Planting Season (Mark 4:3-9, 14-20)

For those who don’t know me, my name is Jen Weidenbacher and my husband, Chad and I co-lead our youth group. It is an honor and privilege for us to walk so closely to these incredible young people, through their highs and lows and Christ-empowered tranformation journey, Lord willing. I also have the privilege of leading the upcoming trip to Costa Rica, July 20-26.

This past week, I had the joy of hanging out with my cohort at our campus, Wheaton College, where we are working on wrapping up our Masters in Evangelism and Leadership. We have women from all walks of life, moms, authors, Jesus Film/CRU executives, senior pastors who have been in active ministry for over 20 years, next gen leaders and much more…My incredible teacher book-ended each day with small group prayer and worship, which was so special.

I was able to see incredible church movements and communities serving each other during our trip to the inner city, and see God show up across ethnic, cultural, eccumenical, and financial boundaries. I was able to hear of pastors who were core to missional house church devleopment and pastor care in Asia. And I met the mom of one of the creators of Veggietales, who is a mighty warrier for the Gospel in her own right. All that shared to say that I was filled to overflowing this week and feel the Holy Spirit alive and well in this message.

Today we will be thinking about springtime and planting season! Now that my husband Chad is working on a farm full time, this season will be filled with eager anticipation and prayer as the fields are prepared and as he makes the last adjustments to the equipment that will enable the planting to take place.

Together we will explore the condition of our hearts in light of the truth of the Gospel. To set the tone of the message, I want to begin with sharing Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

What is the condition of your heart today? How about those around you?

And now, we’ll begin with a word of prayer…

Father God, this is your message, and your beautiful truth. We thank you that as we are planted in good soil, in love and Scripture, that we can flourish in your presence! Your promise of the coming Kindom is unchanging and comes alive vividly in today’s scripture. We ask for fresh revelation through this time for each of us today. We know that nothing is possible without you and nothing is impossible with you! Where we suffer and struggle and fall short, we thank you for your grace and mercy!

I thank you for this incredible church community, and for the people who work so diligently behind the scenes to bring your light to such darkness. I thank you that you are already preparing the way for the fruits of this message.

I ask for comfort and precious glimpses of you in these tender moments for Rhonda and Pastor Jeff in this time away. I come today as your humble messenger and ask that this message be entirely Yours. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen!

Do you hear what I hear?

When we hear something, how much do we retain? There is a lot of chatter out there that suggests you need to hear something multiple times before you retain it. While the number varies mostly between 7 and 20, I can agree that I almost always need to hear things multiple times for it to stick. My husband Chad would be happy to confirm that it takes several attempts for something to stick for me!

In Jesus' parable we will study today, the Parable of the Sower is mentioned in 3 different Gospel accounts…If it sounds familiar, it's because we've come across it in multiple books of the Bible, so there must be something important here! You can find the Parable of the Sower in Mathew, Mark, and Luke. Today we will focus on the version found in the book of Mark.

The Parable of the Sower

During a peak time in his public ministry, Jesus shared this parable. According to the Gospel of Mark he may have been preaching from a boat because there was such a large crowd gathered. Regardless, Jesus was using parables to connect those in the crowd with the truth of God's word.

Mark 4:3-8

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Mark 4:14-20

The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 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. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

The farmer is the sower…the seed is the Word of God growing in the hearts children of God (all of us)!

Abandoned: Trampled and Stolen

You’ll notice in verses 4-5 that the seeds fell. They were not placed there by the farmer, so they were abandoned with no plan for care. They were scattered and ultimately trampled on and food for the birds.

Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. (Mark 4:15)

These seeds represent those who hear the Word but are deceived by Satan.

Luke goes on to explain that they may not believe and be saved…

Who in your life represents that lost and abandoned seed? To those of you who are believers, what do you need to do to take care in preparing a place to replant that seed and reach out again? How can we create a posture of authentic faith and curiosity? God will do the work through the Holy Spirit, and we must be faithful farmers, ready to nurture and cultivate.

I have a tender spot in my heart for these seeds. So many of us have built up tough exteriors, barriers from understanding God’s love and weak points in our moral compass that Satan wants to pounce on to convince us that we are unworthy or unloveable.

As a youth leader, I have seen how Satan attacks our questions with doubt, our fears or poor choices with secrecy and shame, and our anger with hate and unforgiveness.

Even moreso, as a mom of kiddos who have come from really hard places, I understand the complexity of a trauma background, and experiences that shape us in ways that many grown adults don’t have to navigate. Brain development is critical to support our bodies as we grow.

For anyone who has experienced a number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (or ACEs in psych terms), a person’s brain actually physically changes and processes things differently.

The prefrontal cortex of our brain, responsible for rational thinking, does not mature and support effective decisioning and reasoning skills. It can create inappropriate responses to situations.

Meanwhile the amygdala is our emotional response center of our brain, and as you can imagine, can become overdeveloped and lead to irrational and an overwhelming flood of emotion, leading to amplified and unregulated responses to external stressors such as fear. It triggers fight/flight/freeze/fawn reponses.

Then we have the hippocampus, which focuses on memory and learning. It helps us differentiate between past and present experiences. Trauma prevents this from developing, which leads to blending past and present experiences, repressing memories, and negatively impacts the capacity to learn and leverage coping skills.

You might be asking yourself why I share this…In my experiences, I have found that our mental unhealth and traumatic experiences that go unaddressed can be incredible barriers to believing that we are worthy of God’s love, much less that we deserve good soil to plant our roots into.

Heat of the Day: Shallow and Untended

In verse 6, we learn that other seeds fell among the rocks, with little soil to take root. While the ground looks good on the surface, the seeds are shallow and unstable. There was no moisture. Seedlings sprang up quickly, but were untended, and the sun quickly scorched them and many died.

Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 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. (Mark 4:16-17)

These seeds represent people who are genuinely curious but just cannot commit and are not able to sustain a faith with an unstable foundation.

They are not ready for a test, for the day when challenges come their way. They are early believers but not committed followers.

Who in your life has “come to faith” if you will, but who does not know how to take the next step or is struggling to prioritize getting to know Jesus so they are prepared to weather the storms of life? Who has a false sense that this belief will prevent the hard days from coming?

Among the Thorns: Failure to Thrive

Verse 7 describes plants that grew, but who became choked out by weeds. The roots had started, but surrounded by seemingly insurmountable barriers, these thorns lead to a failure to thrive, and no grain was produced.

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)

These seeds represent stalled, comfortable, and lukewarm believers. While belief is there, faith struggles to take root due to an inability to let go, a strong affinity to our material things (family, property, occupation), and culture’s distractions and temptations. These individuals remain immature and unfrutiful.

Whether this is speaking to where you are now in your walk with Jesus, this space certainly describes many who profess to be Christians. Unless you’re living under a rock, many neighbors and friends get stuck in this comfort and perceived safe space. What can we do to walk alongside each other and spur one another on to love and good deeds? If this is you, how can you seek wise counsel and find someone who can help challenge you to live out your faith in Kingdom-building ways?

The reality is that too often we decide that salvation is the target, and we don’t seek out refining fires and a community who will help us to grow and deepen our faith, so that we may learn more about the character and person of Jesus.

Or sometimes we need to be hit over the head…Ruth and I were talking about that this morning. I am one who just doesn’t always realize what’s going on until the Spirit intervenes. Ask my husband sometime about how it took 3 times to ask me out because I was completely oblivious to what he was trying to imply. That was over 20 years ago and I can envision that story like it was yesterday. Sometimes God knows just how to get our attention, to rebuke and course correct us…and it’s an honor to receive that despite how difficult (or embarrassing) it can be.

On Purpose: Flourishing and Multiplying

Verse 8 makes my heart leap for joy and is necessary to help us reflect God and do His will. These seeds fell (or were firmly planted) in good soil. The crop multiplied, 30, 60, even 100 times what was sown.

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20)

Christ followers should aspire to this bar, grounded in faith, study and worship of Jesus. Persevering through life’s challenges, of which we are guaranteed suffering and strife, will become fruitful disciple-makers.

I debated on showing the difference between addition and multiplication by making you get up and move, but instead I chose a video that illustrates this discipleship pretty effectively…

Darlene, if I could have you make your way to the organ, please, as we watch a brief video?

Let’s take a look!

https://youtu.be/aKK9eAyr2H0

So, who is your one? If you are a believer, it’s time to help others flourish in the knowledg and understanding of the Gospel. Start praying about who you can take on that role as a farmer!

One of these faithful seeds, faithful hearts, planted in good soil was my Grandma Dorothy. She was one of those seeds planted in good soil, and she was faithful until the end of her time on earth to serving Him in mighty ways. She is an inspiration and contributed mightily to my foundation.

This was her favorite song, and while it’s focused on Mary’s walk in the garden with Jesus following resurrection, it also reminds us of the beauty of God’s presence in our own gardens…Join me in singing this morning!

I come to the garden alone

Author: C. Austin Miles (1913)

Thank you for letting me share with you today and for joining us today! God bless you!

Please don’t rush out of here. Greet one another! If you are in need of prayer, please visit our elders, available up at the front of the sanctuary. If you have never asked Jesus into your heart and you want to do that today, if you’re ready to take that next step into a relationship with Him, they would be happy to walk with you through that as well.