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Seed and Harvest | John Challinor

Heights Church

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  1. The whole idea of food and how that navigates

  2. and works, and anybody just enjoy food? Anybody?

  3. Okay. The rest of you are liars. And then there's

  4. probably about 10 % of you that just have a really

  5. conflicted moment right now because you're like,

  6. I'm not a liar. I really don't like it. But inevitably,

  7. you will eat, right? And so food is a part of

  8. our life. It's part of what we do. Anybody in

  9. the room? I would ask men, but... That doesn't

  10. feel right. So anybody in the room or even online,

  11. Paulding, Baghdad, that's you. Anybody smoke

  12. meat? Enjoyed the process of smoking meat? And

  13. hey, you can always tell somebody who smokes

  14. meat. They're like, yeah, that's me. That's me.

  15. Let's do this again. People that smoke meat.

  16. You got it? Some of you are unsure. Some of you

  17. are like, I think I do. Like I put it in the

  18. smoker, but I don't know if it qualifies for.

  19. And then you meet the person that actually does.

  20. Like they are into it. You ever met that person?

  21. And they're like, they're like, hey, man, I did

  22. a brisket, but it was I just missed it. It was

  23. one degree off. I'm like, good Lord, I'm glad

  24. if the thing comes off and still tastes good,

  25. you know, but but. A couple of months ago, somebody

  26. gave me a smoker. They were trading out theirs,

  27. and they're like, do you want mine? I'm like,

  28. yeah. And I've been like, do I really want to

  29. get into it? So for two months, it's been kind

  30. of this journey of discovering, wow, this is

  31. life -changing. So with that, we'd done some

  32. wings, and on Monday, my wife's like, she's like,

  33. hey, can we do something easy for dinner? Like,

  34. what could we do? And I'm like, let's do wings.

  35. I'll just throw them on, super simple. We'll

  36. just do it. So I come home and I'm a little late.

  37. So I already feel crowded, kind of anxious, like

  38. we were cutting it close on time. It's going

  39. to be late for dinner, that kind of thing. But

  40. I'm like, we'll do it anyways. So so I go out,

  41. you know, light the smoker, get get it going.

  42. Preheating all of that good stuff. Did it right.

  43. The lids up, then the lids down, that whole thing.

  44. And and come back in the house. Got the wings.

  45. Got the seasoning that we wanted to try. And

  46. so they're looking awesome. So take them out.

  47. We're preheated now. Put them on and go back

  48. in the house. Close the lid. Go back in the house.

  49. And I'm like, hey, Alexa, set a timer for. And

  50. so now Alexa's, I can jettison it from my brain

  51. because Alexa's got it. You know what I'm saying?

  52. And so a little bit of time passes and I'm like,

  53. oh, I got to go. I got to go put the water on

  54. and the trees in the front. So I go out front

  55. and I'm turning the water on. I'm like, man,

  56. it smells awesome out here. One of my neighbors

  57. must be like smoking meat, too. So I start to

  58. look around my neighbors, my neighbors, see who's

  59. grilling. Nobody's out. I'm like, oh, that's

  60. weird because I definitely smell it. So turn

  61. the water on, go back in the house. I tell my

  62. daughter, I'm like, man, it smells so strong

  63. outside and so good. And she's like, you did

  64. like the smoker. And so I go out back, and my

  65. smoke is down the side of my house. I go out

  66. back, and I just look out, and it's just a plume

  67. of smoke, and the backyard is full of smoke.

  68. And I'm like, that's not normal. I don't know

  69. much about smoking, but that's not right. And

  70. so now I'm like, I don't know. Nobody told me

  71. what to do now, so I got a fire in my, like.

  72. So, so I did like, there's a source. So I yanked

  73. the thing out of the wall because it's a pellet

  74. smoker. I'm like, okay, if I kill that, maybe

  75. it'll kill what's happening. The smoke continues,

  76. right? So, so now I go and get gloves that, you

  77. know, those gloves that you can touch the sun

  78. with, you know, those gloves. So I go get those

  79. gloves. And now I, I know enough to go, don't

  80. just. overwhelming with oxygen, boom, right?

  81. So I'm like easing this thing up. Okay, we're

  82. good. I can get it open. And the smoke is just

  83. like intense. It's just intensifying. And I'm

  84. like, oh my goodness. Now the hopper is like

  85. everything, every place that smoke could come

  86. out of, it is coming out of, right? So much so

  87. that my neighbor's coming over. He goes, you

  88. know, there's a fire ban right now, right? And

  89. so that's not true. So now I'm taking it apart

  90. piece by piece, right? Like trying to settle

  91. this thing down. I'm saving the wings because

  92. you know we have them wings. So they're safe.

  93. And it slowly dies down. And I'm like, okay,

  94. I think we're okay. But it also delayed dinner

  95. by a long shot. Like I go back in the house.

  96. I'm like, I don't think we're eating at the right

  97. time. And here's what's interesting. I got home

  98. and I went to the same video I did the first

  99. time. when I knew nothing, you know, that video.

  100. So I went, how to get the best wings, right?

  101. So watch the video. So I was like, when I got

  102. home, I'm like, I'll go back to that video and

  103. just get how, because I couldn't remember the

  104. timing. So I just needed timing. I turn on that

  105. video and the guy goes, be very careful that

  106. you don't create a fire. And here's how you create

  107. a fire. You could have a grease fire or you could

  108. have a hopper fire, depending on if you've done

  109. these things. And here's what's clear. Here's

  110. what's very, very clear to me. I did not listen

  111. to his warning. Agreed? Because here's how I

  112. know. I had a grease fire and a hopper fire.

  113. I had both. And so there's a deep connection

  114. that I did not listen because of the outcome

  115. that came from it. There is a deep connection

  116. to I was told something, right? And yet I still

  117. missed it. Why? Because I didn't put into action

  118. what I was told. If you were here last week,

  119. we talked about Jesus is calling. And I got a

  120. really catchy title for you. Jesus is calling

  121. part two this week. That's where we're heading.

  122. I thought we were moving on and Jesus says, no,

  123. we're staying. And so if you weren't here, I

  124. got to catch you up real quick. What we talked

  125. about last week is the parable of the sower,

  126. right? The farmer, it's a story about a farmer.

  127. A farmer goes out and he's got seed and he's

  128. going to plant and he begins to scatter seed.

  129. Now, what we took from that was some of that

  130. seed fell in different places, but he still scattered

  131. it. And we're supposed to learn something about

  132. the farmer in this as well as the soils. So a

  133. lot of people interpret just the soils and this

  134. is what it's about. I actually think that any

  135. story in the Bible is about Jesus because Jesus

  136. is the superhero. Jesus is the one that the whole

  137. story is about. It's pointing to him. It's telling

  138. us who God is because if you see Jesus, you see

  139. God. And so as this farmer is scattering, what

  140. we're supposed to see about Jesus is this, that

  141. Jesus is generous and gracious. That Jesus is

  142. scattering seed. And here's what's crazy. He's

  143. scattering seed where he knows the devil is coming.

  144. He's calling, right? A little later in that story,

  145. it says that he called out. That word called

  146. out is where we get our word for phone. And we

  147. talked last week that Jesus essentially is calling.

  148. calling the crowd and going, if you have ears

  149. to hear, then hear. And what he means by that

  150. is I need you to not only use your physical,

  151. but spiritually engage with this call. And what

  152. we're told from that is that Jesus is constantly

  153. calling. I know this for a fact. He's calling

  154. you today because that's who he is. That even

  155. if you walked in here and you're like, John,

  156. I was here last week. I haven't thought about

  157. Jesus for a week. He's still calling you today.

  158. Right? Like even if you were here and you're

  159. like, oh yeah, we did talk about that. He's still

  160. calling you today. Just because you didn't do

  161. what he said last week doesn't mean he's not

  162. calling you today. It's proof positive that his

  163. story about the soils is true. That there's different

  164. responses for different people. And as he goes

  165. through the narrative, it's this farmer who sows.

  166. And what's stunning with it is he says this,

  167. that I'll give you what you want. I'll throw

  168. the seed. But if you choose to reject it, I'll

  169. tell you to clean your smoker. But if you reject

  170. it, enjoy the fire. Right? That's the story.

  171. That's the narrative. The focus is on that Jesus

  172. is speaking. God is calling. God's word is being

  173. thrown out like seed. And you have a choice what

  174. you do with it. Which is why he makes the emphasis

  175. on listening. That he is good and he is gracious

  176. and he is kind and he will keep coming back and

  177. keep coming back and keep coming back and keep

  178. coming back. And maybe it's 20 years and you've

  179. had a fire for 20 years and he's coming back

  180. and going, hey, you know, it's because you got

  181. grease in your thing. See how much I know? I

  182. don't even know what it's called. And I just

  183. wonder, I just wonder. that within the narrative

  184. that Jesus is talking about, within listening,

  185. if we've missed something in Luke chapter eight.

  186. If you have a Bible, you can turn there. And

  187. I want you to do something if you got a physical

  188. Bible. You got a pen and a physical Bible? Our

  189. students, by the way, you guys have been amazing

  190. me lately because when I have been up here doing

  191. this, I look down and there's like Bibles on

  192. laps and notepads and like different highlighters

  193. and you guys are like all in, right? Like you

  194. guys are amazing. So well done. But if you have

  195. a pen, cross out for me, if yours is like mine,

  196. between verse 15 that says, but the seed on good

  197. soil, so he's talking about the seeds that fall

  198. on the good soil, stands for those with a noble

  199. and good heart who hear the word, retain it,

  200. and by persevering, produce crop. So there's

  201. a harvest. If you have a Bible like mine, there

  202. is a subheading that comes in the way that says

  203. a lamp on the stand. You just cross that out.

  204. That's not helpful. Because what it does is it

  205. breaks the story. It breaks the narrative. But

  206. this narrative doesn't belong broken. It belongs

  207. together. And here's what I mean. The next verse

  208. says this. So he just talks about the soil, talks

  209. about the harvest. No one lights a lamp and hides

  210. it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead,

  211. they put it on a stand so that those who come

  212. in can see the light. And now you may go, we

  213. were just talking about soils. Now we're talking

  214. about lamp. This feels different. But everything

  215. that is in the story of the sower is found in

  216. this one little section of the lamp. And here's

  217. what I mean. It says that nobody lights a lamp.

  218. How did you light a lamp? Well, in those days,

  219. the lamp was made out of clay. It had a hole

  220. in the top. You poured in oil and it had a space

  221. for the wick. You put something dry that was

  222. kind of woven together that would hold the wick

  223. in place or touch the oil and suck up the oil,

  224. but also. like act as a wick, then what would

  225. happen, what would happen is you would take an

  226. ember from the fire. Why an ember? Because fires

  227. were hard to create. It took a lot of work. It

  228. was tedious. So they always tried to keep embers

  229. hot. They always tried to keep something. So

  230. you would take an ember and you would take...

  231. take that ember and put it to the wick and the

  232. lamp would ignite from the ember to the wick.

  233. Now, if you have a fire and you take an ember,

  234. how big is the ember compared to the fire? It's

  235. itty bitty. That's just like the seed that's

  236. being thrown out. The seed is small. The harvest

  237. is large. And so in this moment, what you have

  238. is you have the picture of something small going

  239. into flame. But notice the rest of the story

  240. that the idea of the ember going to a flame is

  241. so that it's a hundred X harvest of light to

  242. the entire house. Right. Whatever room it sits

  243. in, it's going to be exponentially larger. Why?

  244. Because the harvest is always larger than the

  245. seed. And so what happens is now it says that.

  246. No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar.

  247. Okay, if I take a lamp, I light it and I put

  248. it in a clay jar and cover it, what happens?

  249. It goes out. Why? Because just like my smoker,

  250. you got to kill the fuel source, right? It goes

  251. out. It's starved of oxygen. That sounds an awful

  252. lot like seed that falls in spaces where the

  253. devil comes and takes it away. Seed that falls

  254. in places and I'm joyful for a minute. Like I

  255. was in church and man, it was good. And then

  256. I get out and I'm like, oh yeah, I don't remember

  257. any of that. I don't remember what we talked

  258. about. I'm not saying yes to that. And before

  259. long, the joy is gone and it withers. That's

  260. the same as if you put a lamp into what was intended

  261. to be a harvest for the entire house. What was

  262. intended to be 100x fold is now smothered and

  263. out. The next one, it sounds a little weird,

  264. but makes sense or puts it under a bed. You ever

  265. gone to your friend's house and you're like,

  266. Why is your lamp under your bed? The imagery

  267. is that you light the lamp and then you put it

  268. under the bed. And you kind of go, well, the

  269. lamp is kind of doing what it's supposed to,

  270. but that's kind of weird. Doesn't seem like,

  271. that sounds like. That sounds like what he was

  272. talking about before. The person's taking it

  273. and they're taking the word of God and they're

  274. stepping into it, but they get crowded, right?

  275. They get crowded. And it says that as they get

  276. crowded by life's worries and pleasures, that

  277. it smothers what is there. And a light under

  278. a bed, it smothers the illumination of the harvest

  279. that's intended. Instead, they put it on a stand.

  280. So that those who come in can see the light.

  281. Why would you put a lamp on a stand? Why would

  282. you put a stand on a stand? That's weird. Don't

  283. do that. Why would you put a lamp on a stand?

  284. So that it illuminates and does what it is supposed

  285. to. But you started with an ember and you ended

  286. up with an illumination of the entire room. So

  287. what this is getting at is there is a proper

  288. action for lighting a lamp and where you place

  289. that lamp, you will know if that lamp has been

  290. placed in the right place or not by what you

  291. see. Now, here's what's interesting. The harvest

  292. of light, because if you've been around church

  293. some, this is how this goes. You are the light

  294. of the world. And we go to this verse and we're

  295. like, okay, no one hides a lamp. So don't hide

  296. your, okay, that's fine. But that's not the context

  297. of this story. The context of this story, the

  298. context of the lamp is that you do something

  299. in such a way that it illuminates. And when people

  300. come in to your house, which you, if we're going

  301. to live like Jesus, right, we're going to be

  302. hospitable like Jesus. And so people coming into

  303. your house now, they see what you did with the

  304. lamp. Why? Because when they walk in your house,

  305. they're like, look how bright it is. Which makes

  306. me think that the harvest, the harvest initially

  307. is for you. But then anyone you come into contact

  308. with, right? Because sometimes we teach this

  309. and we're like, okay, so you've got to go on

  310. mission to save the world. I don't think that's

  311. what this is saying. I think what this is saying

  312. is when you step in, the harvest, the harvest

  313. is evident to everybody around you that's happened

  314. in your life. So then you get to the next verse,

  315. verse 17. For there is nothing hidden that will

  316. not be disclosed and nothing concealed that will

  317. not be known or brought out into the open. We

  318. read this. And if you've been around church a

  319. little while, this is how it's gone for me. God

  320. is going to take everything that you have hidden

  321. and he is going to put it on a big screen and

  322. we're all going to watch it someday. Anybody

  323. ever had that teaching? Right. Anybody have the

  324. fear of God put in you because it was like, oh,

  325. what you did in secret, you just wait. Right.

  326. That's not what this is saying. The context of

  327. a harvest, a harvest is visible. Here's what

  328. I know about a harvest. When we were in Canada,

  329. you'd have cornfields on both sides of it. And

  330. when those cornfields grew into harvest season,

  331. those cornfields were so visible and so tall

  332. that as you drove down the road, you felt like

  333. you were in a tunnel of cornfield. You didn't

  334. have to tell me that it was harvest season. I

  335. knew it was harvest season because a harvest

  336. is visible. You don't have to tell me the harvest

  337. of light when you put it on a stand because the

  338. harvest is visible. You don't have to tell me

  339. if when Jesus calls you say yes or not. You know

  340. how I know? It's obvious by your life. You don't

  341. have to tell me. You don't have to tell the people

  342. around you. You don't have to tell, right? Actually,

  343. I put my light under the bed. It's obvious when

  344. I come into your house and I see a glow from

  345. under your bed. You don't have to tell me you

  346. hid it in a jar. It's obvious because I come

  347. in and it's dark. Isn't it fascinating that when

  348. it comes to this concept of what will be revealed,

  349. you are already revealing what you were doing

  350. with the words of Jesus. When you came and you

  351. were so excited because you said yes and you

  352. got in the bathtub. Wow. Maybe you got baptized

  353. in the bathtub. Could be. Maybe God's really

  354. speaking specifically to someone. But you got

  355. into the tub and you said yes to Jesus. You were

  356. baptized. Your testimony was like, I just can't

  357. wait to make my whole life about Jesus. And then

  358. I see you two years later. And when I see you

  359. two years later, you look nothing like Jesus.

  360. You don't have to tell me that you stop listening

  361. to Jesus. You don't have to tell me you stop

  362. saying yes to Jesus. Why? Because your life is

  363. evident. What is hidden will be like everybody

  364. is going to see it. And what we want to do is

  365. make this about God. And God is like, he's going

  366. to come down on you. No, he's generous and he's

  367. calling and he continues to try. And what we

  368. get to see is like, wait a minute. There's a

  369. disconnect between the seed that is being sown

  370. and the harvest that I am seeing. Verse 18. Therefore,

  371. so based on all that, consider carefully how

  372. you listen. The essence of that word listen in

  373. the original is that you listen with intentionality.

  374. You listen with the intention of doing something

  375. with what you hear. So Jesus says, Jesus' words

  376. are in red. Be careful, be careful how you listen.

  377. Whoever has will be given more. Whoever does

  378. not have, even what they think they have, will

  379. be taken away from them. So again, we take this

  380. and we go, okay, God's going to take away from

  381. you if you don't do. That's not what this is

  382. saying. It's pretty obvious that if you get a

  383. seed and you choose not to plant the seed, you

  384. ain't going to have a crop. It's pretty obvious

  385. that if listening is in focus and listening with

  386. intentionality, that the seed that God has given

  387. you, if I am putting that seed into action and

  388. saying yes to that in my life, there's going

  389. to be a harvest that follows that. And when that

  390. harvest follows, that's going to give more life

  391. to the things. So what it's saying is that those

  392. that have and produce a harvest, whenever you

  393. produce a harvest, it produces more. But those

  394. that take a seed from Jesus, And they just keep

  395. saying, no, no, no. I'm not going to listen.

  396. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do

  397. that. That's too hard, Jesus. I don't want to

  398. step into that. And you can just keep pushing

  399. it to the side. What happens is you lose what

  400. you have. This is not a threat from Jesus, even

  401. in the slightest. Verse 19 then. So again, if

  402. you have a physical Bible, you can just cross

  403. out Jesus, mother and brothers. That's not helpful.

  404. Now, Jesus, mother and brothers came. I mean

  405. this subheading, not the verse, just to be clear.

  406. Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him,

  407. but they were not able to get near him because

  408. of crowd. There's a very physical problem. They

  409. can't get close to him. Someone told him, your

  410. mother and brothers are standing outside wanting

  411. to see you. Verse 21, he replied, my mother and

  412. brothers are those who hear God's word and put

  413. it into practice. Like if there is a mic in Jesus'

  414. hands, which there wasn't, but if there was,

  415. this is a mic drop moment. And here's why. Everything

  416. in this culture, the people he is talking to,

  417. who you are, your identity, your inheritance,

  418. your obligations to life, everything you have

  419. is centered around where your blood lineage came

  420. from. So depending on your blood lineage depended

  421. on a whole bunch of things that you could or

  422. couldn't do. It depended on your identity, who

  423. you were, and how that gave you a standing in

  424. the community. Everything was dependent on your

  425. lineage. And Jesus goes, hey, actually, my family

  426. are the ones that listen, who receive God's word,

  427. and they put into practice, which is to make

  428. something happen from it. They receive it. He

  429. goes, this is who my family is, are the ones

  430. that take what I've said and they put it into

  431. practice. They take, they listen, and they do.

  432. Now, some people think that this was mean of

  433. Jesus to say this because his physical, biological

  434. mama was outside. This is not Jesus. being mean

  435. to his biological mama. In fact, the way Luke

  436. is recorded, it is speaking of her and gives

  437. moment and verses to her all the way through

  438. that she has listened to him and she is doing.

  439. She is listening and believing. She is listening

  440. so much so that when he goes to the cross and

  441. he dies, she is present there and she is present

  442. beyond that. He is reiterating even my own biological

  443. mama is family because of this. Listen and do.

  444. Listen and do. And here's where it gets a little

  445. hard for us. Because Jesus is out here. He's

  446. throwing seed, right? So this is an apple seed.

  447. You probably barely even see it. Maybe, right?

  448. And I'll just put it this way. This isn't unique

  449. to me. I heard this from somebody else. But when

  450. I heard it, I was like, that's it. looks like

  451. the harvest. The seed rarely looks like the harvest.

  452. I don't know what salvation looked like for you,

  453. but salvation for me came in this form. That

  454. Jesus went to a cross, he died for my sins to

  455. pay the punishment between me and God, right?

  456. And that he paid that punishment for all of eternity

  457. so that I could be with him for all of eternity.

  458. That was the seed that was planted, that Jesus

  459. wants to save you. But you know what the harvest

  460. is when I said yes to that? Jesus, through his

  461. blood, made me family. Jesus made you family

  462. through his blood. Now that looked nothing like

  463. the seed that I said yes to. But the harvest

  464. is that I am a son of the God Almighty today

  465. and forever. That you are forgiven. Right? Like

  466. forgiveness was in that moment. I didn't realize

  467. I'm forgiven for everything forever. I didn't

  468. realize that my identity completely changes and

  469. I'm no longer me. I am now in Christ. I no longer,

  470. that moment of you say yes to Jesus and all of

  471. a sudden I have an inheritance. Why? Because

  472. the seed, the seed, rarely looks like the harvest.

  473. I mean, you think about it for a second, right?

  474. Like this little seed right here, it's kind of

  475. dull. It's hard. Somebody told me if you chew

  476. enough of them, there's cyanide in them. You'll

  477. be surprised to know that was the safety team

  478. that told me that. I think they were saying,

  479. don't do it on stage. It looks a lot different

  480. than the shiny, colorful, And if you don't like

  481. green apples, make it a red one. That if you

  482. bite into it, there's something sweet. Something

  483. good. Well, the seed doesn't represent the harvest.

  484. And it rarely does. I had a moment this summer.

  485. My wife had gotten up. And it wasn't a great

  486. day. She didn't sleep well. She didn't feel well,

  487. and she had a couple of appointments stacked

  488. up that I knew would just take a lot out of her.

  489. And so she leaves the house, and my 15 -year

  490. -old Bailey, she comes downstairs, and she's

  491. kind of moving into summer mode, right? Things

  492. are just kind of moving slow. She's easing into

  493. her day, which is the beautiful part of summer.

  494. And so I'm getting ready to leave, and before

  495. I leave, I just go over to her and go, Hey, Bailey,

  496. your mama... Wasn't feeling great when she left.

  497. And she has a lot of things stacked up today.

  498. And she's doing me a favor. Could you just be

  499. helpful? And that was it. I go out the door.

  500. I get a text from my wife. She was done with

  501. the appointment she had. She was kind of filling

  502. me in. And she goes, but then I got home. And

  503. she goes, the house had been cleaned. Because

  504. my 15 -year -old had got up. and spent her morning

  505. cleaning the house to be helpful to her mama.

  506. Now, all I said was, just be helpful. But the

  507. harvest was exponential. I was not even in the

  508. slightest going, you should clean the house.

  509. And yet she took it and went, this is how I can

  510. say yes. Why? Because the seed rarely looks like

  511. the harvest. I mean, think about it in your own

  512. life. The amount of seed that Jesus throws your

  513. way. The things he tells you to do. And at the

  514. time you're like, I can't see the harvest. I

  515. only see the seed. And when I see the seed, I

  516. go, you're not very impressive. You're kind of

  517. dull. In fact, you got cyanided and you saw him

  518. leaving you there. Right? Because we can't get

  519. a glimpse of what the harvest is. And yet what

  520. he says is those that listen and those that say

  521. yes and put into action the things of God. I

  522. think you guys, I think we've made discipleship

  523. so complicated. I think it's as simple as this.

  524. What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do? Go do

  525. that. I think it's that simple. Here's what I

  526. mean. In Luke chapter 22, familiar scene. Depending

    Luke 22 chapter mention

  527. on your church background, this might have been

  528. the Lord's Supper, the communion table, right?

  529. The Last Supper, like whatever language, Eucharist

  530. that you have. But that's the table that they're

  531. sitting around. And as they're sitting around

  532. that table, listen what Jesus does. Verse 19.

  533. And he took bread, he gave thanks, and he broke

  534. it. And he gave it to them. Now I want to pause

  535. here because we've been talking about the Jesus

  536. that is calling. We've been talking about the

  537. Jesus. that is generous, and he is gracious,

  538. and he keeps, like the farmer, throwing out seed.

  539. And what I want you to see in this moment is

  540. this is a picture for us to remind us of who

  541. Jesus is. Think about who's sitting at that table.

  542. Sitting at that table is Judas. Judas, in a little

  543. bit, it will say that Satan himself entered Judas.

  544. That sounds an awful lot like the devil is coming

  545. for what God has thrown out. And yet at that

  546. table, at this meal, Jesus still, still what?

  547. Throws seed Judas' way. Because he's generous

  548. and he's kind and he's calling. Then, then you've

  549. got Peter. Peter's going to deny him shortly

  550. after this meal. And he still throws seed to

  551. Peter. He still includes Peter. The rest of them

  552. are going to scatter. Why? Because Jesus is generous.

  553. Your God is generous. And he continues to call

  554. and he continues to call. He took bread, he gave

  555. thanks and broke it and gave it to them. Saying,

  556. this is my body given, given, given. Why? Because

  557. he's generous. Given for you. Do this in remembrance

  558. of me. You don't got to panic. Don't get your

  559. stuff yet. We're not there yet. I just want you

  560. to see, just a little piece of bread. I think

  561. it's fascinating that in this moment, Jesus,

  562. first of all, is taking something that has come

  563. from seed to harvest. What do I mean? He took

  564. bread. Bread is the harvest. I think the stories

  565. we followed, I want you to catch something. It

  566. goes from a field, which is all out there, to

  567. a house with a lamp. To a family. And then they

  568. sit around the table and what do they enjoy?

  569. The harvest of Jesus. What do I mean by that?

  570. He is the bread of life that has been broken

  571. for us. He is the bread of life. So the harvest

  572. is Jesus has taken his father's words and he

  573. has put them into action, put them into action,

  574. put them into action so that he can sit and go,

  575. this is the harvest for you. And then he says

  576. this, do this in remembrance of me. You know

  577. what I haven't seen? I've done this a long time

  578. in a room like this with people like this. And

  579. we get to this point and I go, so he broke bread,

  580. gave it. And he says, do this in remembrance

  581. of me. I've never seen somebody go, nah, not

  582. today. I don't like that seed. No, you know what

  583. everybody does? Do this in remembrance of me.

  584. He says it and we do it. I think it's a model

  585. of what life's supposed to be like. That it's

  586. this simple. That the harvest of Jesus allows

  587. him to cast seed. It allows him to build for

  588. a harvest in your life. And all you have to do

  589. is he goes, do this. And you go, yes. And it's

  590. a continuous. And here's what's amazing. When

  591. you take the bread and you take the cup and you

  592. partake in them, guess what you do? By your doing,

  593. by your doing and your listening, you affirm,

  594. you affirm the story that's true of you, that

  595. the harvest in you is that you are sons and daughters

  596. of God Almighty. You affirm it. You affirm by

  597. listening and doing. And so I got a question

  598. for you. And then we're going to reflect and

  599. then we'll take it all together. Here's my question.

  600. Jesus is calling. We've established that. He's

  601. calling you today. What does Jesus need you to

  602. say yes to today? As simply, as simply as you

  603. would, as simply as you would when he says, do

  604. this in remembrance of me and you partake. What

  605. is Jesus calling you and asking you? And telling

  606. you, what seed is he casting to you today? Because

  607. he's calling. And he wants you to spiritually

  608. engage him. And the way that you spiritually

  609. engage him is you say yes. You ask a question.

  610. You gain understanding. You put into action what

  611. he is giving. So what is it for you? What is

  612. Jesus calling you for today? It may be as simple

  613. as... You're tired of the way that you treat

  614. somebody. And Jesus is going, today, I'm calling

  615. and telling you it's not okay that you treat

  616. that person that way. And I'm asking you to stop.

  617. What are you going to do? What is he asking you

  618. to let go of? Maybe you got a grudge. Maybe you're

  619. in a role at a job. Maybe it's a friendship.

  620. Maybe it's a thought pattern. Maybe it's an action

  621. pattern. And he's calling today and he goes,

  622. today's the day that you just, I'm asking you

  623. that you will never have the harvest you want

  624. in your life. I'm asking you to put the lamp

  625. on a stand today. I'm asking you to say yes today.

  626. I'm asking you to follow what I'm asking you

  627. to do. Do this. What is he asking of you today?

  628. And then we'll take it all together. The next

  629. moments are yours. Jesus's words are, my family

  630. are those who listen and put into practice. He

  631. took bread. He broke it. He said, this is my

  632. body given for you. Do this in remembrance of

  633. me. And we all say yes. He took a cup and the

  634. Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians captures what he

  635. received from the Lord when it comes to this

  636. meal, the communion meal. And what he connects

  637. for us with the cup is that the language of do

  638. this in remembrance of me is still present. And

  639. within that, it says before that this is a new

  640. covenant in his blood. So in the blood of Jesus,

  641. there's a new lineage. In the blood of Jesus,

  642. there is a new way forward. And so he takes a

  643. cup and he goes, remember, remember, don't forget.

  644. But then he also gives the same command, do this.

  645. When you take this cup and drink it, do this

  646. in remembrance of me. And we just say, yes. Church,

  647. there is a response, right? Like when we sit

  648. at the communion table, there's a response. We

  649. partake. We have an action that goes with it.

  650. I believe that when we receive from God, when

  651. God is stirring within us, when God is working

  652. within us, when God is moving, that there is

  653. a response and it's a response we call worship.

  654. That the hope would be that God has been doing

  655. something in you and stirring in you that the

  656. next natural response is that I stand and I just

  657. go, hey, I got to give some glory to God because

  658. I can't believe how good he is. I can't believe

  659. how much he loves me. I can't believe that his

  660. name is the only one I need. That Jesus, your

  661. name, your name be the one that gets the glory

  662. for my yes. That Jesus, I can't believe you're

  663. that good that you continue to scatter seed my

  664. way when I know where I've been. God, I can't

  665. believe you're that good that you forgive me

  666. even though I don't deserve it. God, I can't

  667. believe that you are my savior. So Jesus be the

  668. name that gets the glory. So would you stand

  669. where you are and we're going to sing together.