Parable Of Th Esower Series

Sowing Seed; Life, Faith, Service

Matthew 13:1-9

Sermon one- Parable of the Sower

Introduction-

This morning we start a new series study called sowing seeds; Life Faith, Service.

We will be looking at:

Where we throw our seeds

How we throw our seeds.

What can we expect to happen when and where we sow seeds.

Last, but not least, what are seeds?

I mean, if you want to grow watermelons, you don’t plant cucumber seeds.

Using the principal that Jesus teaches in Matthew 13:

We are going to look honestly at our own life.

Realistically look at our faith, and evaluate ourselves on our service for Jesus.

It should mean weather you are a new Christian or a seasoned saint, there is something for you in this study.

I think if you are honest, there are those that really struggle to really grasp Christianity and really have a hard time walking the walk with Jesus.

This series could change your life. It might even answer a prayer you have been praying.

How bad do you want to serve God?

How much of your life are you willing to commit to the Lord?

If you are serious, He can change your life. If you are not, once again, the principals of God will not work because you have not planted them in good futile soil enriched with the words and promises of God.

Your choice- what results do you want?

Matthew 13:1-9/ Prayer

Background:

The passage begins with Jesus speaking to a large crowd.

Jesus puts Himself in a boat facing the crowd that is listening from the shore.

Jesus created his own amplified mic so people could hear Him and He shares this parable of a farmer.

A parable for them is a life lesson.

Understand this-When Jesus speaks, He has things to be heard.

They are life lessons.

They are Kingdom principal’s .

It is to our benefit to listen and apply to our lives.

He talks about a farmer throwing seed into his field and the seeds landing on 4 different kinds of soils.

Make no mistake about this- to keep this in context.

The seed is the Word of God, 4 different kinds of soil are 4 different kinds of heart conditions that the seed lands on.

The disciples didn’t get it, Jesus had to explain it in (v18)

“Listen to what the parable of the sower means: when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy, but since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, and thirty times what was sown.”

4 soils that the Word of God is seeded in

Path- heavily traveled, hard. Quickly stolen away from them.

Rocky- quickly soiled, springs up but has no root. Shallow and the sun or life quickly scorches it and burns it.

Thorns- again shallow, not taken care of. Weeds (bad things in our lives) that we allow to choke what God is doing.

Good soil- well fertilized ground that God says will produce 30, 60, 100 times what you plant according to how well the ground is.

Listen,

We live in a day and age of

Hardness of heart toward the things of God.

Shallowness of our relationship with God.

Allow many thorns in our lives to choke God out .

Remember the seed thrower of biblical times did not have the big fancy machine spreader. They threw seeds down like Johnny Appleseed manually and then dug up the ground around it.

You can understand that if the seed was unattended, that there would not be a harvest.

Today, we have churches on TV, Evangelist traveling around the world sharing God’s Word, Churches begging and pleading with people to have a relationship with God. Pastors trying to point people in the right direction.

The number of fruitless hearers was great then, and it is great today.

New ways to throw the seed but still the bottom line is the heart condition that the seed is planted in.

Proverbs 24:30-32

“I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyards of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.”