Good Dirt

I'm gonna ask a question that's going to resonate with a very certain type of person in the room.

This would be someone that's about my age, and so I apologize if this doesn't resonate with you.

This is specific.

I need to know if anyone here is a fan of or at least familiar with the show Boy Meets World.

Any Boy Meets World people?

All right.

So if you're about my age, then you would know that you would associate this with Fridays.

This would be T G I F, right?

You have Boy Meets World, a couple of other shows back in the day.

I was a big boy meets Boy Meets World fan.

And if you're not familiar, it was a show about some kids kind of coming of age, kind of like Saved by the Bell or some other show.

I'm saying shows that a lot of you are like still not tracking.

It's all good.

Boy Meets World, it was a show on TV.

I don't think it's held up that well, so I wouldn't recommend binge watching it to catch up or anything like that.

Just know it was a thing.

It happened.

There was a character in Boy Meets World named Mr.

Feeney.

Anybody remember Mr.

Feeney?

Well Meets World people.

This is Mr.

Feeney.

Mr.

Feeney, interesting dude, very interesting dude.

I don't know what degree he got in college, but whatever it was that allowed him to transition to any type of any level of school and be a teacher.

Because when Boy Meets World starts, the kids are in the sixth grade and he's their middle school teacher.

And because the show was successful, it kept going until they were in high school, and then guess who their high school teacher is?

It's Mr.

Feeney.

And then they actually go all the way into their college years.

When they get to college, they show up for a class and guess who their professor is?

It's Mr.

Feeney.

And again, I don't know what degree you get in college that just lets you pick your age group, uh, but whatever degree that is, Mr.

Feeney had it.

They just could not escape Mr.

Feeney, couldn't do it.

Feel bad for him.

For a certain group of people here at his hands, I am Mr.

Feeney.

Um when they see me on this stage, this is what they see.

Because for seven years, I was the children's and the youth pastor, so I had elementary school, middle school, I had high school, and then there was this certain group, like this two or three-year period where the very moment that they graduated high school, finally they get to go to the next thing, they show up to church, and guess who's teaching?

Mr.

Feeney, right?

Like I'm just the guy who's who's been there and they can't get away.

And so Madison, for example, who shared Lord's Supper, Madison, our youth pastor, awesome guy.

Madison was a sixth grader when I started here.

And I was his youth pastor all the way through.

Sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth.

He graduates, I became the pastor.

And it's like, what in the world?

Why won't you leave?

Why can't I listen to somebody else?

I'm Mr.

Feeney.

I feel bad for those students.

Those of you who that's you, you know who you are.

But I will say that it's also just blessed me with one of the greatest joys I've ever experienced in life, which is being able to watch this certain group of young people grow and mature into the men and women that God created them to be.

And there's a long list of students that are still very involved at this church, and a lot of them in leadership positions.

And every single time I see them do something, I just I'm blown away.

Because I remember, like I remember sixth grade Madison.

He looked the exact same.

Um, he really did.

Just a little shorter.

Like, I mean, look at pictures of it's the same person, right?

It's been this huge joy for me to watch that happen.

And what's been really amazing, being in a position where I've had 13 years, basically, to watch and observe, is I've seen, I've seen some people just sort of get it.

You ever know someone who just gets it?

Maybe it's in some sphere of life, maybe it's athletics or or maybe it's a talent, maybe it's music or art, or or it might be in business, or it could even be someone who's just really intelligent at school, they just get it.

Like something, it just clicks.

And it almost seems like it's natural.

They just get it in a way that most people don't.

Madison, he's he's one of those people.

He just gets it.

If you have a student here, you need to get him involved with the youth group because you need people like Madison around them to support you as a parent, to help invest in them, to teach them who God is.

I've had the amazing pleasure of watching a lot of people just sort of get it.

And this morning we're gonna look at a teaching of Jesus, a teaching that focuses on this very dynamic.

People who just get it when it comes to the kingdom of God, and more importantly, what we can do to make sure that that's us.

Now, for some context, we're in a series right now called A King in His Kingdom.

What we're doing is we're looking at the teachings of Jesus.

The reason it's called a king in his kingdom is because there's a theme that runs through the teachings of Jesus.

If you open up your Bibles and you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the books that really tell us what Jesus said.

Revelation also has a lot of what Jesus says, but those are the main books that have the teachings of Jesus, the words of Jesus, you will see a theme that runs through all of it.

It's the kingdom of heaven.

And in the kingdom of heaven, there's a king, and that's Jesus.

He doesn't present himself to us just as a good guy.

He is that.

He doesn't present himself to us just as someone that we should look up to and follow his example.

He is that.

But he presents himself to us as a king, which is which is audacious in a lot of ways, unless it's true.

And he teaches us about his kingdom, the values of the kingdom, the culture of the kingdom.

It's always the kingdom of heaven is this, or the kingdom of God is like this.

He's always teaching us about the kingdom.

The reality is, if we've given our lives to Jesus, we're part of his kingdom.

His kingdom goes wherever we go, wherever the reign and the rule of Jesus is recognized, that's the kingdom.

So we need to really understand what his kingdom's all about and how it operates.

It's very important that as Jesus followers, we don't simply know what Jesus did, but we also know what he said.

We've got to know what he said.

We can't stop at just a basic knowledge of a few things that Jesus accomplished.

We need to know what he actually said.

We see this, for example, in Matthew chapter 7, verse 24.

Matthew 7:24

Jesus says, Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it's built on bedrock.

Jesus is pretty confident in his teachings.

Enough to say, anyone who listens to what I have to say, you're like a person who builds their house on a rock.

I mean, think about the audacity of that.

Think about if I stood up here and I said, hey guys, anyone who listens to what I have to say and does it, you're like the wisest person in the room.

Like that's that's audacious.

Like that better be true.

If not, you're a fraud.

Jesus said that.

Something that Jesus said pretty often.

We see it in Matthew chapter 13, verse 9.

Matthew 13:9

He said, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

It was very important to Jesus that people listen to him.

And so we're his followers.

Or at the very least, many of us in the room would say, I'm a follower of Jesus.

And if that's you, we've got to be people who listen, who know what our King has spoken and said.

So we're going to dive into this specific teaching today, a very important teaching of Jesus, a parable, which is a story that he basically made up to illustrate some major points.

This parable is about this dynamic we mentioned earlier.

People who just sort of get it.

What that looks like.

It's Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

By the way, as I read all these scriptures, if you have our mobile app, they're all right in there on the message for today.

Here's what it says.

Matthew 13, verse 1.

Matthew 13:1

Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake.

A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat, and then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore.

He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one.

Listen, a farmer went out to plant some seeds, as he scattered them across his field, some fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.

Other seeds fell on the shallow soil with underlying rock.

The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died.

Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.

Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

His disciples came to him and asked, Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?

He replied, You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not.

So those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.

But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

That is why I use these parables, for they look, but they don't really see, they hear, but they don't really listen or understand.

In other words, Jesus wanted to know who really wanted to know.

He would teach in such a way that showed who was curious, who was just chasing a miracle, who just wanted free stuff, and who actually wanted to know what the kingdom of God is all about.

That's the main reason he taught in parables.

This parable is a really interesting one.

Basically, what it says is some people don't get it.

Some people kind of get it, and some people really get it.

So let's pray.

God, thank you for today.

No, I'm just joking.

That'd be like a horrible place to end.

Like, wait, wait, did I, am I one of the ones that gets it?

I want to know.

You know, that's the question I think that that jumps out.

Anytime you read this parable, the natural question that everyone's gonna have is like, which soil am I?

What kind of dirt am I?

That's an appropriate question to ask this morning.

Am I good dirt, you might ask?

It's not a bad question to ask.

You know, there's some interesting scripture, 2 Corinthians 13, 5 says, examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine.

Test yourselves.

Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you.

If not, you failed the test of genuine faith.

It's good for us sometimes to examine our hearts, to test ourselves, to find out where we stand.

It's just a good thing to do.

And this parable is actually a really helpful parable that allows us to do some heart examination.

That's what we're here for this morning.

Now, the cool thing about this parable is that we don't just have to break it down on our own.

Jesus actually breaks this one down for us, which is very rare.

He doesn't do that with many parables, but he does on this one.

So in verse 18, he says, Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds.

The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the kingdom and don't understand it.

And then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.

The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy, but since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.

The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

So this represents people, and it represents people who have a specific status or maybe posture, you might say, of their heart.

And so when it comes to God's kingdom, getting it is not, it's not about your talent, it's not about your intelligence, it's about the condition of your heart.

Or as Jesus puts it in this parable, the condition of the soil.

And so we're gonna go through these four soils, break these down a little bit, all in the context of us asking ourselves, what kind of dirt am I?

And maybe a follow-up question would be, what kind of dirt do I want to be?

I've never met a follower of Jesus who says, that second soil, that's what I'm really shooting for.

I like that one, you know, or or that third soil.

I've never met a Christian who's like, I really want to be one of those third soil Christians, you know, you kind of get to have it both ways.

You get a little bit of God, you get a little bit of the world, you know, you just get to kind of live in both areas.

It's like a double agent.

That sounds fun.

I've never heard someone say that.

I think if there's any love of God in you at all, and I believe there absolutely is, then you naturally desire.

You should have this cry in your heart right now that says, I want to be the fourth soil.

And I don't just want to be the fourth soil, I don't even want to be the thirty-fold fourth soil, I want to be the hundredfold fourth soil, I want to be someone whose life matters, I want to be someone whose life has impact in God's kingdom.

Anybody desire that at all?

Like anyone want to be that fourth soil?

Good, you should, because that is completely possible.

It just depends on the condition of your heart.

So let's let's start by looking at that first soil.

That very first soil, it says the soil that the seeds that fell along the footpath.

Some translations, your translation of your Bible might say the road, but it's it's more accurate to say footpath.

It would not have been a road that was paved.

It really didn't do that.

This would be this would be ground that had been walked along so much that the dirt was incredibly compact.

So much so that if you threw seeds on it, it wouldn't penetrate at all.

I mean, it was as hard as could be because of all the foot traffic.

And Jesus says that there are some people who have have hard hearts.

Their heart is is not ready to receive the message of Jesus.

It just bounces off, it doesn't penetrate, or in fact, it might even offend.

The reality is the message of Jesus is kind of offensive.

We can just look at some examples, some scriptures that just let us know the actual message of Jesus.

Matthew 4, 17, Jesus began to preach, repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

That's an offensive statement.

Because number one, when he says repent of your sins, there's an obvious assumption is that you have sinned.

That there's stuff that isn't right with you.

Otherwise, that statement makes no sense.

And then he says, Turn to God.

And again, there's an assumption that you haven't done that.

That's a very offensive statement.

He says, you have to do that, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

John 15, 5, Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches.

Those who remain in me, and I in them will produce much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

That's bold.

What do you mean, apart from me?

I can do nothing.

Like apart from Jesus.

I can do nothing.

Jesus would say, correct, nothing of eternal value.

That's a bold thing to say.

Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And we could go on and we could name more scriptures.

We could talk about where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one gets to the Father unless they come through me.

Those are bold statements.

And there are a lot of people in this world who hear that and it offends them.

It doesn't penetrate at all.

Not even a little bit.

It causes no stirring in their heart.

It's just immediately rejected.

And that's who Jesus is talking about when he talks about the footpath.

We have to understand that the message of Jesus is very, very counter to the message of the world.

And honestly, it's very important for us as Jesus followers not to let what the world believes start to influence what we believe when it comes to our faith.

Jesus is the one who determines what we should believe, not our culture.

Romans chapter 12 says, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And so we live in a culture that would say, wait a minute, are you saying that good people don't go to heaven unless they have faith in Jesus?

And the answer to that, by the way, should always be, I am not saying that.

Jesus is saying that.

So be mad at him, right?

Like, don't pin that on me.

I didn't say it.

Jesus said it.

Deal with him.

But that's kind of a hard thing for us to think about, right?

Like, what do you mean, but there's good people?

And that, like, here's the question to that.

Are there?

I'm having a conversation with my oldest son yesterday in the car.

This kind of came up.

I don't know if you know this, but my oldest son plays basketball.

I don't talk about that very often.

But he does.

He's actually really good.

And so we're in the car and we're having a conversation about this very dynamic, because I want him to know it's important that my children know what they believe.

And this is not about me telling him what he's supposed to believe.

This is about me teaching him how to think.

Not what to think, but how to think.

And so we're talking about this concept of good people.

You know, shouldn't good people go to heaven?

And yes, good people should go to heaven.

The question is, what is good?

So I asked him, are you good at basketball?

And he says, yes.

And I nodded my head.

And I said, Who's your favorite NBA player?

And he went, Steph Curry.

He's a huge Steph Curry fan.

A lot of kids are.

And I was like, oh, is Steph Curry good?

And he went, yeah, he's amazing.

He's really good.

I'm like, awesome.

So you're you're like him.

And he went, Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

No, I'm not like Steph Curry.

And I said, well, hold on.

You just told me Steph Curry is good.

He's like, yeah.

I'm like, but you just said a minute ago you're good.

He goes, yeah?

Well then you're like, you should you're like Steph Curry.

You're the same as him.

He's like, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, Steph Curry's like really good.

I'm good compared to other kids my age, but Steph Curry is like really good.

And I said, Oh, so you're you're not very good then.

And he's he's getting frustrated with me at this point, you know.

He's like, no, I am.

I'm just not as good as him.

I'm like, oh, but I thought he's good.

He is good, Dad.

You don't understand.

A man once walked up to Jesus and said, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus responded by saying, Why do you call me good?

Only God is good.

See, the reality is we are really poor, poor judges of what is good and what is not.

We are not good at deciding what is good.

And we have this tendency as people when we say that we're good based on what?

Based on what criteria?

Compared to whom?

Like, if someone says I'm a good person, like, oh, like like Mother Teresa, like you've forsaken all wealth and social status and devoted yourself entirely to serving the poor, they're like, well, no, not even close.

But I'm not a complete jerk.

And I think in that situation we have to understand as people, we just have to be able to laugh at ourselves and say, maybe, maybe we're not very good at determining what's good.

We have very convenient definitions of good.

God's definition of good is Jesus.

Jesus is good.

And compared to him, there's not one of us that would be like, no, no, no, I I'd like to be measured up to Jesus.

I think I can, I think I can come out on top of this comparison.

The message of Jesus, the gospel, is that it is only through Jesus that we have hope.

It's only through his forgiveness, through his mercy, through his grace, only through his righteousness given to us through faith that we're good.

But to many, that that message just bounces off and offends.

It's because of a hard heart.

Now there's hope for hard hearts.

Ezekiel 36, 26.

God says, I will give you a new heart.

I will put a new spirit in you.

I will take out your stony, stubborn heart, and give you a tender, responsive heart.

So if you know someone who has a hard heart, you just pray, God, change their heart.

You cannot change a person's heart, but God can.

He does it all the time.

And so we should pray constantly that hard hearts are softened by the Lord.

Now, if you're sitting here going, Do I have a hard heart?

Oh no, what if that's me?

What if I'm the one with the hard heart?

Well, a few things.

Number one, in my experience, very rarely is the person who's asking the question, Am I the one with the hard heart?

Very rarely is that the person with the hard heart.

Because the person with the hard heart doesn't ask that question.

Just the fact that you're asking that shows that there's some softness because you're thinking things through, you're you're wondering, there's some humility there.

But if you know for a fact that you have a hard heart, then you just pray.

God soften my heart, change it.

You declare the promises of God.

God keeps his word.

And when he says, I will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit inside of you, I will take out your stony, stubborn heart, give you a tender, responsive heart.

When God says that, he means that.

So pray it and watch it happen.

Let's move on to the second soil.

Scripture calls it the rocky soil, but we would we would naturally think of soil with lots of rocks in it.

That's not what it's describing.

In that part of the world, you would have soil that would look really, really great at first glance, but just a few feet under the surface and visible to the eye would be a layer of solid rock.

And so anything that planted there would begin to take hold, but there wouldn't be any room for roots to go down.

And so if it can't go down, it just immediately comes up, and it looks great at first.

You're like, wow, that's growing, that's growing like crazy.

But a trained farmer would know that that's not something to be excited about.

That's a sign of no depth.

Jesus explains this soil by saying this in verse 20 of Matthew 13 the seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy, but since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

This is essentially someone who needs it to be easy.

It has to be easy.

It has to be fun, it has to be exciting.

If it's not exciting, they're not excited.

We have to be very, very careful because we live in a culture that is entertainment saturated.

And we we want to be excited all the time.

We overvalue excitement.

We have to be entertained, it has to be good, it has to be great, it's got to be fun.

I think that can be really dangerous when it comes to church because you know there's lots of options in the church world, and you can always be excited, go somewhere for a year, not be as excited anymore, go somewhere else for a year, not be as excited anymore, and you just bounce around, you never develop roots.

But we don't want to be people who have to be excited to grow.

Because sometimes it's not exciting.

We happen to be in a very exciting season as a church.

There's just cool things happening, unprecedented things.

We've seen more people baptized this year than the last two years combined.

That's exciting.

That's that's That's amazing to watch.

We're seeing things happen that have never happened before.

Two weeks ago, we raised$100,000 for our ministry in Guatemala.

That's just exciting.

We can own that and say that's a really exciting thing that's happening.

Our worship team's writing original songs.

That's that's exciting.

That's never happened here before.

Like there's all kinds of unprecedented things that are happening left and right.

It's raining and there's no leaks.

That's exciting.

That's really exciting.

That's never happened before.

Some seasons are exciting, and when those seasons come, be excited.

But what do you do when it's not exciting?

What do you do when it's hard?

You quit?

You get discouraged and fall away, or do you stay strong?

A few years ago, I was in a season here at his hands where I just was not excited.

I've been here for 13 years, I've been the lead pastor for five, and I would be a liar if I said, Oh, every year has been better than the last.

Nope.

Not true.

A couple years ago, it wasn't like this.

It wasn't like things are just happening left and right and everything's falling into place.

And wow, look at that.

Wow, look at that.

It was more like me going, what is anything happening?

Lord?

Is anything happening?

And I was praying and very, very frustrated because I didn't have any sense of what was next.

I didn't have any what I would consider vision.

I'm just like God.

I'm just, I'm going through the motions.

I'm showing up, I'm giving a message.

I'm showing up, I'm giving a message.

I meet with the team, tell them what I think they should do.

I don't know what I'm doing.

How am I supposed to tell them what to do?

Like, I don't know what's going on.

Lord, you gotta help me.

I need something, and I wanted something big.

I wanted God to give me some awesome, exciting vision.

So I prayed for that.

I prayed for it for weeks.

God, vision.

Just give me something that just, oh, give me vision.

Lord, give me something big, something that's gonna make me go, yes, and I can share it with the church, and they'll all go woo! Because it's very fun when you hear people say woo when you're on a stage.

It's very fun.

Um and I wanted that, and I'm praying, I'm asking God, I'm asking, I'm getting nothing, nothing, nothing, and finally he answered.

And he spoke to me.

And when I say he spoke to me, what that means for me is I hear a voice in my mind that I know is not me.

I know my voice.

Very familiar with my voice.

So we're all of you.

I'm sorry.

Um but when God speaks to me, it's it's very different.

And I know it's different because it's succinct.

That is not me.

I am wordy.

I find the longest possible sentence that you need to say something very simple.

When God speaks to me, it's like a few words, and I'm praying for this big vision.

And I hear God say, work the plow.

And it's not what I wanted to hear.

Number one, I knew this was God because I'm not a farmer.

Working plows is something I have.

That's not language that I think in, you know.

But but often when God will speak to me like that, He'll just it'll just be this one thought.

But in that thought, there's a lot.

And I understood very much in that moment what God was saying to me.

It was a challenge.

He was saying, Justin, are you gonna be one of the ones that that always has to have a carrot dangling in front of you to work?

Are you gonna be one of the ones that I just I have to keep excited all the time?

You you can't handle it when it's hard, so I just I have to always give you something that's that's fun and fresh.

And if you don't have that, you're just you're not gonna be faithful.

Or are you gonna be one of the ones that does the work?

And in that moment I had to surrender in my heart and I said, Lord, I will work the plow.

And that's what I did for years.

Just week in and week out.

What needs done?

Who needs help?

What needs taught?

What course correction do we need?

And and that season was not super exciting.

But we need to make sure as followers of Jesus that we do not overvalue excitement.

Because we don't want to be that second soil follower that has a blast when it's fun and easy, but the moment it gets hard, we're nowhere to be found.

Sometimes it's not exciting.

Let's move on to the third soil.

This one's really, really challenging.

Who's excited about a challenge, by the way?

Anybody?

All right, here we go.

Matthew 13, 22, the seed that fell among the thorns, some translations say weeds, represent those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.

Now in Mark, Jesus adds one more statement here.

Jesus spoke all the time.

So just like I'm going to give a service uh a message in the next service, I'll probably say things a little bit differently.

Jesus would do the same thing.

He'd travel around, give the same message, he'd put a little different spin on it, different places.

Mark 4, he says, the seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for very specific other things.

So no fruit is produced.

And so here's essentially who Jesus is talking about.

This is someone who loves God.

Like there's a relationship there.

The seed has been planted, that message has been received, it's taken hold.

There's roots, there's growth, but then you've got these weeds.

You've got other plants that don't belong in a garden, and they begin to choke out the growth.

Things stand in the way of real growth.

This is essentially someone who loves God, but just loves the world a little bit more.

1 John 2, verse 15 says, Do not love this world, nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

1 John 2:15

This is not talking about people.

The world is a very general statement.

You can apply it in a lot of different ways.

And so we know that Jesus says in John chapter 3, for God so loved the world that he gave his one only son.

John 3 · chapter mention

Right there, Jesus is talking about people, the people in the world, creation itself.

When Jesus uses the word, or when John rather uses the word world here, he's talking about the values of the world.

He's talking about the world's way of living life.

He says, do not fall in love with the way the world thinks, with the way the world feels, with the way the world lives.

Because that's going to be counter to God much more often than not.

This is someone who loves God.

They just love the world a little bit longer.

And Jesus mentions a few things here.

He says, the worries of life.

I think that's very applicable today because all you have to do is turn on your TV to see how worried everyone is.

Everyone's so worried.

Jesus followers.

Don't be worried.

Do not be worried.

To be a Jesus follower and to be worried about everything going on in the world is like being an elephant afraid of a mouse.

Elephants are afraid of mice, if you if you know that.

Either that's true or it's a myth that is really taken root, because I've heard that.

Elephants are afraid of mice.

That's dumb.

There's no reason for an elephant to be afraid of a mouse.

There's none.

And for us as Jesus followers, we get worried about what's going on in the world, we get consumed with what if this happens, what if this happens, what if this happens.

It's like we forget that we have a God.

And he's God.

And he's good at being God.

He's very good at his job.

He's been doing it a very long time.

We shouldn't be worried.

And if the worries of this life are consuming you, then you need to change what you're paying attention to.

Like, maybe don't watch the news for a while.

Just turn it off.

Because this has been going on forever.

Forever there have been political debates and controversies, and I'm not saying that those things aren't important.

I'm just saying that if you don't have the ability to watch that without getting so completely sucked into it that it dominates your thinking, then you gotta change what you're paying attention to.

This concept that everything's falling apart, it's just getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse.

That actually doesn't line up with scripture at all.

The message of scripture is not that things are gonna get really bad and then really, really bad, and then even worse and even worse and even worse.

And when it gets like at the moment where it's never been this bad before, that's when Jesus comes back.

Nope.

That's not the story.

Jesus said when he came onto this onto the scene, he said that the time of God's favor is now.

We happen to live in a unique time where we are so blessed.

We are uniquely blessed.

Yes, there are challenges in the world.

Yes, there are big problems.

There's not one problem bigger than God, and we cannot be consumed by the worries of this world.

It's actually idolatry.

It's putting something above the position of God.

The second thing Jesus says is the lure of wealth.

And again, I'm about to talk about money, which is challenging, but I'm not talking about this.

Jesus is.

So be mad at him.

How many of us believe that everything we have comes from God?

That ultimately at the end of the day, whatever we have comes from God.

Don't raise your hand because you feel compelled.

If you don't believe that, don't raise it.

Some of you are like, no, I work really hard for this.

And sure, you were born in America where you're working really hard pays you a lot more than other people born in other places work hard, but it's all you.

I'm sure it's all you.

You did this, you made it all on your own.

I'm obviously being sarcastic and cynical, I'm sorry.

But I believe, I'll say that I believe, that everything I have ultimately comes from God.

I can take credit for nothing.

So let's run through a scenario.

Let's let's use the concept of tithing because there's something about money that really like, I don't know, it ruffles, right?

There's something about money that for most of us, uh, even my my children that we're paying an allowance to, we ask them to tithe.

Tithe means tenth.

We ask them to tithe on their allowance.

We're teaching them this.

And for them, a tithe is like 50 cents, and they're like, uh, you know, ooh, that's two quarters.

You know, like two more of those is a dollar, and I just don't know if that's something I can really afford to do.

But it's interesting.

So let's say someone walks up to you and hands you$10.

They give you$10$1 bills, and then they go, Oh, can I have one of those back?

If you were like, ooh, I don't know.

You know, I was gonna do some things with the$10, and and honestly, the the$10 is exactly what I need to do, what I wanted to do.

Nine's just not gonna work, you know?

Like, nine is whew, I I'm gonna need all of it.

You would you would look at that person and be like, you're being ridiculous.

Because number one, the person just gave you 10 bucks.

Like they gave it to you.

Number two, nine is not that different than ten.

What in the world are you thinking that you can do with ten that you can't do with nine?

That's what a tenth is.

But if I said, hey, someone gives you a thousand dollars and asks you for a hundred back, you're like, ooh, that's different.

But it's not.

It's not.

It's the same exact percentage as a tenth.

And the thing is, God does not need our money.

He's not struggling.

He's doing great, he doesn't need anything.

What we need is to remember that what we have comes from him.

And that's why he asks us to give.

Because we have to trust him.

And if you give someone something and they hold on to it tightly, it actually reveals that they don't believe you'll ever give it to them again.

So he asks us to be generous.

He asks us to give.

Very few people tithe.

Very, very few people.

If a tenth of the church gave a tenth of their income, it would change the church.

It'd be like crazy.

Very few people do that because it's challenging, because it's hard.

But there's something there that reveals a level of trust, and it reveals our hearts.

Jesus also says other things, and I love that because it's so general.

And just in case I haven't said enough, other stuff too.

You know?

It's the worries of life, it's the lure of wealth, and it's it's other stuff.

Other stuff.

What in the world is that?

That could be anything.

That could be something really good.

That could be a relationship that you have, that could be a hobby, that could be a career goal, something that takes your free time.

It's just it's just this.

Is there anything that you place above God?

Is there anything that you value above God?

And I think we as people have to be honest.

This is his hands.

We don't have to pretend like we have it all together.

We don't have to pretend like we're perfect.

Is there anything I place above God?

The answer most days, unfortunately, is yes.

Is there anything that actually is above God?

No.

So when God asks us to make him number one, he's just asking us to acknowledge reality.

I mean, sometimes we we look at God when he says, make me number one, we're like, that's a little selfish, God.

You know, I think you're like, you got a little bit of a big head there to ask to be number one.

But he is number one.

Like it's just what he is.

He's God.

There's nothing above him.

There's nothing at all above him.

So when he asks us to acknowledge that he's number one, it's like just it's reality.

It's it's good for us to acknowledge reality.

And if you try to put something above God or make something equal to God, it's going to, it's gonna fail.

It's not gonna work.

It doesn't work.

It's just challenging because we all struggle with this.

People who love God, they just love the world a little bit more.

But the beauty is Jesus identifies this stuff as weeds.

It's just weeds.

Just pull them, just give it a tug.

We recently moved into a new house, and I got very nervous when we moved in because the person who lived there before us took great care of the yard, and I am not exactly equipped to do that.

At least I didn't think so.

Our last house is not gonna be featured in the landscaping magazines.

Um, let's just leave it at that.

We move into this house, and I'm like, oh, there are no weeds in this yard.

There's none.

And that that scares me a little bit because now I the blame's gonna be on me.

Everyone's gonna know that house was beautiful before the McTears lived there, you know?

And so I'm I'm walking in the backyard and I just have this policy right now.

It's very simple that when I see a weed, I pull it.

That's it.

I'm walking around, I'm playing with my kids, weed, yank.

And weeds are funny.

Like weeds, they they grow when you're not paying attention to them, right?

It's like the opposite of a healthy plant.

A healthy plant, you have to be intentional to make it grow.

You have to care for it, you have to water it.

Weeds, they want you to forget that they're there.

And that's how they grow.

They grow without intentionality.

But they're not that hard to deal with when you recognize them.

And if we as believers would just recognize the weeds when they when they pop up and just give them a tug, we'd be good.

So don't fret, don't panic.

If you recognize anything in your heart, whether it's your your hobbies, the things you're consumed with, maybe it is your money.

Maybe your money is the one thing that you hold on to.

Look, if you live like this, grasping at everything that you have financially, where is God supposed to put more?

Explain to me where he's supposed to give you more.

He can't, because your fist is closed.

Open it up.

When you see a weed, you just pull it.

You ask the Lord to do it.

You you have people around you.

That's the great thing about church.

Is hopefully we're surrounded by people who help us recognize our weeds and pull them.

Wait till spring?

That more grow?

Yeah?

It just gonna happen.

So pull the weeds.

Let's go, let's go to the fourth soil.

Last one.

This is the one we all want to be.

Fertile soil.

Matthew 13, 23.

The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even a hundred times as much as has been planted.

And we're gonna wrap up and I'm looking at the times, we've got to fly through this.

Are you okay if I like speed it up a little bit?

Because I love you and I'm thinking about your time.

Alright, here we go.

This is a person with a soft heart.

This is a person who has a soft heart.

They are ready to receive.

They are ready to receive from God and grow.

And you might be wondering, well, how do I have a soft heart?

Because the world, it will harden your heart.

You think back to that footpath.

The reason that the ground was hard was because it had been trampled upon.

If boundaries were not placed, if fences were not built, the ground would be trampled upon to the point that it would be worthless.

Well, oftentimes in life, we don't have proper boundaries and we get trampled upon.

And when we get trampled upon, we get a little hardened, we get a little cynical.

And so we need God's help to keep us soft, to keep us humble.

And so I want to share really quickly as we leave this morning three very, very simple things to do, three very simple strategies to stay soft.

Number one, listen carefully.

Listen carefully.

Jesus said in Matthew 39, we read it earlier, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

Now, when it says should should hear, it's not saying like a one-time thing.

In fact, in the Greek language, this is given in the imperfect tense, which means it's a constant action.

This isn't you hear once, this is you hear all the time.

You have a desire to learn, you have a desire to grow.

We see this so often in scripture.

Psalm 51, 1 and 2, have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love, because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins, wash me clean from my guilt, purify me from my sin.

Psalm 51, 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a loyal spirit within me.

This is continual action.

This is daily just going, God, change me.

God, make me better.

God, help me grow.

I'm listening, God.

I'm listening for what you have for me.

I want to learn, I want to know who you are, I want to know you better today than I did yesterday.

Every single day, God, I'm listening.

Have ears to hear, continually desire to hear God speak to you, to know his word.

Number two, love conviction.

Love conviction.

As a believer, you should be incredibly difficult to offend, but incredibly easy to convict.

If I ever meet someone who's the opposite of that, it's just a sign of immaturity.

Like anyone that gets offended easily, it's like, come on, you believe that Jesus has forgiven you for everything you've ever done wrong, that he paid the price for all your sins, and you get offended that easily, come on.

As believers, we should be very hard to offend, but very, very easy to convict because we should be able to recognize that, yeah, we've got problems, we've got mistakes, we've got room to grow.

And if you can get to the place where you love conviction, if you love conviction, you will have a fertile heart.

Because conviction is cultivation.

That's what it is.

Fertile soil, it's not that way on accident.

It's plowed, it's fertilized.

There's cultivation that happens, and that that's not a pleasant experience for the soil.

It breaks it down a little bit, but it also makes it ready to receive.

So get to the point where you love conviction.

Psalm 139, 23 through 24, just pray this.

Pray this every day.

Watch what God does.

Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

That is a powerful prayer.

That is a dangerous prayer.

You pray to God, search me, point out anything in me that offends you.

Like he probably has a few things.

He's like, you know, now that you mention it.

But if that is the that's the prayer of your heart, if you can begin to enjoy it, when you get convicted, like thank you, Lord, for helping me recognize an area I can grow in, you're gonna have a soft heart.

You're gonna grow.

You're gonna be that person that has the hundredfold crop.

Final thing, worship team, you guys can come out.

Live it out.

Live it out.

You gotta listen carefully, you gotta love conviction.

You just have to live it out.

Listen to what James says in chapter 1, verses 20 through 25.

Don't just listen to God's word, you must do what it says.

Otherwise, you're only fooling yourselves.

For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your feet in a mirror.

You see yourself, walk away.

I say feet?

I did.

That says face.

I don't know why you look at your feet in a mirror.

Maybe that's like a Freudian slip, and I need to stop buying shoes.

I don't know.

All right.

Um you see yourself, walk away.

You forget what you look like, but if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Hey, just do it.

There's a sports coach that I think is awesome, big fan, and there's this quote that I read in a book that he wrote, and I don't know if he's the first person that said it or if he just grabbed it from someone else.

But what he said is we forget what we hear, we remember what we see, but we learn what we do.

We forget what we hear, we remember what we see, but we learn what we do.

If you really want to grow, then do what God says to do.

Do it.

Scripture says, be not simply hearers of the word, but doers of the word.

If you have a heart that is listening carefully to what God has to say, you value Scripture, you value what He says.

If you learn to love conviction, and you're like, God, show me what you want to show me.

Please, Lord, show me what I need.

Show me what I need to work on.

You tell me, I'll do it.

You tell me I need to be a better husband, I'll be a better husband.

You want me to be a better dad?

You want me to spend more time with my kids?

You want me to be more generous?

You want me to pray more, God?

You want me to spend more time in my relationship with you, just in your presence?

You want me to study scripture greatly.

Whatever you tell me to do, Lord, I'll do it.

If you love conviction, you'll grow.

You'll produce a harvest, you'll be really good soil, really good dirt.

And if you'll actually do what God says to do, you will see things happen in your life that you never thought possible.

It's amazing when you see someone lose a lot of weight how simple it is if you ask them what happened.

Like, wow, you lost a lot of weight.

What'd you do?

I moved around a lot.

You know?

I ate less and I moved more, and this happened.

You're like, wow, I should do that.

Think about how many times in life you thought to yourself, I should do that.

Or maybe you meet someone who's doing well financially, and you're like, hey, tell me what you do, and they give you like very basic things.

I save my money.

I spend less money than I make, and then I invest some of it, and you're like, wow, I should probably do that, and then you don't do it.

You know?

Please, like, wait, that's one thing.

Money, whatever.

But when it comes to your spirit, when it comes to your soul, do not be a person who says, I should probably do that.

Be the person who does it, just do it.

Whatever God says to do, just do it.

And then watch what he does.

Let's pray.

Jesus, thank you so much for this day.

Thank you so much for this church.

God, I love this church, I love this family, Lord.

Thank you, God, for what you're doing here.

And God, I can feel your spirit right now.

It's so obvious.

And I know right now, Father, that there are people in this room that are that are experiencing conviction, and that's okay.

We all are.

Lord, if there's one person here who up to this point has been hardened in their heart toward you, I pray right now that you would remove their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart so that they can feel your love, so they can feel your favor, so they can feel your joy, so that they can be completely renewed by your spirit, Lord.

I pray that they give their heart to you right now.

I pray that they give their heart to you, God, that they get baptized, that they go all in with you, Lord.

For those of us here, might be maybe God who are saying, you know, I've kind of been like that second soil.

I've just been I've been struggling when it's hard, I've been quitting when it's when it's difficult.

For those of us, God, who are like that third soil where we say, you know, I love you, Lord, but there's other things I love too, and sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing which one I love more.

Lord, no matter where we're at this morning, right now, right now, Lord, lead us to surrender everything to you.

God, we want to be the fourth soil.

We want to be fertile soil, we want to be ready, God, for you to do your work in us and through us.

So make us that harvest soil.

Soften our hearts.

Let us be people who listen carefully, who love conviction, and who do what you say to do.

We ask all this in your name, Jesus, amen.