WEBVTT 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:24.719 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.760 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:34.719 Pray with me. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:50.159 God, how silly are we that the God of the universe, the King that makes all things, calls us to Him with mercy and grace, and yet we'll still run from you. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:51.679 We'll still do what we want to do. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:53.920 We'll still do our own preferences. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.719 Oh, how silly are we. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.159 God, you've demonstrated that you've got a long history of patience. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:09.359 But Lord, that should not be an excuse for us to ignore what you've done for us or what you're calling us to. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:11.200 And so let us not ignore you today. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:12.799 Let us hear from you. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:19.920 Holy Spirit, I pray in each believer that our hearts are ignited with a white hot fire for you. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.239 That we conduct ourselves in the ways of you, the ways of your kingdom, the ways that you command. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.159 I pray that you would clear away the distractions by the enemy. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:43.200 Let us just be free and our hearts and our minds open and our eyes and ears fully ready to receive you. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:45.280 Let us hear and listen. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.519 Speak, for your servants are ready to do your will. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.799 For it's in your name, Jesus, that I pray these things. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:53.760 Amen. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:59.120 Well, good morning or good day from wherever you're tuning into this. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.879 My name is Wade Burgess, and I'm the executive pastor here at Grand Parkway. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:15.759 And during this summer, uh we have been, meaning the staff and I, have been preaching through the parables of Jesus, really just stories that Jesus told to further illustrate his teaching or his points. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.360 Now, today's parable comes from Mark chapter four. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:28.479 And as you're turning there in your Bibles or maybe in your devices, I just want to give you a warning that I've given before when I've preached from a parable, and that is this. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:40.960 If you grew up in church or you're a longtime reader of the Bible, sometimes what can happen is we can tune out this idea of Jesus' stories because we think, yeah, I've heard it all before, I've read all that, yep, I know it. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:45.039 Oh my gosh, I've heard great preachers preach on it, et cetera, et cetera. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:58.639 What I want to challenge you with today is that let's approach today's story with a fresh set of eyes and ears as we understand what the Bible has to tell us and what does the Holy Spirit want us to hear. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:08.639 Most uh Bibles have this parable titled the Parable of the Growing Seed, but I want to add a little bit of a subtitle to that. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:11.120 My subtitle is Turning Loose the Word. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:12.800 How does God turn loose the word? 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.280 Now, this parable is unique to Mark. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:32.319 It's actually only found in Mark, and I think it may be one of the shortest parables we have, but I think it also has the potential of huge implications to our understanding of the kingdom of God, how God uses his word, and what's the role for us in that kingdom? 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.719 That's the three things I want to accomplish today. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.599 I want to maybe us unpack a little bit, letting the word do that for us. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.879 What is this kingdom of God that Jesus is talking about? 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:44.719 How does God use his word? 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.680 And what's our roles and responsibilities as believers in him? 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:53.199 Now, by way of background, let me just say this. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:57.919 Jesus has been healing and teaching, his actions have drawn quite a crowd. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.080 I mean, he's got all kinds of people coming to this: those that are in need, those that are curious. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:07.599 He's certainly got religious leaders of the day coming and hearing what he has to tell. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:13.759 And he has offered some concepts that really have just blown the minds of his audiences. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:20.240 The reason that has happened is because it's almost foreign to them what he's saying. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.639 Some of these concepts that he's given. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:35.040 The reason is that over time, man has stepped in and said, Oh, there's all kinds of rules and there's all kinds of enforcements to how you're supposed to love God and relate to him and all these things. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:42.720 There's these rules and really this math that you've got to be worn down by in order to have the right relationship with God. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:51.519 And instead, Jesus starts preaching and teaching in ways that says, oh no, it's not about enforcement or about gaining power. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.879 No, instead, it's about the music that God is calling you to. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.240 A music that God wants us to live by. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:12.000 And so, through his teaching and giving illustration after illustration on what is the kingdom of God like, trying to impress upon anyone that would listen, here's the right way to think about and the right way to relate to God. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:16.480 And so let's read together and see what the text reveals to us. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.000 This is Mark chapter 4, starting in verse 26. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.600 He, meaning Jesus, also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:34.240 A man scatters seed on the ground, night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he doesn't know how. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:42.639 All by itself, the soil produces grain, first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:48.480 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:52.720 Now I think a definition of the kingdom of God would be in order here. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:59.680 If Jesus has been telling his followers for a little while now, here's what the kingdom of God is like, and he's using story after story to illustrate that. 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:05.040 I think maybe we would do well to understand, well, what is exactly a kingdom? 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:09.519 Well, a kingdom is just an area or territory where a king reigns. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:10.639 It is the kingdom of. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.839 And so these folks were certainly familiar with that, with Rome's uh empire, with Rome's kingdom. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.879 They certainly knew what that meant, but it's the area by which a king reigns. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.480 So if we ask, well, the kingdom of God, so where does God reign? 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.120 Well, God reigns everywhere. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:31.199 God's been demonstrating that to us since Genesis 1. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:38.160 God was in the beginning before anything else was formed, and he formed it and created it, and so therefore God's reign is everywhere. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:44.399 So the kingdom of God would demonstrate that that kingdom, that territory, is everywhere God is. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:46.879 And God is everywhere. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:54.160 So Jesus is not so focused on, let's talk about the kingdom itself as to where is God's reign. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.199 He's saying, what is the kingdom's characteristics? 00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:59.120 What does that look like? 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.279 And it's the characteristics of the kingdom that Jesus is focused on. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:12.480 And I think this, I think it would stand to reason that the characteristics of the kingdom are certainly going to match the characteristics of the king. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:19.360 And so that's what Jesus is trying to demonstrate with these stories, with these parables. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:24.160 Jesus knows that the people have a wrong understanding of God's character. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:31.600 And he's trying to impress upon them, here is the right way to understand the kingdom of God and relate to it. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.759 Now, by the way, here's the crazy thing about the kingdom of God. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:42.319 If God is everywhere, and if you're a believer in him, therefore he is in us. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:43.759 John 14 says that. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:08:04.079 So if we take that logic of if God is everywhere, and everywhere he is is the kingdom of God, and if God lives in us, then the kingdom would be in us. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:15.439 Therefore, I think, in a sense, what Jesus is saying is when he says, this is what the kingdom of God is like, I'd go so far as to say, this is what you're supposed to be like. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:27.040 If the kingdom reflects the character of the king, and wherever the king is, that's where his kingdom is, then why wouldn't the kingdom of God be reflected in its believers? 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:38.159 Now, the audience, as you probably know, mostly consists of fishermen and farmers, and Jesus talks to them in examples and analogies that they fully understand. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:43.919 He never uses anything that goes over their heads or that they're not intimately familiar with. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:59.360 With that in mind, Jesus uses this theme of seeds and planting and harvest, not only because it's familiar to the audience, but it's a theme that Jesus has been using for, well, really, quite some time, this kind of consistent analogy that he's given to be helpful. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:05.279 Now, to better understand this short parable, I think we do well to reference the previous one. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.759 And I'm not going to read that one, but the previous one that he gives is called the parable of the sower. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.879 And it's one that's probably very familiar to most of us. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:19.600 And it's talking about the four soils where seeds get planted and what happens when you have those different kinds of soils and what that looks like. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.759 And so Jesus' followers are asking him, Well, what does that mean? 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:27.360 And he unpacks it for them in Mark about verse 13. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:33.679 And but he's continuing this idea of, well, what does the seed do? 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.679 And what's the kingdom of God like? 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.159 And what does that mean to us? 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:47.840 And so the way I want us to go through that is I want to take maybe not each word, but I want to break down these verses almost looking word for word. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:56.799 And by the way, I think that could teach us how to better read the Bible too, but it'll finally get me to my goal of how does God use his word and what's our role and responsibility. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:58.000 Now, here's a footnote. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:04.480 When I said better read the Bible, here's a little demonstration of how I think sometimes we should be studying the Bible. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:10.639 We should be asking about five questions when we read a section of the Bible. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:12.399 We should ask, what is it saying? 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:14.000 Just what does it read? 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.080 What are the words actually saying? 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:21.679 Two, we ought to be asking, what was its original context to that original audience? 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.559 What was its meaning to the original audience? 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.600 Three, what does it mean to us today? 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.919 Four, and more personal, what's it saying to me? 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.600 And then five, how do I apply what it's saying? 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:47.840 So let's go through this and see if we can break out some meaning here related to these words and see what exactly Jesus is talking about when he says the kingdom of God is like. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:51.120 This is what the kingdom of God is like. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:52.080 A man. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.120 Now, the man here in this is the farmer. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.000 Jesus refers to him back in early chapter four. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.000 It says a farmer went out to sow his seed. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:01.200 And so they're right with him. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.440 When he says a man, they're like, yep, I got you. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.600 A farmer, it's a guy planting. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.840 Absolutely, we understand where you're going. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.759 Now, who's the planner in this? 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.120 I think it's those that believe in God and his word. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:15.200 Why do I think that? 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.159 Because it says, a man scatters seed. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:23.919 Now, seed, a lot of times in the New Testament, particularly as Jesus is talking about it, is talking about the Word of God. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:31.360 He also referenced that in verse 14 of chapter 4, where it says, He sows the word. 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:34.320 And so the seed is just the word of God. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:37.600 So a man scatters seed on the ground. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.039 Now, what is the ground? 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:40.480 Well, it's the hearts of people. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.440 It's those soils that Jesus talked about. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:48.080 And so his hearers of this are certainly picking up what he's putting down. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.360 You've got a guy planting seed, which is really the word of God, and he's planting it in the hearts of people. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:04.559 So he says, verse 27, night and day, whether he sleeps, meaning the man sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though the man doesn't know how. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:08.240 All by itself, the soil produces. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.159 Now, what's the soil here? 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:11.840 Well, I think it's the heart. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:24.639 I think if if the ground, if the uh soil, the it is the hearts of people that this seed is going into, obviously the soil is that also, but I think the soil changes from just ground. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:36.879 I don't know exactly how to describe this, other than think about ground unprepared and that seed landing on it, and then think about soil that's been tilled and worked, maybe a little fertilizer added to it, and we'll get into that in just a moment. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:42.559 But I think the difference between ground and soil is really maturity. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:49.440 In my mind, it's going from that heart that receives the word to a heart that starts to mature in the word. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.320 That's what soil is here. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:57.679 And it says, verse 28, all by itself, the soil produces grain. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:01.679 Now he gives a little description there as a little stalk, and then, you know, it's kind of growing. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:09.679 You can think of a maybe a stalk of corn, you know, it starts out as a little sprout, and then it continues to grow up, and then pretty soon it's got this kernel of corn on it. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:15.360 The grain in this parable is really the fruit. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.639 It's the outward expression of what that seed has produced. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:32.559 So track with me, if the seed is the word of God and that's being planted in the hearts of people, and that soil matures, now it's producing fruit. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:37.519 It's the outward expression of living as God has commanded. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.000 First the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:45.120 Verse 29. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:48.960 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.679 Now the sickle is an instrument of gathering. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:57.039 Most of us know, you know, it's a blade to make sure that we can harvest whatever we're doing. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:01.440 Certainly uh folks in Jesus' day knew well what the sickle meant. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:09.200 It was this instrument of gathering, and in several places in the Bible, the sickle is an analogy of the harvest time. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:19.440 In fact, uh you can go as far as Revelation 14, about, I think it's about verse 13, an angel calls out, and the angel is calling to Jesus to say, gather your sickle. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.200 It is time for the harvest. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:28.159 And so sickle is just this instrument of gathering, and it says, because the harvest has come. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:31.039 The harvest is just the judgment time, the end time. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:39.200 This is when God is going to send Jesus back for his second time, and he is going to gather everyone for judgment. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.159 All right, so let's assume that makes sense. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:50.399 If you were here, I'd ask for a nod of heads, but let's just assume, for example, that this makes sense, and you might be saying, well, so what? 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.159 Yeah, that all makes great sense. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.600 What now? 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.039 Well, here's what I think all this means. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.960 I think it demonstrates to us how God uses his word. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.840 He plants it in the hearts of people, using his people. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.039 He lets it do its work. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:16.159 The sufficiency of the word, in and of itself, has power to do work all by itself. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:26.080 It's one of the very few things, I'm not sure it's not even the only thing, that in and of itself has power to do the full work that it needs to, without any catalyst or help. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.159 And we'll talk about that in a moment. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:34.639 And then third, I think God uses his word by bringing people to salvation. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:38.000 That realization of his revelation. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:44.720 Now, let me just say a word about the sufficiency and necessity of God's word. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:51.120 This this quote comes from a book by Greg Allen, and the book is entitled 50 Core Truths of Christian Faith. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:52.320 And this is what Mr. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:57.039 Allen had to say about sufficiency and the necessity of God's Word. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:13.440 It says this sufficiency is an attribute of the Scripture whereby it provides everything that people need to be saved, and everything that Christians need to please God fully. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:25.039 The necessity is an attribute of Scripture whereby it is essential for knowing the way of salvation, for progressing in holiness, and for discerning God's will. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:34.879 If I had to boil all that down, I might let Jared Wilson, an author and pastor, in fact, I think Jared is scheduled to speak at our men's retreat this fall. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:43.519 Jared was in a podcast and he says, here's the crazy thing about the gospel, the good news that Jesus brings, the good news of the Bible. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:45.039 He said, crazy thing. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:50.799 It's got the power to save, that power to convert from unbeliever to believer. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:55.840 But he said it also has all the deep stuff of Christianity. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.240 I think a lot of times we get hung up on, hey, you know what? 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.559 The gospel was good for my salvation, but uh, what else you got? 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:14.079 Oh, yeah, you gotta spread the gospel, you gotta tell uh the word of God, you've got to be sure you're planning and doing, and once it does that, then, well, we're kind of done. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.039 No, no. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:21.440 The gospel not only has the power to save, but has the power to mature toward holiness. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:26.480 God's word is all-sufficient, and it's absolutely necessary. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.200 So, how does God use his word? 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.519 How does God use his people? 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:34.880 Well, I want you to try this on for size. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:39.599 I want you to imagine four types of specialized farmers. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.799 And uh see if you can stick with me on this. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.599 This will not be hard to follow, but see if this makes sense. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.480 There's four types of specialized farmers, let's pretend. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:54.240 There's the ground preparers, and then there's the planters, and then there's the caretakers and the harvesters. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:01.920 I want to unpack each of those to demonstrate how I believe God uses his people for this spreading of his word. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.319 First, the ground preparers. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.119 Now, these are folks that never see the crop, okay? 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.680 Their job is to come in and get the ground ready, making it soil. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:16.640 They're going to add some things to it, uh, till it up, and really start getting it ready. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.920 Their job is the most important one first. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:25.200 Because if they don't do theirs, then no one else can do their job behind it. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:30.079 Now, sometimes you'll serve in this role if you're a believer in Christ. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:31.759 How do I know that? 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.079 Because you'll never know who's watching. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:39.119 What message are you sending about how you believe and what you believe? 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.640 How do you worry if you worry at all? 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:44.640 Are you consistent? 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:46.240 Can you be trusted? 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:50.960 Those are the kinds of things I think we get to demonstrate as ground preparers. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.960 Here's a quick example. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:19:00.160 Um, in our missional relationships locally here in Sugarland, we've got a partnership with a local elementary school. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:07.519 And as we mentor there, uh, any of our mentors will spend only an hour a week with a particular student. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.759 Just an hour a week. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.720 Now, I've been doing that for about 10 or 12 years now, and that's not a brag on me. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:20.480 What that is is to say that I have yet to receive a thank you card from any of those kids. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:21.039 Hey, Mr. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:22.559 Wade, thanks for spending time with me. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.799 Thank you for teaching me how to, whatever. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:28.240 I've never gotten that, and I'm not looking for that. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:34.720 My point is we never know, though, the impact that we have as ground preparers. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:42.240 We'll probably never see those kids when they reach 20s or 30s or certainly not in their 50s. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:54.480 But the impact we'll have had on them at age 8 or 10 or 13, I promise you, is preparing them for what God is going to do in them. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.079 The second type of farmer that I imagine is the planter. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.880 Now, without the first one, the ground preparer, the planter has no business being there. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.279 But with the ground preparer, here comes the planter. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.160 Now, when their time comes, they're the most important one. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.079 And they're gonna plant the seed. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.559 Now, these folks never see the crop either. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.480 They never get to see the really the work of their toil. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.039 Here's a quick example of maybe a planter. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:26.240 This is uh perhaps you at a gas station, and maybe there's an exchange between you and and the other patron. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:28.720 Or perhaps you bought someone's gas. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:30.640 I don't know, whatever it is. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:36.160 But it's something that demonstrates the kingdom, something that demonstrates the character of God. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.720 That's what a planter does. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.480 Now, the third specialized farmer in my mind is the caretaker. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:50.319 This is the one that does some watering, maybe some weeding, protecting of the plant. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:21:01.680 They start to see an indication of what's to come, maybe a little sprout or even a full stalk, but they're starting to see kind of how this work has started to come to fruition. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:03.920 But again, they never see the crop. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:05.839 You hear the theme? 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:15.039 Seeing the crop is not a requirement of us to plant the seed of God and to do his will. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:22.000 Many of us will serve in one of these three specialized roles, if you will. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:32.559 And we've got to be comfortable, still motivated, that even though we haven't seen the crop come in, it doesn't mean the work's not getting done. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:39.920 It doesn't change the job nor the trust that we have in the full sufficiency of God's word. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:45.279 And fully confident as to what God is doing. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:53.519 Now, I think a quick example of this idea of caretaker, a one that waters or weeds or does some things to protect that new stock. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:55.519 I think one example is a prayer champion. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.759 Last week you heard us uh in one of our video announcements talk about this pray for. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.880 Me campaign. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:08.799 And a prayer champion is someone that is going to take a name of one of our students from first through twelfth grade and they're going to pray for them for one year. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:13.119 That is the kind of caretaker I'm talking about. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:18.960 Or maybe it's a small group leader in our warehouse, or maybe it's a volunteer in our kids' building. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:23.200 I think he could even be a participant in our adult Sunday school classes. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.839 Someone that is there consistently demonstrating their faith. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.759 That's what a caretaker does. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.599 Now you might say, well, wait, when I go to Bible study, all I do is sit there. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:42.880 I mean, I listen to Tommy Hammer, he does a great job, and then I go, yeah, but your consistency, your presence, I promise you, is making a difference. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:55.599 And then the fourth type of specialized farmer, I think, that we have is God uses his people to plant his seed and to bring about that crop is the harvesters, obviously. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.759 These are the folks that see the crop. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.759 They participate in the harvest. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:14.160 Now, I I think maybe a quick example of this one is uh there's a man in our church, and part of his testimony is that he grew up kind of in a rough life, and it wasn't necessarily a safe house that he was in. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:19.599 Uh, he and his mom had to move, and it was a difficult upbringing for him. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:23.519 And he said from early on, I was wondering, God, are you real? 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:25.599 Are you even there? 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:30.559 I I hear a little bit of a whisper that maybe you are a sense, but God, I'm not sure. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.039 I really need you to come through for me. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:39.680 Says he grows up, he goes through high school and college and on and on, and he's still kind of asking this question, God, are you there? 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:44.799 Boy, if you just show yourself, God, if you just tell me that you're there, then that's when I know that I can count. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.039 If you just tell me that you're there. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:54.000 He says he's in adulthood and he's got a job and he's working in this bank of cubicles for this office. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:00.559 He says he's working one day, and literally he's thinking in this moment, he's thinking, God, if you're real, I just need to know it. 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.160 I need to know you're there. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:11.599 And he says about two seconds later, his coworker, who he hadn't really talked to a whole lot, is behind him in a cubicle, and the coworker turns to him and says, Hey, God loves you. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:12.799 Guy turns back around. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:13.519 He's like, What? 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:14.240 What'd you say? 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:16.400 Yeah, I don't know why I was supposed to say that. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.079 I just kind of felt this overwhelming sense I was supposed to say God loves you. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:26.160 And so my friend, he turned back around and he said, That's when I knew God was real. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:29.839 And he'd been with me all along. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:39.039 Because in that moment, I started recalling all the things God had done for me, the way he had protected me, all the ways he had said, Yeah, I was right there with you. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:44.880 The guy in the cubicle that said God loves you, I would argue as a harvester. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:59.039 Someone who, after God has uh planted the seed and worked the soil, after he's watered and taken care of it and cared for it, that person was just obedient to what God was calling them to. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:05.359 The harvest, I want you to notice this, it is a methodical process. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:06.640 It's not scripted. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:12.480 You cannot go in and say, okay, here's the things I'm gonna be saying because I'm gonna be a harvester today, and so I'll be taking my notepad. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.279 It never works like that. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.119 It also doesn't come and go in a blink. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:30.559 This idea of a how do we plant and what does God do with his word and all of that, it's a measured process toward maturity. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:44.960 It's toward the maturity of a new believer, a maturing into a belief in Christ, but it's also the maturing of a longtime believer, just continuing to have people come alongside of you and invest in you. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:46.240 That is necessary as well. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:58.480 So please don't forget when we talk about the sufficiency and necessity of God's word, the gospel, we're also talking about that mature believer that may say, Hey, I've been a Christian for 30, 40 years. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:07.440 We still need people to come alongside of us and till that soil and be a caretaker and demonstrate how God uses his people. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:14.559 Now, if God does that by the planning of his word, what's the role and responsibility we have? 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:19.200 Well, certainly we could be those specialized farmers in that, absolutely, no doubt. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:24.960 I think it comes down to two very simple and necessary words. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:31.440 The role and responsibility we have as believers in Christ is to tell and live. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:46.079 We are consistently broadcasting seeds, how we treat people in the drive-thru line, how we treat our spouse, how we raise our kids, how we are at work, how we are anywhere, we are broadcasting seeds. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.279 Every action is an opportunity for planning. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:59.680 Verse 27 tells us that night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he doesn't know how. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:07.039 Now, I think if you took just that verse, I think you could make an argument that, well, gosh, Wade, the man didn't even do anything. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:09.440 I mean, it says right there, he doesn't need to do anything. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:11.680 So why are you telling me I need to do anything? 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:13.599 Shouldn't I just let God do what he does? 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.160 The sufficiency of the word do what it does? 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:17.440 Shouldn't that be enough? 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:21.519 I mean, God will do it all, and I shouldn't have to do any of that, right? 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:30.240 And I would say, yes, the word of God is not dependent on us, but we are a participating influence. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:38.160 Travis Dunham told me this week, he said, wait, it's kind of like God doesn't need your muscle, but he does need your cooperation. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:46.240 We are a practical model of the characteristics of the kingdom. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:50.799 Now, here's how I'll attempt to explain it. 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:56.240 I'll see if this uh illustration uh hits home for you. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:00.720 Um let's pretend there's a hitchhiker, okay, and he's hitchhiking to Austin. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:03.279 Seems like that'd be a good place a hitchhiker would be going to. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:04.480 Keep Austin weird. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:06.880 And so this guy's on the way to Austin. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:12.000 Now, as he's thumbing his way there, cars are passing and people are going by. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.720 Let's just pretend that he never gets picked up. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:17.920 He'll eventually get to Austin on his own, right? 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:26.559 He'll get there weary and it took three times as long, or whatever it is, and he's worn out and all of that, but he'll certainly get there on his own. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:39.920 Or a driver could see him, pull over, they pick him up, they get him in the car, and oh man, now he gets to kind of rest, maybe take a little nap, gets the air conditioner, perhaps gets a little radio on the way. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:43.119 Just a little bit more comfortable. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:44.720 Gets there a little bit quicker. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:48.240 He's protected from the sun and the heat and all of that. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:50.960 That's what I think it's like. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:58.240 The Word of God absolutely can do what it needs to do on its own, fully independent of us. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:08.799 But this great God of ours, this perfect God of ours, says, I'm gonna use imperfect people to continue to do what I want it to do as I plant this seed. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:15.359 And so I'm going to use them to help people in their journey, to get where I want them to go. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:26.960 Us not being a part of a process of that process would be a direct violation of Jesus' command, the command that he gave in Matthew 24, 14, for us to share our faith. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:37.119 It says this, and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:44.880 That proclamation that he's talking about is us, it's our lives, it's the way we live and demonstrate the kingdom. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.039 What's the kingdom like? 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:53.440 Well, if you're a believer, the kingdom is like what's inside of us and how we demonstrate it. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.720 So, what role and responsibility do believers in God play? 00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:58.559 Well, we we tell. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:03.279 Notice this: Jesus talked to his audiences in ways they'd understand. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:04.559 He never went over their heads. 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:08.319 He never talked in analogies that they're like, yeah, I don't get it, Jesus. 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:10.079 By the way, he also never used math. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:12.960 But he never talked in ways they didn't get. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.960 I think it's a great point to us today. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:17.839 We don't have to strain to explain anything. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:23.920 I think a lot of times, or at least for me, it's this idea of, well, let me tell you all the reasons why and let me give you all the arguments. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:28.079 And then if you'll just follow my 16-point chart here as to why you should become a believer, and this is. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:31.200 Instead, people just want to hear this. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:32.880 What changed you? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:35.359 What brought you to faith? 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:38.720 And what changes has God done in you since then? 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:40.319 That's all we have to do. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.640 That's what I mean by our role and responsibility is simply to tell. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:50.160 I think our final role and responsibility is to live. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:53.200 We're to be a fragrant aroma. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:59.839 The Bible says salt and light, this idea of tasting and seeing and knowing that God is good. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:06.079 The kingdom of God is like it's just like that. 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.880 Being able to taste and know that God is good. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:19.759 Now, I would be naive to think that everyone listening to this is a believer. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.839 I think some of you may be asking, hey, Wade, what if I'm not a believer? 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.279 What if this sermon really just didn't do it for me? 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:31.839 Maybe I'm not sure God's even, I'm kind of like your friend that you mentioned. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.799 I've been asking for a long time, God, where are you? 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:35.759 What are you doing? 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:37.759 Reveal yourself to me. 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:45.440 And I would just say this: I want you to consider three ways God has likely revealed Himself already. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:50.640 In nature, in people, and in experiences. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.319 I want you to consider, what about that person that offered to pray for you? 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:02.640 Or what about uh that healing that you thought never would come and it did? 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.319 Or what about that horrible situation? 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:14.160 The one that was uh virtually going to end in disaster and instead it ended better than you could have imagined. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:25.920 I say to you that says, I don't believe in this, or I'm not sure about this, I'll say to you, you need to realize the planting and the watering. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:32.960 You need to go from listening to hearing and stop holding back. 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:39.839 Give yourself to Jesus and start to live the life God is inviting you to. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:42.720 Let's pray. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:33:01.839 God, the crazy thing about you, the crazy thing about the maker of the entire universe that we can't even put our arms around, can't even get our heads around, our technology has not even found the end of it, is that you're also such an intimate, close God. 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:05.680 You're beyond our understanding, yet we can know you. 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:12.559 You gave yourself to us through being fully man and fully God. 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.480 And you said, Hey, you want to know what my father is like? 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:18.480 Let me demonstrate it to you. 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.279 And you're still doing that. 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:25.920 I think you're still talking to the unbelieving world, saying, You want to know what my father is like? 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:30.640 You want to hear some music that he's playing, drawing you in, then just look at my people. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.200 And Jesus, yes, that's a lot of weight for us. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.920 It's a lot of responsibility, but it's not impossible. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:38.319 Your word gives us those guidelines. 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:44.079 Your Holy Spirit gives us the words to say and the motivation and the conviction to do that. 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:46.720 And yeah, we'll miss it sometimes. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:51.119 But thank God it's not completely dependent on us. 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:55.359 Your word is sufficient and necessary. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:58.720 So, Jesus, let us be about it. 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:09.519 And let those that have yet to say, I am a full believer, and I'm not sure, I pray that you would impress upon them what you've already been doing and reveal yourself. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:12.960 For it's in your saving name that I pray these things. 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:13.920 Amen. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:18.719 And normally at this time in our service, we'll give some questions for you to consider. 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:19.840 And I want to give three of those. 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:29.679 I want to read them to you because I also recognize that today being the day after July 4th, some of you may be listening to this along after we have sent out the live stream. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:33.519 And so I want to read these three questions for reflection to you. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.880 Then Mark's gonna play and give us some time to consider them. 00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.559 Number one, what kind of seeds are you planting? 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:46.320