Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52closeLuke 2:52
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (ESV)
). Once you have connected in relationship within the church, it is time for you to grow!
I read this story about a father talking with his daughter and her five-year-old friend, Elizabeth, about birthdays. Elizabeth’s was March 30 and the father’s was March 27. “Our birthdays are three days apart,” he said to her. She looked up at him and remarked, “Yeah, but you grew much faster than I did.”
Well that brings us to a question…How fast are you growing?
I know some of us are growing in places that we don’t want to. We seem to be expanding at the wrong places.
And it is going so fast that it seems to be out of control. But there is a kind of growing that we are considering this morning that we do want to be a part of our lives.
The Parable of the Sower, the Seed and the Soils was probably our Lord’s first parable, and is a foundation parable of the Kingdom of God through the detailed explanation given. Interpretations of most of Jesus’ parables are not recorded, but in this instance we have it spelt out line by line from His lips so we don’t need to speculate.
The disciples and Jesus’ circle of followers had asked Him what it meant. They were ready for the manifesto of the Kingdom. It turned out to be a simple lesson in gardening! But behind the imagery of the Sower, the Seed and the Soils there are solemn and serious truths.
WHO IS THE SOWER?
There can be no doubt that it’s Jesus! He’d been teaching the crowds – the unique Sermon on the Mount; He’d healed the sick – pointing to His great work of deliverance from the results of mankind’s fall into the clutches of Satan. He was sowing seed for God as He travelled the country preaching the good news of the Kingdom.
WHAT IS THE SEED?
Jesus Himself gives the key to understanding how the Kingdom of God is to be found: “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11closeLuke 8:11
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (ESV)
).
WHAT OF THE SOILS?
It’s obvious that the soil is the human heart. Jesus describes one sowing but four different soils which explains why people respond as they do. Neither the sower nor the seed can change the soil. The same sower and seed produced no crop, some crop, or much crop, depending on the soil.
The seed of the Word of God all too often falls on “bad-soil” but Jesus ends the Parable by telling us that it’s God’s will and purpose that there’s:
FRUITFULNESS
Just as soil can’t change by itself from “bad” to “good”, so the soil of our hearts is dependent totally on the sovereign grace of God. Jesus said that the qualification for good-soil is that it “produces a crop”. “Fruit” says Jesus, is “showing yourself to be my disciples” (John 15:8closeJohn 15:8
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (ESV)
). It is “all goodness, righteousness and truth … what pleases the Lord” (Eph 5:9,10closeEphesians 5:9
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true). . . .
Ephesians 5:10
10 And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (ESV)
). It’s the “fruit of the Spirit … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22closeGalatians 5:22
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. . . . (ESV)
).
Jesus, as ever, ends the Parable on a note of challenge, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The Great Sower Himself is asking us: “What kind of hearer are you?” Is our hearing impaired by the secular noise level of our busy lives? One day, God is going to hold us accountable for our spiritual productivity.
SPRITUAL GROWTH
Here at SSCC, we have designed a growth track to help you develop to your full potential and fulfill God’s magnificent plan for your life. The early church held classes and services where people learned doctrine: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42closeActs 2:42 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (ESV) ).
Attend the Community Life classes faithfully for all FIVE weeks. This beginning, elementary study of God’s Word will teach you the basics of what it means to be a believer, to be baptized, and even to share your faith. At the end of this course, you and your new friends in the class will participate in a Freedom Weekend retreat together. It will be one of the greatest spiritual experiences of your entire life! The final class will be our partnership class, where you will have an opportunity to officially commit yourself to being part of our congregation, and our pastoral team will pray over you and your family for your next level of growth in the Lord!
Begin the Discovery classes, our advanced Bible training for those who want more! (We recommend you complete the Community Life classes prior to starting the Discovery course). We hope you will join us for these powerful classes!
We will also provide advanced Bible training for those who want to be ordained in ministry with an acreditation in Theology.
Information about both the Community Life classes and Discovery classes is available at the Community Kiosk or by calling any of the pastors
