Good & Bad Soil

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today. A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we are trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word,

because we believe that God has something to say to everyone.

We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark.

You'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus in His life and His death and His resurrection.

We're shifting our focus a little bit. We left Mark chapter 3 behind last week,

Mark 3 · chapter mention

and this morning we're beginning Mark chapter 4, where Jesus leaves His healing,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

and we begin to see specifically Him teaching about the kingdom of God.

This is the section in Mark with a great focus on Jesus' parables.

Now, if you remember last week, we saw this family intervention that happened with Jesus.

His family came, and they were calling Him away from His ministry.

They believed that He was perhaps harming Himself in the midst of it,

that things had gotten out of control, and it was time for them to intervene.

Jesus, in that passage, clarified for them and for us His priorities,

that His family is important, they're just not the most important.

That mission, His purpose, the reason that He was sent, comes before everything else.

It's His keystone commitment, or His primary commitment,

that He filters all His other commitments through.

This week, we're going to continue to explore Jesus' call, His words to follow me.

It's the words He spoke to Simon and Andrew when He called them in chapter 1.

It's the same thing He said to Levi in chapter 2.

And as we look at that call, both for the world and for ourselves,

this story, this parable, is going to help us answer a couple questions.

First, what is it that keeps people from answering Jesus' call?

If Jesus is so universally recognized as a good teacher,

if so many people believe that,

why do so few people actually follow His teaching?

How can someone be ambivalent towards such a polarizing and critical figure

in the history of the world?

So much so that the dating of world history hinges around the time of Jesus' birth and His life.

Yes, Jesus' impact is great.

Why is it not even greater?

Why is it not even more than it is?

Now, the other question is similar but more personal.

Not just how we understand the world, but what about us?

What keeps us from following Jesus?

What pulls us away from Him?

If Jesus, as we talked about last week,

is the horizon line that we look towards,

if He is the one that we center our lives around,

how can we make sure that we are pointed and oriented in the right direction?

How can we go the distance?

How do we live lives that are wise and fruitful?

Now, I'm saying basically two things over and over again

that we're going to look at in this passage.

One, we are going to get a mental map, a paradigm,

to understand the world and how it responds to Jesus and His teaching.

And two, we're going to understand what that means for us,

how we can be people who are fruitful rather than barren.

And so it's with those questions,

I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

We're going to be starting at verse 1.

One, you can turn in your worship guide,

you can turn on your phone,

you can turn in your physical Bible.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.

God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold,

and that it is sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 1.

Again, He began to teach beside the sea,

and a very large crowd gathered about Him,

so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea.

And the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

And He was teaching them many things in parables.

And in His teaching He said to them,

Listen, behold, a sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path,

and the birds came and devoured it.

Verse 5.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil,

and immediately it sprang up,

since it had no depth of soil.

And when the sun rose, it was scorched,

and since it had no root, it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns,

and the thorns grew up and choked it,

and it yielded no grain.

And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain,

growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

And He said,

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Verse 10.

And when He was alone,

those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables.

And He said to them,

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God,

but for those outside, everything is in parables,

so that they may indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.

Verse 13.

And He said to them,

Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all the parables?

The sower sows the word,

and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown.

When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground,

the ones who, when they hear the word,

immediately receive it with joy.

And they have no root in themselves,

but endure for a while.

Then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word,

immediately they fall away.

Verse 18.

And others are the ones sown among thorns.

They are those who hear the word,

but the cares of the world,

and the deceitfulness of riches,

and the desires for other things,

enter in and choke the word,

and it proves unfruitful.

But those that were sown on the good soil

are the ones who hear the word,

and accept it,

and bear fruit,

thirtyfold,

and sixtyfold,

and a hundredfold.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we come to you again,

grateful for your word that you've given to us.

You tell us in your word about those who,

when they heard it,

were struck to the heart.

And we ask for that this morning.

We ask that you would strike us to the heart,

that you would honor your promise,

that we talked about last week in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

that you give your spirit to your people.

We ask for your spirit this morning

to help us understand your word,

that you would use it to encourage us,

you'd use it to challenge us,

you'd use it to bear fruit in our lives,

and most importantly,

that you would use it to exalt Jesus Christ,

that we would see him as more beautiful

and more glorious than anything else.

We ask these things in his mighty name.

Amen.

We have changed scenes since last week.

You'll remember Jesus was teaching in a house.

That's where he had the two circles around him,

the inner circle that was coming to hear him,

and the outer circle of his family

that was coming to drag him away.

And now he's returned again to the sea.

We see here in verse one,

that word again reminding us

that Jesus has been teaching by the sea many times.

The last time we saw him by the sea

was in chapter three, verse seven.

And that was the incident where it seemed like

his very life was in danger,

that people were pressing in on him so hard

that he had to get into a boat to get away from them.

That's the same dynamic we have here.

In verse nine of chapter three,

we were told he got into the boat lest they crush him.

And here we see in verse one,

he got into a boat and sat in it in the sea.

Now he could be getting into this boat for the same reason.

He could be getting in to prevent himself

from being crushed.

That's possible.

There's another likely reason that this is happening,

which is that Jesus is trying to speak to this large crowd.

And so I want you to imagine for a second

that you are in a modern day auditorium.

In fact, in a sense,

we're in something similar to that right now.

Except Jesus had no public announcement system.

Jesus did not have a headpiece like I do.

He had no microphone.

And so instead of the stage,

you have the boat that Jesus is on.

Instead of people sitting out in chairs,

they're probably sitting on a hillside

along the Sea of Galilee lined up in rows.

In fact, we have a reason to believe

that this is what was going on.

If you visit Capernaum today,

you can see the same dynamic by the Sea of Galilee.

So Jesus on the boat in the sea,

the people on the shore,

and he has his natural sound system,

which is the water.

It's just a basic principle

that water carries sound.

And so that's most likely why

Jesus has chosen to deliver his message in this way.

Now that's similar from chapter three.

In chapter three,

we're told there was a great crowd.

Here we're told there is a very large crowd.

In other words,

the pattern of intensification continues.

More and more people are following Jesus.

The pressure is rising.

The interest is growing.

If anything,

Jesus is becoming more and more popular.

It's in that context that we see him here

begin to teach them.

We're told in verse two,

he is teaching them in parables.

In other words,

he is telling them these stories

that help them understand the world

and the way it works.

He's telling them stories here in this chapter

to help them and us understand

how it is that the kingdom of God

actually operates.

And so it's with that,

we're going to jump right into the story itself here,

this parable.

Jesus tells the story in verses three through nine,

and then he provides an interpretation for us

in verses 13 through 20.

And at a big picture level,

there are fundamentally two types of soil.

There is good soil,

and there's bad soil.

And there's varying degrees to how these soils respond.

Some are worse than others of the bad soils.

Some are better than others of the good soils.

What we know here, though,

is this scene begins,

verse three,

is there is a sower that goes out to sow.

And we're told in the interpretation,

verse 14,

that this seed that the sower is giving

is in fact the word of God.

This image of a seed is important for us

because it reminds us

of how potent and powerful the word of God is.

Seeds, you know,

contain their own nourishment,

their own power within them.

They come with all the ingredients needed

except for the soil.

And so from the very beginning,

we're being reminded

of the important question of this passage,

which is if the word of God is so powerful,

if the seed has what it needs in itself,

why are there mixed results?

Why do some people respond powerfully,

others not at all?

It's with that question

that we begin to understand

and see these different types of soil.

First, verse four,

we have the soil that falls along the path.

We're told that the birds come and devour it.

Jesus then explains for us,

verse 15,

what's going on.

When they hear,

Satan immediately comes

and takes away the word that is sown in them.

In other words,

there are this group of people

that when the word of God comes,

it makes absolutely no impact.

They don't even consider it.

It's not something that enters into their mind

and they wrestle with.

It's something that goes in one ear

and out the other.

Their spiritual darkness,

in other words,

is so great,

the distractions are so immediate

that the word doesn't even gain

a hearing for them.

Maybe they ignore it.

Maybe they are hostile to it.

They do not wrestle with it.

Or consider it.

If you were here during our Philippians series,

you know that I am a connoisseur

of fine rain jackets.

And there's a variety of reasons for that,

which I won't go into this morning.

But there are varying qualities of rain jackets

that you can buy,

which are going to serve you

with a variety of performances.

The deeper into the wilderness you are,

the higher the quality of rain jacket you want.

The way you assess whether it's a good rain jacket or not

comes in a variety of ways.

First of all,

you want to know what kind of tape it has.

Because it doesn't matter how good the material is

if the water comes in through the seams.

Right?

So you want your seams taped.

The other question is how effective your hood is.

If your hood is not effective,

it doesn't matter how good the material is,

water is going to come in through the top.

And so what you want is the type of rain jacket

that if someone were to dump a bucket of water

over your head,

you would be untouched.

That's how you know you're dealing

with a high quality product.

Now, of course, you also want breathability.

That probably comes after the other two.

These folks, the hard soil,

spiritually have the best rain jackets possible.

Nothing can touch them.

Everything beads up and rolls off.

They have no space or time

to consider the word of God.

There is nothing that is able to get through.

And so that helps us understand that type of response.

Satan is actually at work,

as Jesus tells us here at verse 15,

pulling away the word

before it even has the chance to make an impact.

This hard soil can't be penetrated by seeds.

That's what happens when it's that packed down.

Jesus then goes on to tell us about soils

that do receive the word,

but only superficially.

And so in verses five and six,

we have the rocky ground.

Verse five, we're told immediately it sprang up.

Verse 16, these people receive God's word

with incredible joy for a time.

Then we see verse six,

the sun comes out.

It was scorched.

Since it had no root, it withered away.

Verse 17 clarifies this even more.

They had no root in themselves.

And so they fall away.

And he tells us here,

in verse 17,

that it's because of tribulation or persecution

that arises on account of the word.

In other words,

these folks are excited about the word of God

until it stops being comfortable.

And the moment it stops being comfortable,

they are gone.

What's missing here?

Verse 16 tells us they received it with joy.

What did they not receive it with?

They did not receive it with faith or repentance.

In other words,

they loved the sound of the gospel.

It seemed like this beautiful thing.

The idea of forgiveness was attractive.

And they did not grasp the fact

that they were the ones who needed to be forgiven.

They did not come face to face

with the reality of their own sin.

They did not realize

that they could not stand

before a holy God by themselves.

And so they never received

and grasped the gospel for themselves.

They were there for a moment.

They were not there forever.

There was something that was appealing to them.

It did not strike to the core of their hearts.

Now, if you're wondering

or thinking about Christianity,

if you don't consider yourself a Christian,

one thing I want to call your attention to

in our worship guide is page 10,

which talks about this dynamic

of what it means to actually be someone

who has been penetrated to the heart

by the word of God.

And you'll see there's two bolded sections here

near the middle bottom.

One is repent.

The other is believe in the gospel.

You can hear many things about Christianity.

You can like many things about Christianity.

You can admire Jesus.

And if you have not repented from the heart,

you will not last.

Verse 17,

they have no root in themselves.

When the going gets hard,

they leave.

It is not a keystone commitment for them

as we talked about last week.

It is a secondary commitment.

Church is extremely useful.

It is useful to help them meet

all sorts of other goals.

They thought it was a great place

to meet good conservative people.

And in a sense, it was.

They thought it was a great place

to meet dating prospects.

And in a sense, it was.

They thought it was a good place

to make business contacts.

And in a sense, it was.

They thought it was a good place

for the lonely.

And in a sense, it was.

They thought it was a good place

to raise their children to have morals.

And in a sense, it was.

They thought it was a good place

to have importance and power and identity.

They weren't getting the respect

that they wanted at work or at home.

And suddenly they realized that if they came to church

and they memorized the right set of facts

and knew the right things to say,

they could be someone of power and influence.

And it worked for a time.

But while they were there meeting business contacts

and dating prospects and good conservative people,

they never met Jesus.

They were there for the wrong reasons.

Again, verse 17, they have no root in themselves.

Maybe this is someone whose family determines their faith

and it never became their faith.

Tribulation and suffering come and they realize

this is not for me.

This is not what I signed up for.

In fact, that clarifies things for us.

Why would you not stand in persecution?

Well, because you believe this world

is the ultimate reality, the ultimate good.

You're willing to endure as long as the church

helps you accomplish other goals.

And you have to believe in another world

to be willing to suffer in this one.

You have to believe in another world

to be willing to suffer in this one.

By the way, Jesus is calling his shot when he says this.

He's reminding us that you will suffer in this life

if you're a Christian.

You will suffer in this life if you're a Christian.

Paul tells us, 2 Timothy 3,

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

Notice what he doesn't say.

He doesn't say might be persecuted.

He doesn't say could face persecution

if they live in the wrong area.

No, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life

in Jesus Christ will be persecuted.

Those of you who were here for our first Peter series,

remember we talked about the fact that the church,

as it suffered under communism,

faced a variety of persecutions,

one of which was that Christians faced

limited career and education prospects.

I guarantee you that that tribulation

and that suffering caused some to realize

that Christianity was not for them.

They had no root in themselves.

If this world is your ultimate horizon line,

if it is what you fix your eyes on more than anything else,

that will never make sense.

And so that's the soil that falls on rocky ground.

Then we have our soil, verse 7, that falls on thorns.

The thorns grew up and choked it,

and it yielded no grain.

And Jesus tells us in verse 19 what's going on.

The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches

and the desires for other things

enter in and choke the word,

and it proves unfaithful.

For this individual, these individuals,

they are interested in Christianity.

It's just a low priority.

It is one of many priorities that needs to be juggled.

They'll be there as long as there isn't a better offer.

And so they come and go,

depending on what's going on in their lives and the world.

This is the difference between the rocky soil and the thorny soil.

The rocky soil leaves as soon as it stops being comfortable.

They can't handle tribulation or persecution.

The thorny soil leaves as soon as Christianity does not serve their agenda.

Doesn't have to be suffering or tribulation.

It's just there's something more important,

and Jesus is not going to help them get there.

This is the opposite of what the wise person does

that we talked about last week.

This individual prioritizes what's most important for them,

and then later they figure out if there's anything left over for God.

Houses, jobs, families, hobbies, recreation,

all are a higher priority.

And so this is the person who says,

I'm just too busy right now.

We had a lot going on.

I met a young man when I was a freshman in college.

He was a sophomore ahead of me,

and he was very eager for Christianity.

He'd even sort of mapped out which of the Presbyterian churches

were the more traditional ones than others.

He invited us, freshmen who had no cars,

to go with him because he wanted us to try out the church

that wasn't quite as cool but maybe was a little bit more solid.

He seemed firm in his faith.

Then he got on the fast track for a major airline,

doing internships during the summer,

and he realized which side his bread was buttered on.

And his life radically changed.

His priorities radically changed.

He dropped his Christian fellowship.

He dropped his church attendance.

He joined some other groups on campus

that would help him reach his career goals.

I looked him up as I was preparing this,

and he is still in the airline industry

as a high flyer, pun intended.

Christianity was there

until there was something that was more important.

It wasn't that there was persecution.

There was just a better offer.

Christianity was not delivering the good life for him.

It's sort of like the theologian Selena Gomez tells us,

the heart wants what it wants.

And for him, there was something he wanted more than that.

Now, these bad soils are all in one category.

For us, the point is this.

There are many things vying and competing

for our attention and our affection.

We are tempted by many priorities and many loves.

It is possible to miss the most important

and beautiful things that are right ahead of us.

As people who follow after Jesus,

the goal as we read this

is that we would be alert to the way

that our enemy works in the world.

We would remember 1 Peter 5,

We would remember 2 Corinthians 2,

warning us not to be outwitted by Satan

for we are not ignorant of his designs.

There is in this passage

a call for us to self-examination.

What is your ultimate horizon line,

truth, reality, experience, good, future?

What is it that you fix your eyes on

more than anything else?

What is it that you believe the good life is?

Another way of asking it is this.

Why are you here?

Why did you get up and come to this church this morning?

Did you come here for Jesus?

It is dangerous to have Christianity

as a secondary commitment

and not a keystone commitment.

If that is you, beware.

Repent.

Turn back now

before it is too late.

There is something greater than this world.

There is a better and more important horizon line.

There is something that can deliver

what others can only promise.

If you are or have been

at some point

in the dating world,

you know there are a variety of characters

that you meet.

One of the characters that you meet

is the player.

What does the player do?

The player knows how to entice

and arouse and flirt.

Right?

And the longer you are with the player,

the quicker,

eventually you realize

it is all a house of cards.

The player can arouse and entice.

The player cannot fulfill.

Brothers and sisters,

this world is a player.

The deceitfulness of riches is real.

This world promises you

all sorts of things

that it will not

and cannot make good on.

It can entice you.

It cannot fulfill you.

It will pull you in,

chew you up,

and spit you out.

Players are not interested in you.

They are interested in trophies

to put on the shelf.

That is the world that we live in.

There are many other voices

calling for our attention.

Do not listen.

Our goal,

as we look at this passage,

is that we

would be the good soil.

We would be people

who are teachable

and tenderhearted.

We would go

the distance

that God's word

would actually take root

in our lives.

Not because

we're old-fashioned

and we can't keep up

with the times.

No,

because water

never goes out of style.

Not because

we're old-fashioned

and we can't keep up

with the times,

but because water

never goes out of style.

We still need life.

We need spiritual life.

That's why we're told

in John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

speaking about Jesus,

in him was life

and the life

was the light of men.

We want to be able

to agree with the psalmist

in Psalm 27

that I believe

that I shall look

upon the goodness

of the Lord

in the land

of the living.

One of the dangerous

things about

the popularity

of climbing 14ers

in Colorado Springs

and in Colorado

in general

is that as it becomes

this normalized thing,

people forget

how dangerous it is.

People assume

that because it's popular,

it's for everyone.

And so often

they don't do

the research

or the preparation

that they need.

Listening to the calls

of this life

above the call

of Jesus

is like this.

It's like going

to climb a 14er

and you have gone

to REI

and you have bought

a bunch of wonderful

and high quality equipment.

You have bought

the best rain jacket

possible.

You go on your hike,

your climb,

and you see

an amazing view.

The views are great.

And then you realize

at the top

you didn't bring

any water.

Yes,

there are many

beautiful and good

things in this world.

Yes,

you have wonderful

equipment

and wonderful views

and ultimately

none of that matters

if you have forgotten

what is most important.

You might enjoy

those views

and that equipment

for a time.

You pull out

the timeline

long enough

with no water

and you are facing

a situation

of life

and death.

Brothers and sisters,

as you live life

in this world,

there are many

beautiful

and glorious things,

glorious experiences

and possessions,

and those things

are not wrong.

and if you have

forgotten

the most important

thing,

if you have

no spiritual

water,

all you have to do

is extend

the timetable

out long enough

and you are facing

a situation

of life

and death.

That is the warning

of this passage.

in one sense

you are doing

well,

in another sense

you are headed

for destruction.

There are many

good things

in this life.

There is only one

that provides us

with true life.

And so that's

the encouragement

here

of the good soil,

verse 8

and verse 20.

The good soil

produces grain

growing up

and increasing

30-fold,

60-fold

and 100-fold.

And then we're told

in verse 20

why.

Those that were

sown on the good soil

are the ones

who hear the word

and accept it

and bear fruit.

The key word

of this passage

is hearing.

Verse 3

Jesus begins

this by saying

listen.

Verse 9

He who has ears

to hear

let him hear.

Verse 12

Hear but not understand.

Verse 15

When they hear.

Verse 16

When they hear.

Verse 18

They are those

who hear.

Verse 20

The ones who hear.

There is not

just something

going on here

at the repetition level

but at the grammatical level.

When we see

the word hear

when it comes

to the bad soil

in the Greek

it's giving us

a verb tense

that means

they listened once.

When we look

at the good soil

it is using

an ongoing

active verb tense.

In other words

they listen

and are continuing

to listen.

It is not

a one time

thing that happened.

It is not

the rain

that beads up

and rolls off

the jacket.

No

it is an ongoing

present tense

experience.

I have told you

before about

the man

who says

reminds us

that the disciples

didn't get

many things right

but they got

one thing right.

They kept

following

Jesus.

This passage

reminds us

of the same thing.

We can get

many things wrong

in this life

and we will.

We can fail

and we can falter

and it is

the seed

that has power.

Keep

following

Jesus.

Stay

with

the seed.

Continue

to return

to the word.

Listen

and respond

because it is

the word

that has power.

We are here

together

this morning

looking at

what God

has to say

to us

in his word

because we

believe

it is the seed

that has

power

within itself.

It is the word

of God

at the beginning

of Genesis

that brought

something

out of nothing.

It is the word

of God

that brings

dead things

to life.

It is the word

of God

that does

what we are

told about

in Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

It takes

people who

are dead

and makes

them alive.

No matter

where you

are for us

if we want

to be people

who bear

fruit in our

lives

our goal

is this

we keep

listening.

We keep

following

after

Jesus.

We stay

with the

word.

That's

what we

see here

in verse

10.

I told you

before

I asked you

to imagine

an auditorium

with a speaker.

You know

if it's a good

event with a

speaker

there are

people who

are able

to come

to the

stage

afterwards

or line

up at

a microphone

to ask

questions.

And that's

what we

see

verse 10.

He was

alone.

Those

around him

with the

twelve

asked him

about the

parables.

The hard

soil

left the

auditorium.

The good

soil stayed

around and

asked Jesus

what were you

trying to

say?

They were

the ones

continuing

to question

and listen.

They want

to know

more.

They have

heard Jesus

exhortation

to listen.

They know

something

more is

going on.

So they

keep listening.

They keep

asking.

The same

is true

for us.

Now those

of you

who were

with us

in Christmas

Eve of

2018 have

heard this

story before.

As I often

say I

apologize

but I am

in no way

sorry.

some of

you know

as I

grew up

I played

violin and

viola and

I grew

up right

outside of

Washington

D.C.

in the

suburbs.

And so

this bears

special interest

for me.

I was

in college

when this

happened but

I was

still

headquartered

in D.C.

on January

the 12th

2007.

And on

January the

12th at

7.51 a.m.

there was

a man

who showed

up to

the metro

station

in D.C.

wearing jeans

and a

t-shirt

and a

Washington

Nationals

cap.

This man

proceeded to

take out

his violin

and begin

to play

as many

people do

in metro

stations.

Some people

do it here

in the

springs too.

You'll find

those in

Manitou Springs

from time

to time.

He played

for 43

minutes

a total

of six

pieces.

Seven

people

stopped

for at

least a

minute

to listen.

28

people

gave

money

and he

made a

grand

total

of

$52.

Unlike

all the

other

musicians

who

showed

up to

the

metro

station

this

man

happened

to be

Joshua

Bell

the most

famous

living

violinist

of our

time.

He

plays

typically

for

$1,000

a minute.

The violin

that he

was playing

in that

moment

cost

$3.5

million.

Three

days

earlier

he had

played

in

Boston

Symphony

Hall

and

okay

not

good

tickets

were

$100

apiece.

Only

one

person

who

passed

by

recognized

him.

Many

people

didn't

stop

because

they

were

too

busy

to

notice.

They

were

on

their

cell

phones.

They

were

more

important

things

to

attend

to.

They

were

on

their

way

to

work.

Author

of one

article

says

this,

if we

can't

take

the

time

out

of

our

lives

to

stay

a

moment

and

listen

to

one

of

the

best

musicians

on

earth

play

some

of

the

best

music

ever

written.

If

the

surge

of

modern

life

so

overpowers

us

that

we

are

deaf

and

blind

to

something

like

that,

then

another

magazine

said

this,

Joshua

Bell

does

nothing

less

than

tell

human

beings

why

they

bother

to

live.

Brothers

and

sisters,

it is

one

thing

to be

too

busy

to

hear

a

famous

musician.

It

is

quite

another

thing

to be

too

busy

to

hear

the

voice

of

God.

It

is

a

matter

of

life

and

death.

will

you

stop

and

listen?

Will

you

answer

Jesus'

call

to

follow

him?

That's

a

decision

that

God

calls

everyone

to

make.

Will

you

give

him

your

life?

Or

is

there

too

much

going

on

to

listen

to

the

music?

Verse

nine,

and

he

said,

he

who

has

ears

to

hear.

Let

him

hear.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we

thank you

for the

power

and life

of your

word.

We

ask that

you would

make us

the good

soil,

that we

would not

be pulled

away by

other loves

and other

distractions,

but that

you would

be at

work in

our

hearts,

growing

our faith

and our

trust and

our love

for you.

we

thank you

that you

are the

gardener.

We

ask that

you would

garden our

lives.

We

ask these

things in

the mighty

name of

Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

I

invite you

to stand

for our

closing

hymn.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.