12+1 Core Values: Growth Resulting | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Today's value, call value 12, we're going through growth resulting.

Everyone say growth resulting. Okay. And remember, respond to the

word of God. Yeah. So growth here, when we talk

about growth, um, the normal thing in life is that

healthy things grow. Don't you think so? Right. If growth

doesn't happen, then there's just something that needs a little

bit of attention of fixing. I mean, if you look

at yourself, um, that's okay. Thank you. If you look

at yourself, um, I'm pretty sure you have grown over

the years, right? I mean, if you look at, okay,

our ex-kids, okay, even Odilia, our youngest here, she is growing, right?

We can see how even more responsive she was. She

just celebrated one year's old birthday, right? Let's look at Tiara,

who is now in Exxon. You know, when she came in,

she was the little tiny girl behind her mom. And now, okay, sorry,

I'm putting you on the spot.

Okay.

Okay, and now look at her serving in Exxon, right?

This is growth, right? And the same thing with every

one of us, our leaders. You came in as students

and now you are leading others. And if you look

around you, when we look at a person, and it's

not just so much of how much success they have gotten,

But as an individual, have they been growing? So a

plant that isn't growing isn't resting. There's no such thing

as a resting plant, right? There is something wrong. So

you've got to change the soil, you have to put water,

or it's just the environment, right? A child that isn't

developing isn't taking a break. Something needs attention, right? Parents

would know this. So growth is the natural result of health.

And where there is genuine life... Increase will follow. The

keyword here is genuine. Yeah. And, you know, when we

talk about the early church in the book of Acts,

we all know how the church grew. They started growing.

They came together. They started growing. But do you think

they actually had a marketing team with them? People who,

did they have like, you know, social media to post

in Insta or Insta stories? Did they have like flyering?

What do you think at the early church? No, right?

I mean, of course, when we talk about, you know,

development at that time, life was so much more simpler, right?

But yet, there was growth taking place, yeah? And so

that's something we've got to be very careful because if

we don't know what the truth is, we might think that, oh,

we need more of the hype in order for growth

to happen, right? right? Or we may need more of

the social media in order for growth to happen. Yes,

that is one of the tools that God has given

us in this modern age, yeah? But if God could

still work at the early church, where he just added

to the church, right? He saw, I mean, the people

just saw how God moved. Thousands of people just walked

in Then I don't think so it's about marketing. I

don't think so it's about the hype. I don't think

so they had big, you know, I mean, all these

sound systems and instruments and all that. This is just

what we have in the modern age, yeah? But yet

the church grew. So then there could be something that

they actually caught, right? And something that they allowed to

create for God to bring that increase, yeah? So... It's

important that we understand that growth is ultimately God's work

and not ours. Yeah. Growth is ultimately God's work and

not ours. Okay. And if you look at this quote here,

it says, God is always working beneath the surface. What

is unseen is often where the most growth happens. So

it's not just so much of how you show up

on a Sunday, but it's what you do in your

closed doors. It's what you do or how you choose

to praise God even when you don't feel like doing it, right?

Or how you choose to, you know, get down on

your knees and seek the Lord when no one else

is seeing, not just because everyone is looking, yeah? Yeah.

And that is when God works something within us, yeah?

The same thing we see with a plant. We're going

to explore a little bit about plant today. You'll realize

that you can't exactly see the root, right? But it

is the root that plays a big part for that

seed or that tree to come forth, yeah? And that

is what growth looks like. It's what's happening inside that soil,

inside that environment itself, yeah? So when we talk about

growth here, growth is biblical. Okay, that's something we need

to understand. It is biblical. You know, like we spoke

about the early church, it did not have marketing. It

was not a man-driven thing, but it is God-driven. That's

how God designed us. Did you know that? To always,

you know, long for something more. for always long for growth, right?

To look at something new. Imagine if a person just

grows up, whatever, I just take it as I go, right?

Or I will just, you know, whatever comes my way,

I will just go with it. I mean, why do

you think we have dreams? Why do you think we

have desires or interests or talents that we want to

take up? Skills? All these things because it is growth

that God wants to give us. Even if you look

at the church context, all of us want to be

able to exercise our giftings. But if we just keep

it to ourselves, that is when we will come to

a place of thinking, actually, why am I going to church?

I mean, I can still pray at home. I can

still talk to God. But is that how God designed

us to be? Is that how God wanted us to grow?

He always intended it to be a community. He always

intended it to have fellowship. But the moment we start

to isolate ourselves and think that, okay, I can just

fend for my flame, then that's when the enemy tries

to put different distractions and thoughts into our minds. Yeah,

so all I want us to first remember is that

growth is always in the plan of God. Yeah, it

is and will always be. The moment we feel that

we are stagnant, then there's something that we need to

start asking. We need to have a heart check, right?

And if you can just reflect on your own lives,

because at the end of the day, you know yourself

more than anyone else, right? If you talk about your

journey as a believer, do you see yourself changing from

the time you said, yes, Lord, I want to receive

you as my personal saviour. And now to where you are,

is there changes? Right? I mean, you don't have to

answer to me now, but to yourselves. Because if you

don't see changes, if you don't see a measure of

faith increasing, if you don't see yourself stepping out and

doing what God has called you to do, then isn't

it something that you need to talk to God about?

Because remember, our faith is not meant to be stagnant.

And again, remember, this doesn't mean that it's doing a

lot of things. But we are talking about what you

do and how do you see God. Do you see

Him as a big God, right? Do you see Him

as a God who is able to overcome situations, yeah?

So remember that growth is biblical, yeah? And the next

thing that we need to understand is that growth is

God's work. Okay, I'm just going to quote a couple

of scriptures here. Okay, it says in 1 Corinthians 3, 6,

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. We

are talking about the man of God in the early churches, right?

And this is how it works. We just sow, okay?

Someone needs to water, someone needs to meet, someone needs to,

you know, speak to them. But at the end of

the day, God allows the increase, right? And we can

see in Isaiah 43, okay? Verses 18 to 19. Do

not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold,

I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth,

shall you not know it? I will even make a

road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. So

who can do this? Only God. Yeah, only He can.

can make a road in the wilderness. Only He can

bring rivers in the desert. So maybe there's someone who

needs to hear this today. God wants you to step

out from your former life and look at the new

thing that He has for each one of you. 2

Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ.

He is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold,

all things have become new. Turn to the person next

to you and tell them you are a new creation. Yeah,

you're a new creation. Even the word new itself means

it's growth, right? It's something new. You can only become

a new person when there's a change, right? When there's

a transformation in your life. If not, you're just going

to remain the old ways.

Yeah?

Revelations 21.5, it says, Then he who sat on the

throne said, Behold, I... make all things new. And he

said to me, wait, write, for these words are true

and faithful. Behold, I make all things new. So that's

what we need to remember that it is God's work.

It is him who needs to do this. Then you

may be wondering here as you sit there, okay, if

God is going to do everything, then what should I do?

What's my job? Yeah, what's my job? Prepare.

Yes.

Right. Our job is not to create or to manufacture something.

But our job is then for God to move. Can

I create that condition? Can I create the environment for

God to do something? Yeah. If you want to cook

a good meal, what do you need to have first? Ingredients.

Salt and pepper. That's right. You can cook and put

all the nice ingredients, but you've got no salt and pepper,

so no taste, right? But who needs to prepare all

of this? You, right? So God can give you that

great recipe or that meal in front of you. He

wants to cook that for you. By the end of

the day, the ingredients, the salt and pepper has to

come from us, yeah? We have to create the condition.

We have to create the environment, okay? So we are

going to go through... A parable today. And I'm going

to walk you through a couple of pointers. And as

we go through this, right, I want you to reflect

on your own lives and see which condition of this

are you in and what would you like to do

after this? What steps would you like to take? Remember,

the Word of God is practical, yeah? So we've got

to do something about it. So if you have your Bibles,

turn with me to Luke 8, verses 11 to 15.

Luke 8:11–15

Verses 11 onwards. Are we good? Can we read it?

Yeah?

Okay, it says here. Now, the parable is this. The

seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside

are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and

takes away the word out of their hearts. Least they

should believe and be saved. Verse 13, but the ones

on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive

the word with joy and these have no root, who

believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now,

the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when

they have heard, go out and are choked with cares,

riches and pleasures of life. and bring no fruit to maturity.

And verse 15, but the ones that fell on the

good ground are those who having heard the word with

a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit

with patience. Amen? How many of you have heard of

this scripture? Yeah, the four conditions that we are going

to explore today. So the one thing that doesn't change here,

what is it? What is it that's constant when you

read this scripture? The seed, the word of God, right?

The word of God is the one that's constant. In fact,

God is always very gracious. In fact, he's always trying

to find ways to speak to us, not just on

Sunday sermon, but every other time, yeah? What is different

here are these four conditions. So let's try to explore

these four conditions and then we'll talk about how can

we work on it. Now, the first condition, what is it?

The wayside ground. This is how a wayside ground looks like.

And the wayside is just like you walking. So there's

some grass at every corner but then there's just that

one road for you to drive or walk through. So

imagine if the seeds are falling on this wayside. What

do you think is going to happen? Get stepped on?

Because people are walking on the road, cars are going.

Can the seed actually grow? No, why? No soil. Yeah,

no soil, right? And so that is what the word

of God tells us here when you say wayside. You know,

the seed is fell. Verse 12, it says, the devil

comes and take away the word. Least they should believe

and be safe. Alright, that's a kind of condition. So

God may be just dropping those words. But because it's

just exposed, the wayside, the seed is just there. The

devil can immediately take it away. Remember, the enemy is

always trying to find ways to rob your joy. He's

always trying to find ways to rob your peace. So

if you're feeling that, why is my life not feeling

in peace? Or why am I not feeling joy? Well,

the enemy is always trying to do something. So you've

got to put a guard on your life. You've got

to ask yourself, where are my seeds falling? Am I

in the wayside or do I need to move on

to that good soil? Yeah, that's the first condition. Now

what's the second condition? Rocky ground. This is exactly what

rocky ground looks like. So if the seed is fell

on a rocky ground, what's going to happen? No firm grip?

What else? Tara? What's going to happen if the seed

falls on the stones? Can there be a plant that

can grow? Have you tried or not? What's going to happen?

Nothing can grow, right? Because it's just rocks. Okay? Okay?

I know these are literal, you know, things that we

see around us. And that's the word of God. He

always uses nature. He uses creation to teach us things.

And these are things that we can see in life, yeah?

But the same condition can be in our hearts. Rocky

can be a lot of things. There can be a

lot of concerns in our lives. These rocks can represent disappointments.

It can represent frustrations. It can represent the busyness in life.

It can represent the voices of other people. And so

if our lives are just seated on these rocks, no

matter how much God tries to sow His seed, no

matter how much God uses people to speak to us,

it's not going to penetrate. Because you know what? I

am resting on these rocks. And in fact, try sitting

on the rocks. Painful. Your butt will ache. Yeah, it's

not comfortable. That is why the Word of God says

in verse 13, When they hear, they receive it with joy.

And these have no root. They believe for a while

and when temptation comes, they fall away. So you may

receive it with happiness and gladness. Yeah, but the thing is,

there's no room for the roots to grow through the rock.

And therefore, when life hits you again, when the enemy comes,

very fast, God don't remember me. I'm forgotten. And then

we walk away from our fate. Yeah? Now, what's the

third condition? Tawny ground.

Right?

Tawny ground. Anyone has touched a tawn before?

Ouch.

It's so tiny, yet sharp. You can have, you know,

a comfortable mattress, but if you just put a tawn there, sakit. Yeah? Sakit.

It says in verses 14, the ones who fell among

the taunts are the ones who have heard. Again, all

these conditions, you have heard it. You go out, but

you are choked with cares, riches and pleasures of life

and bring no fruit to maturity. So again, you may

be receiving the word of God, but when life throws

you the different pleasures, Be it financial situations, be it

the pressures at work that your boss is giving you

all the time, be it the concerns, the disappointments in life,

all these things tend to choke you. So you get,

you know, okay, my God says I'll never leave you

nor forsake you. But still, it comes and hits you

because we allow all these other voices and distractions to

take over. Because you are still seated on the throne.

That is why no matter how much you try, you

may be wondering, God, why is it I still cannot overcome?

Because I'm seated on the throne. I mean, I'm seated

on the thorns. I'm still stuck. I can't come out

of the situation. Yeah? And then the last condition. The

good ground. Okay? It says in verses 15, But the

ones that fell on the good ground are those who

having heard the word with a noble and good heart,

keep it and bear fruit with patience. And when we

talk about this good ground, it doesn't mean because you

have been long enough a believer. It doesn't mean because...

you know so much or you're a good person. It's

not about that. But it's again how you position your heart.

Are there things that you're willing to surrender? Are there

doubts that you're allowing God to clear? Because if you

just keep all those things still there, that is why

it says thorns, it chokes you. Rocks, you got no

root to grow down, yeah? But good ground is when

it is the condition. And this is what we mean

by it is God's work to allow the growth to happen.

But at the end of the day, we create the condition, yeah?

So if you can take a step back and think

about these four conditions, Where do you think you stand

in your own lives? A personal reflection. Yeah? Sometimes it

can change. You may feel like you're on a good ground,

but because life has hit you so much, you're in

the tawny ground or in the rocky ground. Yeah? So

where are you at at this point of your life?

Because what you choose, God wants to take you out

from it. It's not about just remaining there. Because if

not growth, it's never going to happen. Especially if you're

desiring for a change in your life.

Yeah.

So let's talk about it. Okay. Let's see how we

can make this practical. In whatever conditions that you're in today. Okay.

Let's talk about how can we cultivate The environment. If

it's rocky, okay, how can I remove these rocks and

be in that good soil? If I'm in this tawny ground,

how can I remove and uproot these thorns? Or maybe

I need to move somewhere else. Maybe the environment you're

in is not good for you. You have to go

to another environment. Yeah, whatever it could be. Yeah. So

I'm going to bring you through a couple of points.

I did some research. Okay. I'm trying to understand what

it means to create good soil for plants to grow. Okay,

so there's going to be eight steps or eight pointers.

Just flow through with me. And as we use these examples,

try to relate it in your own lives as well.

What is it are the changes that you can bring about?

Who are the people that you can speak to? How

can you apply the Word of God into your lives? Yeah.

So now the first thing that, you know, when we

talk about soil or when we talk about planting, how

many of you are familiar with planting? You know, you

do gardening. No, no one all stay in apartments and

condo your mother. Maybe your parents. Maybe your parents. Okay.

So when we talk about creating good soil, right? The

first thing that's very important is that in a soil,

there must be living organisms. Do you know that? Yeah,

living organisms. They come in different forms. Of all these names, microorganisms, bacteria, earthworm.

I don't want to put the real images because it's

quite gully. Yeah. But you know, right below the ground,

you actually have all these things, all these creatures living.

You think you got no pet, but these are all

the pets you're keeping if you have a garden right

below the soil. Yeah. And only then that means the

soil is alive.

Yeah.

Yeah. If you don't have all these organisms, that is

why you may be thinking, hey, why is my plant,

I'm trying to grow that plant for a long time,

but always die jadi. Not because you don't have green

fingers like they say, yeah, but it's just because the

soil is not set for it. And most of the time,

these soils, the longer it is there, the more you

tend to cultivate it, you create that space for all

these living creatures to actually come and live in as well. Yeah.

So that's one thing, there are hidden life in the soil.

So the same thing with us, if we want to

create the good condition for God to move, the good

soil of our hearts, are you alive within you? That's

the question I want to ask ourselves. Are we alive?

Is your communication with God happening every other day? Or

is it just a Sunday thing? Or am I just

going to Him when I need to? That is not alive.

But when you're talking to God, meaning you're just talking

to Him every other day. I was catching up with

a friend the other day and she was just sharing

about how she's been this closer with the Lord lately.

And sometimes she feels like, well, God is like chat GPT.

Every time I ask Him, He answers. I ask Him,

He answers. I say, wow, that's a relationship with the Lord.

And sometimes you want quick answer, we go to our

AI platforms, right? But how many of us can actually

develop that kind of a relationship that it is so alive,

I can speak to God, He answers. Whether it is

in audible voices, you know God can speak through audible voices.

He can speak to your heart. He can speak through

your word, to the word of God. But you need

to create a condition for that. Because if your mind

is still so fixated to what I want, to my questions,

to my doubts, my worries... God may be saying, Hey, Nick,

I'm calling you. I'm talking to you. But I cannot

hear because I got other voices.

Yeah?

So the condition of the soul has to be alive.

Constant conversation with the Lord. Are we actively reading the Bible?

Are we actively worshipping God? Remember worship? We learned the

other day from Elder Rose. Praise and worship is not

just about the songs we choose on a Sunday. But

it's what you do even in your house. Do you

know you can still praise God in your quiet time?

You don't have to have the best voice. Even if

you don't have, it's fine because you are singing and

God is okay with not the right chords or keys.

He still listens to your voice. In fact, He's longing

for it from you. Yeah? Do you have all this alive?

Or do you only remember to sing on a Sunday?

Yeah?

Do you have active fellowship going on with believers around you.

I'm not talking just about good friends and colleagues. You know,

they're all important. We all have those friends out there.

But we also need fellowship with believers. When you come

to homes, when you come to church, when you have fellowship,

you know, when we go for lunch together, It's not

just about, oh, enjoying the good meal. But we do

that intentionally because we fellowship. You talk about life. You

talk about struggles. You know, you talk about testimonies that

you encounter and you say, hey, you can do this.

I'm praying with you. Yeah? But the moment we lose

that fellowship in our life, that is when we get,

like what it says in the first condition, the wayside. Right?

We're just scattered there. We're all by ourselves. We try

to figure things out. We ask chat GPT for answers. We...

We just, God, why are you not doing this to,

you know, why are you not working in my life?

We can have all those doubts and questions. But God

is saying, come back to the community. Come back to

the church. Come back to homes. Right? Because we need

this going, especially in the kind of world we are

living in. We need that fellowship. We need people to

cover you in prayer. Yeah? Yeah? That is very important.

Let's not try to be little. I know sometimes we

can get so caught up, especially after COVID. We can

just be so comfortable in our own lives and families,

but we need to be able to step out and

have that fellowship, right? So remember, is your Christian faith alive?

Ask the person next to you. Is it alive? If

you see a person next to you not alive, please

give them a nod. So that's the first thing about

the soil. Now, a second thing that I learned about

soil is that, do you know there are earthworms in

the soil? I know there are worms, but they actually

have a function. What these earthworms do is they actually

try to break down the pathway in the soil for

the water to come in. for the nutrients to come in.

So if you put fertilizer, if you pour water, but

if there's no path in the soil for it to

go in, then the plant's root can't actually take it.

But this is what this tiny worm actually does. It

actually penetrates. So every time it moves, it creates that

pathway in that soil, especially if you're talking of a

big round. You know, it loosens the soil, it helps

with growth. In fact, it says that it also tries

to recycle certain nutrients. It even helps with drought protection.

So when it creates certain tunnels and when drought happens, flooding,

it will actually help to prevent it. So this tiny

little creature, not looking creature that we don't like, actually

does quite a bit to our earth. And that is

why we can have big forests and trees around because

of this worm. Now, how does this relate to ourselves

or our personal walk with God? Is there something alive

in us that tends to... Are we doing things that

renews our heart? Because, you know, every day we are

not the same, right? We can choose to be the same,

but life doesn't work that way. You meet with different people,

maybe you're disappointed with them. Work is challenging and then

you're upset. about it. So when all these things happen, right,

what are we doing with our hearts? Are we coming

to a place where we can actually choose to be humble? Humility, right?

Are we choosing to confess because we're all sinners, we

do mistakes every other day, but do we choose to

actually forgive ask for repentance, right? Do we choose to

actually be able to confess to the Lord? Because only

when we can give away some of these things, there

is room in our hearts for God to move. It's

like how this worm, right? It moves in all the

different parts of the soil so that there's space for

the water to move. There's space for the nutrients to

work on the root. So in the same thing in

our hearts, if we keep all this bitterness alive, if

we keep all these frustrations, the disappointments, God can be

talking to you now. He can be ministering to you,

but there's no space for us to take it because

it's just filled with all this hatred, all this frustration.

So we all need that little worm that can make

that space in our hearts. Yeah? Are we renewing? Are

we choosing to let go? Sometimes some of you here

some of us here, need to let go. Because the

Word of God tells us that He can only do

a new thing if we leave the past behind. And

this past can mean many things to different ones here. Right?

It could be things that people have done to you.

It could be the things that you wish you were

doing and it's still not coming to pass. But you

just got to let go. It's not easy, I understand.

But it's only through God that we can do it. Amen?

Are we catching something here? Yeah? Now, the third thing

about soil is that there must be a soil structure. Yeah?

Healthy soil is crumpled rather than hard soil or the

soil that is sealed. Right? So the question is, is

my heart soft enough for the Word of God to

actually enter? Yeah. Yeah, in Ezekiel 36, 26, it says,

I will give you a new heart and put a

new spirit within you. I will take the heart of

stone out of your flesh and give you a heart

of flesh. So God Himself tells us here that He

first has to take out that heart of stone for

it to be replaced with a heart of flesh. Yeah.

Yeah.

So what is the condition of our hearts? Something I've

learned over the years, every time I pray to the Lord,

I say, God, give me a soft heart every other day.

Reveal to me if there are things that I need

to let go of, things that I need to trust

you more, show it to me. So it's a prayer

that we need to do every other day. That's why

I say this condition of the heart is not about

how long you are a believer or just because I've

accepted the Lord, but everyday life happens. And so meaning

it's a choice that we need to make every other day. God,

give me a soft heart so that when something is

spoken to me through God's word, I'm able to receive it.

Amen?

I'm able to receive it. Now, the next thing about

soil is that the soil has to be worked on.

Or the word is workability, right? That is why when

you look at gardens or farms, it's not just left

that way. You need to have people who can work

on the soil, pick up the dry leaves, you know,

make sure that it's taken care. There's no all those

lalang that is growing, right? There's workability in it. But

work takes a lot of time. In fact, work happens

two ways. So the question that I want to like

to ask all of us here is that, am I

teachable enough? Right? As a believer, as a disciple of God,

am I teachable enough to be worked on? If someone

is going to sit down and say, hey, you know,

maybe there's something you got to work on. Maybe it's

time to do this. How open would you be to say, okay,

let me try. Okay. Or do I choose to walk

away just because I'm corrected? Of course, in church, we

correct with love. Yeah? And that is why when someone says,

I want to be in discipleship, right? We tell the

person to pray about it. Both parties pray about it

because it is a relationship. It's not meant to be, oh,

I follow up, I have a nice meal with you,

we go for ice cream, that's it. That's not what

discipleship is about. Discipleship is when I can speak into

your life And of course, both ways, you can also

do the same, right? It's not about just being accountable

where I say, okay, I'm not around this week, I'm

not around. It's not just about that. But it's about,

can I, you know, I want to take this step

of faith. Can you pray along with me? That is discipleship, yeah? So,

I mean, God uses people in our lives. But of course,

more than that, the question is, am I teachable to

God himself? If God is asking you to surrender something,

are you willing to do that? Because we can't just

stand and say that I want this breakthrough, I want this,

you know, answered prayer without making room for God to

do something. Don't you think so? Nothing comes free in life, right?

Nothing comes free. We all know that. I mean, most

of you are young adults. You've got to work, you know,

to bring food to the table. And the same thing

is with our lives. If you want to be fit,

if you want to be healthy, You've got to make sacrifices.

You can't just be eating that fried chicken every other

day thinking that you're going to be all slim and

fit and healthy and then wonder, why am I not

losing weight? But ask yourself, what are you ordering every

other day? Are you sleeping enough? Are you resting enough?

Everything needs to be worked. And the same thing is

with our faith, Church. When we talk about growing, we

need to be teachable. No matter what age in life,

And like I always say, the younger you catch this,

the easier it is when you grow up. You'll always

be in that place. Okay, I'm ready. Of course, you

must be very careful of who speaks into your life

as well. Right? Pray about it and ask God for discernment,

for wisdom. Yeah? So when you think about your stage

in your life at this point, am I teachable enough?

Am I having people who can speak into my life?

Right?

Right? Now, the fifth point is the word called compaction.

A little bit science here. But when we say compaction,

meaning it's a compacted soil that restricts the water, the

nutrients and the movement. So some soil can be in

that kind of a condition. From outside, they may look

like they are fine, right? And then you try to

put a seed, you try to grow that plant, but

the plant just doesn't grow because... The soil is restricting

whatever water that's been poured, whatever nutrients that has been given.

And this compaction is what I can relate to as,

has there been anything that sometimes presses our heart down?

It could be the pressures of life. It could be

sometimes the busyness of life. When we get so caught

up with work and life, It could be unforgiveness or comparison.

Those things can sometimes compress our heart. And that is

why one of the conditions in the Bible talks about

the taunts, right? When you're in the tawny ground, when

you are hurt with the cares and the pleasures of life,

it chokes you, yeah? And the same thing is with this.

A plant cannot grow when our hearts are compressed. So

no matter how much someone tries to encourage you or

praise with you, it's just close. Because it's not getting through.

It's not penetrating. Yeah? And so if God wants to work,

it's just not happening because I'm still not letting go.

I'm still not allowing God to move. Yeah? So as

we go through this point, Church, think about your own

lives as well, right? How and where are you at

at this point? We need space before God and we

need trusted people in our lives so that we can

move freely. Remember, God has always promised us a life

of abundance, a life of freedom. Where the Spirit of

God is, there is freedom. And God's Spirit is here.

As long as you believe Jesus, He is in you.

The Spirit of God is in you. So if you're

feeling that your life is just always in the same cycle,

then it's not God. That's not what God wants for us.

He always wants the best. But the choice is in

our hands because the faithful sower is always God. He's

sowing those seeds in us. Yeah. So if there's certain

things that may be pressing your heart down, think about it.

What is it that I can remove? And I mean,

that's the thing about sometimes busyness. You know, I can

relate to all young adults here. Sometimes life can just

get so caught up with that. Yes, everyone who is

working and you're managing ministry, There can be just 101

things in your mind. Yeah. But in the midst of

all that cycle of things to be resolved and done,

what are our priorities? You know, and I can, I mean,

to be honest, there are times when I just feel

it's just so hard to wake up in the morning

and do your quiet time because the next thing you're

going to do is just get ready and go to work. Right? Right.

But there are sacrifices and changes that you've got to

do to your lifestyle in order for you to experience God.

So what I do now is I choose to sleep

earlier or wake up a little bit earlier in the

morning so that I can have that time with God

and go to work. Because if you don't make those changes,

and these changes will happen if only maybe you choose

to not watch Netflix the day before. Or if you're

meeting someone and you say, okay, let's have that meal together,

but I need to leave a little bit earlier because

I have to head to bed so that I can

wake up in the morning. Because these are all very

natural things. You can't wake up in the morning.

Why?

Because you sleep late. There's no rocket science about this, right?

You feel so fatigued and tired. Well, maybe because we

are not eating well or eating on time. We got

so caught up with work. But guys, work will never end.

How many of you know that? Work will never end.

Schedules and meetings and people to meet will never end.

So are we going to wait until we are retired?

Then I have my quiet time with God? A bit

too late. We've got to start now with what you have.

Some of you shared that sometimes you maybe have that

quiet time in your cars. Then do that. On the

way to work, you're intentionally listening to God's Word. You're

intentionally reading a devotion. Or maybe you're reaching earlier to

office and you're doing that quiet time with God. But

the main thing here is, are we making room for

that to happen? Because you can't experience God if you

live your old life. The choices we make doesn't change.

We can't get to the new place. Right? So we've

got to be disciplined. That's the word. The word that

not everyone likes. Discipline. To be a disciple of God,

we need to be disciplined. Yeah? The Word of God

tells that we are the temple of the Lord. So

what we put in is so important. I believe even

the food we eat is so important. Because if we

want to keep running this race for God, well and healthy,

we've got to take care of ourselves first. Yeah, Auntie

Lisa is an inspiration. You can ask her, you know,

how early she eats the meals. Yeah, how active she is.

That's how she can be, you know. So, you know,

so energy is there on a Sunday, right? Ready to

serve God and with a smile. So we have people around,

around you from different walks of life that we can

learn from. And that is why the fellowship is so important. Learning,

asking each other, hey, how do you do it? How

do you show up every other Sunday to serve God

despite being a young adult? Are there things that you

do on a daily basis? What things that you do differently? Yeah,

you could be a parent and still you do what

you need to do. So ask those questions. Learn from

each other. That is what true discipleship and growing means.

That we never just stop thinking that, okay, I know

everything already. I think no one can actually tell that, right?

But we all have areas that we can learn. Now,

the next thing is this term called water infiltration. Okay,

water must enter the ground to reach the roots. So,

does the word of God soak in in us or

does it run off? There's a big difference. You can

listen to God's word today. You can take down notes.

But after lunch, maybe I'll see what's the message. Oh, actually, what?

I forgot already. Okay. But if the Word of God

really took in your root meaning, even on a Wednesday,

you can recall and say, okay, this is what God

told me. And that is why the Word has to

be very practical. It has to be practical. It has

to be reflective. I can think about where am I

at at this stage of my life and how can

I allow God's Word to work in me. Yeah? Hearing

a sermon is not the same as receiving it.

Okay?

We let the Word Soak in through reflections, through prayer,

through discussions, through obedience. Ask the Lord, what can I

do with God's Word today? How will I live it? Yeah?

If you want to, after every other Sunday when you

hear a sermon or every homes when you hear the Word,

ask yourself, how am I going to live this Word out?

Because that is more powerful. Because you allow God's work

to work in you. And when you ask those questions,

you'll be surprised to see how God creates that space

or the environment for you to respond to Him as well.

So ask the Lord these things, reflect on it. And

then there's this term, you know, when we talk about

soil here, it's the water availability term. Can I draw

on God's word in dry season? So some of this soil,

what happens is that they actually have a space where

they have the water stored in the soil. So even

in dry seasons, there are some water that they can

glean onto for the plant. Because, you know, especially in

some countries, or even Malaysia, we have days when it

gets really hot, right? And so whatever water that is stored,

can actually penetrate and be given to the plants during

dry seasons. So the word that you receive, even in

good times, in times when you can smile, you're not

just keeping it for that moment. Remember, whatever you store

in you, you're going to be using it when life

hits you. Why do you think some people can still

choose to praise the Lord through hard times? Well, that's

because the Word of God is stored within them so

that it becomes so automatic that, okay, it is difficult,

but I'm still going to choose to praise you. I'm

still going to choose to lift up God's name. And

I know that God is going to take me through this.

It's not just being positive like what the world says,

words of affirmation. It's not that. Yeah? Word of God

is very different because it is alive. It is powerful.

It works only if you allow it to Yeah, only

if you allow it to. So are we keeping, are

we storing? Is there a place in our lives where

I'm storing the word of God? And that is why

I'm always a good believer of remembering scriptures. Because you

may not be carrying your Bible with you all the time.

But when you're praying for someone or when you're in

a situation and you've got to declare God's word, do

you have those few verses that you can recall on?

And say, okay, I'm going to say this word out

over my life, over my situation. You don't even have

to say a lot of words. Yeah. You know, for

those of you sometimes, I know I have conversation about prayer.

We are so worried about how much do I need

to say? Do I need to elaborate? Do I need

to choose the right words?

No.

In fact, if you just use Bible scriptures, that is

prayer itself. In fact, if you remember the Lord's prayer,

that is God's scripture. Yeah. So speaking it out, keeping

it within us. And the last point here, is all

about the root. Yeah? All about the root. And did

you know that the roots are a two-way street? Meaning

it actually works along with the plant. Okay? And it

gets a lot of energy from the plant itself. So

the roots can actually sense their surrounding, whether it's healthy,

whether they're getting the right nutrients. And it grows with gravity.

and with the moisture. In fact, roots needs oxygen. It's

not something that they can actually take from the plant.

The roots need their own oxygen. So meaning it'll try

to find ways to build its own oxygen. And interestingly,

I found out, you know, if there are plants, you know,

trees growing together, These roots can actually talk to another root.

I mean, in their language, right? It talks in the

other root. There was a research I read, okay? It

said that there was an experiment done on tomato trees,

tomato plants. And so there was this caterpillar that was

attacking one plant. So the hormones were sent to the

neighboring tomato plant. And what this plant did was that

it increased its defensive enzymes so that it was resistant

to the caterpillar. Because the kawan beside said, hey, there's

a caterpillar coming. So it actually spoke to each other. Interesting, right?

When you learn of all these things, because these are

all God's creation. And so this is what roots can do.

And how is our roots? Are we communicating? Right? Because

in the outside, we can look all fine, but are

we rooted? Is there depth? Is there lasting fruits? What

is our foundation like? If you think about your life

at this point, would you still stand firm on your

faith even when life hits you? Would you still... say that, yes, God,

I want you? Even when someone says, no, you can't

believe God. Remember, when we look at the early church

and the early missionaries, they all had to go through

their trials of choosing between God or not. But they

chose God. They had to go through the hard way, right?

But at the end of the day, those are the

kind of real hard choices that we've got to make.

Do we still choose to stand firm? I know some

of us here could be, you know, from pre-believing families.

You're believing for the salvation of your loved ones. And

so you've got to stand even stronger among your families.

And may God give you that grace to do that.

And that is when even more, you need your roots

to be stronger. Because everyone around you may be opposing you.

Or questioning, why are you believing this God? But would

you still be standing firm and not be caught up

with those voices? It's only human to feel disheartened. But

would I still choose to take a step back and say, God,

I know you are with me in this.

Yeah?

So these are just the different conditions that we can

reflect on. I hope it was helpful to help you

think about where are you at at this point of

your life The four conditions. Because if you're not careful,

we can sometimes be on the good ground. But if

we don't have a heart check, we can get to

that rocky ground. Or we can just be on the

wayside all by ourselves. But that's not what God intends

for us. He wants us to be on the good ground.

If only we can create the condition. Remember, the hard

work is not on you. God is going to do

the hard work. He is going to give you that growth.

He's going to bless you. But all He wants from

you is, God, this is my heart. Soft, open, ready

for you. Give me that new heart and take out

that stoned heart. Right? Can I invite Xtreme forward? If

you're here this morning and you're thinking that I don't

feel like I'm growing, I feel stagnant, then it's never

too late, right? Even a plant that is not growing,

you can do something to it to bring it to life.

What more us, people that are created in his image,

he can revive that as well. The main question that

we got to ask ourselves is, am I aware of

where I am? Remember, awareness is so important in our faith.

Yeah?

And if I'm aware that something is not going right

or growth is not happening, then ask the Lord and

He will show it to you. He will bring about

the right people to even walk with you. Yeah? So

don't just fade away that thought if you're thinking that

growth is not happening or think it's normal because it

is not. God always intends growth. And the thing is,

for growth to happen in a church, it first has

to start with us. It starts with the leaders, it

starts with the partners, it starts with your own spiritual

walk with God before He can even bring the abundance

of what He has as well. Could you stand with

us as we even just Surrender this time to the Lord,

you know, with all the things that you may have

reflected on. And like I said, the Word of God

is alive. It is powerful. And the main thing that

is required here is our response to the Lord.

Yeah.

In a bit, we are going to worship Him. And

I'm going to give you that space to tell the Lord, God,

this is the condition that I am in. And maybe

you're in the good ground and you're saying, God, I

want to grow deeper with you. Whatever it is, you

will just communicate with Him.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless!