WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.000 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life, that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:25.760 So good to see everyone here. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:27.519 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:37.520 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta, and we are jumping into a brand new series called Metaphor, where we're gonna walk through some of the most famous parables of Jesus. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.079 Now, MetaCurch is a place for everyone. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:47.119 No matter where you're at in your faith journey, you might be like a sold-out believer, you might be a very cautious skeptic. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:53.520 Uh, all people can come here and belong in this community, even if you don't believe exactly what we believe. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:58.799 And we know that a lot of people are new to church or they're returning to church after a long time away. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.840 And parable has become somewhat associated as a church term. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:10.400 We're gonna give it a simple definition since the next seven weeks we're going to be studying parables of Jesus. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:15.680 A parable is a simple story that has a significant meaning. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.959 A simple story with a significant meaning. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:26.879 When Jesus told parables, he would talk to people about things that were in their everyday flow of life, things they would be familiar with. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:36.159 He would pull these things out of the culture and use them as the metaphors that would guide the parable and help impact the meaning. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.319 Today we're gonna look at the first parable that Jesus ever told. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:46.640 And my message is named after the metaphor he pulled out of it, which is seeds and soils. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.000 Would you pray with me? 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.959 God, we love you and we thank you for loving us. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.599 I thank you for every person who has showed up today. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:58.480 I thank you for every person who is streaming with us or watching this on the archive. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:06.879 God, we are diving into these simple stories, and we do believe they have significant meanings that are meant to actually transform and improve our lives. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.960 And so I ask that we would be open-minded, that we would have open hearts. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:16.319 We're coming to seek you today, God, and we ask that you would speak to each of us exactly what it is that we need to hear. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:16.960 We love you. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.039 And we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.360 And if you're ready to get going, say amen. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:30.000 We're gonna be looking at parables for seven weeks, but it kind of begs the question: why was Jesus using these parables? 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:36.719 Why was he diving into these deep metaphors instead of just coming out and saying exactly what he wanted to say to us? 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:45.840 It's interesting when you look at the gospels, which are four historical accounts of the life of Jesus, there is this division in Jesus' ministry. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:57.840 After a season of going and preaching a little more directly, now he would use allegory and metaphors as appropriate, but he was coming out and telling people the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.560 I'm coming to you and I'm offering it to you. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:08.000 And yet, part of the way through his ministry, the very people he came to and was preaching to rejected him. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:12.639 Specifically, the political and religious leaders rejected him. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:22.000 And so at that point, Jesus began teaching in parables, and everyone was a little bit confused, including the disciples who were closest to him. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:29.439 In Matthew 13, 10, it says the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, Why are you speaking to everyone in parables? 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:39.759 And Jesus answered, Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:47.439 This is a really important introduction because we've already said parables are simple stories with significant meaning. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:54.080 And there is nothing more significant than learning the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:58.960 We're gonna talk a little bit more about this next week when we really look at some kingdom parables. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:06.080 But the kingdom of heaven is not something that just exists in the future on the other side of this life. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:17.040 When Jesus came to earth, he said the kingdom of heaven is at hand, which means it's here, right here, and right now, being offered to you. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:28.800 Understanding the kingdom of heaven is getting a sneak peek into God's original intention for this world, for your life, and for how we are supposed to operate. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:40.319 It is that life that whether you believe the claims of Christianity or not, whether you believe in God or not, there is a longing inherent inside of us as human beings. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:45.680 It is something that cannot be fulfilled or satiated by the things of this world. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:59.839 And if you live long enough and you achieve enough of what the world offers, what you will find is the more you try to fill this longing in your soul with things of this world, the deeper that longing will become. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.759 And what you're longing for is the life you were created for. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:11.040 A life lived on purpose, a life lived with purpose, a life as a part of the kingdom of heaven. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:25.279 Part of what we do at MetaCurch is we dispel the myth that the church is about a group of people coming together, having monolithic beliefs, sheltering themselves off, and just waiting to die so we can finally go to heaven. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:38.079 The movement of Jesus is a movement of powerful people meeting together, moving together out in our world, and by doing so, seeing evidence of heaven right here and right now. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:41.759 This is the life that you have been called to live. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:50.639 And these parables, they unlock truths for those who are willing to hear them about how the kingdom is supposed to work. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:56.800 A lot of times Jesus shares a parable and never really gives us like the line by line of what they mean. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.600 And maybe it's because it's the first one he ever shared. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.720 But in this parable, he actually walks us through them. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.480 And we're calling this series metaphor, and we are meta church. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:32.480 And this first parable is very meta in one sense, because the parable itself of the sower and the seeds is about people's ability to actually understand the parables of Jesus, whether or not you can grasp on to the truth about Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, or whether there will be things in your life that keep you from hearing and applying those truths. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:40.480 We already listened to a beautiful telling of the parable, and what would happen is a farmer would gather their seed and head out to the field. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:44.879 And Jesus was speaking in the first century to an agrarian society. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:52.160 Everyone listening that day could totally picture exactly what this process would look like of scattering the seed. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:58.160 Now, today, in 2022, when we need produce, we go to HEB, you know? 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:04.560 We're not all super familiar with the process of sowing the seed and watching it grow and all that that means. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:07.759 See, they would head out to the field on the hardened path. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.879 And on the hardened path, there was virtually no soil. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.279 If there was any, it was a light dusting just blown across the path by wind. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:20.639 Nothing that a seed could actually bury in and germinate to produce life. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:27.439 And so the hardened path cannot receive the seed, and therefore no plants grow. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:37.279 Then the farmer would begin the trek out to the field, and at the border of the field would be the hard, untilled ground, which would be full of rocks. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:43.040 In that part of the world, it was primarily limestone, and so you would get a small layer of soil. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:53.839 It was enough soil for the seed to bury in and even to produce life, but as the sun beat down, that plant would quickly wither and die. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.839 A little deeper into the field was the land that had been tilled. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:01.759 It was in fact pretty good soil, but it had not been manicured. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.959 And so thorns and thistles and weeds were allowed to grow and suck the life out of the plants. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:18.319 And finally, the sower, the farmer, would get out to his field that he had meticulously taken care of, tilled up all of the rocks, removed all of the thorns. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:28.720 This was the good soil, the soil that Jesus said will produce a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty-fold, and that's the way plants work. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.080 Seeds produce plants, which produce seeds, which produce plants. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:38.320 And all of a sudden you have a very fruitful crop. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.480 We are called to a fruitful life. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:47.360 This is a life lived as a part of the kingdom of heaven right here and right now. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.720 The seed, Jesus will tell us, is the word of the kingdom. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.639 It is the truth of who Jesus is and what he is offering you. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:59.200 It's the gospel, which means the good news. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:16.080 And if you're unfamiliar, the good news is that God loved you enough to come down to this earth to give his life for you, to resurrect, defeating death itself, and to promise to return for you and give you eternal life yourself. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.000 This is the good news, and the question is, can we receive it? 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:21.919 Jesus begins to explain the parable. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.559 In Matthew 13, 18, he says, So listen to the parable of the sower. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:35.120 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.399 This is the one sown along the path. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:43.360 Along the path where there is no soil, there is no chance for life. 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:58.799 Now, if you grew up in church, you've probably heard the parable of the four soils before, and yet the churches I grew up in this in had an interpretation of this parable that actually doesn't get to the heart of what Jesus was trying to say. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:09.360 You might have heard this parable interpreted to say that this is three lost souls, and this is one saved soul. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:16.799 And the soils represent your soul and just how difficult it is to actually end up in heaven. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.759 And the truth is almost the opposite. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:25.600 That this parable is not actually about how to get to heaven or not to get to heaven. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:33.919 This is a parable for believers in Jesus to find out how to live as part of the kingdom of heaven right here and right now. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:40.639 There is only one that represents someone who does not know Jesus, and that is the hardened path. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.200 The one who has no soil. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.399 And they hear the word of the kingdom, and it says they do not understand it. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:59.440 And when you look at the Greek that Matthew wrote this gospel in, that word understand isn't just about your intellectual ability, it is about your desire to understand. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:08.639 It's not just that you can't understand the good news of Jesus, it's that you choose to have no interest in hearing the gospel of Jesus. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:13.440 And we all have things in our life that we're just not interested in hearing. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:18.960 We have truths we hold to that no amount of facts could ever turn us away from. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.879 Maybe your political beliefs, there's no argument someone could make that could take you to the other side of the aisle. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:26.320 We all have this. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:33.360 This is how I feel when young dudes try to convince me that LeBron James is the GOAT, the greatest of all time. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.480 You can have all your facts at 37 years old, he's averaging, blah, blah, blah. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:39.600 I don't care. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:44.320 The gospel of LBJ has fallen on the hardened path of my heart. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:47.200 I am Michael Jordan, ride or die. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.960 You gotta understand. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:57.519 I grew up in a home where we ate bluebell ice cream. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.399 Because my parents loved me. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.919 I went to a friend's house, their mom got out Briars. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.840 I was like, do I call CPS? 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:08.559 What do I? 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.720 This is all ice, no cream, you know? 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.360 All the taste tests in the world, you're not changing my mind. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.360 It's not that I can't understand it, I'm not interested. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:27.600 Now, luckily for me, Michael Jordan and uh bluebell ice cream aren't gonna determine heaven or hell for me, you know? 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:38.559 I can be a little bit stubborn, but the truth is we live in a society that has become the hardened path, hardened hearts. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:47.039 And you know, when I dialogue with people who identify as atheists, they're out and out atheists, no doubt about it. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:56.399 When you trace it back, it usually, virtually always, did not start with I don't believe in God. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.440 It usually started with I don't want to believe in God. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.200 Not interested. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:06.080 And we always try to keep it real. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.720 There's there's a lot of reasons to land there. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.960 Maybe you had an undue share of suffering in your life. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:20.559 Maybe there were some times you expected God to show up and to help you out, and He did not end up on your calendar. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:30.879 Maybe over time you heard the different arguments, and and you know, you got your little your little argumentation and you got your philosophies and all of that. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:36.559 But the truth is that many people are living as the hardened path. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:50.559 They have no soil, they do not have a life that is fertile to receive the truth, it's not that they don't understand the arguments that we make, it's that they're not interested any longer. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:14:00.320 And this is difficult because you can come up with some good excuses to just out and out reject Christianity. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:26.399 But if there is even a 0.001% chance that there could be some validity, some veracity to what we are saying and what we believe, if when you hear us talk about that longing in your heart and you try to numb it and you try to get high to escape it, and you try to fill it with buying some stuff you don't need, all of that that just keeps on nagging at you. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:36.000 God just banging on the door of your heart, if there's any chance it could be true, it is worth you being willing to open up. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:15:13.279 Even if you are 99.999% sure that there's no way there was a God and He came down, listen, if there's a chance that there's an actual purpose to your life, if there's a chance that the creator of it all loves and cares about you as an individual, if there is a chance that there could be some purpose to the pain that we all endure as human beings, if there is odds that you are not some cosmic accident, some random collision of atoms, just some fizzing stardust molecules who happen to have landed on earth right now. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:25.440 If there is a chance, it is worth opening up, being willing to seek after God, and God has promised if you seek after him with your heart, you will find him. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.639 And what if 2022, you just gave God one year? 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.679 Chances are you're gonna get about 80 of them. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:33.039 Give him one year. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:41.840 If there's any odds that this could be real, any odds that there is a purpose planted in you by the creator of the universe, seek him. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:45.919 Pray to him, pray to a God you don't believe in. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:47.759 Let him know you don't believe in him. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.159 I'm doing this because Clayton said to, and I can't wait to prove him wrong. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.720 Seek after him with your whole heart, and you will find God this year. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:59.360 God can make that promise. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:01.360 You seek me, you will find me. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:06.399 He can make that promise because he's already seeking after you. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:15.279 We live in a world of hardened soil where Christianity and the church movement has become just the punchline of all of the jokes. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:27.759 We live in a world of a hardened path, and the only thing that is gonna break that up are people who are willing to actually live out the life that we've been given to live as a part of the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.159 Jesus continued his parable in verse 20. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:40.960 He said, And the one sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, but he has no root and it is short-lived. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:46.080 And when distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:59.759 And remember what the parable said originally that the seed is sown into the rocky ground and it actually produces life quicker than any of the other soils, but when the beating of the sun comes upon it, it withers it and it dies. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:05.039 Now, the the Bible is not a scientific textbook. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:10.400 However, there is a truth about the rocky soil. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:14.559 You see, the way that plants grow is through photosynthesis. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.720 Shout out third-grade science, right? 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:22.880 And part of it is what happens when the sun actually hits the plant. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:28.720 But part of what actually triggers photosynthesis is the warmth of the ground below it. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:51.200 And rocks can carry warmth better than soil, which means in the shallow soil with the rock bed, the heat produces faster, which triggers photosynthesis at a quicker rate, which means that it is actually true that in the rocky soil the plants will grow faster, even than in the good soil. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:18:01.359 Shallow soil, rocks, and sun create rapid growth, and yet the same sun that caused the growth will cause it to wither. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:09.519 And the same rocks that created the warmth block the plant from putting down roots that will sustain it in the heat. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:15.920 The exact same thing that caused the rapid growth also causes a rapid death. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:21.759 By definition, in the rocky soil, we have a superficial plant. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:29.920 And I know you know this, but we live in an incredibly superficial society. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:37.920 Have you ever met someone who, after hanging out with them one or two times, is ready to be your absolute best friend, right? 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.039 Warning sign. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:45.359 We've hung out twice, and they're like, look, bro, your family, my family, spring break, Cozumel. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:46.480 Let's do this. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.960 Bro, I don't know your last name. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:50.640 What are you talking about? 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:52.880 That's a terrible idea. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:57.599 What happens when you get to Mexico and your spouse can't stand their spouse? 00:18:57.759 --> 00:18:59.680 What happens when they got bad kids? 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.519 What happens when there's tension? 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:02.960 You got a real problem. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.000 Because there's no roots to the relationship. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.920 We're a shallow society. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.680 You know what we think about money? 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.440 We think we're entitled to money just because we are here and we're breathing. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:17.119 We don't want to just like work hard to end up getting rich. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.759 We want to get rich quick. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.799 And so maybe you can do it, right? 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:28.400 Find your multi-level marketing and you got a lot of social media followers, and in six months you're making 10 grand a month. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.079 I just need you to hear me say this. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.720 If you can get it fast, you can lose it fast. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:34.079 That's the way it works. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:35.519 There's no roots. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.640 We have right now, they're calling it the great resignation. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.960 People are quitting their job in record numbers. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:42.960 It's trending on social media. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.200 Hashtag IQit. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:54.799 And let me say this: if you're in a toxic work environment and you're being mistreated and your boss doesn't, and you have another opportunity, a lot of people are hiring, more power to you. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:04.799 But if you think you should have a top-level job and make lots of money just because you happen to be breathing, hashtag IQit is three months away from being hashtag I'm hungry. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:07.039 That's just the way the world works. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:09.359 You gotta put down some roots. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.839 We have superficial relationships. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:14.400 Our friendships aren't real. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:17.839 This is a great concern with the generation coming up. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.559 It's by definition superficial. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.079 Their relationships are all online, they're all in 2D. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:27.680 It's difficult to create roots when you've never been in the same room. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.680 Our dating. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:31.359 We're in a hookup culture. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:39.599 And I start talking about the biblical idea of saving sex until marriage, and some of y'all look at me like I am 4,000 years old. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.759 Like, come on, bro, we're past that. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:43.680 You know, sexual liberation. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.440 The Bible isn't just trying to ruin your life. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:53.519 You know, sex is the ultimate depth of intimacy. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:02.319 And so you have this passion, but your passion cannot be protected because your relationship has no roots. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:11.440 There's a statistic they have found that people who date for at least two years prior to marriage lower their chances of divorce by almost 40%. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.559 The relationship has roots. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:15.519 You know what marriage is? 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:17.039 It's the two becoming one. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.200 It is becoming rooted together. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:28.880 It is the ultimate depth of commitment which leads you to the actual exercise of the actual of the absolute depth of intimacy. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:50.480 The Bible isn't trying to just ruin all your fun, it's trying to lead you into a kingdom of heaven way of living, an experience of this world that is richer than anything else the world itself has to offer because the kingdom of heaven isn't actually a part of this world. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.440 And so we have superficial spirituality. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:56.799 Why not? 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.680 Everything else is superficial, and we're shallow. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:08.160 And the one part of being shallow and being rocky is you can grow up something really quick. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:19.200 The problem is that the sun will beat down the sun of suffering and frustration and tension and anxiety and broken relationships and political division. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:20.960 It will beat down on your life. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:27.839 And if you have nothing that you're rooted into, as quickly as you come alive spiritually, you will also shut down and die spiritually. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:39.119 And so if you have a manic form of Christianity, you are on cloud nine one second and you are in the depths of despair the next, chances are you're living as the rocky soil. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.119 Rocky soil is superficial. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:43.599 And so usually you need something like an event. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.720 You can come to an event and you are the first one with your hands in the air in worship. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:55.599 On Sunday, you're the first one with your hands in the air, and on Monday, you are the first one with your head hung down low. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:02.559 You come in and Celeste hits that and you're like, I found him! I found Jesus. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:09.119 And Monday morning, Chick-fil-A gets your order wrong, and you're like, Why have you forsaken me? 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.720 Highs and lows, man. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:18.000 Someone can't look at you the wrong way without ruining your entire week. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:25.039 You're the first to get spiritually excited, but you're also the first to get spiritually destroyed. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:31.519 And so remember, this is not a parable of lost people, this is a parable of believers. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.960 This does produce life. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.240 The quality of the life is just short-lived. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:48.960 And so if you want to escape the trap of shallow, superficial, rocky spirituality, this has to be the year that you are willing to dig deep. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:56.240 The only difference between the rocky soil and the good soil is someone has done the work to till this up. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:14.240 It's painful work to dig deep in scripture, to dig deep in prayer, to dig deep into your own worst ways, into your own habits, to confront the painful parts of your past, to make amends to the people that you know that you have hurted and to seek reconciliation from those who have hurt you. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:24.400 It's hard work to remove the rocks out of our life, to remove the rocks that are surrounding our heart, to remove all of the places where we have become hardened over time. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:28.720 But if not, our life will have no roots. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:35.759 And we can get real excited one minute, and we can be in the throes of despair the next. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:45.680 These are the secrets of the kingdom of heaven that all of us have seasons of rocky soil, and if you want to do something about it, you must dig deep. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:58.880 In verse 22, he continues Now the one son among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.079 This one's interesting because we're getting closer to the good soil in many ways. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.079 This is no longer the rocky soil. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:07.839 In fact, it is the good soil. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.839 It has just allowed thorns and thistles and weeds to grow among us. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:17.680 And what you have to understand is that the farmer must plant the seed. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:20.079 The seed is not native to the soil. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:25.440 The farmer doesn't have to plant the thorns, they are already there. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:31.279 Jesus says the thorns are the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:35.359 You don't have to go looking for problems in your life. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.599 They will present themselves to you. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.319 You don't have to go walking around looking for things to worry about. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:47.680 Your life will provide you ample things to take up all of the anxiety that you want to put forth. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:52.160 You don't have to work hard to fall under the deceit of wealth and money. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.720 It will come knocking on your door. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.720 These are the thorns in our life. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:59.519 And we know what thorns do to us from the outside. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:09.599 They can poke us and hurt us, but on the inside, thorns surround good plants, seed-bearing plants, life-giving plants. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:14.960 And they demand the prioritization of the nutrients that the plant needs. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:19.039 What it does is it kills the plant from the inside out. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:23.200 This is someone who has done a lot of the work. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:24.400 They're digging deep. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.160 They're trying to understand their story and God's story and how those things intersect. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:30.559 They're working on their bad habits and their worst ways. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.079 They're trying to stay in scripture. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:35.039 They're saying their prayers, they're trying to be a good example. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:44.319 The difference between the Rocky and the thorny soil is the Rocky is what's coming from inside of you, and the thorny soil is what is all around you. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:50.640 Worry is difficult because there's a baseline of necessary worry. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:52.079 Keeps you alive. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:58.720 If you weren't worried about traffic, you might just walk right up into it. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.880 Try to figure out what that noise is. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.440 There's a baseline of worry that is necessary. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:11.359 It's not what this is talking about. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:18.000 This is talking about unnecessary worry, probably where most of your anxiety actually goes. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:20.880 There are so many things to worry about. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:24.240 And worry is never from the Lord. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:31.920 Worry is not a part of the kingdom of heaven kind of life because worry is not a part of the kingdom of heaven. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:41.680 And what worry does, unnecessary worry, is it creates a cycle, and that cycle almost always ends in a self-fulfilling prophecy. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:50.960 And so you've been hurt in the past, and now you're married to a good spouse, but you can't help but worry about that good spouse because you've been hurt in the past. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:28:08.000 And so you don't give them trust, even though they've done nothing to hurt your trust, which drives a wedge in between you and creates a cycle of mistrust where you end up in a distant relationship, not because of anything that has actually happened, but because of the spiral of worry and what it has created. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:14.880 Those of us who have kids, it's like you can worry about your kids every second of every day. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.480 Are they gonna be healthy? 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.559 Are they gonna have social skills? 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.240 What are they gonna do when they grow up? 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:22.880 Every time they make bad decisions, it's so hard. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.319 Like I think generally about the future way more than the present. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:30.960 So when my kids do something bad, immediately they are 35-year-old drug dealers. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:32.960 You know, it's like, oh my gosh. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:33.599 Oh. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:50.160 And what happens is I can act out of that worry, I can overreact out of that worry, I can allow worry to distract me so much into the future that I'm not there for my kids doing what they need in the present. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:29:04.480 Some of you are on the other side where you're so worried about your kid liking you, that your kids are walking all over you, you no longer own the house that you live in, your kids are running things, they don't believe a word you say or a threat that you make. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:11.839 Worry never ends, and it never comes to the conclusions that we desire. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:20.799 In 1 Peter, it says, Cast all of your worries on the Lord because he cares for you. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:26.720 And the truth of the kingdom of heaven is that our worries don't belong to us. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.119 Our worries belong to God. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.759 What's so interesting is that this is a life that's really trying, you know. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:36.079 They're in their Bible, they're doing all this. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:41.920 We can get Christian worries, and even those don't belong to us. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.640 How are we ever gonna reach the entire world? 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:45.519 How are we? 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.279 It's like, you know how you do it? 00:29:47.519 --> 00:30:06.799 You do your best to be good soil that produces life, that produces life, that produces life, and the thorns will distract you so much, even with good worries, that you will not have the energy and the spiritual nutrients that you need to fully thrive in this life. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:12.960 If you want to avoid the fate of the thorny soil, you have to begin to clear out. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.920 There are things in your life that don't belong there. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:22.799 There are desires in your life that don't belong there, there are worries in your mind and in your heart that don't belong there. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:28.960 Today is the day you begin the process of casting all of those worries onto God. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:30.319 He wants them. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:34.000 His arms are outstretched, asking for them. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:41.839 Jesus said, the thorny soil, it will do nothing but hold you back and steal the life from you. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:54.480 And let me remind you, that's the same Jesus who wore the thorns that you deserve, so you would no longer have to live with the worry of the thorns in your life. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.799 Of course, there's one more soil, and that is the good soil. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:13.279 The soil where they have dug deep, removed all that, tilled it up, broken it up, worked through the hard places. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:23.359 It's a soil where they have cleared out all that does not belong there, the thorns and the thistles, the weeds, anything that would take the life out of their produce. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:31.200 It is the good soil, and Jesus says the good soil can produce a hundredfold and sixtyfold and thirty-fold. 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:33.680 And we talk a lot about purpose. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:43.440 And each of you has a very unique purpose because of who you are and where you are, and all the gifts that God has given you, and your personality, and your experiences in life. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:51.839 But we all also have this high-level purpose, and that purpose is to be the good soil that produces the good crop. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:32:00.160 Because seeds produce plants that produce even more seeds, that produce plants that produce even more seeds. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:06.640 If you're 40 years old, odds are you have 40 years left. 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:11.200 I hate to be the first one to tell you this, but one out of every one person dies. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:13.200 I don't know if you've heard this or not. 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:17.599 If you're 20, odds are anything can happen. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:18.799 Every day's a gift. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:22.400 Odds are you've got about 60 years left. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:39.039 Good soil can produce a hundred, sixty, or thirty-fold, and what would it mean if in the time you have left you reached 30 people for Jesus? 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:41.440 Let's go on the low end. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:53.119 If you reached 30 people, if 30 people found hope, found the answer to life's biggest question of what comes next, found a kingdom way of living life. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:54.480 30 people. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:00.559 If you do the work to live as good soil, 30 is your minimum. 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:05.359 We have at least a thousand people that call MetaCurch their church. 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:06.960 At least a thousand. 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:10.960 Right now, today, a thousand people. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.119 What if we were all good soil? 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:26.240 You don't have to be great at math to know if in our lifetimes we all reach 30 people, that is 30,000 people reached with the gospel. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.440 This is the power of the parable, is that Jesus is the sower. 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:35.680 He gives us the seed to then give more seed. 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:43.359 We are now the ambassadors of God crying out to a world that there is a better way, but let me tell you how the world works. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:49.920 They care way less about the words of your testimony than the witness of your example. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:57.759 And when we are consumed with the worries of this world, we can say with our lips, Jesus is the better way. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.799 He offers hope, he gives you a new life. 00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:08.239 But if in your life all they see is worry, the world will wonder what the difference is. 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:21.119 If all they see from the people of God is manic Christianity, bro, they get pumped when Caleb comes on, but as soon as something inconveniences them, they are down in the dumps. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:23.920 What is different? 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:36.559 The power of working, opening up, digging deep, clearing out, doing what it takes to become better and better and better soil is people begin to see that there's actually something different about your life. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:44.559 There's not just the talk, because we can all talk it up, but you're actually walking out your faith in a way where people see your life. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:55.920 They see you handing your worries to a higher power, they see you doing the work to have deep roots, and they will say, I want the hope that they have. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:34:57.199 Good soil. 00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:02.000 30fold, 60fold, 100fold. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:06.559 And you're like, look, bro, I'm like over here. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:10.960 I don't even know if I believe all this stuff you're talking about. 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:15.119 Forget about reaching 30 people. 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:17.119 You haven't reached me yet. 00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:22.400 And what I'm telling you is step one, open up. 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:30.320 You may be a person that God is going to use to reach a hundredfold, a thousandfold. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:41.039 God may use the power of your testimony and your journey out of your skepticism, your journey out of your atheism to make a bigger difference than you could possibly imagine. 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:45.119 Maybe you just know your life is filled with those rocks. 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:46.719 Dig deep. 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:48.000 Start now. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:50.159 Do what you have to do. 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:58.719 Surround yourself with accountability, people who care about you and love you and will call you on your stuff if you're overwhelmed with worry. 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:01.280 Overwhelmed with the things around you. 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:03.280 It's time to clear out. 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:09.440 It's time to begin to cast those anxiety to where they belong, our God who can handle it. 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:14.880 The question is, which soil best represents your life? 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:26.800 And what I want to do as we close service is I want to give you some time in your very busy life and your very busy schedule to get brutally honest in answering this question. 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:29.519 We don't play games here at Metachurch. 00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:34.159 This isn't your good Christian mass, good soil all the time, every time, every day, too blessed to be stressed. 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:34.880 This is real. 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:36.719 This is where we do real work. 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:40.639 And so I want to ask you to close your eyes and bow your head right where you are. 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:42.320 There's nothing magical about that. 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:47.760 It just creates some space for you to think, for you to spend some time and reflect. 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:55.119 I want you to ask yourself, am I the hardened path? 00:36:56.079 --> 00:36:57.760 I'm just closed off. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.599 I have no interest. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:05.119 I know my my mom, my grandma, they talk to me about it all the time. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:07.599 My wife, she talks to me about it all the time. 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:08.800 I get it. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:15.360 But to be honest, I just I just can't get on board. 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:24.800 My desire is this is the year that you will open up, that you will consider it, that you will seek God. 00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:32.639 God would rather have you telling him all the reasons he's disappointed you, throwing all the names at him. 00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:34.880 God knows how you feel anyway. 00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:36.239 You might as well tell him. 00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:40.000 Let him know you don't believe in him, let him know you're disappointed in him. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:48.800 God would rather have you seek him with all of your anger and fury than for you to just live the rest of your life as the hardened path. 00:37:50.400 --> 00:38:02.880 If God is God, he can give you the perspective, he can bring the answers to your questions, he can show up in your life, he can reveal himself, be persistent, seek him, seek him. 00:38:03.199 --> 00:38:12.079 Come to service different, come open, come with your eyes and your mind and your heart open to God reaching out to you. 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:24.159 I want you to consider whether you might be the rocky soil, you've believed in Jesus, you love Jesus, you love your church, you love worshiping, it fills you up. 00:38:24.559 --> 00:38:36.239 It's a beautiful thing to see someone who at the drop of a beat can be all the way engaged, but let our growth come from deep roots, not shallow ground. 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:46.719 If you live this manic Christianity up one minute, down the next, up the next, down the next, if as quickly as you can become inspired, you can become destroyed. 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:56.000 It's time to consider how you need to dig deep, how you need to confront things in your past, how you need to confront habits in your present. 00:38:56.480 --> 00:39:09.760 Maybe it's time to actually start spending time in the Word of God, praying to Him, asking God to search you and show you all of the rocks that are hiding out in the soil of your heart. 00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:25.519 Perhaps you are the thorny soil, you're overwhelmed with worry, and you want God and you want to live a kingdom of heaven kind of life, but if you're honest, you are consumed with the things right here all around you. 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:39.599