The Sower (Pastor Greg Hudson, 06/14/25)

Dear God, we again pause and we recognize that

we are here because of you. And as was already

mentioned, we pray for our society, we pray for

our world, for our nation, and we pray for our

church. We pray for our families and for each

one of us. And as we spend some moments together,

may we dive into your word and may we remember

what an incredible treasure you have given to

us. In your name we pray, amen. So, do you remember

when you first started to appreciate the Bible?

Do you remember the first memory verse that you

ever learned? I see a few heads nodding. I remember

growing up in the Knoxville First Seventh -day

Adventist Church, and I think it was the primary

class, that if you memorized all 13 Bible verses

for the quarter in Sabbath school, that you would

get a prize. And the ladies that taught that

class, the prize that they would provide was

a stuffed animal. And it wasn't just any stuffed

animal, but it was a homemade stuffed animal.

And so the one I remember, there may have been

some other variations, was a frog. It was a frog,

homemade stuffed frog. And it had inside, you

could feel it, it was like dried. beans, like

pinto beans is what it was stuffed with. And

if you memorized all of those memory verses,

you could get this stuffed frog to take for yourself,

to take home and to have it at your own home.

And so that was an early memory. And maybe you

have a similar memory, or maybe you have a memory

of the Bible that was at a different time. In

ancient Israel, they had something for young

people called bet. Sefer, Bet Sefer. This was

for young people, probably particularly boys,

but I believe girls could attend as well. And

this was a type of schooling or learning where

the young people, age six, would go to the synagogue

and would begin to learn the scripture, would

begin to learn about the Bible. And on the first

day that they would show up at the synagogue,

the rabbi would take something, Something precious

for that time frame. Something precious for that

society. A little bit of... You may not be able

to tell what this is. Let's see if I can... Oh,

that was a little bit more than I was anticipating.

A little bit of honey that was the sweetest thing

that they knew. They didn't have sugar that you

could go and buy. They didn't have sugar canes,

so if they wanted anything sweet, It would be

from honey. And on that first day at Bet Sefer,

the rabbi would take that honey and he would

dribble it, just a few drops, onto the students'

fingers. And then like I just did, they would

be able to lick that off. And as they did that,

they would read from Psalm 119 where it says,

how sweet are your words to my taste. Yes, sweeter

than honey to my mouth. And this was to remind

them from that very young age that the words

of God, the words of the scripture that they

had, were the sweetest thing that they could

appreciate, was the sweetest thing that they

could experience. And before they finished that

supper in about four years, they would spend

that time not just studying God's word, but memorizing

God's word. And they would memorize the books

of the Torah, the first... Five books of the

Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,

and Deuteronomy. Not just studying it, but what

did I say? Memorizing it. And so by the time

they were about 10 years old, they would have

these words of God ingrained into their brains.

And so we could ask ourselves, have you, have

we experienced the sweetness of God's word? With

that in mind... We're going to go to the New

Testament in Matthew chapter 13, which was where

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

our scripture reading for the day was. Matthew

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13, we can consider, have we experienced

the sweetness of God's word? In Matthew 13, verse

Matthew 13:1

1, it says, On the same day, Jesus went out of

the house and sat by the sea, and great multitudes

were gathered together to him. So that he got

into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude

sat on the shore. And then it says in verse 3,

he spoke many things to them in parables. So

this crowd of people is gathered around. And

the last time we were together, believe it or

not, it's been a couple weeks because of camp

meeting, and it was a whole month ago. It was

back in May. We started a new sermon series looking

at the parables of Jesus, looking at the parables,

stories that Jesus told. And we're going to continue

that series today and in the weeks to come, but

I want to review down just a few verses. Matthew

13 and verse 10, the disciples came and said

to him, why? Why do you tell these stories? Why

do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus answered

and said to them, because it has been given to

you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,

but to them it has not been given. Jesus told

these stories, these parables, these mysteries

of the kingdom to give different glimpses of

the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Now

the kingdom of heaven, we mentioned it the last

time we were together, is not a kingdom of power.

But it's a kingdom of love. It's a kingdom of

grace. We see in our world today that political

kingdoms want to be kingdoms of power, want to

be kingdoms of force. Whether it's attacking

another nation or a nation fighting back or even

within our own nation, we want to be a kingdom

of force, a kingdom of power. And this is the

opposite of God's kingdom because God's kingdom

is a kingdom of love and grace. And we might

say, Pastor, haven't you seen the headlines of

this week? There's lots of crazy things going

on in our world. Why are we taking the time to

talk about parables? Well, I would say we mentioned

it a couple weeks ago that even in Matthew 24,

when Jesus talked about the signs of the times,

You know, there's going to be wars and rumors

of wars and all these different things that we

look to. Even in the midst of that chapter, Jesus

told his followers to keep watch, to watch and

pray. And so even if we are following world events,

and I hope that you are, even if you're tracing

it down with prophecies, and I hope that you

are, but every day that we live, we are one day

closer to when Jesus comes. So why take the time

to talk about parables? Because it's in these

parables that we see what it means to live as

a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, even while

we were on this earth. And even if we know all

of the prophecies, but we don't know the giver

of the prophecy, then we are amiss. Then we are

not quite following what God would have us to

do. And so we want to come back to Jesus in the

boat. And it says, he spoke many things to them

in parables. Now, before we go on, I've got to

just pause here for a second because this beautiful

artwork was done by one of our own church members,

Bethany. I asked her a couple weeks ago, hey,

could you draw me a picture of a sower? And so

she sent it to me this week. And so be sure to

tell her what an amazing job she did because

I think it's a really good picture of a sower.

Because it says here, Jesus spoke many things

to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower

went out to sow. Now, this is not the typical

way that we would plant a field in our day and

age. You would see a tractor driving along, mechanized,

putting in how many rows of corn or whatever

it is all at one time, or maybe in your garden

at home. It's probably you stooped over, digging

a little hole with your finger and inserting

the seeds one by one. But as they were planting

these crops, they would cast the seed out into

the field. They would throw these seeds into

the place where they needed to be. And these

stories of Jesus, these parables, they're stories,

but they contain a deeper lesson. If you're just

listening and you're not really interested, you

could say, oh, that's an interesting story. But

Jesus allowed it so that if you wanted to learn

something different, you could gain deeper insight

into this kingdom of God that Jesus was telling

us about. So let's read this parable now that

we read for our scripture reading. But as he

sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the

birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony

places where they did not have much earth, and

they immediately sprang up because they had no

depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they

were scorched, and because they had no root,

they withered away. And some fell among thorns,

and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But

then, verse 8, others fell on good ground and

yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty,

some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him

hear. And so the farmer goes out to sow the seed

into the soil. Now, we could call this parable

the parable of the soils, but Jesus calls it

the parable of the sower. And so we're going

to do that as well. But it's interesting because

the book of Mark tells this exact same parable.

Often the parables are in different of the Gospels.

And the book of Mark, it's almost word for word,

except for a couple lines. So we're going to

turn over to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention Mark 4 · chapter mention

Just real quick, keep your finger in Matthew

because we're going to come back. But Mark chapter

Mark 4 · chapter mention

4 and verse 13. As Jesus begins to explain this

parable, notice what he tells his disciples.

Mark chapter 4 and verse 13. This line is not

Mark 4 · chapter mention

in Matthew, but it is in Mark. Jesus said to

them, do you not understand this parable? How

then will you understand all the parables? So

it seems like in some way, this parable is an

important one because this is one that gives

us perhaps some insight. And if we can begin

to... In this parable, then we can take that

understanding and apply it to other parables

as well. And so the very next verse, verse 13,

it says the sower sows what? The word. The sower

sows the word. So those seeds that are being

scattered in this parable are not just wheat

or barley or whatever it might be, but the spiritual

context, the sower sows the word. So with that

in mind, let's turn back to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13 and verse 19. It says Jesus

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

is explaining the parable. We read it earlier,

what he said, but now he's explaining it to those

who are interested in getting a little more insight.

He says, therefore, hear the parable of the sower,

verse 18, and then verse 19, when anyone hears

the word of the kingdom. Jesus had said in Matthew,

the sower sows the word. So if anyone hears the

word of the kingdom and does not understand it,

then the wicked one comes and snatches away what

was sown in his heart. This is he who received

the seed by the wayside. He says that birds will

come and snatch up the seed. Anybody have any

problems with birds in your garden? coming and

getting the seed right after you planted them.

Now this says this falls on the wayside. So this

would be perhaps the path that runs through the

field or around the field. So they didn't have

the same type of sidewalks or roads that we have.

It would be asphalt or concrete. But if you walk

on dirt long enough, if you ride your cart or

your donkey down the path long enough, what happens?

It becomes compacted. It becomes hard. It becomes

almost like concrete. So if that seed falls onto

that, it's not going to be taken into the earth,

and it's the perfect place for the birds to come

and to snatch up those soil, those seeds. And

so these birds represent, it says here, the wicked

one. Satan is the one that comes and snatches

this away. So it's interesting. as we think about

this parable, there's four different locations

that are mentioned. And in each one of these

locations, the sower is the same, the seed is

the same, but the only difference is where that

seed lands, what that location is, how that location

deals with the seed, deals with the word that

it receives. And so we could look at that and

say, well, well, that's us. How do we receive

God's word? How do we experience God's word when

we hear it, when we receive it? So in this first

incident, incidents, this first location, it

falls on the wayside and these birds come and

snatch it away. Satan wants to make sure that

if we hear the word, that it's not there very

long. There's a group of people that are not

interested at all in what God has to say, that

they don't care what the Word of God says, they

don't know what the Word of God says, and Satan

wants to make sure that God's Word doesn't take

root, that it doesn't germinate in somebody's

life. And there's a whole group of society that

doesn't even realize that they have a need for

God. They're indifferent to God's Word because

they don't even care about it. They don't even

know about it. And sometimes we forget that we

are in a spiritual battle. Each and every day,

Satan is trying to snatch away the blessings

that God wants to pour into our life. And we

need to be thinking about what God's Word says

to us. Not just during one hour on Sabbath morning,

but we need to be thinking about God's Word as

we go through the week. Notice what it says in

2 Timothy. Paul is writing to a young minister,

and he's giving him wisdom and advice. And in

2 Timothy chapter 3, we see a little bit of what

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Paul writes to Timothy. He starts off talking

about his childhood. Verse 15, that from childhood

you have known the holy scriptures, and then

he describes God's word here, the holy scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for salvation

through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So God's

word, this seed that Jesus is sprinkling into

our life, it is able to make us wise for salvation.

And then notice the next two verses, verse 16.

All scripture is given. How much of scripture?

All scripture is given by inspiration of God

and is... profitable. Is that a good word? Yeah,

we want things to be profitable in our life.

If we're spending time doing something, we hope

that there's a reward for it. We hope that there's

a blessing for it. It says all Scripture is profitable,

and then there's a couple different categories.

For doctrine, okay, we can learn about God. We

can learn about what it means to follow Him.

For reproof, for correction. Okay, we don't maybe

like that quite as much, but that's going to

point out mistakes that we're making, ways in

our life that we need to perhaps turn a different

direction. And then it says for instruction in

righteousness. We get to be instructed in what

it means to live our life for God. And then verse

17, that the man, that the people, that the man

or woman of God may be complete. thoroughly equipped

for every good work. That's what God's word is

all about. But Satan wants to snatch that away.

And guess what? He has succeeded in many ways

because in many ways our society today is almost

biblically illiterate. We talked a little bit

about it in Sabbath school this morning. But

you can think to your bookshelf at home. Whether

it's in a dorm room or at your house, how many

Bibles do you have access to? You probably have

at least one. I'm a pastor, so I've got a lot,

but probably all of us have several, and I bet

that many of us have an app on our phone that

you can open up and you can pull up any version

of the Bible that has ever been created. And

you can find that. We have incredible access

to God's Word, and yet our society remains biblically

illiterate. A Gallup poll from a couple years

ago, it stated that Americans revere the Bible,

but often we don't read the Bible. And their

poll said that only half of American adults can

name the four Gospels. Less than half, less than

50 % can name Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Most can't name more than two or three disciples.

Well, if you could name the four Gospels, you've

got two of them down there already, Matthew and

John. 60 % can't even name five of the Ten Commandments.

We won't do a quiz, so don't worry. But can we

be surprised that people are breaking the Ten

Commandments if they don't even... know what

the Ten Commandments even say. 82 % think that

this phrase is in the Bible. God helps those

who help themselves. It's not. Spoiler. It's

not in the Bible. Anybody know who said this?

Most people think it was Ben Franklin that first

said this. God helps those who help themselves.

82 % assumed, thought that that was in the Bible.

So Satan has been successful when the word of

God has been sprinkled onto the wayside that

those birds, Satan has been able to snatch that

out of people's hearts before they are able to

let that take root, let that germinate. But there's

another part of the land that this seed lands

on. Verse 20, but he who received the seeds on

stony places, so rocky ground, Probably off,

again, to the side of the field. Maybe when they

were plowing, they hit some rocks and they threw

the rocks over into one area. This is he who

hears the word and immediately receives it with

joy. Yay! They're receiving the word with joy.

But, uh -oh, he who received the seed, but yet,

excuse me, not but, but yet, yet he has no root

in himself. but endures only for a while. For

when tribulation or persecution arises because

of the word, immediately he stumbles. And so

it's rocky ground, the seed, it might be able

to find a little bit of soil, it might be able

to take a start, but as soon as any kind of challenge

comes, that person's going to give up on the

word. They've accepted this word today. Because,

wow, it sounds really good. I like the way my

friend described that verse. I like the way the

preacher said that. I'm going to follow that.

I'm going to accept it because it feels good

today. But maybe tomorrow, it doesn't sound as

good today. Because maybe somebody's asked me

to do something that, oh, the Bible doesn't want

me to do. Or maybe they're making fun of something

that I'm believing because it's in the Bible.

It's a little more challenging. It's a selfish

reaction based only on emotion. This feels good

today, but tomorrow something else might be easier.

Life, believe it or not, this is going to sound

strange, life is not about happiness. Because

happiness comes and goes. I want to show you

a picture here. I apologize to our sweet spot

family back here. But this is a picture taken

in front of Brewster's ice cream. And if you

may not be able to see it, but it says March

20, 2010. So 15 years ago. March 20 happens to

be my birthday. And it says wear your PJs, wear

your pajamas, and get a free waffle cone. So

we live down near Calhoun. So hey, a free ice

cream cone. We got the kids in their pajamas

and ourselves in pajamas, and we went and got

a free ice cream cone. And you can see Peyton

on the left and Brandon on the right. They weren't

waiting for the picture. They were eating their

ice cream cone. You see Jolie in the middle with

two ice cream cones. She wanted me to point out

that she's holding my ice cream cone as I'm taking

the picture, that she wasn't going to eat both

of those. And then you see Jordan here in pink

footie pajamas, if you could see the bottom of

her body. And my brother described it this way.

He said, I've never seen a kid look so upset

while holding an ice cream cone. Because she's

got this snarl on her face and a frown on her

face because she does not want to be there in

footie pajamas out in public, even though she's

got an ice cream cone. And that's how life is.

If we got ice cream, we're going to be happy.

Sweet spot. If you have to wear footie pajamas

in public. maybe you're going to be a little

more grumpy. And that's how we often respond

to the different aspects of life. If things are

going good, oh, the Word of God sounds good today,

it makes me happy. But tomorrow, maybe it doesn't

sound quite as good. It makes me a little grumpy,

and I'm not going to follow it anymore. I'm not

going to listen to it anymore. It says there's

no root, and they endure only for a while. We

need to make sure that we are rooted in the Word

of God. Then verse 22, it goes on and says, Now

he who received seed among the thorns is he who

hears the Word. They hear it. The Word of God

is there. You hear it just like you hear a train.

And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness

of riches choke the Word. And Mark adds another

phrase in there. Mark says, the desire for other

things. So the cares of this world, the deceitfulness

of riches, the desires for other things, choke

the Word and He becomes unfruitful. And so you

hear this Word, but there's so many other things

in life that seem important. And maybe they are

important. Because we, There's things that we

have to do every day. We've got to work. We've

got to cook dinner. We've got to wash the clothes,

whatever it is. Those are good things. Even things

we do for the church. Those can be good things,

but they can also be all time consuming. And

so the word of God or God only becomes one tiny

little aspect of our life among so many other

things. Oh, well, here's my schoolwork drawer.

I'm going to... close that for sabbath of course

and then i'll open up my god drawer and talk

about god today but you know as soon as we get

home i'm gonna put that bible back away and well

the lawn's got to be mowed and schoolwork's got

to be done and i've got to prep for this presentation

at work and our relationship with god is just

one tiny aspect of our life when it should be

the most important thing of our life. And everything

else needs to be under that. But we need to seek

first the kingdom of God and all these things

can be added unto us. I'm going to put up a little

video here. And this is a video of people in

China who are receiving a Bible, their own Bible,

for the very first time. How many Bibles? Do

we have? So these folks are able to receive,

I hope it's going to work, receive a Bible for

the very first time. And just watch their response.

How excited. It's a little blurry. They're opening

up packages of Bibles that have been given to

them. Have you ever been that excited to open

up your Bible? Have you ever been that excited

to recognize God's Word? And in just a moment,

I think she said right there, this is what we

have needed the most. This is what we have needed

the most. You've got a Bible. You might have

brought it with you. You've got one on your phone.

You've got one at your home. Have you ever been

that excited? To open up God's word. God's word

needs to be the central focus of how we live

our life, not just one thing among so many others,

even if those other things are good. But then

we look at verse 23. It says, but he who received

seed on the good ground is he who hears the word,

all right, they've all heard it, and understands

it. who indeed bears fruit and produces. He who

receives seed on the good ground is he who hears

the word and understands it. This is good ground,

ready to receive the seed. But if you've ever

done any planting in your life, you know that

ground like this is not natural. You can't just

go out somewhere and find ground like that. You've

got to work at it. You've got to prepare that

soil. Maybe you've got to turn the soil. Maybe

you've got to add some fertilizer or some amendments

of some kind. You've got to clear away the rocks

and the thorns. You've got to break up the ground.

This is the ground that is ready to accept. It

hears and it understands. Now what this parable

tells me, one thing that it tells me, is that

all of the ground can be, it can be good ground.

But maybe we've got to clear those thorns out

of our life. Maybe we've got to take those rocks,

those things that are keeping us from getting

that root of the word in our life. We've got

to clear that out of the way. Maybe we've got

that hard pathway. We've got to break that up

and make that ready to receive God's word. We've

got to fertilize. We've got to plow. Christ accepts

each one of us just as we are. He forgives us.

when we ask, but we need to be ready to recognize

that we are in a spiritual battle, and we've

got to take the time to know God. We've got to

take the time to taste and experience the sweetness

of his word. In the book of Psalms, it says,

taste and see that the Lord is good. Are we taking

the time to even taste what God has in store

for us? Does anybody have a bulletin? Take out

your bulletin real quick and just look at the

back. There's a mission statement and then there's

a vision statement. It says the Ringgold Seventh

-day Adventist Church, that's us, will be a,

what's the first word there? Biblical, spirit

-led, faith -filled, family -focused, and growing

fellowship. We desire, we want to be a biblical

fellowship. our life to be based on the Word

of God. Are we ready to taste and see what God

has in store for us? How can you do that? Here's

a couple ways just to do that. Maybe you're already

deeply in Bible study. Praise the Lord. Continue

that. Keep doing that. Maybe that is something

that's kind of drifted apart. You've gotten too

busy. You've got caught up in those stones or

the thorns or whatever it is. So here's some...

some ideas to maybe jumpstart that a little bit.

I would say the first thing is just start. Whether

it's this afternoon or tomorrow, just say, God,

I want to start getting into your word, digging

into your word, hearing and receiving. Just make

that first step. I've got to start. And sometimes

to make that first step and to make it last,

You've got to not just start, but you've got

to schedule when you're going to do that. You

can't just say, I'm going to do it tomorrow.

That's never going to happen. When are you going

to do it tomorrow? Put it on your calendar. Set

a little alarm on your phone. Whether it's when

you first wake up. Okay, great. Maybe you're

going to have to wake up 15 minutes earlier.

And maybe to get up 15 minutes earlier, you're

going to have to go to bed 15 minutes earlier.

Maybe that means you're going to have to not

be on your phone or turn the TV off or whatever

that thing is that keeps you up late. I'm talking

to myself. I stay up way too late. You've got

to schedule it. Maybe you want to do it at your

lunch break or in the evening. Set that little

alarm on your phone that's going to go off every

day to remind you, okay, beep, beep, beep, beep,

beep, beep. That's my time to study God's Word.

So start, schedule it, and keep it simple. Keep

it simple. You don't have to, you know, get into

the Greek and Hebrew unless you want to, but

keep it simple. Just start. Say, I'm going to

study through a book of the Bible. I'm going

to read one of the Gospels. I'm going to read

the book of Philippians, four chapters, all about

joy. But don't just read it once. Read it today.

And read it tomorrow. And read that same book

for a week until it begins to become settled

in your mind and it begins to take root. Keep

it simple. Many of you, I already mentioned,

have an app on your phone. I have one. I use

the one called YouVersion. It just shows a picture

of a Bible. And most apps, including the YouVersion,

it's got a button called Plans. And I just happened

to open up and here's a 12 -day... Study through

the book of James. There's a seven -day study

on encouragement. There's a seven -day study

on men of the heart. Whatever topic, whatever

book you may have, there's a plan. It's just

going to give you some verses to read. Start,

schedule, and keep it simple. Just begin. In

Matthew 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus

said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

after righteousness. Let that be a prayer that

you pray. God, help me to be hungry. Help me

to be thirsty for your word. Help me to taste

that sweetness of your word. You don't have to

pray to get hungry. You know, it's almost noon.

You're probably getting hungry right now. It

just happens naturally. But that's a prayer that

you can pray. Lord, help me to be hungry for

your word. I want to go back to that verse again,

13 verse 23, because it says, he who receives

seed on the good ground is he who hears the word

and understand it. What's the result? Who indeed

bears fruit and produces, some a hundredfold,

some 60, and some 30. Now, I'm not a farmer,

but things that I've read have indicated that

those are extraordinary yields. even in today's

society with fertilizer and tractors and everything

else. And so this is a prayer that when we begin

to read God's Word, God's Word is going to do

something in us. It's going to change us. It's

going to make it a little bit different. So if

you're throwing out seeds, maybe for a tomato

plant in your garden, what do you hope is going

to happen? Not just hoping that there's going

to be one green plant that comes up. Oh, that's

nice, a green plant. But your ideal is that that

green plant is going to get some little flowers

and those flowers are going to soon have little

green bulbs on the end and those green bulbs

are going to turn red and be delicious tomatoes.

That's the point of planting the seed is to bear

fruit. If you plant an apple seed, you're not

just wanting a tree, you're wanting a harvest.

of apples. And as God's word is planted in our

heart, we are able to bear fruit. We're able

to perhaps bear fruit that will plant seeds into

someone else's life, someone else's heart. There's

a gentleman I know, his name is Dan. He lives

in another part of the country. And everywhere

he goes, he takes something like this. He takes

these little glow tracks. Anybody familiar with

a little glow track? On the little bulletin board

between here and the potluck, there's a couple

stacks of them that I just put out there. And

he takes a little thing like this, and almost

every person he meets, he'll give them two. And

he says, here's just a little something to brighten

your day. And that will begin conversations.

Oh, where do you go to church? What church do

you belong to? And he's able to just, non -confrontationally,

sometimes they take them. Sometimes they don't.

Sometimes they ask a question. But he's like,

here's just a little something to brighten your

day. That's my challenge. Take a couple as you're

going to potluck and see if through your experience

this week, you can bear fruit. What else can

you do to bear fruit? Well, this week we've got

a vacation Bible school. Do you know anybody

that has kids? Maybe your grandkids, maybe your

neighbors, maybe the kids in the neighborhood.

Take a couple of these little things and invite

them to come starting Wednesday night. And yes,

there's free ice cream from the sweet spot each

night. Just invite someone to come and learn

more about God, to experience God's Word into

their own life, into their own experience. And

we can complete... this circle and so we could

ask ourselves where where in this story where

in this parable do you see yourself because we're

all in there somewhere maybe uh we're in that

group that uh is rejecting it all that that doesn't

care it's just allowing that that word to be

snatched out of our heart we don't know and we

don't care maybe we find see ourselves and we're

in that that selfish group. We just want to go

the easiest route. And it sounds good today,

but maybe tomorrow something else is going to

sound better. Or maybe we find ourselves just,

we're just too busy. There's too many other things

that we have going on. If you're in one of those

groups, I invite you just to taste and see, to

experience the sweetness of God's Word. But maybe

you're in that group that is the good soil, and

the seed is enveloping into your life and taking

root. If that's your case, then I just invite

you to say, all right, God, help me to bear fruit.

Help me to find someone this week that I can

invite to know you better. Whether it's invite

to a program at the church or just invite to

see the love of God in their life. I hope that

each one of us will allow the seed of God's word,

to take root into your life each and every day.

Let's bow our heads for prayer. Dear God, what

an incredible story that you sow the word of

God, the word which is living and active, the

word which makes us wise for salvation, that

makes us thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And God, we appreciate that you care about us,

and no matter where we may be, which soil we

may be, you continue to cast your word into our

heart and into our life. And Lord, it's my prayer

that wherever we are, we'll take one more step

to be closer to you, to be more like you, to

bear fruit that others may know you. In your

name we pray. Amen.