Like Jesus - A Sower

Introduction

Pray for Sharon and Tony

Matthew 13:1–9 ESV

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

We’ve spent this weekend, if you were with us at the Elim Conference, talking about this parable. Bob Sorge spent the majority of his time speaking about cultivating the soil of your heart. He talked about how to have a fruitful heart. Very good stuff.

Today however, I want to focus on Jesus in this passage. Jesus is the sower. He has one main task in this parable - he sows. He scatters seed. Now, over the past year or more this parable has been one of the key things God has put on my heart. He has been asking me to be Like Jesus in this parable.

Now, at first, I didn’t understand what that meant. I have always misunderstood this parable in one sense. I thought the point was to get the seed planted on that good soil, but the sower in this parable does not discriminate. He throws seed everywhere.

He can certainly see the thorns and the footpath, yet he throws seed all over the place. He doesn’t discriminate. Some of the seed is going to get eaten by the birds, some of it will get choked out by the thorns, some will spring up quickly and die due to lack of depth. No matter the outcome though, the sower does one thing in this passage - the sower sows.

I think there is a principle in this passage. I think that is exactly what Jesus is calling us to do - sow.

Sow continously,

Sow generously,

Sow indiscriminately.

Sow! If we going to be Like Jesus, we are going to follow his example. He sows! He doesn’t stop sowing. He doesn’t discriminate in his sowing, He just sows!

Not only does he sow continuously, he sows generously. Seeds are falling everywhere! He doesn’t just plant one seed, he throws out lots of seeds. I’ve talked about this before, but this is broadcast seeding. You over seed. You throw out handfuls of seed.

He also doesn’t discriminate. He sees the hard ground and throws seed there. He sees the weeds and thorns and rocks and throws out seed. He sees the good soil and throws out seed.

The only big question I want to answer before moving into how do we apply this, is this…what is the seed? We don’t get the answer in our passage, but its found a little further down in the book of Matthew, in verses 18-23, we see that the seed is the WORD OF GOD.

In other words, we need to be sowers of the Word.

So let’s look at four places we should be sowing the word continuously, generously and indiscriminately.

Sowing Into Yourself

The first place you need to sow the word of God is into yourself. You need to plant God’s word deep into your heart. This is just like they tell you when you are on an airplane and the plane is crashing - Put your oxygen mask on first!

This may sound self-centered, but its really not. Whatever is in your heart is going to come out. So you need to get the word of God inside of you! Put your mask on first before you can help others.

And just like a plane crash, there isn’t much time. Don’t delay. The plane is going down and time is short.

Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

This really is the importance in making sure your heart is good soil. Rid yourself of the cares of this world, chase of the birds that may try and rob the word from your life, get the word in you deep, so that shallowness will not rob you from fruit.

Sow generously into your own heart. Don’t take this for granted. Don’t think to yourself, oh I grew up in church, I know all these stories already. Daily, you need to get into the word.

You cannot be too generous with the Word. If you want to see fruit in your life, I think it starts here. You need to spend time in the Word. Hold on to the word. Cherish the word.

If you are watching from home, get into a church that preaches the word. Don’t sit at home and just take this in, get into a body. You should be hearing the Word regularly. Proclaim it to yourself, yes, but don’t stop there. Have others proclaiming it to you as well.

If you are not in a homegroup, get in a homegroup. We are going through the book of Matthew and it’s powerful!

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Let me stress this as much as possible…God’s word is powerful! Get connected in this body and get to a homegroup and study his word together. Let his word wash over your daily during your devotions. This is of utmost importance!

Sowing Into Family

Once you have established that God’s word is in you, it should also be coming out of you. And the first place it should go is your family. Those that are in your own household. Some of you never break open the word with your family.

I know so many Christians who are surprised if their children grow up and leave the faith, but they never actually opened the word as a family. You cannot depend on others to do this for you.

We have a great children’s ministry, it’s centered on the gospel, but its one day a week. What are you doing the other six?

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Moses says to diligently (intentionally, purposely) teach these words to your children and talk about them when you sit in your house or when you go walking. Put these words in your heart so they are there when you lie down and when you get up.

Teach the Word diligently to your children. If you are not intentional in this, don’t be surprised when your kids walk away from the faith. For those parents who did put the word in their kids hearts and their children still walked away, listen to me, God’s word does not go out in vain.

Pray for a harvest. Pray that the seed that you scattered generously find good soil somewhere in that heart and trust that God in due time will reap a harvest. It may take time, but God’s word is powerful and will do what he sets it forth to accomplish.

Sowing Into Community

The first priority of sowing is into yourself, the second is into your family, next we move outside the home - your neighbors, your community. God wants you to sow the Word into your community.

These means we need to be about evangelism. Evangelism is spreading the word! It’s sharing the Good News! One of the big problems in our society is that Christians are afraid to share the gospel.

A December 2021 Evangelism Explosion study conducted by Lifeway Research found that two-thirds of Americans said they were “open or very open to having a conversation about the Christian faith with a friend.” The same study found that 65 percent of Americans said they were “open or very open to talking with a friend about having a relationship with God.”

In other words, the harvest fields are ripe! Two-thirds of your neighbors are saying, “Yes! I’m open to have a conversation about faith!” That’s awesome! The harvest is ready! But their’s a problem…

An April 2022 Evangelism Explosion study conducted by Lifeway Research found that less than half of self-identified Christians have, at least once in the past six months, shared a Bible verse or Bible story with a non-Christian loved one (46 percent), invited a non-Christian friend or family member to attend a church service or other program at church (43 percent), or shared with a non-Christian loved one how to become a Christian (38 percent). The same study also identified that almost 2 in 3 Christians (65 percent) agree sharing with a nonbeliever how they can become a Christian is the most loving thing they can do for them.

Let me put it simply, we are not sowing! We are not sharing the gospel. Forty-ish percent are sharing it twice a year! That’s terrible! We have the greatest news on earth and we don’t even share it!

You can have evangelism without revival, but you cannot have revival without evangelism.

Brian Mills

If you want to see revival, start sharing the gospel! There will be no revival in America, if the church refuses to share the gospel. If you want to see change happen in the world, it will start when you open your mouth.

We took a couple of evangelism classes in Bible College this year (our church has a bible college on Monday nights, if you didn’t know) and one of the best things I got from the class was a simple statement - attempts count.

Now this was good news to me because I share the good news often, but often I don’t see the results I want. Autumn and I are opposites in this. She shares the word often and God has gifted her with so much fruit. In fact, many of you are attending this church today because Autumn invited you.

Attempts count. Don’t stop inviting people to Jesus. Don’t stop sharing the good news. Don’t stop sowing.

Too often we think when we share the gospel, we need to see people get saved right then and there, but attempts count! Stop worrying about the soil. It might be covered in thorns, sow anyway! Sow generously!

Sowing Into Church

Lastly, I want you to sow into the church. The church is the body of Christ and we are all members in it. Every single one of us need encouragement today. The word of God shared among the body is nourishment for our soul.

What we believe as a church is this…everyone of you have a gift. You have the Word of God inside of you and when we come together as a body, you are supposed to use that gift.

My oldest daughter was doing a report for our homeschool co-op on Thursday on one of the presidents and she was assigned John F. Kennedy. The quote she chose was one of his best ones. He said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what can I do for my country.”

Now I want to flip that and turn it on you, this should apply to our meetings as well. Ask not what your church can do for you, but ask what can you do for your church? All of us have a role. All of us have a part to play. We are part of a body and we need every one here serving one another and that means speaking the word of God to each other.

Listen to what Paul writes the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

Do you know what all of these things have in common? They all involve speaking! Speaking the Word to others in the church is how we build one another up!

The problem is, in the church people tend to tear each other down rather than build them up! We need to be different. Cornerstone is going to be a church where we build each other up! We are going to be a church where we encourage one another!

We sow into the church by building one another up. When we speak the word of God to one another, pray the Word of God over one another, sing the Word of God over each other, the church is built up!

So let’s recap.

We need to sow into ourselves.

We need to sow into our families.

We need to sow into our community.

And we need to sow into our church.

If we do these things, we will be Like Jesus.

Conclusion

Let’s stand and sing together.