Sermons on Thorny Soil:

Composting The Garbage Of Our Lives With Praise Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 7, 2011

Rain needs fertile soil in order to accomplish anything. But the soil needs compost in order to live. So also do our lives need God-processed garbage in order to bear fruit.

Fifteenth Sunday in Course July 10, 2011 Spirit of the Liturgy [If rain] The word of God, the prophetic spirit, doesn’t just evaporate from the Church. It must bear fruit in obedience to all of the ten commandments, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, the welcoming attitude we bear ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:10-11

Denomination: Catholic

Is Your Heart Ready To Listen? Series

Contributed by Randy Hamel on Jul 15, 2008

This passage looks at the parable of the four soils in Luke 8 - our attitudes will determine whether we hear from God and whether the Word will be received in good soil and reproduce fruit in our lives.

Acknowledgement - Rick Warren, Saddleback Church Today we’re beginning a new series "How to Hear God’s Voice". o One of the most basic claims of Christianity is that God speaks to people. All through the Bible you see the phrase, "And God said or The word of the Lord came to ……………….." o There ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

The Good Samaritan Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jul 20, 2012

Today we’re going to see what kind of person Jesus sees as a superhero, and it certainly isn’t what most of the world would expect.

The Avengers is the top grossing movie of the summer, and Batman and Spiderman are always incredibly popular, though engineering students at a University in England determined that even if Batman could fly, due to the size of his cape he would crash and probably be killed or severely injured when ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Sown Among Rocks

Contributed by Shawn Miller on Oct 2, 2015

By pointing out the dangers of the rocky soil in Mark 4, there is an appeal to be humble, earnest and sincere in our walk with the Lord. The Rocky soil convert receives the gospel gladly, progresses in it rapidly, but then falls away quickly

Sown among Rocks Introduction: During our Wednesday night service, Pedro had a great point about our church during our testimony service and it spurred a thought, that I want to expound upon today about the true gospel church and about the true gospel convert. We often see somethings blow up like ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:5-6

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Learning To Play The Harmonica Series

Contributed by Jeff Strite on May 8, 2001

Just how do we "disciple" people?

OPEN: A young American engineer was sent to Ireland for a year. When he left, his fiancé gave him a harmonica. She said, "I want you to learn to play this: it will help to keep your mind off those Irish girls." He wrote to her often and told he her that he was practicing his harmonica every ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Just Give Me The Dirt Series

Contributed by Thomas Swope on Feb 9, 2012

A study of the Gospel of Luke chapter 8 verses 1 through 15

Luke 8: 1 – 15 Just Give Me The Dirt Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:1-15

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The Consequences Of Producing A Crop Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jun 5, 2025

After sharing the Parable of the Four Soils, Jesus tells us what the consequences in our lives of seeing that fruitfulness will be. This sermon unpacks four consequences of seeing a "crop" of God's fruitfulness in your life.

- I need to start with a word that I use quite a bit in sermons: context. - It is essential that we don’t pull passages out of their original context and try to make them mean something that the original author didn’t intend. Further, we need to look at what comes before and after to see if that ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:16-18

Denomination: Baptist

What Kind Of Dirt Are You? Series

Contributed by Mitchell Skelton on Jul 2, 2003

Identifing ourselves in the Parable of the Soils helps us to improve our relationship with Christ.

What Kind of Dirt Are You? Mark 4:1–20 INTRODUCTION It is often said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The first of Jesus’ Parables is about the condition of human hearts. Jesus always emphasized that it is not a good sermon that makes for good worship but good ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Sower: The Parable Has To Do With Different Sorts Of Reception

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jun 28, 2017

Saint John Paul II remarked that there are great psychological insights in the comparisons of the soils.

15A Sower Scripturally, the parable has to do with different sorts of reception. The seed stands for the word sown. My mom has a t-shirt that gets her out of a lot commitments, the shirt says: “Sorry I Can't My Plants Need Me” Saint John Paul II remarked that there are great psychological ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Denomination: Catholic

Building On The Rock Or On The Sand

Contributed by Grant Adams on Jun 10, 2022

The first step in building a building, is to test the soil to see if the ground will support the weight.

Jesus concludes his sermon on the mount with a spiritual soil sample. You and I are slowly fashioning a character that will never die. We are building a life that will last forever. If we build our life on Jesus’ teaching, our life will stand the tests of time and eternity. If we build it on ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-29, Luke 6:47-49

Denomination: Baptist

The Truth Is In The Dirt

Contributed by Ernie Arnold on Aug 31, 2021

This sermon deals with the four soils that can be in our lives and how to make sure that we do what is necessary to have good soil so that we can live a life filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit

Series of Sermons – Dirt Parables Scripture: Matthew 13:1–23, Mark 4:1–20, Luke 8:4–15 Theme: Your Life – Your Soil Title: The Truth is in the Dirt INTRO: Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! I want to talk to you today about your spiritual walk with Jesus. I want to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15

Denomination: Nazarene

Going For The Gold (Pt. 2)

Contributed by Chris Talton on Jan 22, 2002

This sermon examines the lives of several prominent O.T. people (Lot, David, Achan, etc.) to see how coveting almost destroyed them.

October 1, 2000 Exodus 20:17 “Going for the gold!” (part 2) INTRODUCTION Last week, we began our look at the last of the 10 Commandments – “Thou shalt not covet”. We said that coveting is that overwhelming desire that we have to possess what belongs to someone else. It may be that ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:17

Denomination: Baptist

The Seed Of God's Word

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Jun 18, 2007

The key to a fruitful and abundant life is with our response to the Word. The way we receive the Word is critical to having a fruitful and blessed life. The seed is productive only if the soil is receptive. The Word is good seed; are you the good soil?

This is a parable. Jesus explains: “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man” (Mt 13:37) • The field is the world, people of the world (13:38). • And the seed is the Word of God. The sower throws seed onto the ground. God is speaking to the world. • The seed falls onto the ground without ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:18-23

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Parable Of The Sower Series

Contributed by Anthony Zibolski on May 23, 2017

Two part message looking at the power of God's word working in our lives and the soils that God word ministers too. We quickly see that the Word of God is not the problem, it is the soil being ready to be seeded by the Word of God.

The Parable of the Sower Growing and Sowing Seeds Mark chapter 4:1-4:9 Introduction- Please turn to Mark 4:1-9. It is the Parable of the Sower. This will be a two part sermon. We will start it today and look at the Word of God and finish with how the Word of God reacts to the different soils ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-9

Denomination: Nazarene

Jonah Series

Contributed by Brady Boyd on Mar 20, 2025

Jonah was one of the few prophets to be called to foreign soil. He had to go there!

The Story of Us Jonah March 23, 2025 Jonah 1:2-6 NIV “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:2-6, Matthew 12:39-41

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational