SPEAKER_00: All right, good morning, Lake Church.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take our Bibles turn to Mark chapter number four this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter number four.
SPEAKER_00: While you find your place, who enjoyed the pancakes this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jacob, Destiny, Shane, Denise, all the ones that were mixing and griddling and all the stuff that was going on.
SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: Now look, let me, I was thinking about this today.
SPEAKER_00: I might have needed to think about this a little more before I load y'all up on carbs and sugar and then expect you to stay awake during the service.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to let this be a trial, a test.
SPEAKER_00: And if y'all stay awake, then we might do it again.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: We'll have pancake breakfast again.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody that I talked to had a most of most people had a different pancake and they all said it was the best one.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to have to do a poll or a vote.
SPEAKER_00: But uh I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't going to eat one, but I had a banana foster pancake, which is probably not a good idea when I'm coming to preach.
SPEAKER_00: So if you if a little banana foster comes up, y'all just keep going.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be all right.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Mark chapter 4, verse number one.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to look at, uh we're going to read it and then get into it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh verse number one, it says, And again he began to teach by the sea, and a great multitude was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
SPEAKER_00: Then he taught them many things by parables, and said to them in his teaching, Listen, behold, a sower went out to sow.
SPEAKER_00: And it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
SPEAKER_00: Some some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
SPEAKER_00: But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
SPEAKER_00: And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
SPEAKER_00: But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up and increased and produced some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for this time of worship.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray that you would just prepare our hearts right now as we open up your word and let the supernatural power of your word do a work in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we need you.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: And we praise you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I love this time of year.
SPEAKER_00: You know, springtime, it's not too hot yet, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's good weather.
SPEAKER_00: Mosquitoes aren't too bad yet.
SPEAKER_00: Things are blooming, things are coming alive.
SPEAKER_00: This is a season when things uh start growing, things start blossoming, right?
SPEAKER_00: And me and Britney decided on a whim that we would build a garden this year.
SPEAKER_00: When I say me and Britney decided, it was kind of like her she decided, and she said, I needed to build a garden.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we we we we decided to do garden boxes.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because we wanted, we didn't want to use our soil that we have at the house.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's just old field, it's weeds all in it.
SPEAKER_00: So we we build a garden box to control the soil that we have.
SPEAKER_00: And I got a few pictures of uh of us building it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not good with fitting the pictures yet, so me and Nathan look really stretched out here.
SPEAKER_00: But we didn't really look like that on that day.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the garden box, me and Nathan's working on it, and then that's Nathan drilling uh the the garden box, and then we got another one.
SPEAKER_00: Uh there, wait, let's let's back up.
SPEAKER_00: Go to the next one.
SPEAKER_00: I've got them out of order.
SPEAKER_00: Go to the next one.
SPEAKER_00: I got one a shoveling.
SPEAKER_00: I might not have put it.
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
SPEAKER_00: Notice, notice how Britney is supervising all of the work.
SPEAKER_00: Me and Nathan shoveling the soil.
SPEAKER_00: What I want you to see is look how nice that soil looks.
SPEAKER_00: Rich, dark, moist soil.
SPEAKER_00: All right, go to the next one, the garden box.
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, nice garden box uh that we built about a month ago.
SPEAKER_00: And then let's go to the one that should have been last that I probably put in the wrong order.
SPEAKER_00: That is currently what our garden looks like.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: We are growing some things in there.
SPEAKER_00: We got all kinds of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, Britney's the mastermind behind it.
SPEAKER_00: But we have prepared these garden boxes and we got this soil from Louisiana nursery, and it's got fertilizer in it, and it's nice because what we understand here is that life or you know, growth happens not just from the seed, but the soil.
SPEAKER_00: The soil is important, right?
SPEAKER_00: The soil has to be right or growth does not happen.
SPEAKER_00: Growth doesn't start really with the seed, it starts with the soil.
SPEAKER_00: Before we ever put a seed in the garden box, we had to get the soil right.
SPEAKER_00: We had to make the box and we had to fertilize it, we had to do all this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Look, you can have the greatest, most expensive seed, but if you place it on a hard ground with bad soil, it's not gonna do anything, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because growth is determined by the soil.
SPEAKER_00: If the soil is wrong, then nothing grows.
SPEAKER_00: God's desire for us is to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Something wrong if a Christian isn't growing.
SPEAKER_00: God's desire for us is to bear fruit, right?
SPEAKER_00: And our growth depends on our soil.
SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, we know where we're going with this.
SPEAKER_00: What is the soil?
SPEAKER_00: The heart, right?
SPEAKER_00: Our heart is the soil.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to ask you this question this morning.
SPEAKER_00: How is your soil?
SPEAKER_00: The question is not if God is trying to speak to you, if God is trying to plant something in you, it's are you listening and are you receiving it?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a heart that is receptive to the seed?
SPEAKER_00: Now, every single one of us this morning has something in common.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us are here at Lake Church, most of us filled up on pancakes.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us, you know, all of us here are listening to the same message from the same messenger, and you're hearing the same Bible, the same truth.
SPEAKER_00: You're sitting in the same church, but there's one main difference.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of us have different soil.
SPEAKER_00: And every single one of us will have different results from what we hear, depending on the condition of our heart.
SPEAKER_00: You know, preaching is a funny thing because sometimes I'll preach a message and somebody will come up to me after service crying because God spoke to them so clearly and so powerfully, and then some people will sleep through the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: Some people will be angry and some people will be joyful.
SPEAKER_00: Some people will be convicted and some people will be challenged.
SPEAKER_00: Some people will leave here the same, and some people will leave here changed.
SPEAKER_00: Some people may leave lost and some people may leave saved.
SPEAKER_00: And it all depends on the soil.
SPEAKER_00: God has created us to bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00: As believers, we are to receive the seed, uh, but it all depends on our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's been said before, you know, the same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: It all comes down to what's inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: And God's not interested in your talents, he's not interested in your abilities, he's not interested in your knowledge or what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: God is interested in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And church, we're gonna, for the next few months, we we're gonna be focusing a lot on the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Because the heart of the matter is always a matter of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: It always comes down to our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus gives this parable here to reveal that where our hearts are, how our hearts are, the condition of our heart is the main thing in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And we can get so focused on all the other things in this world.
SPEAKER_00: We can even get focused on religion and being busy and you know, different things.
SPEAKER_00: But but it comes down to how is your heart, and is it receptive to God this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Are you in a place where he can do a work in your heart?
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to I want to keep this very simple, straightforward, and to the point.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give you uh three quick thoughts this morning.
SPEAKER_00: First, I want you to notice the process.
SPEAKER_00: The process.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus is telling a parable here, and this parable, a parable is a story that has a deeper meaning.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus expresses and teaches on parables, he is hiding truth for some and revealing truth to others.
SPEAKER_00: You see, what's happening here is those that are really seeking him, those that are really hungry and really wanting to grow, he gives them some things to think about and to apply so that they can grow.
SPEAKER_00: But those that are not really, really seeking Christ, it goes above their head.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't stick, it doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is speaking to those that want to go deeper, to those that want to grow in their in their walk with him.
SPEAKER_00: And he uses a physical illustration to point to a deeper meaning.
SPEAKER_00: And he gives us this parable of the sower and the seed and the soil.
SPEAKER_00: And uh what I love about this is that Jesus gives us the meaning after he gives us the parable.
SPEAKER_00: Is anybody glad that he does that?
SPEAKER_00: You know, he doesn't always do that.
SPEAKER_00: But he gave us the meaning, and you keep reading, he tells us exactly what he means here and what this parable really, the meaning behind it.
SPEAKER_00: And it reminds me of when I was in school, uh, maybe some of y'all can relate, maybe some of you can't, but we had these books that we would go through and you have to answer questions in the book, and then how many of y'all remember a lot of times they had the answers in the back of the book?
SPEAKER_00: And I would actually try to answer a few of them without looking in the back of the book, but then I would be like, well, the answer is just in the back of the book.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna go to the back of the book and get the answers.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, it's like we go to the back of the book here, and Jesus reveals to us what he is trying to teach us in this parable.
SPEAKER_00: And we see there's three elements to this parable.
SPEAKER_00: There's three elements to this parable that Jesus gives.
SPEAKER_00: The sower, there's a sower, there's a seed, and there's a soil, right?
SPEAKER_00: Plain, simple, straight, forward, no confusion here.
SPEAKER_00: There's a sower, there's a seed, and there's a soil.
SPEAKER_00: The sower is who is planting, the seed is what he is planting, and the soil is where it's being planted.
SPEAKER_00: The sower is the one who is preaching, proclaiming, and planting God's truth.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And look, we are all called to be planters.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just my job to plant.
SPEAKER_00: It's not Pastor Byron's job to plant.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, it's not Pastor Kirk's job just to plant.
SPEAKER_00: We are all called to plant.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus prayed that God would send more laborers into the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: You in in one aspect, every single person in here, you are called to preach.
SPEAKER_00: You're called to proclaim truth.
SPEAKER_00: You're called to share this life-giving message of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what it is, right?
SPEAKER_00: The seed we see is a is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is a life-changing and life-giving message that we are that we are sharing.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can't bring the increase, but we can plant the seed.
SPEAKER_00: When you go on your jobs, when you go in your your school, when you go wherever it is you go, every single day you are planting.
SPEAKER_00: And we are called to plant the seeds of truth into the hearts of people.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a powerful message.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because there is life in the seed.
SPEAKER_00: Just like a seed.
SPEAKER_00: See that little thing right there?
SPEAKER_00: That came from a seed.
SPEAKER_00: There's life in a seed.
SPEAKER_00: The seed is a picture of the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And there's life, there's living truth in the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a picture of the gospel, the gospel, which is a message that changes and gives life.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just a message to clean you up, it's a message to change your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's a message that transforms you from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: It's life-giving.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4 12 says the word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, right?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us in Peter, he says that it's uh we we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, the word of God which lives and abides forever.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you.
SPEAKER_00: There is power in the message, in the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Look, there's no power in the messenger.
SPEAKER_00: Not in me, anyway.
SPEAKER_00: There's no power in us other than God in us, but there's power in the message that we proclaim to the world.
SPEAKER_00: It changes lives, it gives new life.
SPEAKER_00: And there's an agricultural term called germination.
SPEAKER_00: Germination is the process when a seed goes from being dormant to bringing new life.
SPEAKER_00: And it and it really becomes a living organism, right?
SPEAKER_00: This seed goes in the ground, and the seed must break down and then it sprouts new life.
SPEAKER_00: What a picture of what the gospel does in us.
SPEAKER_00: The seed of the word of God, the gospel is planted into hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And it must break down.
SPEAKER_00: There must be conviction.
SPEAKER_00: There must be humility.
SPEAKER_00: There must be a dying to self.
SPEAKER_00: And then it results in new life.
SPEAKER_00: You can't have transformation without the process of breaking down.
SPEAKER_00: You can't have salvation without repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Without God doing a transformative work in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: We see this process that God takes a seed.
SPEAKER_00: A sower plants a seed and he plants it in the soil, which we see is the heart of men and women.
SPEAKER_00: Men and women, it's the heart that receives the seed, and God brings new life.
SPEAKER_00: That's the power of this message.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: A new creation.
SPEAKER_00: Old things are passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, all things become new.
SPEAKER_00: And before we move on, you have to ask yourself, has that process happened in my life?
SPEAKER_00: Has God done a work through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Word?
SPEAKER_00: Has the gospel changed my life?
SPEAKER_00: Or has this a better question?
SPEAKER_00: Has the gospel given me life?
SPEAKER_00: Has the gospel breathed like the verse Olivia read earlier?
SPEAKER_00: But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, has made us alive in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That we have life through his name.
SPEAKER_00: We see not only the process, we see there's Jesus gets into a problem.
SPEAKER_00: Look, the problem in this parable is not with the sower, and it's not with the seed.
SPEAKER_00: The problem's with what?
SPEAKER_00: The what?
SPEAKER_00: The soil, the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe it's important that we remember that.
SPEAKER_00: Because how many have been Christians long enough to realize that we are our own greatest enemy?
SPEAKER_00: I got enough problem just controlling my own situation sometimes, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: We are our own biggest enemy.
SPEAKER_00: We are our own greatest problem.
SPEAKER_00: And the problem is with our own heart.
SPEAKER_00: You can look religious on the outside, you can go through the motions, but look, the problem is an internal work, not external.
SPEAKER_00: The problem's with the soil.
SPEAKER_00: The problem sometimes is below the surface.
SPEAKER_00: It's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: Look, if you're not growing, I'm talking to believers right here.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not growing, maybe we need to look at our own soil.
SPEAKER_00: Because everywhere you go, you take that soil with you.
SPEAKER_00: You can change the external, you can change the elements around you, but if you're not growing, maybe it's the soil that you're taking with you everywhere you go.
SPEAKER_00: Look, it's not always the pastor and the preacher and the church and the music and the and the lights and the and the uh the leadership or the the whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we need to look at our own heart.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I was I was hoping I'd get a couple amens right there.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what spiritual maturity is.
SPEAKER_00: When you stop pointing the finger everywhere else and you start saying, maybe there's a problem within myself.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe, just maybe, I don't want to point y'all out or point anybody out, but maybe I'll just use myself.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the problem sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the problem is with the soil, and every everywhere you go, you're taking the problem with you.
SPEAKER_00: God is wanting to do a work in our hearts, in our soil, in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and he reveals here that there's three problems with the soil that Jesus shares here.
SPEAKER_00: There's three different problems with uh the soil, which is a picture of our heart, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh and we see first off there's the hard soil.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 15 it says, and these were the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.
SPEAKER_00: When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this wayside is a is a uh picture of a road that's being well traveled on.
SPEAKER_00: They continually walked on this side of the road, this wayside, and it and what happens when you continually walk and travel on something?
SPEAKER_00: It gets hard, right?
SPEAKER_00: It gets hard.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and this the the seed is not being able to penetrate this hard soil.
SPEAKER_00: It's impenetrable soil.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I got some crepe myrtles.
SPEAKER_00: Is it crepe myrtles or crepe myrtles?
SPEAKER_00: Crepe, like pancakes?
SPEAKER_00: But I got some crepe myrtles, and uh I got them on each side of my house.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them are taken off and they're they look beautiful, right?
SPEAKER_00: Some of them, I think I just need to pull them up.
SPEAKER_00: We got them the same place, we got them the same time, we planted them the same day in the same way.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them they just need to be embarrassing, and some of them, you know, a couple of them look really great.
SPEAKER_00: What is the difference?
SPEAKER_00: It's not the crepe myrtles, it's the soil that is planted in.
SPEAKER_00: On one side of my house is it's hard soil, but on the other side is rich and fertile soil.
SPEAKER_00: It does not grow in hard soil.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe we can take this parable, and this primarily is focusing on people that receive or reject the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of what Jesus is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about genuine salvation or not genuine salvation.
SPEAKER_00: But I do believe hard hearts does not discriminate.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody ever struggle with hard hearts at times?
SPEAKER_00: Or things happen in your life and it feels like you're not growing anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Or you go through life or you go through a season where you're not growing or not bearing fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And I started thinking, what are some things that could cause hard hearts?
SPEAKER_00: What are some things that keep people from coming to Christ, receiving Christ, or keep believers from growing in their walk with Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And I believe one thing is just experiencing the pain and heartache and suffering of life.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes people deal with things in life, and in response to the bad that happens, you receive, you the result is bad soil.
SPEAKER_00: And I know people right now that bad things have happened in their life, and they're turning the blame on God.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunate things.
SPEAKER_00: And heartache and suffering and pain and tragedy strikes.
SPEAKER_00: And instead of running to God, they turn their heart from God and it becomes harder and harder and harder.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe another one.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a big one.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe being hurt by people.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody ever been there?
SPEAKER_00: And your hurt that is unhealed can make your heart hard.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not careful, things in life can happen and people can hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: And you can let the hurt harden your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The hurt turns into anger and to bitterness and to resentment.
SPEAKER_00: And it makes you a dried-up, just fruitless Christian.
SPEAKER_00: You can't help what that person did to you.
SPEAKER_00: But you can help if your heart becomes hard because of it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the hurt from other people turn your heart away from God.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, God did not hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's religious, uh, bad religious or church experience.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've seen hypocrisy or church abuse or corruption, or people that are not supposed to do you wrong did you wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's pride.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's sin.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's disobedience.
SPEAKER_00: You have a stubborn heart against God.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, this hardness, this is the thing, it does not happen all at once.
SPEAKER_00: Slowly over time, being trampled on by different things in life can make your heart not receptive to the seed and to the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And when the heart gets hard, the seed gets stolen by the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: We see the hard soil.
SPEAKER_00: We also see the shallow soil.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse number 16.
SPEAKER_00: It says, These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness.
SPEAKER_00: And they have no root in themselves, so they endure, look at there, only for a time.
SPEAKER_00: Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.
SPEAKER_00: This is like throwing some dirt on a rock.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe seeing a little growth for a while, but there's no depth.
SPEAKER_00: And without depth, there's no durability.
SPEAKER_00: You can't grow with shallow faith.
SPEAKER_00: It appears to grow, but there's no roots.
SPEAKER_00: The roots can't take place.
SPEAKER_00: How many gardeners here know you can't grow good tomatoes in shallow soil?
SPEAKER_00: You can't grow good watermelons with this much soil, right?
SPEAKER_00: You need some depth.
SPEAKER_00: You need some uh where the roots can take place and and and you can really get in there.
SPEAKER_00: But this is what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there are people that make an emotional decision, but not an eternal decision.
SPEAKER_00: And I've seen people before that they, I mean, I used to get excited about this.
SPEAKER_00: You know, they take off like a rocket, like seem like they're on fire for God.
SPEAKER_00: They look like great church members, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, do anything, handle anything.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I love that, but the problem is I've seen many times that just as fast as they started, they faded.
SPEAKER_00: Just as fast as they got in, they got out.
SPEAKER_00: Because persecution or tribulation or or a trap from the enemy made them stumble, made them fall, shook their faith, and it rocked them to the core, or they got mad or got offended or said, This, okay, this isn't for me anymore.
SPEAKER_00: They lasted for a season.
SPEAKER_00: They received it with gladness, but then they walked away from the faith.
SPEAKER_00: I believe this, you know, again, it's a picture of salvation where people do not truly receive, but I also believe we have people that are not properly discipled and not growing in their faith and letting the roots get deep.
SPEAKER_00: And then when the storms come, it causes you to fall.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know the trees that usually fall in the storm or the tall ones with shallow roots.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how great of a Christian you look like.
SPEAKER_00: What matters is the depth.
SPEAKER_00: You have to grow down before you grow up.
SPEAKER_00: You have to have depth in your faith and grow internally before God can do a great external work in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And then we see there is uh the crowded soil.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse number 18.
SPEAKER_00: Now these are the ones sown among thorns, they are the ones who hear the word and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things entering in.
SPEAKER_00: Choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
SPEAKER_00: These are the ones sown on thorny ground.
SPEAKER_00: It's not hard, it's not shallow, it's just too crowded.
SPEAKER_00: There's too many things competing for the seed.
SPEAKER_00: And this is dangerous because on the surface it may look good.
SPEAKER_00: May all look green on the surface.
SPEAKER_00: You know, in my yard, uh I started getting these little weeds, they're little yellow flower heads on it, and they're running out, they just popped up out of nowhere this year and taken off.
SPEAKER_00: I Googled it, I can't remember what it what it is.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I was planning on treating it, but I haven't.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when you cut it, it all looks green.
SPEAKER_00: When you just keep it cut, it just all looks good from the road.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's sometimes, you know, we may think we look good on the outside, but what is really going on underneath the surface?
SPEAKER_00: The weeds in our hearts and in our life that's stealing the nutrients and blocking the sunlight and that's robbing the good stuff from really growing.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not careful, as believers, we can deal with weeds in our life.
SPEAKER_00: We what's he say here?
SPEAKER_00: Deceitfulness of riches.
SPEAKER_00: Focused only on things of this world, focused only on making money, focused only on social status or success or making a name for ourselves or whatever, focusing on earthly things and not eternal things.
SPEAKER_00: Things that's gonna fade and things that don't really matter when God is wanting to not compete.
SPEAKER_00: Look, God does not compete with the things of this world.
SPEAKER_00: We have to surrender our heart to him.
SPEAKER_00: He's not gonna try to push out things in our life.
SPEAKER_00: We have to make that decision that I'm gonna give my heart to him because he is my creator and I owe him my all.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we have to come to realize is that anything we put before God is pushing out God.
SPEAKER_00: So, how's our soil?
SPEAKER_00: What is going on in our heart?
SPEAKER_00: And here's the tricky thing.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes what we put before God can look like good things.
SPEAKER_00: It can look like things that are good and noble and even religious things, ministry.
SPEAKER_00: But when you put it before Him, you can't experience the fruit and the growth that God has for you.
SPEAKER_00: We need to ask ourselves this question: what are the weeds in our life that's choking out the word that God is trying to plant in our heart?
SPEAKER_00: And I want to give you one more thought this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We see the produce.
SPEAKER_00: The produce.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 20.
SPEAKER_00: But these are the ones sown on good ground.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say, good ground.
SPEAKER_00: Those who hear the word, accept it and bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Some thirtyfold, some 60, and some a hundred.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we said that God's desire for us is to bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here and you're not a believer, God's desire is to plant the gospel in your heart, change your life, and use you to reveal Jesus to this world.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here and you are a believer, God has changed your life, and he wants to use you in an even greater way to reveal Jesus to this world.
SPEAKER_00: The fruit is the evidence of our faith.
SPEAKER_00: The fruit is what the world sees, that the character of Christ within us.
SPEAKER_00: The fruit only comes as a result of good soil.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, the fruit will come when there is good soil.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to force fruit.
SPEAKER_00: You just plant it in the right conditions, have the right soil, the right seed, and it will naturally grow on its own.
SPEAKER_00: But the condition of the soil determines the quality of the fruit.
SPEAKER_00: As believers, we need to guard our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Tend to our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Pray like David, God, search my heart.
SPEAKER_00: See if there's any wicked ways.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, lead me in the way of everlasting.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry so much about the quantity of the fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Worry about the quality of the soil.
SPEAKER_00: Because fruit will naturally grow.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
SPEAKER_00: But without me, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_00: The fruit will come.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the great thing: fruit has a potential to produce more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And every produce, whether it's a vegetable or fruit or whatever, there is a seed that you can plant and create more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Has anybody ever told that if you eat a watermelon seed, you're gonna grow a watermelon in your belly?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it works that way.
SPEAKER_00: But that seed, if you plant it, it will produce more fruit, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we should strive to be Christians that bear much fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Look, don't worry about the quantity.
SPEAKER_00: That's up to God.
SPEAKER_00: You worry about the quality of the soil.
SPEAKER_00: Some will produce hundreds, some will produce 60, some 30.
SPEAKER_00: You worry about the quality of the soil.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you can control.
SPEAKER_00: But we should strive to be Christians that bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And not just a little fruit, but fruit that lasts and fruit that reproduces.
SPEAKER_00: About a few months ago, I guess I don't know how long ago it was, beginning of this year, maybe my parents gave me a live oak tree that they grew from a little seed, and they got this seed from a tree that my grandfather planted.
SPEAKER_00: How long ago?
SPEAKER_00: 40 years?
SPEAKER_00: 50?
SPEAKER_00: 50 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: 40, 50 years ago, he planted a tree at my parents' house, and daddy was working, you know, had a lot going on, but my papa would go over there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we call him in Livingston.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what y'all say.
SPEAKER_00: My papa, he would go over there and he would take some water bucket and he would water that little seed.
SPEAKER_00: Just a seed every day.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe not every day, but he would water it a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And y'all now that seed, you know, it grew as a little tree and it got bigger and it got bigger.
SPEAKER_00: Now you can't even get through the driveway.
SPEAKER_00: Because he's got to trim the tree.
SPEAKER_00: The tree literally goes over the driveway.
SPEAKER_00: He's got to cut a little pathway.
SPEAKER_00: From a little seed.
SPEAKER_00: But he took a seed, took an acorn from that tree, and he planted it.
SPEAKER_00: My parents planted it, a bunch of different ones.
SPEAKER_00: They gave it to me and my siblings.
SPEAKER_00: Me and Nathan planted that tree, and it's only about this big right now.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's about this big man.
SPEAKER_00: It was about this big when we planted it.
SPEAKER_00: But one day, y'all know what's gonna happen?
SPEAKER_00: That tree is gonna take up so much room, I'm probably gonna get aggravated with it.
SPEAKER_00: Because in the right soil, it will grow.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what the multiplying effect of planting and sowing.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing, I've told y'all this before.
SPEAKER_00: My my grandfather, he was a gentle, kind, humble man.
SPEAKER_00: He passed down a tree, but he passed down a lot more than that.
SPEAKER_00: And he passed down to my dad, those of y'all that know my dad, gentle and kind.
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, some of y'all can say about me, if you don't know me too well, now hopefully you can say about me that I am gentle and kind.
SPEAKER_00: You know what's beautiful about that?
SPEAKER_00: That's really the character of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus described himself as gentle and kind.
SPEAKER_00: What are you planting?
SPEAKER_00: And what is God growing?
SPEAKER_00: What are you allowing him to do in your life?
SPEAKER_00: It affects more than just you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pass down to my kids something greater than material things.
SPEAKER_00: But it's gonna start in me just like it has to start in you.
SPEAKER_00: And it starts with having your heart prepared and ready to receive what God is wanting to do in your life.
SPEAKER_00: I want to close with this.
SPEAKER_00: We have our worship team come forward this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you're listening to this message, same soil, same seed, same sower, different soil, right?
SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to this message and you're thinking about somebody else's soil, you've missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking about your spouse's soil, you're like, oh, I wish they was here, or I hope they listen and nudging them.
SPEAKER_00: You're you missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: That happened, didn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all, you know, if you're if you're thinking about your kids, if you're thinking about, look, you missed it.
SPEAKER_00: Comes down to us.
SPEAKER_00: Comes down to what am I gonna allow God to do in my heart, in my life.
SPEAKER_00: I I believe every single one of us, I'm again, I'll speak for myself.
SPEAKER_00: Throughout my life, I've had every different type of soil that Jesus mentioned here.
SPEAKER_00: As a belief as an unbeliever, I'm in a false profession of faith.
SPEAKER_00: It was shallow, it was not true salvation, it bore no fruit, there was no change, there was no evidence.
SPEAKER_00: As a young boy, I went my teenage years confused.
SPEAKER_00: It was shallow soil.
SPEAKER_00: And then God would start speaking to me and convicting me and knocking on my heart and saying something's not right.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what I'd do?
SPEAKER_00: I would harden my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe like some of you have done before.
SPEAKER_00: I would tell God, the God of the universe, the God who sent his son to die for me.
SPEAKER_00: I would tell that God no.
SPEAKER_00: And my heart was hard.
SPEAKER_00: And then I'll give y'all another one.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was around 18, 19 years old or so, God was starting to deal with me.
SPEAKER_00: Starting to make me realize that I wasn't a true believer.
SPEAKER_00: And y'all, I did the whole thing where I walked down the aisle and I prayed with the pastor.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing when I got up to go pray with the pastor, you know what I what went through my mind?
SPEAKER_00: I remember this like it was yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, there's not a whole lot of people here today, so I think I'll give my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You know what that means?
SPEAKER_00: I was too consumed with myself.
SPEAKER_00: I was too consumed with, I wasn't ready to let go of sin and things that I had in mind.
SPEAKER_00: That was not true salvation.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: You know what happened when I was about 21 years old?
SPEAKER_00: There was a preacher that started preaching the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And I sat there, I heard it my whole life, but there was something different this time.
SPEAKER_00: He, same message, same church, same uh, you know, one's preaching.
SPEAKER_00: But God began to convict my heart, he began to soften my heart, he began to do a work in my heart, and and it was when my heart was prepared and ready to receive the truth that he broke me, and I called upon Jesus to save me, and it was then that he changed my life.
SPEAKER_00: Same soil, same seed, same sower, different soil.
SPEAKER_00: I'm closing, I'm trying to land this here, but listen, I think about Judas and Peter.
SPEAKER_00: They both walked with Jesus, they both saw the miracles, they both heard the teaching, but one died and will hear, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: And one, he messed up, but then God used him to bear much fruit, three thousand in one day, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Same seed, same sower, but it all comes down to your soil.
SPEAKER_00: How is your soil this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Heads bowed.
SPEAKER_00: Let's close our eyes and really think.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to be, I want you to be honest with God.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be completely honest with God this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be honest with yourself.
SPEAKER_00: What soil do you relate to?
SPEAKER_00: What is holding you back from more fruit?
SPEAKER_00: Has your heart become hard?
SPEAKER_00: Has it become has your faith become shallow?
SPEAKER_00: Is your life crowded out by things and going on in your world right now?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you used to feel conviction and you don't feel it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you had a season when you were excited about Jesus, but it didn't last.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you haven't rejected God, but you just replaced him with other things, maybe not even bad things, but I got good news for you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever soil you have this morning, God can change it.
SPEAKER_00: He can break up the hard ground, he can deepen the shallow roots, he can clear out a crowded heart.
SPEAKER_00: God is greater than your heart, and he is a heart changer.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he does.
SPEAKER_00: He changes hearts, he gives new hearts, he gives new life through Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here this morning, you are not sure that you've truly received Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're like I was.
SPEAKER_00: If your heart right now, the seed is being thrown into your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, if your heart is receptive, the seed is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, and that all you have to do is place your faith in that truth.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says the gospel, it's the power of God unto salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It's the message that brings real, true life, eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Will you give your heart to Him today?
SPEAKER_00: Let's stand this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We have our prayer partners come forward.
SPEAKER_00: If you need prayer this morning, if you'd like to talk to someone about your salvation, we want to open this invitation up and I want you to respond while your heart is tender and receptive to the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: We need you.
SPEAKER_00: Pray, Holy Spirit, that you'd move in hearts at this moment.
SPEAKER_00: Soften the ones that's hard, convict, challenge, do a supernatural work.
SPEAKER_00: We are desperate and in need of you.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna sing, would you come this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We'll pray for you.