Planting the seeds of faith

I am a lousy gardener. Man it feels good to get that off my chest. Every time I try I make every rookie mistake in the book.

Now I generally live by a rule make no mistake twice. At least that is my goal, sadly I do not always accomplish that goal, and gardening is a perfect example of that.

I have made so many mistakes in gardening that if I had learned from them I’d be a pro gardener by now.

But still I plant things too close together or too deep or too shallow, or I allow it to get too weedy and then look at it and say meh not worth it and I let the weed over run the garden. In dry years I will often forget to water it.

I am telling you I am not a plant person. I have heard engaged people say in response to will they have children, “we will start with a plant first and see if we can keep that alive before having children.”

If Nikki and I had done that we would never have had kids because sometimes I kill plants just by looking at them.

All that to say if you need a garden tender some year and you don’t want see any yield from that garden, I am your man.

So understand when Jesus would share parables about planting seeds and watering them and harvesting a crop one might understand my anxiety, I am a horrible gardener.

I like the sheep parables better. I am much better with animals than plants. But in numerous occasions Jesus would use planting as an illustration of Kingdom building or disciple making.

So if we are going to be talking about becoming more effective disciple makers it makes since that at some point we are going to have to talk about planting.

In fact Making disciples can actually be broken down into 3 stages.

So what are these three stages? Well sticking with the gardening theme let me share them with you as these will be what we will be talking about for the next three weeks.

The first stage of discipleship is...

Planting

The second is...

Pruning

The third is...

Producing

So this morning as we look at how we can become more effective in disciple making let us first start by talking about planting.

To do this I want to look at one of those parables Jesus shared on the subject found in

Now while you are turning let me assure you, I may be a lousy gardener of vegetables, but I am a passionate gardener when it comes to making disciples. Unlike a vegetable garden, which I couldn’t care less if it grew or not, I love God and people and want to see the Kingdom of God grow, so I work quite a bit harder at disciple making than I do growing food for my food.

Mark

Mark 4:26–29 NLT

Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

The question this mourning remains...

How can we be more effective disciple makers?

Last week we learned that to increase our effectiveness we need to increase our activeness.

We learned the difference between an active approach to disciple making and a more passive approach and that the active approach has proven to be far more effective.

This week we would do well to learn that in order to grow in effectiveness in disciple making we need to...

Plant with purpose

Me: Who can tell me the purpose of planting a garden? First off let me say leave it to me to talk about planting a garden in fall as Winter quickly approaches but disciple making continues through all seasons of life. So back to the matter at hand there can be lots of purposes. If you enjoy gardening one purpose might be relaxation, another purpose might be exercise.

Exercise and vegetables two of my least favourite things, no wonder I suck at it.

Another reason might be to spend some time outside away from technology, getting some vitamin D from good old Mr. Sun, because no one want to get rickets.

Another reason may be you want to know what is on the food you eat. If you can leave a tomato on the counter for over a month and it doesn’t start to rot something is wrong. If it won’t rot naturally how are you supposed to digest that thing. Bread shouldn’t last 2 months, that’s all I’m saying.

Then there is the money saving element as well.

There are a lot of good reasons to garden, and whatever supplemental reasons we come up with, I think...

We: We can all agree the primary purpose to planting a garden is to reap a harvest. This is also true when it comes to disciple making. Many Christians are good at scattering the seeds. A verse shared here on facebook, a presence of peace as they walk into a room of unsaved family members, a track left on a table, praying in public, a gift of a bible of devotional. After all the next parable tells us it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to grow into something substantial.

Unfortunately far too often many Christians scatter seeds they never go back to tend too. I know what some might be thinking,

God: says

John 4:35–38 NLT

You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

John 4:36–38 NLT

The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

John 4:37 NLT

You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.

So maybe it is ok to just be a planter, and let someone else harvest.

John 4:27 NLT

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

The problem is in both of those passages, our parable today and the passage in John God is calling us to come to gather the harvest. Because...

Matthew 9:37–38 NLT

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Matthew 9:38 NLT

So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

The reality is too many have become content to just be a planter, leaving the harvesting to others but not enough Christians are stepping up to harvest the crop.

Matthew 9:35–38 NLT

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

That is like letting an entire garden rot back into the ground because no one was willing to go out and harvest the vegetables.

You: If you want to grow in effectiveness as a disciple maker, specifically as it pertains to that first stage of disciple making where people come to Jesus for the first time, you need to plant yes but know when you plant you plant with a purpose, therefore you also need to go out into the field and harvest.

What does that mean for you. That means coming to the place where you ask the question...

Do you want to start your relationship with Jesus?

We: We can become really good at telling people how God Jesus is, but if we never give them a chance to accept Him as their personal Lord and Saviour, trust me when I say the enemy will not be long swooping in there to try and steel that seed away.

One has to wonder how many are in the world who are ready to start their relationship with Jesus and receive eternal life, but they are waiting for someone to come into the field and reap the harvest, to look them in the eye and ask them plainly and simply,

Do you know where you will spend eternity? Do you want the assurance of Knowing that you will go to Heaven to be with Jesus.

Next Step: You have some names up here some are already believers who you are discipling on an ongoing basis, but some are not.

Some still need someone to ask them the question?

My Challenge this week is to ask someone.

Think of it this way, if we are the bride groom of Christ that means

Maybe it is someone on this cross, maybe it is a stranger, but ask someone.

Then write about your experience in your discipleship journal I know you all started last week.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 3:7–9 NLT

It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.