Seeds of Life: The Seed They Didn't See - Pastor Denny Rodney Duron

Welcome to SC Church Podcast! We’re so glad you could join us. Today Pastor Denny Rodney Duron shared with us his message:

“Seeds of Life: The Seed They Didn't See"

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

God's doing so many great things. I want you to know that God is moving in our church, and there's testimonies that you don't even know about. Yesterday, we had our egg stravaganza, and we had over 800 people on our campus yesterday hunting for eggs. Come on, put your hands together for our team, for everyone that served, everyone that enjoyed that. It was a great day. Um, I want you to say our mission with me. Come on, say it with me. Love God well. And that's why we're here to exalt the name of Jesus, to love God well. And I'm excited about today. How many of you love God's word? You love scripture, you know every answer to life is in God's word. Put your hands together for God's word today. Come on. Oh, I'm excited to get in God's word. Let's bow our heads and let's pray. God, we love you. God bless you today. Lord, I pray that you just cover us today in your love and your grace. Thank you that every time we open your word, God, you wash over us and it's something brand new. God, give us your revelation and give us what you want today. God, thank you for Shreveport Community Church. Thank you for everyone that served yesterday and serving this morning. But God, strengthen us with your power, your love, and your grace. We love you in the name of Jesus and everybody said amen and amen. Well, we've been in a series, and that series is seeds of life. Seeds of life. And I'll tell you, woo, man, uh destiny preached an unbelievable message last week. And then the week before, Pastor Denny got he he just preached the best message. Put your hands together for Pastor Denny and Destiny. It was just go back and listen to those messages. They will really inspire you. And we've been talking about seeds of life. It's it impacts you when you live God's way. But today we're talking about the seed of life. And the seed has a name. His name is Jesus. Come on, put your hands together for Jesus this morning. Come on. From the very beginning, God said there would be a seed. In Genesis, God said the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. To Abraham, God said, Through your seed, all nations of the earth will be blessed. So it's not vague. This wasn't abstract. This was pointing to a person. And then the prophets begin to fill in the picture. Isaiah speaks of a savior who would suffer but still save. Micah the prophet says he would be born in Bethlehem. And all throughout the New Testament, it settles any confusion. We see in Galatians 3:16, the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. It's not plural, it's singular. We understand the seed of life, he has a name, and his name is Jesus Christ. So the people around Jesus, they should have known all of this. They knew what they were looking for. They had the prophecies, they had the writings, they were literally walking with Jesus. They weren't searching in the dark. They had been given the description and history and all the prophecies, all the teachings were building up, building up to this big moment. And here comes King Jesus on Palm Sunday. Did y'all know it's Palm Sunday today? Come on, put your hands together. It's Palm Sunday today. And he arrives on this donkey, and it's not an accident. This was prophesied over 300 years before Zachariah said, he'll come riding on a donkey as the king, bringing salvation and lowly. I want you to just think about the first Palm Sunday. So the first Palm Sunday, he's riding this donkey and he's coming down the Mount of Olives. His disciples are all around him and they are worshiping him. People are surrounding him. They're coming out of Jerusalem. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And they're throwing their coats down before him. They have branches that they're waving. They have beads that they start throwing at Jesus and the bloons they're throwing at him and cups. This is the first Mardi Gras that's ever happened. My Jesus is from Louisiana. This is a Mardi Gras, Jesus, okay? Y'all are gonna be like, no, that is that's sacrilegious. I'm sorry that I just did that, okay? Here's the thing, it's a party, right? Everyone's celebrating. But here's the deal: I was in Israel years ago, and we had we had a group and we walked down the same path. Jesus would have been on the donkey and everyone's celebrating. And it didn't really hit us because, man, this is just where Jesus was. It hit us that this is the actual exact location where praise filled the air for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This is what the Bible says in Luke 19. The whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This isn't quiet. This is loud. It's emotional, it's a celebration. And here's what I want you to see. They're in the biggest moment of their lives, and yet they don't even realize it. Jesus is right in front of them, and they're about to miss Jesus. Now, I want to define missing Jesus. I'm not saying they didn't like literally see him. When I say they miss Jesus, I mean they misinterpreted what Jesus was all about in this moment. They thought he was a certain kind of king, but Jesus came to be a totally different kind of king than they imagined. They thought he was coming to fix their situation, but he came to fix their hearts so they could face any situation. So they praised him in the moment, but they weren't ready to follow him after the moment, follow him with their lives. So missing him doesn't mean they ignored him, it means they were right there and they still did not respond to who Jesus really was. And here's here's what grips me they were so close, but yet they still missed Jesus. So here's the question: How can they be so close? How can we be so close, but yet still miss Jesus? Here's the title of my message. The seed they did not see. The seed they did not see. Once again, the seed is King Jesus and he is our life. Here's my first point today. They had loud praise, but blurred vision. So loud praise, blurred vision. So it's a big party, it's a big festival. They're coming down and they're they're just praising Jesus. But yet the Pharisees, here they come. And the Pharisees come to Jesus, and this is what the Bible says, Luke 19. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples, rebuke them. And Jesus said, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out with praise. Right in the middle of it, the Pharisees are saying shut up, quiet these people down. He doesn't get quiet, they get louder because they say, if they're quiet, these very stones will cry out with praise. What does that mean? Well, it means that praise to Almighty God is not optional, it's inevitable. Creation recognizes its creator. Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of Almighty God. Romans 1:20 says, creation reveals Almighty God. So if people don't respond, something else will. If voices go quiet, the ground is gonna find a voice. I don't know about you, I don't want no rock taking my place of praise. As long as I got breath, I want to praise Almighty God. The Bible says it. Psalm 150, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Are you still breathing this morning? Well, then that means you got hope that you still got a purpose, a mission to give God praise, to exalt Him with your life. You still got breath in this place. Don't let Jesus ride on by and miss your moment to give praise to the one that is above it all. Come on, somebody. If God's done something in your life, if God has picked you out of the pit of despair, if God's given you one chance, two chances, countless chances. If God is still with you, if you believe in him, give God some praise in this place. Come on, we can do better than that. It's Palm Sunday. Come on, put your hands together. Let's praise Jesus this morning. Come on, let's do better than that. Come on, let's worship him right now. Give God some praise in this place. God, we love you. God, we worship your name. God, we lift your name on high above anything else. Come on, Jesus, the name above all names. And that's what they were doing. They're worshiping. Doesn't that feel so good? To worship God. And they're worshiping, and they're totally missing it. They're worshiping, and they don't even, they don't really know what they're doing. Everybody's shouting, and some of them are angry like the Pharisees, but most of them are going to turn on Jesus and be shouting, crucify him in just a few days. It's the same moment, it's the same path, yet not the same heart. How is this possible? Well, Jesus in this moment, he sees everything very clearly. So he's he's not taken back by the praise. He understands that they're missing it in this moment, and it breaks his heart. It breaks the heart of Jesus. So here's my second point Jesus had perfect vision, and Jesus cries real tears right here. So here it is. Big party for Jesus, and this is what Jesus says. He's on the donkey, he's riding. Mark 19, 41. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace. But now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, encircle you, hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. Come on, Jesus, why are you being such a downer right now? Like this is your party. This is your party. Why are you crying? It'd be like someone throwing you the biggest party and celebration you can imagine, and you just go in the corner and you're crying. Jesus, why are you crying? Jesus knew exactly why he was crying. And I want to show you. Here's the first reason. The first reason he's crying is because they should have recognized him and they didn't. He says, if you, even you had only known, you, even you. He's not talking to unbelievers or people that are just coming to Christ. He's talking to the ones that know the scriptures, know the prophecies, that have walked with him. And he's like, You, you should get this, even you, but you're missing it. And we do this all the time. We can come to church, we can praise, we can go to the worship, and then we just walk out of here like nothing happened, going right back to our old ways. I mean, it's just, it's like we come in here and God deals with us. So God will deal with us in the way that we feel, our attitude, our priorities, our habits, and we are right there. We want to, it's like, oh, no, no, no, I'm just hungry. Maybe I'm a little emotional. Maybe I'm going through a tough time. And we push it off because you can know everything about God and still not recognize him when he's right in front of you. Breaks his heart. Here's another reason he's crying. He's crying because they were missing what would actually give them peace. He said this. He said, if you had known what would bring you peace. So the what is what they're defining wrong. They wanted a king that would overthrow Rome, that would take care of all their troubles, that would sit on the throne of David, and they wanted it right then. But then when they got something different, other than what they wanted, that a Messiah that was going to give them peace in their spirit, give them strength to face the world. I don't want that. They turned their back on Jesus and they didn't want it. We do this all the time. We pray, God, fix this. God, please take this away. Change my situation. And when God says, okay, I'm the seed of life, it's time to forgive, time to take steps. Whoa, whoa, Jesus, like we don't want to do anything, just fix it. Just fix it. If we're honest, we want the peace without surrender. It's like we want all the good stuff, but I don't want to have to do anything. Fix it all. Jesus, take my stress, but leave my attitude. I like my attitude. Fix my situation. Don't mess with my life, though. I like the rhythms of my life. We want the comfort of God without actually doing anything. It don't work like that. We gotta do what God says. But peace doesn't come from control, peace comes from surrender. Ah, surrender feels so weak. No, surrender is the strongest posture you could ever take in your life. You surrender to God, you surrender your ways to the most powerful, the one that created it all. It's the most powerful stance you could ever take. And if we're not careful, it's like, all right, well, forget all this stuff. I'll just fix it myself. Like I'll just do it myself. I'm gonna control my life, control my future, I'm gonna control my family, my business. And it's like, man, that guy's he's in control. Like, he's got it all together. And on the outside, it's awesome, but on the inside, they are dying because they don't have the peace of Almighty God, the seed of the salvation of Jesus Christ. It breaks the heart of God when we define the what wrong. He is the what. Can I get an amen? Here's the third reason he's crying. He's crying because he could see where this is leading. Okay, he said, the days will come upon you, they will dash you to the ground. And it's not in the moment, no, it's the direction that they're going that breaks his heart because he knows if you keep going in that direction, it's detrimental. It's not like we just wake up one day and it's like, all right, today turning my back on God and Jesus is gonna ruin my life today. Let's go. No, it's a slow slide. Stop coming to church, stop being in community groups, stop reading our Bible, stop doing what God has called us to do, and it slowly slides. Have you ever um you ever talk to somebody and you're just really not interested in what they're saying, and uh you kind of get the thousand-yard stare, you're like, all right, yeah. Okay, good, good. Oh, you're great. All right, and then after you leave and you're like, I don't know what they said, but I'm so glad that's over. Like I'm done. If you're not careful, that's how you treat Almighty God. Oh man, like just get this over with. Man, this is taking my time. I don't know what the heck just happened, but let me get back to my life. And when we go in that direction, it's detrimental to our life. And I see it as a pastor, I see it. I have the privilege of going through the greatest times of your life with you and the worst times of your life with you. It's my privilege, it's my honor. And I've been able to sit with people and I sit across from them, and they'll be going through tough times, and I understand, man, it's because we're not walking towards Christ. And it's like the answer, I'll tell them Christ has got to be the center. And for Christ to be the center, there are some steps. Let's do a couple steps. We talk, they leave, do nothing, they come back, their life is worse. Go figure, go figure, and we talk again, okay. Jesus, center has to be steps. They leave, don't do anything, and they don't come back. And my heart breaks for them, not because oh, they didn't do what I told them to do. No, because I know where that direction leads. I've been down that path, it's detrimental. And if my heart breaks for people, how much more does the heart of Jesus break for his children when we're so close, but yet we're going in the wrong direction. Don't miss your moment. This is your moment. If Jesus is in the room, which the Bible says where two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, he is there. We got way more than two people. Friends, Jesus isn't in the room. Can we put our hands together for Jesus? He's in the room. And if he's in the room, here's point three. If Jesus is in the room, this is your moment. This is your moment. Open your eyes. This is our moment. God reveals something new to us. Open your eyes. So, yes, Palm Sunday, they celebrated it. It was wonderful, but they missed it. But there's one man that did not miss it. We have to back up a little bit, and it's in Mark 10. And Jesus is passing through a place called Jericho. And as he's passing through Jericho, once again, a big crowd surrounds Jesus. They are um just wondering about this miracle worker. They want to see what Jesus is all about. So there's crowds around him and they're following him, and it's a big deal. And all of a sudden, they walk past this blind man. His name's Bartimaeus. We're gonna call him Bart. And Bart, he can't see, and he's been overlooked, but yet he's heard of the stories of Jesus before, and he heard that he's passing by, and Bart starts crying out to Jesus Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And the people around say, Shut up, bro. Like, shut up. This isn't about you. They tried to quiet him down, sound familiar, but he did not get quiet. He got louder. Jesus, have mercy on me. And all the voices that are around Jesus, well, Jesus, here's the one voice that is crying out to him. And Jesus says, Bring that man to me. Bartimaeus comes to Jesus, and Jesus says, What can I do? For you. And he said, I want to see. Open my eyes. And Jesus does a miracle and heals him, but that's not the miracle of the story. The miracle is after his moment, the Bible says he got up and he followed Jesus down the path. He did not waste the miracle on himself. He knew if my eyes are open, it's so I can see the king. It's so I can follow the king. It's so I can follow the path. And he got it. And the band can come right now. I'm closing. So I want you to see this. I want you to see this contrast. You got disciples, you got people that know the prophecies, the scripture. Everyone is right there. They can see Jesus and they're celebrating him, yet all of them miss him. But then on the other side, you have a man that literally cannot see. A man that just hears Jesus is passing by, and he's so desperate that he cries out for Almighty God, and he gets it, and he follows him on that path. It's his moment that he did not miss. So I want to give you three quick things, just three bullet points. How you can seize your moment. And how you can seize your moment. Here's the first thing. First thing is you get real with God. It doesn't have to be like a polished prayer or some unbelievable thing. Cry out to God where you are. Son of David, have mercy on me. If you're in the midst of it, God help me. God, I don't know what to do. God, bring people in my life. I need community. God, give me this answer. Wherever you are, talk to God. Cry out, be real with Almighty God. Here's the second thing. You push past the noise. Push past the noise. So there's always gonna be a person or a thing or a voice in your life telling you not to take that step right now. Telling you right now is not the moment to get real with Jesus. Can I tell you, whenever that voice, that person or that thing comes against you, they are holding you back from the greatest life you could ever live. They're holding you back from the abundant life. So when it comes, you scream louder, you silence those voices, push past the thing that's holding you back. And here's the last thing you move. Everyone say move. Say it again. Say move. We move, and that's what we have. Bartimaeus, when he said go to Jesus, he moved and he got a miracle. Whenever he got his miracle, he didn't stop. No, he moved towards Jesus even more. We've got to move and take the next step wherever it is. And here's what I know. I know some of you, some of your next step today, in the name of Jesus, I pray that you'll accept Almighty God and salvation. That you will accept God and salvation today. This is your moment. That's your step to move. Some of you need to invest in the people of God. This is your family. Look around right now. Just like look around. Look around. Look around. Look around. None of you are looking around, okay? None of you. Look around. Okay, this is your family. This is your family. Act like it. Invest in it. Love the people around you. God has given us everything we need to do what He's called us to do right here in this room. If we love God and love people, what God can do for us is endless. Move. We gotta move in that. Serve. Man, I'm just dealing with too much in my life to serve right now. Well, good. That's the perfect time to serve. When you serve in the midst of your hurt, it heals you. It heals your hurt, heals what you're going through. Invest in things of God. Move forward in the things of God. Make God number one and move towards that. And only you know what that means. Take the next step. We've got to move. And here's the greatest part is you haven't missed anything. God is still in front of you today. Two or more are gathered. He's here. He is here for you today. If you hear nothing else today, I want you to hear this. Just like Jesus stopped for Bartimaeus, Jesus is stopping for you today. Just like he opened the eyes of Bartimaeus, he wants to open your eyes to the next so you can move towards him. So don't just be close to Jesus today, in the name of Jesus. Respond to him. Don't just make noise, don't just go through the motions. We've got to move. We've got to move towards what God has for us. You know, I've been there before. I've been there right in the midst of it. I've been so close to Jesus and I've missed it. I've missed it. I've had seasons that I look back on and I missed it. But when I surrendered, can I tell you this? When I surrendered, it was the greatest moment. Is everything perfect? No, it's a daily surrender. It's a daily walk, it's a daily decision. We've got to walk along the path. But here's the thing. And this is very sobering. As your pastor, I get to see a different vantage point than you. I stand up here and I'll see people sitting right in these chairs on a Sunday. And sometimes on a Tuesday, they're gone from this earth. God has taken them. Sometimes they missed it. Sometimes they got it. But what I'm talking today isn't a laxadaisical thing, it's urgent. It's the most important thing that we can ever do. We've got to be so, so urgent with this. This is what matters most. And Bartimaeus, well, he knew probably Jesus is never going to be passing by here again. This is my one moment. He seized it. How many people missed that moment and never got another chance with Jesus? Don't miss your moment. Don't miss your moment. Here's what I love really more than anything about this is Jesus. He's on this path, right? And he's on this path, and and he comes in, everyone's celebrating. And as he's on this path, he sees it. Everyone's missing it. And even though they're missing it, even though they're turning on him, even though they're screaming, crucify him, he never stopped going down this path. And he went down the path all the way to the cross for you and for me. And he laid down on that cross, took those nails in his hands and his feet, even knowing that people would curse him, that people would come against him, but he still chose men and women. And today he's choosing you right now. It doesn't matter if you've spent your life running from God, if you've messed up. Today is your moment of salvation. And it's not laxadaisical, it's urgent. Today is the day of your salvation. Say, well, I already love Christ. Well, take a next step. Well, I've taken my next, take another. We never arrive. We're always walking towards Christ. We're doing this together. So today, I'm asking we move. Everyone say move. I'm asking we move. And only you know that next step where you can move. I want you to stand with me. I want to pray for you. Stand with me right now. Bow your head. If today you say, I want to follow Jesus, I'm unsure if Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my life. If you say, if I died today, if this was my last day, sitting in these chairs, I don't know where I'd spend eternity. You can make sure right now. It's urgent. Today is the day of your salvation. Make sure. Jesus, the seed of life, is waiting for you to accept him, for him to transform everything in your life. Do not wait. It's in going through the motion, just check the box off. Let's do a salvation call. No, this is life and death, friend. This is for you. If you want to accept Jesus, if you want to accept Jesus, if you want to make sure that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life, raise your hand right now. I want to pray for you. Raise your hand right now. If that's you, raise your hand right now. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Everybody repeat this after me. Jesus. I want to move towards you. Be the Lord and Savior of my life. I believe in you, Jesus. Not my way, but your way. Come into my life. Rule and reign my life. I want your blessings. But more than anything, I want you. You are more than enough. I accept you, Jesus. Thank you for this gift. God, thank you for everyone that just prayed that prayer of salvation. God, I believe you just became the Lord and Savior over their life. God, I pray that you give us the next steps to be able to move towards you. God, those of us that have been going through the motions and just coming in here and leaving, going unchanged, God, show us the next step, how we can be forever changed, how we can follow the path towards you and love you with our whole heart, our whole life. God, it's not our power and strength, it's your power and strengths. The Holy Spirit fill us and lead us and guide us. God, thank you that you sent your son to die on the cross. And he didn't stay in that grave, but he got up on that third day. And because he got up, we have the gift of eternal life. Jesus, Sunday's coming, and God, we know that you're so wonderful. So today, give my parents strengthening. Give them your strength. Give them hope. Give them your hope. And God, as we surrender, help us to surrender our lives to you right now in an act of surrender. Lift your hands right now in an act of surrender. And this means not my way, but your way. Lift your hands in an act of surrender. And as you're surrendering to God, I want us to worship. And let's say, God, we want to move towards you. God, we want your way. Come on, let's worship. Come on, let's worship. Lift our voices and worship God.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Thank you for connecting with us today. The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me. I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you. Please visit scchurch dot com and follow SC Church on all social media platforms. And remember, the best is yet to come.