What Kind of Soil Is Your Heart (Luke 8:4-15)

What kind of soil is your heart?

Two people can sit through the same sermon, hear the same Scripture, and walk away completely different. Why? In Luke 8, Jesus uses the Parable of the Sower to reveal that the power of God’s Word is not the problem—the condition of our hearts is.

In this message, we examine four responses to God’s Word: the hardened heart that refuses to receive it, the shallow heart that lacks roots, the crowded heart that allows distractions to choke out spiritual growth, and the good heart that hears, holds onto, and perseveres in God’s Word until it produces fruit.

The question isn’t simply, “Did I hear God’s Word?” The deeper question is, “What am I doing with what I heard?”

Discover how to cultivate a heart that is receptive to God, develop deep spiritual roots, remove the distractions that compete for your attention, and patiently persevere as God produces lasting fruit in your life.

What is the condition of your heart when you hear God’s Word? And when you walk away, what will you do differently because you heard it?

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

So good to be back with you this morning. Thanks for giving us last week off for a vacation. We got some last-minute vacation in. If you didn't know that I was gone, then you need to come to church more. Uh and so that's all I had to say. So back when I was a kid, one thing was always for certain in my life. We were going to church. I knew that we were gonna get up uh and we were gonna go to church. And usually we weren't a go-out to eat kind of family, but every Sunday we would go out to eat. And just about every Sunday, we would go to the holiest of holies places, Golden Corral. Anybody remember Golden Corral? I think it's kind of still a thing. Uh, you could go because they were feeding three boys that all they did was eat, and so Golden Corral, we could eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. And dad would get there and say, Now eat up. This is lunch and dinner, okay? I'm not feeding you anymore today, right? I'm kidding. He would give me dinner. But one thing, once we'd sit down, once we'd get our plates, once we get the chicken fried steak, the hot fresh rolls, and you gotta have a slice of pizza, amen. Gotta have a slice of pizza. That's the only thing that makes it right. After that, mom would sit us all down and she would ask a question because she knew that we were supposed to be paying attention in church. What would she go? So, what did Brother Mike preach about today? If you don't know who brother Mike is, brother Mike Milburn was my pastor growing up. Uh, still a great man, still get to see him from time to time. Uh, but she would always say, What did Brother Mike preach about today? And of course, my brothers weren't as saved as me. Uh, and so I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. We would all, it was interesting to see, we would all spout off what brother Mike had to preach about that morning. And mom expected us to get something. But have you ever wondered why two people can sit through the same sermon, hear the same scripture, and walk away completely different? They've heard the same message, but one is changed while the other leaves unaffected. You know, sometimes I'll preach a message, and some of you are like, Amen, Pastor, amen. And some of you are sitting there like, nothing has changed in your life. Especially in the second service. Did you know you're a little bit more saved in the first service? Sometimes the second service, I go, Do you guys love Jesus today? I'm not sure. Although this is on Facebook Live, so now that no, but it's fine. They're not coming back and watch the first service. But today we're gonna be in Luke chapter 8, and Jesus tells us exactly why two people can hear the same servant, same sermon, and get completely different things. You know why? Because God's word has the power to transform our lives, but lasting fruit depends on how we receive it, retain it, and to respond to it. Let me tell you, as Christians, we live in the most content saturated time in our entire history of the church, but the church is the most ineffective than it's ever been. So, what's the issue? The issue is the soil. So if you have your Bibles, grab them. Go to Luke chapter 8 this morning. We're gonna start in verse 4. If you've been in church a long time, you've probably heard this story. One quick announcement that I want to have. Uh, April mentioned it. Hope hope groups start tonight. If you're not a part of a group, you need to get a part of a group. I'll hammer you on that in a minute. Also, want to talk about uh April talked about missions. We've got a barbecue fundraiser that's coming up at the end of the month. That all proceeds are going to go to Guatemala. There's Guatemala Globes out in the lobby. You can take those. I've seen some of you grab them and not sure that you can take them. You can take them home. Uh, it is a piece so that you can go home and pray for the effort that we are doing in Guatemala. We had a sweet couple that donated those to our church uh out of their out of the kindness of their hearts. That each one of those were handmade for you. So make sure you take one of those. So the title of my message this morning is What kind of soil is your heart? What kind of soil is your heart? So let's get into it. Luke chapter 8. We're gonna start in verse 4 this morning. I'll go four through 12. And then a great crowd was gathered, and the people from the town out town after town came to him, and he said in a parable, A sower went out to sow his seed, and he sowed. Some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and some fell into the good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. As he said these things, he called out, He who has ears, let him hear. Now here's the thing: what you need to know before I read on with Jesus' parables is he didn't always explain them, but for some reason he wants to explain this one. You know why? Because we need to know. This is something that we need to hear. And Jesus wanted to make sure this got into your heart. And when the disciples asked him what this meant, he said, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that the seeing they may not see, and the hearing they may not understand. Now, the parable is this the seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. So, what soil is your heart? The first heart we saw was the hardened heart. And the hardened heart, point number one, hears the word but never receives it. Did you know that you can spend your entire life hearing the word and never receive it? The hardened path represents those who hear God's word but never truly receive it, allowing the enemy to snatch it away before it can even take root and produce faith. Satan doesn't always come to convince us that the Bible is false. He often succeeds simply by convincing us it can wait. Or it doesn't apply to us, or is it worth taking seriously? Have you noticed our culture does this? They go, oh, well, it's just an ancient, outdated text. No, this is the living, breathing word of God. It would be as if you went out to our parking lot and you spread out grass seed all over our parking lot, and you watered that grass seed to your heart's delight, which water is expensive this these days, so I don't know why you do that. But what would happen? It wouldn't grow. Why? Because the problem isn't the seed. What's the problem? The problem is the soil. Our hearts can become as hard as the pavement out in the parking lot. Sometimes disappointment, unforgiveness, pride. And this one's the most dangerous. Repeatingly ignoring God's convictions can harden us until his word can no longer penetrate our hearts. Guys, one of the most dangerous things that you can do as a Christian is resist his voice. Every time we resist his voice, it becomes easier to ignore the next time. So ask yourself this when God's word confronts me, do I receive it or do I resist it? Kind of like April was hinting at. Sometimes you're preach, we're we're singing, and then when offering time comes, you're like, oh. Not all about that, you know. I want to I want to come and hear God's word for free. And that's that's true. God's word is free. But he does call us to sacrifice. But we resist it. Let me tell you, I've never met someone that gave to the church and was sad they did it. Am I listening for God to speak to me or thinking about someone else who needs this message? You know, sometimes with our spouse, instead of us listening to the word, we're sitting there going, I hope my spouse is listening today. Or you brought your friend to church and you're like, mm-mm, this is exactly what they need to hear today. Well, maybe it's exactly what you need to hear today. And God's just happy that you brought your friend, right? Guys, I want to caution you never become casual about hearing from God. Pray, God, soften my heart, God, speak to me, and when conviction comes, respond quickly before your heart grows hard. Because let me tell you, once your heart grows hard, one of the most difficult things you can do is soften your heart again. Listen, guys, the word cannot transform a heart that refuses to let it in. The word cannot soften a heart that refuses to let it in. Let's keep reading, verse 13. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but these have no root. They believe for a while in the time of testing, they fall away. So the second, the shallow heart received the word but develops no roots. The shallow heart receives the words, but develops no roots. So the rocky soil represents someone who received God's word with joy and excitement, but because their faith never develops deep roots, it cannot withstand life's trials. This is where I see 95% of Christians these days. You come to church, you hear the word, but you don't put down roots. You bounce from church to church to ministry to ministry, and then you wonder why you can never get roots down in your heart. Set roots, plant them. You know why Hope Church in ways has been successful? Because you've had a pastor and his family who have set down roots, and no matter what happens, we don't go anywhere. So here's the thing: are you always going to love me as your pastor? No. Are you always gonna think that I'm funny most of the time? But if you will set down roots, when I get mad, when you get mad at me, come visit me at my office. Tell me that you're mad. You know what's the first thing I'm gonna be doing? Ask anybody that's ever done it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. Because you know what? I never want anything that I've done to stand between you and God. Because I know the place that I hold in your heart as a pastor, and I never want to do anything to damage that. So set down roots in a church. Because a tree can look healthy on a calm day, but you don't know how strong the tree is until the storm comes. Let me tell you something. It's not if the storm comes, it's when it comes. Spirituality isn't the same. Public excitement cannot replace private roots. Listen, roots happen in private. A Sunday morning experience cannot replace a Monday morning relationship with God. Roots grow through continuous faithfulness, praying, read God's word, going to a small group. Have I mentioned that small groups start this week? Because obeying Him, even when you don't feel like it, listen, I know schedules are tough. I have four kids at three different schools. They all have different schedules. But you know what I what I refuse to do? Allow the world to dictate the spiritual schedule of my family. Because yes, my kids may not be the most amazing students, but one day when they stand before God, he's not gonna say, What grade did you get in history? He's gonna say, What did you do for me? Now I'm not saying your grade in history doesn't matter. You need to do your best, okay? I know school just started. I don't need any of those emails, okay? Because I know we have some teachers in the room, and I love you teachers. I'm behind you. Don't build your faith on emotional moments because some of the deepest work happens in quiet seasons where he's growing roots before anyone can see the fruit. You know, a lot of pastors want to get up on the stage and grow on the stage, but you know where the best place for a pastor to grow is stacking chairs, plunging toilets, working for other pastors that don't always get it. That's what God did to me. I didn't want to be a pastor, so you know what he did? He put me with a bunch of other pastors for me to go, I'm so sick and tired of this. He goes, Well, why don't you do it yourself if you can do it better? And I'm dumb enough to believe that I could. Because a faith that only lives in the moment will not survive the heat of the trial. Got a lot to preach on. I could preach, I could pretty much do a whole series on all these, but I can't. Verse 14. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and the riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. This is the other part of the church. This is the crowded heart. Point number three: the crowded heart receives the word, but allows other things to choke it out. Unlike the first two soils, the seed begins to grow. But so do the thorns. Jesus says, those thorns are the worries, the riches, the pleasures of life that slowly choke out God's word until it becomes unfruitful. Guys, this is one of the greatest dangers for Christians today. Most people don't walk away from Jesus all at once, they drift because they get busy, their priorities shift, and little by little the word is crowded out by everything else in their life. Did you have did you know you have a lot of voices that you allow to speak into your life? You need to be careful which ones you listen to because some of them are encouraging you to build your root system, but most are the thorns that want to choke out what God is doing in your life. Because the devil is a deceiver, he comes as something good. But I've always I've said it once, I'll say it a hundred times. Sometimes the enemy of the great is the good. Just because something's good doesn't mean it's exactly what God has for your life. Imagine planting a garden but never pulling the weeds. If you need an example of this, go look at our flower beds out in the out in the our flower beds. We can't keep the weeds down. I don't know what's going on. The vegetables, they may stay alive, but the weeds eventually will steal all the water and the nutrients, the sunlight, keeping the garden from producing what it's meant to produce. The same is true in your spiritual life. It's not always evil things that keep you from bearing fruit. Sometimes it's good things that have become greater than what God has called you to do. Ask yourself, what is competing with God's word in my life? Am I so busy chasing success, comfort, security, that I no longer have time to truly walk with Jesus? The issue isn't whether we have responsibilities in life, it's whether those responsibilities have us. Listen, being a pastor is what I do. It's not who I am. Who I am first and foremost is a child of God. Second, I'm a husband to Crystal. Third, I'm a dad to Noah, Maddie, Isaiah, Jonah. And then fourth, I'm a pastor. You have to keep those in priority because if you don't keep those in priority, everything else is going to choke it out. I don't do a lot of shameless plugs, but I've got a great podcast on boundaries that I talked about this week. This is great. This is where it fits in to this point. So go listen to it. But the greatest threat to your faith may not be something evil, but something lesser that has become greater. The greatest threat to your walk with God isn't necessarily something evil, it's something that distracts you from the great things that God has for you. The problem is we let those things distract us. Now listen, I know bills are tough. I know that you gotta make money, but when we do what God calls us to do, somehow those things tend to work out. So let's keep reading the last the last verse, verse 15. As for that in the good soil, they are those who hearing the word hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. Let me tell you one thing, I'm not patient. Have you ever sung y'all the song that's like nails on a chalkboard that my mom always used to see me when I was a kid? It's like it's like she knew that I would suffer from this my whole life. She would sing, have patience, have patience, don't be it's such a and I know there's more to the song, but I'm like, all right, all right, all right, at that point. I'm like, okay, I get it. All right, leave me alone, mom. I know there's more to the song, but I don't know it because I stopped listening at that point. But point number four, the good heart hears, holds, and perseveres. The good heart hears, holds, and perseveres. The good soul, soil, hears God's word, holds on to it, and perseveres until it bears fruit. The difference isn't hearing the word, it's faithfully responding to it. Fruit doesn't appear overnight. In a culture that wants instant results, Jesus reminds us that spiritual maturity grows through patient obedience, trusting God even when we can't yet see the harvest, because his purposes will always prevail. Listen, a farmer doesn't dig up the seed every day to check its progress. You know why? Because he'll kill it, right? He plants it, he waters it, and trusts that it is growing and happening underneath the surface. The same is true in your spiritual life. You can't just dig up the seed and dig up the seed and uproot the plant. Back to point number one. You have to water, you have to fertilize. Do you know sometimes the hard times in your life are the manure that fertilizes the seed? You know what the best fertilizer is? Manure. I'm gonna say the right words, okay? Manure. That's the best fertilizer. Because we have to hold fast to God's word, regardless of your circumstances, your feelings, or how long the harvest seems to take. You know, one of the amazing things that Crystal and I, we often do, we've been your pastors now since 2012. So we've been here 14 years. And the cool part is we can sit back and look at what we've seeded, what we've watered. And some of you sitting in this room are the harvest. I remember some of you when you came into this place, you were rough, right? And some of you in this place right now, you're rough. But what's been amazing to see that as you get planted, as you're watered, as you're cultivated, as we take out the weeds from around your heart, from around your life, I've got to see so many people grow and blossom and bear so much fruit. But here's the hard part. Sometimes you seed and water people, and you don't see the best fruit until they've moved on. And that's the hard part. You know, sometimes this pastor, it's my job to be a pastor for a season. Sometimes people move away. Sometimes people, God moves them, and it's cool to see. I get to see some of our some of our first staff, one of our very first youth pastors is now a lead pastor in the district. Let me tell you, he was like me when we first started. He was a hot mess. I was a hot mess. We were all hot messes, right? And I get to see him now. He's uh pastoring a church in On Alaska, Texas. Don't worry, I don't know where that is either. Uh and but if I needed to go see him, I could put I could ask Siri, she could get me there. Uh and so, but the cool thing is, I got to see God work, and we watered and seeded him in his time, and he moved on. But some of you today, you stop right before your fruit breaks through the surface. You work, you press, you weed, and just before your breakthrough, you stop. And guys, good soil is not identified by how loudly it receives God's word, God's word, but by how faithfully it lives it out. Guys, sometimes the most faithful people of God are the quietest. Guys, let me tell you, you get to see me on this stage every Sunday morning playing the guitar, yelling at you. But it takes many faithful people to make this happen. Do you know there's some amazing people in the back watching your kids? So you can be in here and we don't have to worry about the kids distracting us. There's people that got here early and made coffee. Why? So that you could walk in and have a fresh cup of coffee. Did you know that there's people that were scheduled to be at the door to shake your hand on the way in just so that you could feel welcome and feel greeted? Did you know there's a team of people that made sure you had offering envelopes? There's a team of people that made sure you had pens. There's a team of people that made sure you had Kleenexes for your nasty, snotty nose when God's just getting right. Because let me tell you, you never know that the church doesn't have a Kleenex person until you need a Kleenex and there's no Kleenex in the church. Amen. I've been to many of funerals and I said this church doesn't have a Kleenex lady. But listen, that Kleenex lady is the unsung hero of the church, amen. So let me tell you. Sometimes God calls you to seasons of faithfulness. Sometimes God calls you to seasons of being the Kleenex lady. Because He's preparing you for the seasons where you're no longer the Kleenex lady and you have some bigger jobs. But your humility in the Kleenex lady will prepare you for when you're in front of everybody else. Because you know one thing I've learned as a pastor if someone can't thrive as a Kleenex lady, they won't thrive when they're in charge. Because when the pressure comes, if they couldn't thrive, the criticism is the Kleenex lady, they're gonna crumble. And so what I'm asking you today is what fruit are you bearing? Do you show up and sit down and do nothing else? That's not fruit. So what are our transformational moments this morning? As the worship team makes their way back. My first question What is the condition of your heart when you hear God's word? Are you receiving it, resisting, or simply moving on from it? Sometimes you walk into this place, hear a very impactful message that God really touched you, you get in this altar, pour your heart out, and then when you leave, you forget it. You know what good that is? Nothing. It does absolutely nothing for your heart. That's the rocky soil. Number two, where have you allowed shallow faith to replace deep roots? Guys, I see all this all over the church, and when I say the church, I see big C church. I'm not just talking about Hope Church. We have a lot of people with shallow faith. You spend more time posting Bible and scripture on your Facebook than you actually do hiding it in your heart. I get so sick and tired of all the Bible highlighting and the coffee. It's like you don't have to do that. Just read your Bible and let us see it in your life. We don't need to see it on your Instagram. Now I know some of you are like, it's pretty. I like it. Okay, cool. But we live in a world of shallow faith. We live in a world where Christians scream the loudest, but nobody still wants to work in a restaurant on Sunday because the church people are the awful people. Number three, when you walk out of the room today, what will you do differently because you heard God's word? That's what I want to ask you today. You've heard this message. What are you gonna do different? Some of you need to sign up for a small group. Don't worry, take your phone. I will not be offended if you grab your phone right now, tap the tag in front of you, and sign up for a small group. Because if you don't do it now, you're not gonna do it. Now, if you're like, well, pastor marriage groups tonight, I'm not in the marriage, I'm not marrying. Okay, cool. As April said, we have 14 other groups. We've got so many groups, we've got so many great teachers, they fired me. It's okay. I'm fine with being fired, right? So I get to go to groups. So you know what I'm doing? Instead of being fired and not being in a group, you know what I'm doing? I'm taking my time and going to all the groups. Because guess what? You know what pastor can do? Pastor can learn too. We all have something to learn, we never stop learning. And so, my question for you today is what are you going to do differently? So, before I get there, I want to provide a moment because here at Hope Church, we always provide a moment for those that don't know Jesus. You may have walked into this room this morning and you don't know who God is. And let me tell you, walking with God begins with the relationship with Him. And so, what we're about to do in this moment is give you an opportunity to begin your relationship with God. Now, this isn't the final step, this is the first step. This is the first step of putting the seed into the soil. After this, you begin to water it, you begin to fertilize it and watch it grow. If you're sitting here this morning, you're like, Pastor, you speak about Jesus, but I don't know who he is. I encourage you this morning. I'm about to pray a prayer, and if you feel God tug it at your heart, just repeat after me. And I truly believe if you mean what you pray, God will save your soul today. Let's pray, dear Jesus. I'm a sinner. I need your love in my life. Forgive me where I failed you. I give my heart to you today. Take my life, use it for your purpose. In Jesus' name. Amen.