July 19, 2026 Sermon -- Pastor Paula Canby [Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43]

Our gospel for today comes from the book of Matthew and the 13th chapter with assorted verses.

Jesus put before the crowd another parable.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field.

But while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away.

So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well, and the slaves of the householder came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

Where then did these weeds come from?

He answered, An enemy has done this.

The slaves said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them?

Then he replied, No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.

Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.

Then he left the crowds and went into the house, and his disciples approached him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.

He answered, The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom.

The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers.

And they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.

Let everyone who hears listen the gospel of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Let us pray.

Thank you, God, for setting us free from the law of sin and death, and for filling us with faith in you.

Thank you for filling us with your Holy Spirit, that we may have life as your sons and daughters and heirs of your kingdom.

Help us to follow only you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So think about one time in this past week when you experienced the Holy Spirit in your life.

Was it through the Holy Spirit's guidance in the situation?

Was it through some wisdom you receive that you realize could only have been delivered by the Holy Spirit?

How do you experience the Holy Spirit in your life?

I'm reading from our second reading in Romans.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.

When we cry, Abba, Father, it is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and of children than heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if in fact we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified by him.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Did you realize that?

Did you ever think about that?

Do you live this?

I've not always understood this part of my faith and what it means in daily life.

It's only in these last years that I've been focusing on the contemplative side of faith have I developed any level of understanding of how the Holy Spirit is at work in my life.

I guess I believe that the Holy Spirit's been working over time these past two years since I moved to South Dakota.

Oh my goodness.

Finding a place for me to do ministry in Chamberlain, that was truly a blessing in God's work because it was through my mom's cousin's wife that I found out that Chamberlain had an opening.

Because I had interviewed here at Resurrection, but they didn't want me.

So that was okay.

Move on.

My style of ministry wasn't theirs.

So then I got the call in Chamberlain, which is such a blessing because I can still live here in Pier, be close to my son, my grandson, my cousins that live here.

This has truly been a blessing.

And I believe that the Holy Spirit was the one who brought me here once a month to be with you.

If nothing else, you see yet another style of worship, another style of pastor.

And I believe that it's very, very important for you in this time of discernment for Luther Memorial to see how it can be in the church.

So that you can figure out what you need and what you want in a pastor when you call your permanent pastor.

And I hope that's a blessing for you because it's certainly been a blessing for me.

And I thank you again.

It was that same Jesus Christ who asked his Father to send us.

You, me, you, me, you, me, the advocate, the counselor, who supports and guides us in everything we do.

If we're listening for that still small voice.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

What's Paul saying here?

John MacArthur's devotions put it this way: the unredeemed, the non-believer has no lasting peace because of the effects of sin.

The redeemed through faith have the universal longing for the removal of the curse of sin that will be experienced in the last day when we experience eternal life.

In the meantime, we have the first fruits of the Spirit, which when we look at Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23, we understand to be the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 5:22

There's no law against these things.

So how can the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life bring a sense of hope and expectation?

In this list, I see the generosity of the people of Trinity and Chamberlain to allow me to be here with you today.

For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

And I'm sure that you're all thinking about an example of how those fruits of the spirit impact your lives.

Experiencing the power of life-changing faith from K.

Arthur, the new inductive study series, has this to say about Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

The reason God gave you the Holy Spirit is not so that you can sit there and do nothing.

But who really wants to do that when you have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who's done so much for us?

According to Romans 8, we are to walk according to the Spirit and set our minds on the things of the Spirit.

That being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

God will give us life through the spirit that dwells in us.

Not only that, but the spirit helps our weakness.

Hey, we all have weaknesses, at least I sure do.

But the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer with groanings too deep for words.

For in hope we are saved.

Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what is seen?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

What kind of life does God expect from those God has justified and given God's Spirit?

Amen.