Good Ground, Good News | Surrendered Soil - Pastor Britt Silcox

We teach through Matthew 13 and trace how the seed of the kingdom multiplies when our hearts become surrendered soil. We move from hard, shallow, and thorny ground to generous trust, deeper roots in community, and a communion moment where perfect love casts out fear.

• Why the seed is the message of the kingdom
• How God shares secrets with the hungry
• What hard, stony, and thorny soils look like now
• Why roots form through discipleship and community
• How mammon deceives and chokes fruitfulness
• First and best giving as worship, not transaction
• Practical stories of prayer, generosity, and trust
• Good ground as surrendered, not perfect
• Communion as an exchange of fear for love

Transcript

Welcome & Teaching Text

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv. Now join us for a message from our special guest speaker.

The Parable Of The Sower

Secrets For The Hungry

What Is The Kingdom Of God

Seed, Soil, And True Multiplication

Ground One: Hard Hearts

Ground Two: Shallow Roots

Discipleship Removes Stones

Prayer, Community, And Perspective

Ground Three: Thorns And Mammon

First And Best: Faith And Tithing

What Tithe Is And Isn’t

Firstfruits In Everyday Life

Business, Trust, And Provision

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Alright, are y'all ready to get into the word? Alright, Lord Jesus, I just thank you for this opportunity. I pray that you would put your words in my mouth. And God, I just thank you, God, that you have business to get done today, Lord, and we're here for it. We love you, King Jesus. Holy Spirit, take over. We give you glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so our teaching text today, if you want to open your Bible or you can read it on the screen, it's Matthew 13. So I'm going to start reading. On the same day, Jesus went out of the house and he sat by the sea, and great multitudes were gathered together to him. So that he got into the boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And then he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on the stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched because they had no root and withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. The key verse here is part of our series, Good Ground. But others fell on good ground, yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So if you can just picture Jesus standing on the boat and all the people down listening to this teaching, and he gives what I just read to you. And so what I love about if we read on in the chapter, which I won't read it, you can go on and read later, the next little segment. What we find out is the disciples probably in the moment were like, Yes, that was a good word. Amen. Yes, so good. Kind of like how y'all do to us sometimes. But as soon as they got Jesus off to the side, they were like, um what'd that mean again? Could you explain that again? And so as I read this today, it almost reminded me this past week we had a really fun week. We got to take all of our staff out for three days of development and teaching and leadership training and just galvanizing. And so on one of the um last days I got to do a teaching to our staff, and there were several servant leaders there as well. And so after I delivered this talk that I was just been laboring over, um, one of you, a very, very awesome servant leader in the parking, his name is Gary. Um, he came up to me and he said, Oh, Pastor Britt, I just want to say thank you. I mean, it was so genuine. It was so, so genuine. He said, Thank you for for speaking, thank you for that. And I was like, Oh, thank you, Gary. Like you've been so faithful 20 plus years in the parking lot. And he's like, now I need to be honest. Like, I actually didn't hear a word of it. Um female voices, they just don't register well. I don't really hear the frequency. I was like, how convenient, how convenient. But I feel like the disciples were kind of playing like that. Oh, Jesus, that was so good, that story. You just talking those parables, and then as soon as they get them off to the side, they're like, uh, could you could you explain that? And so when you go and read a little bit more in this chapter, what you find out is he does. He gives them the cheat code, he unpacks it for them, but he he teaches us a little nugget in the middle of that to let us know that one of the principles of the kingdom is God shares secrets with those who ask. Those who are hungry, they kind of take that next step. They don't just hear like the big sermon and then, whoo, all right, now we can get to go to lunch. I'm so excited and never think about it again. They're the ones that kind of ponder it with the Lord. And what I love about Jesus is he says, now listen, you gotta come like a child. See, the people who are wise in their own eyes, they don't ever get the secrets of the kingdom. They don't understand it because they've already built their entire system and it's working, or so they think, without him. So why would they come and inquire and lean in and ask for a little bit more, right? But those that are simple, those that come as a child, know that I don't have this thing figured out, like the baptism testimony. Those are the ones that Jesus said, not only am I going to explain this parable to you, but you're gonna have abundance. This is the second look at abundance, right here. And he's talking about secrets of the knowledge of the kingdom, how he thinks, his good plan, his good intent, what he desires to do in you and through you. Okay? That's not even the sermon. Just want to make sure I didn't skip that part of the text. So if we keep reading, in fact, you can throw up the next screen. So this is where Jesus gives his disciples the cheat code. He gives them, he's going, let me let me write this story down for you so you're not confused. And so he wants them to know in the story, what is the seed? Did you already know that? The seed in the story is the message of the kingdom. Okay, now I know there's some of us in the room, actually, many different backgrounds, many different walks of life, many different ages. So we're all coming in with different understandings, right? Different levels of knowledge. And so somebody in here might say, Um, can you remind me one more time what the kingdom is? Has anybody been there? I want to tell a story so bad right here, but it's about my oldest, and I just can't do it to him. But if we're like in a rock group on a Wednesday night, I'm telling it. So I'm having self-control. Sometimes conversations you have that you think people are understanding, and then they come back later and realize, could you say that one more time? So that's where we're at. What is the kingdom again? I'm so glad you asked me. What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the best news that you've ever heard. It's the good news. It's saying that Jesus actually came here as a man to rescue the world from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Every single bit of brokenness, of pain, of disease, of curse that was on the earth, he came and he said, I have a kingdom of love, and I love you, and I'm offering this to you, and you just have to come and make me the Lord of your life, and I will rule and reign in this place and in you. That was good news of the kingdom. It wasn't something we had to earn. We didn't have to be perfect, we didn't have to be the best little church people we could be. He's like, No, right now, right where you are, I love you, I see you, I care for you. Come to me. Enter the kingdom of God. So he's given us the cheat code. He says, What was the ground? Okay. Good ground receives the message. That's the title of the series. Good ground. Everybody say good ground. Good ground produces a harvest, and the harvest multiplies 30, 60, and a hundred times. A hundred times over. So I know Cameron on the video, if you saw that video, sometimes y'all like to talk right at the break, and I totally understand. You've been holding your words in. You've been holding your words, and then as soon as the announcement starts, like I gotta check in with my friend. So you might have missed that. But you know, Cameron's got, we've got a financial one day coming up, and I'm gonna be there. Pastor Scott's gonna be there. We're so excited. It's got a lot of different things. We're gonna talk about investing, but investing on its best day, your mutual fund on its best day, your 401k on its best day. I've never heard of anybody making a hundred times. Okay? Because we're not talking about money, we're talking about good ground multiplies the what? The kingdom. See, y'all thought you knew it. You didn't get it. I heard it. It just dribbled out all these words that were not the right words. That's why we're doing this sermon. We're doing this series. Good ground, good ground. The kingdom multiplies. When the seed goes in the good ground, it multiplies 30, 60, 100fold, the fruit of the kingdom. All right, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna look through the four types of ground today. We're gonna start with Matthew 13, 19. He says, When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and he doesn't understand it, the wicked one comes and he snatches away what was sown in the heart. And this is he who receives seed by the wayside. All right, so first we're just gonna talk about this. There it is. The ground is a little bit hard. So the seed is sown, the message of the kingdom is sown, the good news is sown, but it just can't penetrate because it's so hard. It has to go beyond our physical ears and into our heart. And so what we find out is the wicked one comes and snatches it away. This is all of the times that you pass somebody at work, at your office, in your family, and something inside of you is like, oh, I just they need something. There's something there that they need. But then your brain kicks in and it says, No, I mean, they already know. They already know about God. Like, I'm positive. I know their aunt goes to this church, and I mean, they they know about us, like they know about our family, and they've heard, and like I'm pretty sure I saw like some sort of Christian um saying somewhere on something they had. So you think the work is done. But what we're finding out is the seed is always going in. But if it doesn't penetrate to the heart, what happens? It gets snatched, it gets stolen. So we've got to continue to see the seed go in, and we've got to be honest with our own selves. How many times do we come in here on a Sunday and we hear the message of the kingdom, we hear the truth of the word, but it just stops at surface level. We've got to be so careful because if it doesn't go into the heart, the enemy can come and steal it. We have to shake ourselves. So the thought that I want you to remember here is if the word doesn't go deeper than your ears, the enemy will take it before it has time to change your life. All right, let's look at the second ground. Jesus talks about this is the one who received the seed on the stony places. This is the one who hears the word, immediately receives it with joy, but because there's no root, it only endures for a while. And when tribulation comes, persecution comes, immediately they stumble. You know, I can think of people in my life, and I know you can too, or probably even your own life, where they had a real encounter with God. Can you think of somebody in your life? They had a moment, maybe as a child, maybe they went to youth camp, maybe a moment even in this church. They had a true, just where the love of God, it awakened their heart. But something happened. Because life happens. Hard times caused pain, unexpected loss, it can be disappointment, it can be in your marriage, it can be in your children, it can be a doctor's report. Sometimes you lose a job, and everything about you was that job, and all of a sudden you don't even feel good about yourself. You feel like your dignity has been taken, you feel like you're underemployed, maybe your self-esteem is struggling. Y'all, it's all the way down even to you put on weight, you didn't mean to, and all of a sudden you can't even look in the mirror, you've got ugly talk coming at you, you don't want to be around people, you isolate. The enemy can use anything, any type of hardship, any type of pain, and he's always his plan is to get you to take a step back. A step back from God, a step back from your community, a step back from the people that love you, from the message of the kingdom. This word stumbles, it says immediately, because there's no root, they stumble. The same word is for offense. Now, we all in this place, because we've all heard, or many of us have heard, of John Bevere's book, Abate of Satan, there is not one thing that you would ever admit to being offended. You are so clever with your wording because we're so good at being churchy. No, I'm not offended. I am concerned. Yeah. I am just, you know, I'm processing, I'm just thinking about all of that. But it's the the seeds' roots can't withstand life happening, grief happening without a root system. And so what we learn here is the enemy will send any type of pain he can, and it's not just to hurt you. You think it's just to hurt you. He actually wants to pull you away from the one who wants to heal you. So we gotta be aware. This is Jesus. You're like, well, this is kind of just like methodical. No, this is Jesus teaching us. This is Jesus saying, Open your open your heart, check your heart, do inventory in your heart, because these are things that can come to steal from you and they can come to separate you from my healing. All right, roots that grow, roots grow where the soil is tended. And discipleship is what removes the stones that keeps faith from going deep. We all have stones. It's not one over here that's bad. Every one of us have a stony heart. We're flesh, we're human. But it's discipleship that removes the stones so that roots can grow. You're like, Pastor Scott took a little too long on the announcements today. You know why? Because he knows that when you get in a rock group, formation's gonna happen. He knows when you sign up for a Wednesday night class and you're coming to be in freedom, you're coming to the parenting class, you're coming to the women's group on Wednesday nights that we're we're studying Romans, and I know at the campuses, you have all of your groups that are going on. We know that when you get in a group, when you get discipled in the word, now you have a family, now you have a community that's praying with you. You're not alone, you're not isolated. When pain comes, when hardship comes, there are things in place, practices in place where you get to pray with people. Have you ever noticed on your worst day, it's not that you don't know how to pray, it's that it's hard to pray. And then did you know that because we're so strong and we're so prideful and we're so self-reliant, that on our worst day we actually don't even want to admit to someone that we're in the place that we really are. But you know that when you are in a community and when you are with believers and followers of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit reveals that to them? That just your countenance, just your body language, just your eyes, just the way that you're speaking about situations that may not even apply, they're able to discern and say, something's going on. I want to help you, I want to come alongside you, I want to help bring truth and order. God is always about order and never about chaos. We don't even have time to preach that. But every time there's chaos and disorder, that's not Him. And so sometimes when we're in the middle of it, it's very hard to regain your footing and to get that focus. But together, have you ever just had somebody come and say, I want to pray over you? Hey, let's pray together right now. I am notorious for this. I don't actually ask. Um and it doesn't matter how old you are, and it doesn't matter a whole lot of things, because I know the power of prayer. I know the power of prayer where two or more are gathered when we link our faith, when we just say, Holy Spirit, what is it that you're doing here? Because sometimes we're not seeing what he's doing. We're seeing right here the pain and discomfort of what's what's in our environment, but we're we don't see what he's doing. And somebody else, another believer, comes around and is able to put perspective on that. Um, we have the funnest neighbors. I know we talk about it all the time. Neighborhood. We have lots of kids in the neighborhood, and they really just like to come over. And so lately, um, which I love, I I really love, I love to be like the snack machine, and I try to like make healthy snacks, but then I also like look the other way when they go to the treat box and get something that they're probably not supposed to. But um lately, neighbor children have been coming over even when my children aren't home. And so that one was that one was new, but I was like, Holy Spirit, what what do you think about this? Like, and so I was like, okay, just go with it. And so just a couple nights ago, I did the whole haul from Costco. Does anybody do the whole the whole haul from Costco? That's heavy, right? That's when you don't look at the receipt. You're just like you just tell yourself, this is this is gonna feed my family for so, so, so long, so, so, so, so long. So I pull up in the driveway and I'm like, oh, it's gonna take like 10 trips, right? To bring all that in. And there's two little neighbors coming up the driveway. And so I open the door and say, Oh, you know, the kids can't play today. That's okay. You've been you you need help bringing in those groceries. And I said, Yes, I do. Yes, I do. So, like little soldiers, man, they're just, I mean, they're bringing in way better than our own children would have done, by the way. Well, in my mind, I think they're just gonna deliver it and then scoot on out to play. That's not what they did, no. They bring it in and they lay it on the counter, but then they look over and they see, oh, there's a bunch of Legos on that table. So they just kind of shimmy on, and then they're playing and building, and I did a few more loads, and I was like, okay, Lord, should I tell them to leave? Like, what should I do? I only have like, I actually only had like 30 minutes before the next thing I had to leave for. And the Holy Spirit's like, no, no, no, no, no, just wait. So I just start asking questions. I'm putting groceries away. How's everybody's day going? What's going on? Tell me something new that's going on. And so, of course, one little girl just begins to to share some things that were what we're talking about. Hard things. Hard things, you know? It's just not fair, and the teachers aren't doing anything about it, and they know about it, but nobody's stopping it. And I said, you know what? You just keep playing logos because we are a praying family. And we pray while we do logos. And anytime there's a problem, you know who we bring it to? Jesus. So we're gonna do it right now. So we just prayed, and of course I had to, you know, do a little eye crack every day, but ten minutes later, and I'm just like, and she's gonna serve you all the days of her life, she's gonna dwell in your house forever and ever. And we said, Amen. She said, Thank you. That was fun. And kept playing Legos. Because discipleship looks like a lot of different things. Discipleship does look like Wednesday night groups. Discipleship also looks like a lot of other things. Where can you be removing stones so that people can hear the seed of the kingdom? I wasn't the first seed of the kingdom. I wasn't the first seed of the kingdom in this little girl's life. Not at all. But where can I be apart? Where can you be a part so that roots can grow? Roots grow where the soil is tended. Alright, let's look at the third ground. Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who heard the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. So this one is all about the distractions of life and worries of life, and then also this lie of money and wealth. You know, Jesus talked about money more than almost any other topic. Like we we always act like it's oh, we're so sorry, we're gonna talk about money in church today. It's like that's weird because the word is about every part of our life and following Jesus in every part of our life, and he talks about it a lot to the point that he said, My good plan for the good ground is that it's gonna produce 30, 60 a hundredfold for the kingdom. But you know what will make you unfruitful if you have the wrong relationship with money. He said, This is gonna cause you to be unfruitful if you are deceived by riches. So let's talk about this one. Um, Matthew 6, 24, you know, Jesus talks about how you no one can serve two what? Masters. And he talks about God and then he talks about mammon. Mammon, some of your translations will translate that money, it's not the same as money. It's the spirit behind the lie that money is going to make everything okay. It's a lie. It tells you your comfort would be there if you just had a little bit more. Oh, I could have gone to get a pedicure before this day. I could have had some new boots before this day. Oh, if I just had a little bit more money, I would be feeling more confident doing this. Oh, if I just had a little bit more money, I'd have security. Oh, see, I wouldn't worry at night because oh, I'd have that fully loaded retirement plan. Everything would be in place, everything would be better if I just had a little bit more money. It lies to you and it vies for your attention because it wants you to be concerned with all of the material things that other people have that are on your feed. All of the most beautiful houses and cars and clothes, the most perfect family, right? This ideal, it wants you to be focused. It's actually a spirit because it wants your worship, it wants to be your source. And so if we believe the lie, or even if we're deceived, if we kind of come in and out, I don't think anybody here is worshiping at an altar of mammon, but we come in and out of deception over this. The minute that our peace is robbed because we feel like there's not enough. And the minute that we are stressed out and we feel like there's chaos and things are out of control, I just got to get to Target. I just need to, I just need some shopping time, I'm gonna feel better. I'm gonna have a moment of control. I'm gonna have a moment of temporary peace because I bought something I didn't need, but I lean to that instead of to the true source. Misplaced trust in money. It doesn't just affect your finances, it limits your fruitfulness. We gotta get this. We wanna be fruitful, we want to see the kingdom explode. Money promises comfort, it promises power, and it promises acceptance. So when the spirit of mammon is speaking to you, it kind of sounds like this. You get in that next steps video, you're like, this is great. I heard that you used to have to go to 17 classes, now I can join the rock family while I'm folding clothes, I can watch next steps, I can be a part. I'm so excited to find out what serve team I might get to be a part of because I think I want to make some new friends. And then we start talking about tithing in the next steps video. The spirit of mammon, this is where it comes in. Tithing starts to feel threatening. Regularly scheduled generosity that's just unto God, that's not attached to something that you get to control. You have that instant warm fuzzy that you did a good deed. It instantly makes you anxious, not joyful. The influence of the spirit will make you feel resistance when God's prompting you to give. You'll see churches as just wanting to take from you. See, here they go again. I thought this place was different. That's what this spirit does. It begins to wash over you. It'll plant suspicion anytime churches teach on generosity. It'll twist the truth, it'll twist it. It's so good. It'll make you feel smarter than everybody else, wiser than everybody else. So see, I need to make a financial plan that's different because I really feel like that is more wise than me just giving into the local church. But what it does is it tricks you into bondage instead of into freedom. Generosity in the kingdom is never supposed to flow from guilt. It's never supposed to flow from condemnation, it's supposed to flow from trust. Everything about your generosity is, God, I trust you. Everything I have is from you. Whatever you bring to me, whatever need you bring to me, Lord, I'm just here to be a blessing. I'm here for you to flow through me the kingdom of God. We know, where did where did this whole theme of tithing even come from? But you know that's actually all the way through Scripture, beginning to end. It's actually all the way, all the way back in Genesis 4, which you know Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, and then they have Cain and Abel. We can go back and read in Genesis 4 that both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. Which, how cool is it that just put yourself in that story. They're literally bringing their offering to God in Eden. It says that Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain was a worker of the ground. So Cain brings the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brings the firstborn of his flock and the best of their fat portions. Guess which one Jesus, or guess which one God received? He didn't receive both. The one that was just ordinary, the one that was the fruit of the ground, he rejected. And the one that was the firstborn animal, and the one that was the best, the best of the fat portions, he received. So what are we learning through this? Every time we read the Bible, we're learning how God thinks. We're learning how God operates, we're learning how God works with humans, right? So what we learn is God accepted what was first and what was best. And then we can read in Hebrews 4. We actually fills in the gap for us. Because when we read Genesis 4, we're like, that must be why. God, why did you not take the other one? Like it makes your heart sad, doesn't it? We want we just want everybody to have God's acceptance. God, why would you do that? Why did you reject that one? Then we go read in Hebrews and it tells us it says, one of the offerings was brought in faith. See, when we bring God our first and we bring him our best, you can only do that through faith. Because you didn't wait to see what you were gonna need. Let me make sure my family's needs are met, let me make sure my comforts are met. Let me make sure that everything is good, and then whatever is left, Lord, remind me, and then I want to bring that to you. That didn't take faith. So this was never a salvation issue. This was an issue of teaching us to trust God. He wanted us to have the right relationship to all of our possessions so that we keep him as Lord, we keep him as source, we keep him as first. God is not just looking at if we bring an offering, he's looking to see if we bring our first and our best. Then we see Abraham talking about tithing, we see Jacob talking about tithing. Then we see under Moses, you know, all of the things that God had to do for Israel, that was to teach them a rhythm of tithing. All of those things that they had to do, that was God teaching them his practices, his ways, teaching them a rhythm. And what we learned from that is what you give first is what you believe is first. Now, yesterday we were at a wedding, and it was one of my favorite weddings that I've ever been to. It was so incredible. It wasn't just the venue, it wasn't just the time of day, it wasn't just that the sun was out, but this couple was like the true picture of what God intended when he said, I want one man and one woman to make a covenant to be a family forever under me. And you know what was the best part of this wedding? The very first thing they did after they finished their vows, they've said their vows, they've said their ideas, is they said, We want a time of worship. And Carlos from Madison Campus led the entire room in a worship set. And I'm telling you, the presence of the Lord came in a way that was even unique to what we felt here. And I just heard the Lord saying that the very first thing they wanted to do after the biggest moment of their life was to give me worship. Because what we do first shows what we believe is first. And this little couple knew, God, you're the most important thing to us. And before we run off and sing and dance, and before we have our kiss and everybody cheers, before we go on our honeymoon, you know what we want to do first? We want to worship you. It was beautiful, it was incredible. So it's really important that I also tell you this because the concept of generosity and giving your first and best and bringing your tithe to the Lord has gotten twisted in our modern-day church in a lot of ways. It's been taught so wrong, it has been manipulated, it has been trashed, it's just something that it's just you get the icky feeling about when people and some of these televangelists get on the screen, the things that they say. So let's talk about what tithe is not. Tithe is not a membership fee to get you into heaven, it's not a salvation issue, it's not a payment so that God will bless you. That, oh, if you just give him a hundred, you just wait. You just wait, you're gonna get 200 back, you're gonna get 300 back. It's not that. It's not you trying to like work the system so that you can have more. It's also not a random occasional donation to a good need. Although those are absolutely in scripture, and we're supposed to do that too. You say, but I know all this, Pastor Brett, but like money's tight, groceries are expensive, and it's just it's very, it's very hard. It's very, very hard to give my first and give my best. I mean, when I when I do my budget, it's hard. And and I would say to you, that's right. That's what he said. I'm looking for faith. I'm looking for faith. You're gonna you you're gonna have to rearrange some things. There's some things you're gonna have to rearrange to prioritize, bringing him your first. There might be some things you have to give up to bring him your first. That's the point. It's the point. He's teaching you faith. And what he's gonna surround you with and overwhelm you with is that he already knew your need. He already saw your faith, he already heard your whisper, and he's creative. He's so creative. Don't I know it? If you work for a church, you know all the things that you have do not come from that paycheck. But God is so creative in how he supplies. It's incredible to see what he will do because he is the source. He is the source. Putting God first in your finances is actually the evidence that he's Lord of your finances. I could pull out my checkbook. We could pull out our checkbooks, and we could look to see God. I know it's here, but is it here? Lord, is there evidence that I want to worship you even in my finances? You know, I love the idea of first fruits in every area. I've be because I believe in it so much, because I know he deserves to be first, I like look for silly ways to put him first. And that's okay, because he doesn't mind. I don't even have to tell y'all all the silly things. But it's because I'm checking my heart too. Like I love in the morning to not let myself look at my phone, not one notification, not one text message, not one teams until I talk to him. Even if it's one minute. Lord, I want you to be the first thing. I want to tell you thank you. You woke me up. The sun isn't up yet, but it's coming up, and you're gonna be a reminder to me when it comes up that you love me. You're gonna keep showing up for me. God, I thank you that you brought us through the night. It can be so short, but you're giving him the first part of your day. I challenge you, what else can you put him first in? It's your worship to him. I wanted to tell this personal story and I debated over it, but I'm going for it. I don't like to say too much about me. I like to tell you all about my kids, not me. But in 2020, I got to do something that I've always wanted to do, and that was to start a business. And my dad was a small business owner, my grandfather's a small business owner. If you had asked Lil Brit her whole life what she was gonna be, never once did she say, Oh, I was gonna marry Pastor. Never once. I just said, Jesus, I'll do anything you want me to do, and I want to start a business. So in 2020, I got to do that. And so because I love first and first fruits, I was like, Lord, I want to do it in my business. I we already do it in our personal findings, but Lord, I want to put you first in the business. I want to set a line item at the top that is a percentage that every dollar that comes in, it already moves into another account that is just for you. And I know that's weird because I don't really know what all expenses I'm gonna have. And I don't know, you know, the first year I didn't have to pay anybody, but then the second year I had to pay employees and contractors, and but it was just a test of faith, and I knew me. I said, this is either gonna crash and burn because I really don't know what I'm doing, or you're gonna bless me, and then I'm gonna take the credit for it. I'm gonna think I'm all smart. All these girl boss podcasts out there, I'm gonna start listening to them. And I'm gonna forget that you're sending me out just to be a light. That's the only reason I'm doing this, is you're sending me out to be a light and to be a channel that the kingdom can flow through. And so I was all excited, I set my line item up. So um the first year, I'm sorry, first year to second year, the business grew three times in revenue. From year two to year three, it grew four times. So over the three years, which was the only three years I got to do it, because then we got to step into this role to be your loving pastors, which I do not regret one day. I love you so much. But over the three years, the business experienced a 12-time increase. And I was able to give back to God, just a mom of three, just working during their school hours. What could that what could God do with that? Right? It was the most joyful experience to get to write checks that didn't come from our personal family budget and tithe, that was just his overflow to share good news. I mean, it just was the happiest thing of the whole part. The takeaway here is misplaced trust in money doesn't affect your finances, it limits your fruitfulness. And then the last ground we're gonna look at is the good ground. He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, sixty and some thirty. I think what I love the most about this series, good ground, good news, is who can tell me the first time good ground is mentioned in scripture? It's not in the parables. Y'all know the answer to this. Creation! God made the ground and he called it good. So, what was his good plan from the beginning of that ground? From the very beginning, it was that people would take care of the ground, would cultivate the ground, would multiply, would bring the glory of God in Eden beyond Eden until it covered the whole world. It's the same today. His good plan has not changed. We're still a part of it. From the first mention, God's plan has always been to build his kingdom with you and through you until it fills the whole earth. And I need you to remember this because your faces are telling me something you're thinking. Good ground is not perfect ground. Do you hear me? If there is any guilt, shame, condemnation right now, just good ground. It is not perfect ground. Good ground is surrendered ground. Do you hear me? We're gonna get to close with communion. And so I'm gonna need somebody to bring me communion. And I just want everybody to stand up. It's 1141. This is gonna be the best part of the whole day. Campuses, if you'll go ahead and get your communion and stand up with us. I felt so strongly this morning, very, very strongly this morning, that God had great things that He wanted to do in your life. And I know that it has to do with perfect love. Just hold your communion up for me if you can. This is a symbol of God's love for you. This is a symbol of perfect love. And I just begin to feel this morning that whether you want to admit it or not, that fear has tried to come in the side door, in the back door, in the background. And I don't know what that looks like for you. I don't know what fear looks like in your life right now. But it talks. Fear talks, fear belittles, fear torments, fear keeps you up at night. Fear will actually even separate you. It'll make you feel separated. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of God, but it'll make you feel separated. And and I just wish I could, I wish I could get a wave. I won't make you wave. But I just wish I could know if there's anybody in this place that said, you know, I just don't feel close to God. I want to feel close to him. And I know he's there, but there's just something, there's something in between us. And I just want you to know that as we take this today, that this is the symbol of perfect love. And the Bible says that this love came for you before you ever did anything good or ever did anything wrong. Because you can't earn it. But He wants to be close to you. And the beautiful part of perfect love is when you are at a place where you can go ahead and admit there's just been some things that are making me feel separate from you. And there's been some fear, there's been some talk in my ear, there's been some things that I don't think it's you, Jesus, but it's it's I need it, I need it to go. Perfect love, casts it out. It can't stay. Because of what he did for you, because of his sacrifice for you, this right here, this communion that we're gonna take together. I want you. In fact, um, I don't want to make you feel out of place. And so this is something you can do at your seat. But if you know, I'm one of those people you were talking about that I actually actually need some support today. I actually want people to come alongside and pray with me. I I would love for you to fill these altars. We have a prayer team, and I will stay because we want to surround you. So even right now, even at your campuses, if you know there's there is something that I do need prayer over and I need help. I do want the support of others. I pray that you would come down. Don't be afraid. This is your family. This is the place that loves you. Did you know that we're praying for you before you come in this room? We're praying for you throughout the week, that you would know the love of God, that you would feel his presence. I'm just praying blessing over you during the week. I pray over the week that God will just like that embarrassing blessing. Do you know what I'm talking about? To the point where like you almost don't want to share it because you'll think that it's bragging. But it's actually because God's so extravagant in how he loves you. And did you know that God will do that on your worst day so that you know you didn't earn it? That's how we pray over you. That's how we pray. But today, this communion cup, this is gonna symbolize perfect love. So I just want you to close your eyes, even as we just posture our heart today. Lord, we just come before you, God, and we say thank you. We say thank you for what you did for us. God, we say thank you that you are perfect love. And God, I just pray right now that every single one of us would search our hearts. Search the ground of our hearts, Lord. Your seed has gone in, your seed of truth, your seed of the kingdom. And Lord, we want to be the kind of people, Lord, that you flow through. And Lord, every single place, Lord, where the enemy has tried to come and ruin the soil of our hearts, God, today we're exchanging that. It's an exchange. You can't do it in yourself. And Lord, I just come to you today, God, even for my own self, Lord. God, I stand as we all stand together collectively across the campuses. Lord, we just exchange right now fear, worry, condemnation, guilt, pressure, anxiety, pressure to perform. God, every voice that has said that we're not this, that we're not good enough, that we're not enough right now, Lord, we're not gonna hide it from you. God, we're gonna bring it to you. Today we want to do a holy exchange. A holy exchange for your love. Before the foundation of the world, you were slain. The Lamb was slain for us. So today we take this cup, we take the bread today. Lord, we thank you, Father, that you are making us whole, that you're making us forgiven, and that you have made us righteous in your sight today. And we love you in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at the Rock Family. Have a Jesus filled week.