"keep Sowing" Series

“KEEP SOWING” Luke 8:4-15

FBCF – 2/4-24

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Monticello Bapt Church – built FLC in 2005. Great facility! Used it in so many ways to impact our community w/ the Gospel.

- New SS rooms – New Youth room w/ a café & game room

- Commercial kitchen

- Gym w/ walking track around 2nd floor

- Multipurpose floor – basketball, volleyball, banquets – “Evening in December”, concerts, conferences

- Churchwide fellowship meals

- “Team Impact” – Hundreds heard Gospel & gave life to Christ.

- Installed showers in case we needed to be a hurricane relief center. Finished bldg in April – Katrina hit in Aug. Housed 100 people from New Orleans for about 2 weeks.

Did all the things necessary for a bldg program – plans, architect’s drawings, construction contractor, capital campaign (“Building on Faith”), groundbreaking ceremony.

But before any of the great things happened in that bldg,

before a single shovel was stuck in the ground, a single brick laid, something else had to happen. Had to have soil borings taken on site where FLC would be built. Reasons:

- Determine makeup of the soil

- Decide if the soil could support weight of bldg.

- Discover anything that might be a problem:

o Environmental issues

o Structural issues

o Geographical issues

- Company, Soil Structure Interface Consultants, website: “When building anything, it is wise to do some soil borings. All structures are founded on soils, & soils come in all strengths.”

This morning, as we start a new series – “Parables” – we are going to do our own soil borings – spiritual soil borings. Going to let the Holy Spirit do HIS work in us to show us what kind of soil is in our hearts. Going to dig deep &:

- Determine the makeup of our heart’s soil – What kind of soil will you find in your heart? Which soil in our Scripture passage will represent your heart?

- Decide if the soil in your heart can support the weight of your life – “All structures are founded on soils…” – Luke 6:46-49

- Discover anything in your heart that might be a problem – something contaminating your soil – something that could cause structural problems in your life – something that is causing your soil to be impure.

EXPLANATION – Luke 8:4-15

Parables – Earthly stories w/ a heavenly meaning. Jesus told about 30 of them, all recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke). None in John. Pointed toward the K’dom of God – what it’s like – who’s included & who’s not – how to live as a citizen of the K’dom.

APPLICATION – Keep sowing the seed, no matter where it falls.

WE ALL NEED TO HEAR THE WORDS OF JESUS – v. 1, 8b, 18a, 21

Jesus had a strong teaching/preaching ministry.

- Fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy @ beginning of His ministry – Luke 4:18-19 - “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, b/c He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives & recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

- Luke 4:43 – “…He said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

- Luke 5:31-32 – “And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’”

Preaching was Jesus’ business. It was what He came to do – His primary call & mission.

- V. 1 – “Soon afterward…” – means “one after the other; an orderly successive step.

- Shows us that right after the banquet at the Pharisee Simon’s house, Jesus got up & got back to His business of preaching & proclaiming the Good news – He got back to sowing the seed of the Word of God.

- He was driven to preach & proclaim God’s message of salvation to all who would hear it.

o “proclaiming” – kerusso – to preach, to publish, to be a herald, to preach the Gospel as a herald

o A herald is one who signal that something is coming, someone who ushers in something or someone.

o Jesus was ushering in the K’dom of God – the rule of God over the hearts of those who submit to Him & His authority.

- We all need to hear Jesus’ words whenever a preacher of the Gospel proclaims them. Look at those who were hearing His words:

o City folks – village folks

o The 12