the birds that eat the seed from the path represent the devil and his forces of evil that try to keep us away from God. God is willing to send His Word into the most hopeless places and cases because all things are possible with Him. It also tells us that any miraculous growth that occurs there needs to be transplanted if it has any hope of surviving. The Word of God will not survive and thrive in a hardened heart that surrounds itself with sin and evil influences.

The next kind of soil is the rocky soil. This soil is better than hard soil because it is not walked on and beaten down as much as hard soil. This can be soil you get when you plow over a road and break it up or land that has never been cared for well. For these people, the danger is not the forces of evil as much as the toils of everyday life. The sun comes up every day, but without soil that can hold the water, these plants wither and die because their roots are not strong and are cut off from the water of life. Trying to live a Christian life without support is like trying to grow crops in rocky soil. It doesn’t work well.

Yet here again, Jesus is willing to scatter seed among the rocks to see what will grow. Some of that growth may need to be transplanted to healthier soil, just like the seed on the hard soil. That might mean physically moving to a new place or trading out some of the relationships in your life for those who will better support your relationship with Jesus. Those can be hard choices, but they may be necessary. Others may need help getting those rocks removed and better soil brought in. It is like the difference between major spiritual surgery and spiritual physical therapy. With the right help, sometimes things like support groups, prayer partners, and counseling help us remove some of those big rocks and make room for God to grow His Word in us. If you have burdens that are holding you back from God, don’t try to fix your problems on your own and get burnt out by your efforts. I am not a trained counselor, but I would be glad to talk with you and help you find someone who can help you carry those burdens to Jesus.

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Weedy Soil

All of us get stuck in our faith sometimes. We are like the weedy soil with plenty of opportunity for growth, and that is open to growing anything. Our problem is that we need to be more picky.

You may have heard that the most significant mark on the tombstone is the dash between the birth and death date. That little mark represents our lives. In this parable, Jesus compares that dash to a field. What would you be growing there if you spread your entire life across a field?

Close to a third of that field represents the time we are asleep. There is another third that represents our daily work. Whatever is left is taken up by our family, hobbies, and other things we allow to grow. When we try to plant God’s Word in our lives, it is difficult to find space. As those other necessities and distractions continue to flourish, it has a way of pushing God’s Word out.

Sometimes we need to get out and pull weeds. We are going to learn more about that next week. Most of the time, though, we need to be careful what we plant in the first place. Whatever we allow to rule our time, money, minds, and hearts will rule them. When we reach the end of our lives, we may have plenty to leave for everyone else but nothing to show for Jesus.

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Good Soil

Jesus does not want us to wait until the end of our life for God’s Word to bear fruit in us. He wants us to be good soil that bears good fruit every season. He doesn’t want the fruit to rot on the vine either. As I shared last week, Jesus came to put us back on track with God by laying down His life as a sacrifice for us and by teaching us to celebrate all of those good things that God plants into and grows out of our lives.

The average yield for farmers back in the time of Jesus was about 5 to 1. They might make 7 to 1 on a great year with their crops. Jesus has higher standards than us. He taught that a low yield for God’s Word in our lives was 30 to 1 and that He expected as much as 100 to 1 for those who were making room for God’s Word to grow. What does that look like?

First, we must find out where God is planting His Word in our lives. When you read or hear the Bible, what is God saying to you? I love devotionals and study guides, and there is something even more potent about just reading or hearing the scripture out loud that helps me hear from God. It’s like God dropping those seeds right onto my soil.

Once I know where God is dropping those seeds in my life, I can see how to make room for growth. Sometimes God drops His Word in places that only need to be revisited and nurtured daily or weekly. Other times, God drops it in places in my life with rocks or weeds, and I need to do some work and ask others for help to ensure it grows well. Occasionally, I even discover some hard soil that I had forgotten about that God wants to grow His Word in. Those are times that take some decision-making and sacrifices, and they often stretch my faith in ways that are not comfortable. In those moments, I remember that Jesus gave up everything for me, and I ask myself what I am willing to give to Him.

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God is Growing His Word in Us

The prophet Isaiah gave us a promise from God in Isaiah 55:10-11. He said:

Isaiah 55:10–11 NIV

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God is going to accomplish some incredible things in your life. If you give Him an inch, He will multiply that into acres of harvested fruit. The question is: what are you willing to give God to work with?

Are there places in your life that need to be weeded out or saved for God? Don’t let the world run and ruin your life.

Do you carry burdens that prevent you from staying on the good foundation Christ wants to give you? Ask Jesus to help bear those burdens and find others to help you stand firm.

Do you have hard soil in your heart and mind that cannot grow anything for God? It may be beyond your ability to do anything but pray, so pray hard and ask others to pray with you because there is nothing beyond God’s power to redeem for His glory.

What is God growing in your life? What kind of soil are you giving Him to grow His Word and bring it to new life in you?