We are on a journey this year. If you're brand new to us, if
you're watching online, hello, welcome to you.
We spend time we being me in August away on the mountain of
the Lord, listening to the Father saying God.
What is your heart for Illuminate Church in the next
year? And last year when I went away,
I kept getting this reverberating sense that God was
saying of the church in general, which includes Illuminate
Church, that my. People are biblically
illiterate. And my people don't know My
word, that they don't know the power of My Word.
And if the people don't know my word, then they don't know the
truth of my word. And where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom, right? And when the Lord's truth is in
the room, his truth brings freedom.
Because this is what I mean. This is the Bible that I'm
speaking to you. Where the Spirit of the Lord
there is, where there is truth, there is.
And so if we don't know the truth and we're lacking.
Can you imagine the people who call themselves disciples of
Jesus Christ are the ones who are not free because we don't
know the power and the person of the word, instead deciding to
not be biblically illiterate and.
Armed with the Word of God, the power of God, the truth of God,
we are going to be a transformed, transformative
people meaning ourselves, transformed by the Word of God
into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and then ourselves
leading other people to the revolution of revelation that we
accept ourselves, have experienced.
Are you understanding? But there is no revelation for
somebody else if we don't have it ourselves to give to them.
How can they know unless somebody speaks?
And how can you speak it if you do not know the word?
So we've determined ourselves to become biblically literate.
In our last series, we Were in Faith Begins.
Which was our heritage or is our heritage?
It's the origin of our relationship with the Almighty
all loving God. It's the start of what's called
the meta narrative. 1 singular Crimson thread that binds the
entirety of scriptures. This is not a collection of
stories. It is one connected, purposeful,
singularly themed story that begins in Genesis.
And here's the theme, we've talked about it a lot last
series. God's intent is to dwell with
humanity. That's why he created, that's
why he does what he does. And everything that he does is
just to be near you, to spend time with you and you have the
benefit of also than spending time with him.
Imagine if your life mate, your travelling partner everywhere
you go is the source of all Lovejoy and peace of all life,
the one who's able easily to thwart the attacks of the enemy,
constantly with you, abiding with you.
That's his intent for you, and we are meeting him in that
intent. God in love came to dwell with
us. That's the story that begins in
Genesis. Now, as we move to the age of
Jesus and focus on his teaching, here's what we're going to find.
His Kingdom is being unveiled. This series is called The
Kingdom Unveiled, and his Kingdom is still advancing to
this day. Why everyone say?
Why? So that God can dwell with more
and more and more people, and so that more and more people can
dwell with God. His Kingdom advances on the
earth, the unveiled Kingdom. The question we must ask
ourselves as we approach the teachings of Jesus and
understand the meta narrative is how can I partner with God's
unveiled Kingdom right here on the earth today?
Good news is, this is exactly what the parables of Jesus teach
us. That we'll be looking at in the
series. No one gets excited about
parables, but you get excited about I get a partner with God
and the Kingdom advancing on the earth.
How do I do that? By understanding the parables, I
said this last week, let me just repeat it.
You'll see it on the screen. Jesus didn't just come to save
us to a future Kingdom, but to reveal the reality of the
present here on earth. Kingdom, somebody say Amen.
It's through the parables that we can understand another reason
why Jesus came in the flesh. Certainly, for God so loved the
world that He gave us one. And only son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. Amen.
Amen.
That's one reason he came in the flesh.
Another reason that he came in the flesh is to reveal the
Kingdom, not just for salvation, but for revelation.
And as we understand the revelation, we can see our.
Part that we play in the meta narrative.
All the history of the church has now landed on our shoulders.
What are we to do and how are we to do it?
The parables teach us. In this summer series, as we
study the parables, we must realize that we are not waiting
for a future in heaven. You get saved, then there's a
long. Time until you die and then you
go to heaven and that's where the fun begins.
What kind of relationship is that?
But heaven is what we are bringing to earth now.
It's what Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew chapter 6 verse
10, saying on earth as it is in heaven.
The fullness of the Kingdom of heaven on earth here and today,
right now, Believe it in the church age, what we're doing is
recreating the relationship that was started in the garden,
living in the light of the blood of Jesus Christ, the resurrected
Savior. Each of these parables unpacks
something very specific, but something essential for us, the
church, to replicate the Kingdom here on earth today.
So what we read in the parable is instruction from Jesus to
replicate in the church and in the earth today.
Somebody say I got it. Before we go any further, let's
talk about this weird word that we only use in the church, at
least as far as I know. Parables, everyone say parables.
Yeah, parables is not. Two bulls.
This is what dad jokes do. They kind of rumble.
If you want dad jokes, make sure you're for Father's Day.
We always have fun on Father's Day.
Amen. Yeah.
What is a parable? Parable we think of as a story.
But what parable literally means is to throw alongside to throw
something alongside something. A parable places a simple,
everyday human scenario right beside a deep, complex truth.
So the listener us, we can learn by comparison.
This is the deep mysterious truth.
And here's this easy to understand story.
Now I understand the deep truth. Are you following?
Say yes. Let me give you a parable.
Can I just give you a parable right here, right now?
Let's say that the deep truth I wanted to share with you is that
AI algorithms cannot decipher intent, nuance, or deception.
Like, OK, I think I understand what you're saying.
Can you give me something? More to help me understand what
you're saying. Well, suppose there was a man
who wanted to buy a new refrigerator that could help him
stay healthy. Wouldn't that be great?
So he buys an AI refrigerator and says, help me be healthy.
So the AI refrigerator, using all this algorithms and doing
what it does, orders the first batch of groceries.
They show up. The man grabs the groceries.
He puts them all the way, including this.
Vegetable that's come to life in the last 20 years?
I never heard of it until like 20 years ago maybe.
It's called kale. I mean, when I was a kid we had
tacos and meat. Meat.
What do you call those meat sandwiches, Man?
Witches. We didn't have no kale.
Did anyone hear of kale before 20 years ago?
You're blessed. You're blessed and you're lying.
OK, so the AI sees them to the kale in the fridge.
It's got everything in there. And the man's like, I don't like
kale. And he puts it in the back of
the drawer so it's hidden. He's like, I don't want to eat
that. And back there it shrivels and
it kind of gets like. Wilty, you know what all these
leafy things do and the AI algorithm goes, oh the kale is
missing. This boy likes some kale, so the
AI algorithm says I'm going to get 2.
The next grocery show up, there's 2 bags of kale there.
The guy's like, I don't even. He puts them in the fridge and
he walks away. He's like, wait a second.
If I keep putting these things in my fridge, the algorithm is
going to think I like them. So he takes them out of the
fridge and throws them away, and the AI algorithm goes whoa.
He really loves some kale and the next grocery order there is
4 bags of kale. The guy's like, what, the kale?
And he puts them away careful. This is the end of my story.
Jesus teaches better parables, let's be honest.
But now you can understand a little bit better when I tell
you the deep truth that AI algorithms cannot decipher
intent, nuance, or deception. You understand it better because
I threw a story alongside it. And really, we do need to learn
a lot about AI. There are going to be kids born
very soon who will never live in a world without AI.
Ain't that great? I mean, there's already kids
being born. They're like, what was it like
before AI? Like, great.
It was so awesome. Yeah.
Some people call a parable an earthly story with a heavenly
meaning. Now here's what's interesting
and a very important piece of knowledge for us to add to our
biblical literacy tool belt. Jesus didn't always use
parables. In fact, the first part of his
ministry he never used them. He spoke plainly and clearly.
Then right near the middle of his ministry, Jesus all of a
sudden starts to use parables in his ministry, if not as the only
teaching tool, the primary one. Why?
Why the switch? What does it mean all?
I'm glad to that you asked. I want to read together this
parable. It's in Matthew chapter 13, the
first of the parables. If you have a Bible, open it to
13 Matthew 13. If you need a Bible, raise your
hand and we will be be glad to bring you one.
If you're online, Matthew 13. It'll be floating above my head
all sorts of. Ways to see the Word of God
Matthew chapter 13 Jesus begins teaching in a parable verse.
One says that that same day Jesus went out of the house and
sat by the lake. Let's pause because I want you
to visualize this. All right.
Don't just hear the story, but but see it.
Jesus is in the house. He's got these stone built
houses. He walks out to the Sea of
Galilee, this incredibly beautiful and it's called the
sea, but it's a gigantic lake glistening in the sun.
He walks down and verse 2 says such large crowds gathered
around him, thousands would usually follow him, that he
leaves the shore and he himself goes out just a little bit and
he's sitting in a boat out there and they're all in the shore
like an amphitheater looking at Jesus.
Can you see it? Can you see it?
While all the people stood on the shore?
It says then verse 3, then he told them many things in
parables, saying here's the first one.
A farmer went out to sow a seed. As he was scattering the seeds,
some fell along the path. The birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow, but when the
sun came up the plants were scorched, and they were withered
because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns
which grew up and choked the plants, but still other seed
fell on good soil, where it produced a crop 100 a 60 or 30
times what was sown then. Verse 9 Whoever has ears, let
them hear. OK, let's start with this last
line first. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Can you see the disciples faces? I just picture Peter.
He's he's on the shore with everyone else and he's like,
what did Jesus just say? Whoever has ears, he's looking
around at everyone's noggins like.
Hey, Jesus, As far as I can tell, everybody here has ears
and you're just right there in the boat.
I'm pretty sure that everybody here, everybody heard you like,
unless I'm. Mistaken and these.
Wrinkly flappy things on our head aren't meant to be failed
wings, but actually Soundwave collecting devices, and I have
gigantic ones. Don't stare.
Everybody heard this. No, nobody missed what you said.
You know, Jesus says whoever has ears, let them hear Jesus.
In the Speaking of this parable and even this line, whoever has
ears, let them hear has just made a strategic pivot.
He's never said this phrase before.
Whoever has ears, let them hear. Not after he called his first
disciples. Not after the Sermon on the
Mount, the best sermon ever preached, Matthew chapter 5, six
and seven. Not after he heals the sick.
Not after he casts out demons. Not after he raises the dead.
Not after he sends out the disciples in the ministry.
Jesus has never said these words, and he's done all of that
up to this point. Whoever has ears to hear, let
them hear. Why the pivot?
Why is he moving from plain teaching to parables?
You're not the only one wondering.
The disciples also wondered look at verse 10 the disciples came
to them and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables?
Why are you talking gibberish? Jesus verse 11, he replied.
Because the knowledge of the secrets of the.
Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken.
From them. This is why I speak to them in
parables. Those seeing, they do not see,
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
And them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.
You will be ever hearing, but never understanding.
You will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become callous.
They hardly hear with their ears and have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their
ears, understand with their hearts, and turn.
And I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes,
because they see. And your ears, because they
hear. For truly, I tell you, many
prophets and righteous people long to see what you see but did
not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Everybody had the opportunity to hear.
Some did and some didn't. And those that heard, perceived,
understood, heard more. And those who were unwilling to
see and to. Hear understood less this is a
pivot. There's a catalyst.
Incident that happens that causes the pivot that I want to
draw your attention to in the. Chapters that directly precede
this shift, such as specifically Matthew chapter 12, the
Pharisees and the scribes, have started to become part of the
people listening to Jesus. When Jesus starts his ministry,
he's preaching in front of people have no idea who he is.
They don't know his stories, haven't seen his miracles, and
he starts garnering all sorts of popularity and crowds are
gathering, seekers of truth are gathering.
And then suddenly, as we can progress in the story, we get
peppered in. These new fellas to the crowd,
Pharisees and Sadducees describes These are the
religious elite, the leaders of the temple, the Temple practices
in Israel. They're the elite.
They're the big hogs, but these guys, they come and they witness
Jesus's miracles and instead of worshiping or seeking him, they
formally accuse him of operating under the power of Satan.
And I say it with judgement in my voice, but I wonder what I
what I've done the same thing like I'm seeing these miracles
and what I credit Jesus as to operating under the power of the
Spirit of God or what I say, man, this guy's, he's working
with Biizabob. He's working with Satan.
He's been followed by many who are seeking him for life.
And now to the crowd we're adding those who are seeking to
invalidate and refute and eventually to put him to death.
Some are coming for life, some are coming for death.
And Jesus notices, and he pivots, and when he.
Pivots. We get the first parable right
after this definitive rejection. Jesus walks out of the house.
He sits on a boat in the Sea of Galilee and delivers what we
have here today, the parable of the sower.
This is the very first in a massive way of a consecutive
parables. Before this point, I just
reemphasize this. His teaching was direct and
clear. Go look at the sermon out of
their mouth, He says plainly. Don't judge, he says Finally.
Don't worry. He says plainly to forgive.
He plainly teaches them how to pray.
The Lord's Prayer is in the Sermon on the Mount.
All of it's clear and plain. But after this point, he spoke
to the public almost exclusively in parables.
Why parables? What if I told you that the
greatest history, the greatest teacher in history, deliberately
sabotaged his own public approval ratings?
Right at the peak of his popularity, when thousands were
hanging on his every word. Jesus suddenly stopped speaking
clearly and it wasn't because he lost his mind.
Like oh, what happened to Jesus? I'm going to give you 3 reasons
that I believe the scripture shows us that Jesus makes the
pivot to parables. The first is this strategic
silence is both the shield of mercy and a weapon of timing the
parables. Are heard by some, but for
others it's silence. They don't understand it.
And for those it is a shield of mercy and a weapon of timing.
When Jesus wraps these explosive realities in the coded languages
of parables, 2 things happen. Number one, this is amazing.
It protects the hostile critics from the crushing weight of the
spiritual liability. In other words, Jesus is saying,
the more I tell you, the more you will be accountable for.
So in mercy I've switched to parables.
Jesus used parables to protect even his own detractors from the
very truth that they came to here but couldn't.
Or rather, we should say they came to here but they wouldn't
hear it. They had the opportunity to hear
it, but they had closed up their hearts.
To the message of the Kingdom, the messianic move of God, and
they wouldn't hear it. At the same time, Jesus is using
this coded language to those that are willing to hear it, to
say something's coming, but it's not ready yet.
And I'm preparing you for what's coming.
I'm preparing you for the Kingdom that is unveiled through
my blood and resurrection. I'm speaking it this way because
it's not time yet, but those of you that want to get it will get
it. Strategic silence is both the
shield of mercy and a weapon of time.
And it's also this. Mysteries are reserved for
seekers, not spectators. The deep insight of a parable
was an exclusive invitation that would naturally sift the
audience. Think about this.
It's happening right here in this room right now.
Jesus would speak a parable as an invitation to all, and it
would sift the people, those that.
Wanted to receive the invitation and those that didn't, those
that were humble and wanted to lean in and listen and hear more
and understand more. Jesus just told us those who
want more or get more. So if you're Lent, Lent in one
of the disciples of sitting there, or fisherman, or just
some random woman just listening to Jesus and our heart has
leaned in, she's going to receive the relevant revelation.
But there were those who were there.
And they were leaning in based on pride and arrogance to
protect their status. Or maybe they're just casual
observers and it's like it went right over their head.
I remember sitting in church so many times, unengaged,
disengaged guys appear flapping his lips for 45 minutes and I'm
thinking about. I wonder if the bucks aren't
going to stink this afternoon. I wonder what we're having for
lunch. I wonder if my buddies want to
go build a Fort. I would sit in church and count
things. One light, 2 light, three light,
4 light. One choir member, 2 choir
member, three choir member. Anyone remember choirs?
I love choirs. Disengaged.
And so I left completely unchanged.
But occasionally I would lean in and open my heart to the
teaching and what God was trying to bring to me and suddenly I
would leave. Like wow, that actually made a
difference in my life. And the issue was not the word
of God. The issue was the receiver of
the Word of God. And I would go to church as a
spectator and not a seeker. And as a spectator, I got
nothing. But as a seeker, I got
everything. It's happening right here in
this room right now. I pray all of you are seekers,
but in a room this big with this many people, this many people
watching online, they're spectators here.
And I don't say that as a division thing.
I say that as an invitation thing.
Maybe you feel all of a sudden like, Oh my goodness, he's
talking to me. I am a spectator.
And I don't want to be that way. And so God in his mercy is
revealing that to you so that you might switch from I'm just
here as a casual observer to I'm leaned in and I want to hear
because I got, I got ears #3 Parables are a prophetic time
capsule, both backwards and forwards.
You know what a time capsule is? You dig up the ground, you stick
something in there and you hide it there.
And then people come find it later and like, oh, this is what
that was like. You know what I'm talking about.
Like, oh, look at the 1980s. What is an Atari One joystick
with one button? When Jesus spoke a parable, he
was digging up a time capsule. It's it's a miracle.
By speaking in these riddles, this master teacher, Jesus, he's
fulfills the ancient promise that we find.
In Psalm 78, verse one and two, my people hear my teaching,
listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a
parable. I will utter hidden things,
things from of old. Jesus has just told us in
speaking. The parable explaining the
parable to them, that he's revealing to them the knowledge.
Of the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven.
It's been given to you and later many prophets and righteous
people long to see what you see but did not see it and hear and
to hear what you hear but did not hear but you are hearing it.
By cracking open these parables, Jesus is like turning the dial
and opening the vault to reveal to us foundational, eternal
secrets that have been intentionally held since the
foundation of the world until Jesus's arrival.
And Jesus is saying, I've come to now make this revelation and
I'm doing it through parables. Let those who have ears hear it.
I'm opening this time castle. But Jesus is also depositing a
time capsule and all of his listeners going forward.
Here is my teaching. I want you to take this with you
when you go. And so he uses stories.
I study communication. Maybe you do too.
What you learn about communication if you just
speaking facts. Let's say we're having a little
bit of a disagreement, having a conversation.
Me and Jason down here, we're in different right, right, right,
right, right, right. If I speaks my facts.
To him, he's not going to be listening to me.
He's just going to be making up in his mind his refutation of my
facts. I'm going to fight facts with
facts. We see this on social media.
They got these people with. Cameras and microphones, They
walk into a hostile environment and they speak their facts and
the other person on the other side never agrees with them.
Do you see this? Yep.
You're an idiot.
I hate you. You're an idiot too.
I hate you. Right.
And that's, I mean, I don't know why they, I mean, maybe it's
helping in some way. It's just, to me, like you're
just going toe to toe with somebody who's never going to
believe what you're speaking to them.
And Jesus recognizes this. He's like, if I just tell my
facts to the Pharisees, they're going to think of all their laws
in their head, of all the reasons that I'm wrong and so.
Jesus pivots to storytelling. Here's what happens when you
tell a story. The brain focuses.
On a story, I don't know if you've ever been in a sermon
like you are right now, pastors going blah, blah, blah, blah.
Then he starts telling a story and all of a sudden you're like,
you lock in anybody want to testify it, it happens.
Your brains like new information.
Never heard this before. I can't wait to hear the end.
And so when you're telling a story with somebody you're in a
disagreement with, they're not thinking of the refutation.
They're just receiving your story and they want to hear the
truth of the story and they get to the end.
And even if they disagree with you, they might not remember
your facts, but they're going to remember your story.
And so Jesus makes a pivot. It's a tactical move.
I'm not going to fight you fact for fact, although I could.
You're just going to bow up against me.
Instead. I'm going to tell you a story.
And even if you don't believe, it's going to be tucked in there
and one day a Pharisee is going to be in his home with his kids
and be like, Jesus was right. I remember the story and now it
makes sense. Y'all with me?
Let me summarize this. Every master communicator knows
how to capture an audience. All you got to do is drop a rope
from the ceiling. If you missed it last week, you
miss. We'll just call it something.
But I forgot to tell you it was Illuminate Church's official
rope drop. It only makes sense in a theme
park world. OK, good.
Yeah, but only a master strategist like Jesus knows how
to hide A revolution in plain sight.
So today what we're looking at is a tactical pivot in
communication history. I love this.
The moment public teaching became a secret intelligence
operation which was designed to bypass the critics but at the
same time preserve the message that would change the world.
Jesus did it like easy, let me teach you in parables.
So today, let's not be spectators, let's be seekers and
understand this parable. Matthew 13 verse 18.
Jesus explains it for us. Listen then to what the parable
of the sower means. When anyone hears the message
about the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil 1 comes
and snatches away what was sown in their heart.
This is the seed sown along the path.
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the
word at once, and it once receives it with joy.
Woo. But since they have no root that
only lasts a short time, when trouble or persecution comes
because of the word, they quickly fall away.
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who
hears the word. But the worries of this life and
the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it
unfruitful. But the seed falling on good
soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.
This is the one who produces A crop yielding 160 or 30 times
what was sown. I mean, it's again.
This parable will sift the audience.
Where are you? Which kind of soil?
Is the seed even that we're preaching today that Jesus's
words are bringing forth? What?
What's it falling on? Jesus is simply teaching us this
The condition of your heart determines the condition of your
outcomes. When the seed of God is
implanted on your heart, the condition of your heart is going
to determine the outcomes that follow.
I believe we want a kind of church that when the seed of
God, the Kingdom of God is implanted in somebody's heart,
at the very least it does thirtyfold, which is incredible.
60s a bonus 100 is amazing. If one of you in here receives
the Kingdom of God and goes out and makes 30 more disciples, is
that not amazing? Is that not amazing?
But if our soil is not right, we're like on Sunday, then
Monday we're like, I'm out. We don't literally say.
I'm out, but our lives say I'm out.
We would do well to learn from the parable.
The following three things put down deep roots in our faith.
Everyone say roots. Yeah.
Can I tell you another parable? Suppose there's a family that
says, you know what? We want to plant a tree in our
yard. So they go to Lowe's and buy a
tree, and they planted in the front yard.
And there they leave it for an hour.
Then they dig it up and they put it back in the house.
And leave it there for a week the following Sunday to like,
remember that. Tree we bought, Yeah, let let's
go plant in the yard again. They're walking over to plant in
the yard. And the youngest sons like, but
I'd rather go to the beach, you know, like that's a good idea.
Let's go to the beach. So they go to the beach.
And the next week they're going out to the car, it's a Friday
and they're flying to Oshkosh, WI because somebody's getting
married. And they see the tree like, oh,
we were supposed to plant you again on Sunday, but we're busy
this Sunday. We'll see you next week.
And then they go away again. And then the following week it's
Sunday and they're thinking about going to the theme park.
But the dad sees the tree in the corners.
Like man, we need to. Really.
I feel guilty that we haven't planted this tree in three
weeks. We better go plant the tree,
check the box, make sure we get into heaven.
So I'm going to plant the tree in the yard and I'm going to
nurture it for an hour. I'm going to fertilize in
sunlight. We're going to speak.
To it for an hour or maybe hour 15 depending on who's preaching
you know how it. Goes then we're going to dig it
up again and then put it back into the into the garage.
I've just shared with you the average church attendance of
Americans, which is once or twice a month, and the other
weeks are optional. And I've come to say that if you
want to be rooted and established in the Lord, once or
twice a month ain't going to cut it.
Here's here's what's happened in America.
We've made church obstinal when Jesus Christ is not optional.
He is the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to
the Father but by him. So he's the only option.
But we make church optional. Am I preaching too hard?
And so if you want to put your your deep root, if you want to
put down the deep roots of faith, I got a suggestion for
you. Commit to being part of the
body. Though terminology we use around
here is more than Sunday, more than one hour.
Do I take the tree out and fertilize Instead?
It's constantly out of the yard, a part of my daily ritual to
feed and to nourish this tree. Not just an hour on Sunday.
If you're not sure where to begin, let me invite you to
something we call life Step one. Yep.
I know hundreds of people who started their journey in faith
in life step one, and it's absolutely radically changed
their life. People who are on our staff who
had kind of mediocre faith, but they went to life step one and
all of a sudden things are blowing up in their life and
eventually they end up on staff. It starts in life step one.
Want to put down deep roots? Be a part of the body more than
Sunday. Get to Lifestep one to start #2
avoid being consumed by the cares of the world.
Depression and anxiety trying to choke out our faith.
Where can I learn about the love and the peace and the
establishment? The firmament of my face so
they're not shook. My tree doesn't tremble and tip
over with every deception of the enemy.
I'll tell you where more than Sunday.
Commit to being a part of the body.
Get in the dream team, get in the D group, get in life.
Step one. Have I ever said that before?
I am going to do it one more time.
Here's the third thing. Guard against the deceitfulness
of riches. Wealth chokes out the gospel,
and when I'm Speaking of wealth, I'm not talking about finances
only, and I'm not saying that it's impossible to follow Jesus
if you have a lot of money. Here's what I'm saying is that
we've taken money and we've used it for evil.
We've taken sexuality, which is a blessing, and God's given it
to us, and wealth, and we've turned it to evil.
We've taken alcohol, which God has given us.
We just had communion. They didn't drink grape juice,
they drink wine, and we've turned it to evil.
Everything that's given on the earth is good and then we take
it and make it methamphetamine. Those are things that God put on
the earth that we've taken and making them making them the
riches we keep misusing. If you want to stop misusing the
riches of the earth and the blessings of God, I got a
suggestion for you more than Sunday.
Be committed to the life of the church and if you're not sure
where to start, start at life step one.
Look at you never say life step one now say when you going.
Been there, done that. Go again.
Take somebody with you. Come on.
I've been through it. So many times.
Our role as disciples of Jesus is to prepare our hearts so that
the Kingdom can take root in US and multiply through.
US. If we're not rooted, if we're
not established, if we're not pure, then the 160 and 30 times
song will be gone tomorrow. However, I want to tell you that
everything I just taught you only speaks about us.
I'll make a pivot myself. Remember what I told you at the
beginning. Jesus is telling us these
parables that we might understand the Kingdom unveiled.
Which means. That the star of every parable
is God and his Kingdom, not us. But when we read the parables,
and often when we read any part of the Bible, we do it through
the lens of what does this tell me about me and my journey?
Want to talk about me? Remember, I mean, it's not a bad
question. It's a fantastic question to ask
yourself when you're reading the scriptures.
What does this reveal about myself?
It is a mirror that holds up the the truth, the standard.
And then we look at ourselves as I don't match the standard, I'm
going to change because the standard is not right.
So it's a good question to ask, but it is not a complete reading
of the scriptures and specifically today of the
parables. It's not just about you, it's
about His Kingdom. When it comes to the parables,
the main point is to understand the Kingdom.
It's why nearly every parable begins with Jesus saying these
words. The Kingdom of heaven is like.
Jesus in the parables is revealing the reality that He
already knows as a blessing to us, that we might join Him in
that reality right here and right now.
Those who have ears, may they hear it if you look in your
Bible. It's way different than when it
was written. When it was written, it was just
a long letter. Like you don't break up your
letters to your friends with chapters and verses, do you?
Chapter 1, tomorrow I'd like to go to Universal with you.
Verse 2. And we can ride something that's
going to make us puke. Chapter 3, right?
No, but somewhere along the way, it's actually in the 1200s, a
guy named Steve, look it up, divided all of the books into
chapters. And then in the 1500s, a French
dude who, I don't know his name, he was a printing press guy.
He added all the verses to the Bible.
So then we have chapter and verses.
And somewhere along the way, other scholars gave little
subheadings to all of our scriptures.
These aren't holy and inspired, they're just helpful to us as
reference. For instance, Genesis chapter
one, verse one, it's written the beginning.
That's not holy and inspired words.
It's just a helpful little reference point.
Luke chapter 2, the subheading is called the birth of Jesus,
right? If you look in your Bibles in
Matthew chapter 13 and in Luke and in Mark, the three gospels
where we find the story, this parable is not known as the
parable of the four soils, which makes it about you and me.
And Jesus even calls it something different to the
subheading, says the parable of the the parable of the Yeah.
It's known as the parable of the sower.
It's not so much about our soil as it is about the sower.
So if we're looking at this parable to tell us something
about the Kingdom, it's telling us about the sower.
And what do we learn about the sower in this parable, the
Kingdom reality? Is this the?
Sower is persistently generous, and that is what the Kingdom of
Heaven is like. Persistently generous.
And every time that we read what the Kingdom of Heaven is like,
we should think to ourselves, if that's what the Kingdom of
Heaven is like, then that's what I should be like too.
And now we have the standard, the mirror, and us, the Kingdom
of heaven that is on the earth now, the Kingdom unveiled, now
operates with persistent generosity.
Am I like that if I want to bring the Kingdom of heaven more
to earth as I pray on earth as is in the heaven Jesus like yes
on earth as it is in heaven. So you're going to bring it on
earth as it is in heaven, by the way, that.
You live by the way that you do. Are you persistently generous as
the Father was faithfully distributing the love of God,
and here's how God did it. He looked at the soils.
He said this one's not going to receive it.
That one's not going to receive it, That one's not going to
receive it. So let me just scatter it over
here to the good people. Is that what he did?
Church.
God did not care about the condition of the soil, He just
scattered it and loved to everybody in the hopes that
anybody will receive his message.
I find that we are generous to those that it's going to have a
little bit of payback for us on We say we're altruistic.
Meaning it's it's not about me, it's just, but man, if I'm going
to give to somebody, I certainly want a little bit of kickback in
my heart. I want to feel good about it.
I want something great to happen.
And so I'm choosy about my generosity.
Maybe I should? I'm the only one who does this,
by the way. But the sower doesn't do that,
and the Kingdom of heaven is not choosy faithfully distributing
the love of God. Which means I don't choose
whether or not to share the love of God based on the worth of the
person, but based on the worth of the message and the worst of
the one who wrote the message. That's what the Kingdom of God
is like. Generous to a fault, extravagant
in love at all times, the Kingdom advances because the
Father faithfully shows His Word and His love in every
generation. So just ask yourself, is that
what you're like? Are you a sower or are you a
taker? If you want to be part of the
Kingdom here as it is in heaven, then be a sower and start right
now. I want you to put everything
away. Your bibles, your journals, your
phones, your stray thoughts. Make yourself comfortable and I
want you to put on your ears meaning I want you to tune your
heart to the work of the Holy Spirit who is alive.
He is the presence of God on the earth today I want you to be
ready to receive a prompt from the Holy Spirit, not from any
man or woman, just God speaking to you.
I'm. Going to ask you 3 questions and
as I ask these questions, I pray that one, two or three.
Names or faces will appear in your heart or in your mind's eye
like that. And I.
Believe that sometimes I'm going to say one of these things and
you're going to see a face or hear a name like no, no, not
that person and. That's exactly the person that
the Holy Spirit is prompting you for.
Are you ready? Say yes.
Bow your heads. close your eyes. 3 categories underneath this
banner. Who do you need to sow into
today? Who do you need to be
persistently generous and to bring the Kingdom of heaven to
earth by your actions today? Number one.
Is there anyone you need to sow forgiveness to?
A name just pops in your mind. A face, somebody, you say I
forgive him, but maybe you still hold ill in your heart.
There's still work to do. There's still seed to scatter.
Don't do it based on them, do it based on him.
Is there anyone you need to sow into financially today?
God has resourced you, even if it's 10 bucks to somebody in
need, maybe somebody, a friend of you, yours, you know has huge
medical bills, or they're going through a crisis and just need
somebody to show it with lunch. Or maybe they have a dream in
their heart, a vision from the Lord, but it's not funded yet.
And God's put it on your heart to be a resource to them or 1000
other opportunities for you to release what belongs to him to
somebody else. Here's the last one.
Is there anyone in your life? Get ready for a name or a face
to pop up that the Lord has put you in their life because he
wants you to share the gospel with them.
The story of Jesus and his grace and forgiveness.
I'm going to count to 3. And if you got 1, two or three
names, it doesn't matter if you got just one name, I want you
just to raise your hand and hold it up while I pray for you. 123
All right. Do not be merely hearers of the
word, but doers of the word. James teaches us.
Father, I pray for every hand up because it represents a person,
a person that you love, that you died for, a person that you care
about so much that you've put this other person who has their
hand up in their life. Lord, I pray for reconciliation,
complete and total utter reconciliation to the power of
the forgiveness of Jesus given to us that we now translate to
other people. I pray for financial gifts that
are going to go forward. I pray that you will multiply
and $10 becomes $10,000 and 10,000 becomes 10 million in
your Kingdom economy. A financial seed sown in faith
to another person in need. And finally, I pray for those
hands that are up who are ready to go and declare the gospel to
a friend, a Co worker, a family member, a neighbor, somebody who
has yet to know the matchless. Love of the King, our King
Jesus. We pray in faith that there will
be a harvest of Kingdom goodness based on the faithfulness of
these people who raised their hands to walk in obedience to
your parable. Persistently generous.
You can put your hands down. Keep praying with me, though.
It would not surprise me that if there are this many people in
this room today or anybody watching online, that somebody
in here, the seed of the gospel is falling on your heart for the
first time today, even though this isn't really a gospel
message. But the persistent, generous
Father keeps wanting to reveal his love to you that says you're
not too far gone, you haven't seen too much, you're not
forgotten, you're not unloved, you're not unseen.
But Jesus, in his mercy and in his love, came to the earth to
die in your place, that you might have the forgiveness of
sins, that you might have an eternity spent with the Father.
That begins today when you say yes to the invitation of Jesus
and believe by faith. The Bible says that if you
confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus
is Lord, then you will be saved. And so let's pray this prayer
together to give you an opportunity to do both those
things. Everybody, every voice in the
room, those of you watching online, let's pray this together
saying Father. In the name of Jesus, I
recognize that I am a Sinner in need of a Savior.
And today I confess and I believe that Jesus is Lord, that
He is my Savior, and I receive Him into my heart to live in my
life. For the rest of my life, praise
the Lord, if you're making that prayer today, just make it
personal. Make it yours.
Receive Jesus, receive his invitation, receive his love.
And just as I had the folks do earlier, I'm going to count to
3. And I want you believing in
Jesus today to raise your hand as high as it will go and hold
it there for just a moment. Have something very important I
want to put in your hands or Usher will bring it to you.
Those of you believing today, on the count of 3123, anyone today
nice and high. We're moving towards you.
We see you, we're coming. Come on.
Thank you, Jesus, We bless you. It's going to take a minute.
Hallelujah. We're coming.
You see it right there. We need help over here in this
section. Jim, anyone in the balcony?
Mezzanine. Bezzanine Malcony anyone?
If you're receiving Jesus online, you can just type in the
comments. I am putting my faith in Jesus.
Father, we thank you for the blessing of being a house where
you come and you save people just like me, just like us, and
we want to give you thanks and praise.
So when I say Amen, the church is going to go nuts in Jesus
name, Amen. Amen.