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grab your bibles tonight and turn if you
would to
matthew 13. that's where we started out
last week together and
the series on the parables and tonight
we're looking at the
parable of the sower we're picking up
where we left off and
if you're turning there in your bibles
matthew 13.
this is as we said the chief of parables
jesus said to the disciples if you don't
understand this parable how are you
going to understand all the other ones
because this one's so critical it's
fundamental
and it's literally awesome to think that
what jesus teaches us here
as i look across the sanctuary it
literally affects every one of our lives
it it is a truth at work in every one of
our lives tonight you could say well i i
came here tonight with a friend they
bought me dinner and i came i don't
believe in god doesn't matter if you
believe in god what jesus taught is
actually happening in your life
and he makes it clear in this parable
that we're about to finish tonight
because you are either understanding the
things of god and being drawn closer to
god you ever so maybe it's ever so small
maybe it's so ever so little but you are
interested in the things of god that is
the work of god in your life
and it will grow from there or you may
be here tonight saying i don't want
anything to do with god listen the
parable teaching of jesus or parabolic
teaching
by you rejecting
is also proof of
his truth
it is amazing
how serious and wonderful
all this really is matthew 13 follow
along with me in verse 3. then he spoke
many things to them in parables
and there he says behold a sower went
out to sow
and you can see the man casting seed in
a field from a pouch
and as he sowed some seed fell by the
wayside and the birds came and devoured
them and some fell on stony places where
they did not have much earth and they
immediately
sprang up because they had no depth of
earth but when the sun was up
they were scorched
and because they had no root they
withered away and some fell
among thorns and the thorns sprang up
and choked them
that's what we'll be predominantly
tonight
but others fell on good ground and
yielded a crop some a hundred fold some
sixty some thirty verse nine's the
challenge jesus said he was ears to hear
let him hear and so this is a very very
serious push and remember now the
setting is this jesus is on the north
end of the sea of galilee
and when we go there uh this
march or april i forget when we're going
as a church
we'll go right up there in fact the
mountain
that is at that north end has been well
identified and that region of where
jesus taught the crowds were so huge
some historians write josephus talks
about how jesus spoke in crowds
where there were up to 60 to 100 000
people now how do you do that how do you
speak to somebody
like the size of the rose bowl
imagine jesus would have been at the
middle of the 50-yard line
at the rose bowl and speaking to people
and
you know what the world's going on you
know
scholars say two things number one
they say as it says jesus got into
peter's boat and pushed out from the
shore and began to speak to the people
and it is true that the sound waves
hitting water sound waves our water
repels sound waves a lot from the
surface and so it kind of acted like a
little amphitheater and plus it is true
the slope goes drastically up so you
could have easily had a hundred thousand
people seated
uh and you could have had this going on
or
jesus being god
just talked like i'm talking right now
without a microphone and everybody could
hear her
because he's god
he can do that kind of stuff
he didn't need the boat he could have
just been floating on the sandals out
there
and having a great time
and so jesus is speaking wouldn't you
love to have been there i'd love
spielberg to do something like that i'd
love to see that and so as he spoke
he spoke this king of all parables and
so in our last time together last week
we looked regarding the parable of the
sower and we looked number one at the
mission and that was found in verses one
to three that jesus makes it very clear
that that on the same day as he sat
there by the sea that he spoke and verse
3 says as we read a moment ago that
behold a sower went out he's using that
very common customary thinking everybody
knew what a sower was and everybody knew
that a sower throws out seed into a
field as uh liberal and as uh generous
as possible because the sower the farmer
wants a great crop and jesus is liking
the gospel going out to the world as a
sower sowing seed throwing out the seed
which is in the parable jesus tells us
the word of god and those who are
hearing
are like um
the soils that are around
how your heart is
and your heart is
either allowed by you or by me to take
certain directions based upon how we
deal with things in life
uh some people is it a remarkable some
people have very very difficult
hardships in life and they are
horrifically hard people
bitter angry people and then there's
some people
that have very difficult hard uh things
in life happen to them and they're very
tender and soft and generous people how
does that happen it all depends on how
the situation
you allow the situation i should say to
shape your life
this is critical
and uh very very powerful thing the
point is that jesus is telling us that
it's god's desire that the word of god
go out and land
in every heart
and that a decision be made
and we made mention last week that god
will never grab you by the arm and force
you into his family he'll never force
you into the kingdom of heaven
that would be wrong
that's not real
and so he lays out the invitation and
you tonight
you and i will be always in fact i think
we always are being tested
are we willing to receive what god is
saying to us
and we always want to pray
god make my heart tender and soft
and that's very important and so we saw
that the mission was the giving forth of
the gospel and jesus says it is that
sower who goes out to seed and i and i
pray for you guys i've been praying for
you guys before this series started that
all of us as christians would be very
serious about being sowers of the word
to take it out there by whatever means
you don't have to hold the crusade you
don't have to be a pastor of a church
all you have to do is be the wife of an
unsaved man
or the husband of an unsaved wife or
maybe you've got kids who don't know
jesus
and you want you love them and so you
want them into the kingdom with you
you want to have that
and so there's that mission and then
secondly we saw the placement of verse
four
we saw the placement the parable of the
sower showed us the first
illustrative warning was found in verse
four he says it and some of the sea that
was sown fell by the wayside remember
that was a hard compact area that was
off the beautiful tilled soil
um
and into that area where people had
walked and trampled the ground is hard
it's very very hard and and the seed
landed and jesus said the birds came and
devoured up the seed it never had a
chance to grab hold and we saw in
matthew 13 18. jesus said therefore hear
the parable of the sower when anyone
hears the word of the kingdom look at
verses 18 to 19 of this chapter and does
not understand it
i don't get it
it's not god withholding the truth from
them note this
their heart is in a place where they're
not willing to receive the seed or the
word of god jesus said if they hear the
word but they don't understand it
this is what happens the wicked one
comes and snatches away that which is
sown in the heart this is he who
received the seed by the wayside so two
things are going on for this one sorry
victim
of not accepting christ they don't want
to
their heart is hardened
and satan takes advantage of their
rejecting heart and he comes and takes
away
the seed they'll hear a bible verse or a
bible study they might you know who
knows what the other day lisa and i were
shopping oh yeah i had a day off and
what i do i went antique shopping with
my wife
because
that's the kind of guy i am
no
and in the store there was a plaque and
it said
uh
proverbs
36 i forget what it was but it was this
verse
and here you are in a sewer
walking by
antiques are for sale
and there's a bible verse
the light your psalms 37 4 delight
yourself in the lord and you'll give
unto thee the desires of your heart
wow where was that in an antique store
in the city of orange
bible right there and you walked by and
i walked by and i went that's cool in
fact i took a picture of it
instagram the thing off and
but who knows people walk by you know
what this
that should be taken down that's
offensive
who are these people that's offensive
the guy kicks a field goal somebody
holds up a john 3 16 sign between the
uprights
that's offensive arrest get that guy at
a stadium how could that be offensive
it's very offensive
if your heart is hard
it's very offensive
you don't want that can't handle it
the most tolerant people become so
intolerant how does that happen
because of the hearts
we need to remember that the placement
of the word of god is all important and
the third thing and this is where we
pick it up tonight look in your bible
verses five and six is the reception of
the word of god
we want to be careful when we hear the
bible that our hearts are serious about
it now look we had a great time of
worship and
you know hands raised and we're having a
great time and we should have a great
time
coming together with god and among god's
people and be reminded of our great and
awesome god and that's fantastic and it
should be that way but understand this
that
before we ever come here we need to be
saying lord make my heart receptive to
what i'm about to
partake of you know
we're not going to a movie we're not
going to a play we're not going to an
angel game we're not going to a dodger
game we are going to church it is it is
a divine thing a lot of people today
don't want to make it a divine thing and
that's that's their loss it is a big
deal
the lord said that wherever two or more
of you are gathered together i'm in the
midst of you and and that if you look at
that in the context
it's actually regarding
um a judicial decision within a church
look at it carefully matthew 18.
why do i say that because
i believe according to my bible if as
the bible says the holy spirit lives in
the life of every true believer wherever
i go there he is in fact he's there
before i get there
and he's with me as i'm going
why because he's god he's everywhere
so when you come to church for
example be preparing your heart lord
we're going in fact the psalms the
psalms of ascent we're going to go up to
the mountain of the lord
david would write and we're going to
sing praises to our god
we need to be thinking about the
reception when you crack open the bible
or when you go to a bible study even
when you put in a cd or listen to
something online or you
listen to the radio lord prepare my
heart this is very important
because we are not learning more for
example of about you know a program or
software or about a new system
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we are learning about god himself in the
bible and that carries with it profound
responsibility
very seriously the reception in matthew
13 5 jesus said now some seed fell on
stony places
rocky places where they did not have
much earth notice they had some earth
but not much just a little thin layer
of dirt which is very common
and they immediately sprang up
because they had no depth of earth
but when the sun was up they were
scorched
and because they had no root they
withered away
listen the sea germinated
in fact faster than normal number one
the soil is warm
it's on the rock and the water that hits
it keeps the soil listen wet
it doesn't go anywhere
so watch you've got a rock or you've got
a rocky area and you've got a thin layer
maybe two three inches of dirt on these
rocks
and the seed falls
and all of a sudden wow look the farmer
might look and say man this is going to
be an amazing crop
look how fast this is springing up it's
so green it's so quick
the nutrients are there it's true the
nutrients are all there
the water's there
the soil is there the sun is there
and it explodes upward in life
but he comes back around two o'clock in
the afternoon
and it's all
lopped over
it's all wilted
and jesus said there are those who come
to church or they think about christian
things they got a bible they might read
about it they start reading they get
excited about it they make a
an outward decision for jesus and they
shoot
like a skyrocket
we talked about that last week and
they're just super duper
christians man look at that guy that
guy's led five people to christ this
week he's been he's only been a
christian for two weeks
and then you see the guy a month later
or a year later and he's completely away
from the faith
what happened
there was no depth
in his growth
there was no and we looked at it last
time we don't need to get much into it
there had been no winds to blow
bringing trials as it were difficulties
you always want to be around christians
who have gone through the seasons of
faith
believe me
i love being around new believers
they're so excited it's just wonderful
but it's kind of like you know it's kind
of like the nursery you can only handle
it for a little bit then you got to go
take a walk
it's cute and fun
but as life happens and as life goes on
listen i want to encourage you with
difficulty don't cave in
and i mean you name it just young people
growing up
that's tough i'm so glad i'm not young
in this world right now this is to this
world's too hard
it's insane
look when i was a kid we used to take
tin cans
and run a string
and i would talk to my neighbor friend
about
a hundred feet away through the can hey
man what are you doing
nowadays nowadays your kid's talking to
some nut in moscow somewhere
on a cell phone you don't know what's
going on
and look at all the stuff that's
happening about that kind of stuff
you don't know what's going on exposed
is so much man it's hard enough just
being a kid
and then your hormones start going nuts
at some age
that's another whole thing
all these things listen man i tell you
what parents we need to parents our
parent our kids like never before
there's
dangerous
water ahead and icebergs in that water
for that teenager and you got to help
them through and love them
can i say this it's not in my notes
maybe it's free maybe i'll have to run
another building for saying this i don't
know
but i think i think if you ask kids
certainly if you ask our junior high and
high schoolers
they don't want you to be their friend
we hear it from kids my mom's trying to
be my friend
i don't want my mom to be my friend i
want my mom to be my mom
i want my dad to try to stop being cool
and be my dad
mom and dad they need leaders in their
life
and they want leaders by the way they
really do
this is an amazing time
and we need to be very careful because
kids can
hear something get excited and go for it
and just maybe it's even the gospel as
in the context of this study and they
get all excited and maybe it's you
tonight
and you are very excited about god but
you haven't had any hardship and
difficulty listen for all of us young
and old whatever hardships and
difficulties we've gone through in life
you can either a determine
my my life has been the pits and i'm
gonna go through the rest of my life
bitter angry and upset and i'm gonna i'm
gonna give some people back some of the
junk that i've had
and you'll never be happy
even when you get revenge you won't be
happy
or you can listen
see the fact that god takes all these
things in life and transforms them into
a tremendous base of power if you'll
just give all of that hurt and
heartbreak to him
he can take the worst situations if your
heart is willing
and transform those things
into great victories
he is absolutely awesome
jesus put it this way again as luke said
it in luke 8 13 not matthew but luke
same account
dr luke
verse
13 chapter 8 but the one or the ones on
the rock or those who when they hear
receive the word with joy
and these
have no root
listen to this
who believed for a while and in time of
temptation fall away
we see most people would you agree with
me at least most people i've ever known
most people this applies to the people
if i see a hundred people come forward
to accept christ a year later there's
maybe 30 still following jesus why
because of that verse right there jesus
said people give up because of
temptation they cave in
it's hard
and they choose
they never allow themselves to
move out into faith
jesus said they only believe for a while
and i think we've all seen that happen
in matthew 13
20
jesus said but he who received the seed
on this stony ground are stony places
this is he who hears the word of god and
immediately receives it with joy yet he
has no root in himself but endures only
for a while
for when tribulation that's hardships in
life
i can't believe i gave my heart to jesus
and i got a flat tire
doesn't god love me
persecution
when it arises because of the word
notice persecution arises not because
you're being a goofball
it's because you're being persecuted for
the word
look we're all praying for uh pastor
saeed
and this week they brought christians in
to stand trial against him
and they told the christians
now you're going to go in here and
you're going to testify against your
pastor
and if you don't we'll kill you
and why why
why are the authorities
in iran going to kill
pastor saeed from is he from boise boise
idaho
why
because they said he's a threat to
national security
what his attorney asked how is he a
threat to national security
oh because
he believes in jesus
you ever think about that do you ever
think about jesus being a threat to
national security
i preached the gospel on the streets of
russia right after the wall came down
and let me tell you something man
the communists were terrified
they were pretty terrified of of ronald
reagan i mean i got an earful of that
they were scared to death at reagan
but you know who you know who freaked
them out more than ronald reagan
jesus christ
you know who china you know china is
terrified china's not scared of us
tonight
is terrified of jesus christ tonight
if you go and you uh you go down to a
hugo chavez
in venezuela and preach the gospel
you're going to get shut down
you want to live an exciting life get in
an airplane fly to seoul korea and then
take a ride up north and cross the dmz
and go into north korea
and then stand on a cart
open up your bible
and declare john 3 16.
you will be put in prison for probably
40 to 50 years
why because they're terrified of jesus
christ
why because jesus is a threat to
national security you know why because
jesus his kingdom is not of this world
he transforms people from the inside out
and they start having radical thoughts
like
self-worth
and your life means something
even my enemies god loves you
can you imagine if a nation got
converted to christ not the nation i'm
being i'm i'm joking right now not
everyone's going to accept christ but
imagine if a few people accepted christ
and everybody starts loving each other
amen i come here to beat you up or heard
you're a christian well do you want to
beat me up on this side of my face or on
that side of my face i mean you're going
to beat me up for a chris for being a
christian
you want to arrest me because i have a
bible
wow
jesus said this stuff's going to come
and every one of us will be tempted
to water down maybe our witness in that
moment
then you wonder you've heard this before
brother andrew wrote about this stuff in
some of his books of
militants came in the building right now
and said okay all of you who believe in
jesus
go on that side of the sanctuary
now i would argue that if that were to
happen here tonight
that that would be kind of easy
because in a group
you're you have a you have a tendency to
be encouraged in a group so just think
for a moment all it takes this is what
happens we know this from human nature
that if they came in with machine guns
and they were to say all of you who
believe in jesus christ go to that side
of the room
and one person gets up and moves guess
what happens
people start moving because we're sheep
and we and we would go
and we would would maybe like i mean
read fox's book of martyrs it happened
people start singing songs we're
praising the lord and
the jews did that in world war ii
christians
we forget that adolf hitler killed
i think it was a million christians
maybe a little bit more
800 thousand homosexuals he killed them
predominantly of course the jews
but in total 11 million people we don't
we don't remember that
but some people might say well i don't
know
i don't know what side i'd be on
that's why trials have to come into our
lives
we have to have them
they're not for god
to discover something about us
they're for us to discover something
about us
and we always want to pray lord make my
faith real
don't make me a sunday christian make me
a 24 7 christian
and
i i'm asking you lord to take the the
word your bible and make it my reality i
want to live it
and jesus said there'll be those who
will be persecuted
the fourth thing
that we see tonight is this thing
longevity
verse seven and it's the third
illustrative warning that he gives us
matthew 13 7 jesus said and some seed
fell among thorns and the thorns sprang
up and choked them
he echoes that again in luke 8 14. now
the ones that fell among thorns
some of your bibles say weeds or briars
it's all the same
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 think about that for a
moment i want you to write that down in
your note-taking
there's thorns out there there's weeds
and um
i love to garden i think you guys
already know that stuff i love that
stuff
i love just diving in there
planting stuff i love watching stuff
grow
i've never once in my life planted a
weed
i've never went oh man they got some
they got some thorns there at lowe's
let's get those babies in and plant
those things all over they come they
come uninvited they come everywhere all
over the place you got to fight them
don't you
have you noticed they grow first
they grow fast
they grow taller wider
they grow anywhere
they grow in their driveway
um with all the rain and stuff and my
house has got a bunch of big trees the
leaves have fallen all over my house
looks like i live in the shire
with with
frodo
and our gutters i can't keep them clear
enough fast enough and the gutters got
the gutters just in a few days they got
all leaves in them and then it rained a
little bit and got them moist you know
what happened
two spots
dandelions
grew last week in my rain gutters
now why couldn't have been dandel why
couldn't it have been like uh
chrysanthemums or
ranculus growing
of course not
because weeds spring up and they're
amazing because the roots go everywhere
and they're so strong
and they're so resilient and the sun
comes and they just they're fine
all my plants are withered and they're
like yeah bring it on
more heat
and i curse them in jesus name
i do i'm not kidding man
they're demonic listen to the story
jesus is telling us this
by the way they get the they get the
most of the water they just go get it
they rob the ground of nutrients
they steal from the ground all the
vitamins that are there
and
they're they're very difficult and it's
interesting and i just put this down in
my notes uh
today thinking about this
that jesus said the thorns are the cares
church listen this particular portion of
this parable of the sower may apply to
us more than the other illustrations he
gives
and i
i'm not picking on anybody tonight this
is me i'm picking on me
this is the stuff i wrote down regarding
my life so
i wrote this
so then the cares and the worries and
the demands of southern california life
act just like thorns and weeds they will
maybe
with some subtlety but vengeance
strangle
what i learned from god
right out of my heart
and i want you to think about that for a
second i wrote that for me to have it in
my head to say something different to
you
but i thought
i'll just read that why because
all of us will come to church we'll
worship the lord and we'll learn
something in the bible oh man this is i
need this in my life
and we all agree to that right yeah i
need that in my life
and then watch then oh let's end with a
song okay
most of you not most of you some of you
don't even end with a song it's like we
got to get to the parking lot
and we get to the car
and i bet you know within a mile that
we're out of here
if if we were to stop and take a quiz
now what was it you just said what were
you just thinking
what
you know about 10 minutes ago in church
what why
you know you said that i got to do this
in my life i don't know
what happened
what happened was
and this is we all did we all deal with
this
we pull out of here
what channel is the laker game on what
time what channel was it on the station
um what is it i was just joking but
you're telling me what it was
oh my gosh what is it is it on now
i thought you were watching
she's watching the game right no i'm
kidding
i'm kidding
but you know how we are right isn't that
happened
or it's the news or it's this or the
whatever
we are so on the go with cares in our
southern california life you guys i'm
old enough to remember real southern
california life isn't it interesting
that 30 years ago there was a revival in
southern california big time and it
reached the world
you know what remember the remember that
the quintessential southern california
life
it was known to be laid back
it was easy going you go i remember i
remember things you guys too if you grew
up in in the beach area specifically i
mean you used to just
we drive the cars up and down the beach
and it was just so
lazy
california cool
relaxed
and it's like amen whatever you know
and you could kind of feel how you could
really go meditate on the bible
you could take time to do that
and then everybody realized you know
it's just really great to
have the weather here and all this kind
of stuff things built up things got busy
got to make money you grow up you got to
pay bills and it's like okay come on uh
okay bible yeah let's do okay bible okay
go
and we off to something else
jesus is saying watch out the cares of
the world will come and choke the word
out of your life don't thank any of you
who have been christians for a while
think well i've made it through that
we're right in it
because listen we could we could
continue on for a good while
and become very dull of hearing because
cares will begin to take the word out of
our life listen to this we all need to
write this verse down every one of us
need to write this verse down
philippians 4 verse 6
this should be in fortune cookies
be anxious for nothing but in everything
by prayer in supplication
with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to god
isn't that great
be anxious for nothing
don't worry about
anything oh really i'm sure what do i do
everything by prayer another way in
other words pray about it give it to god
and supplication get before him on it
talk to him about it with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to god
watch what happens verse 7 and the peace
of god which surpasses all understanding
wow
will garrison surround build a troop
around guard your hearts and minds
through christ jesus this is the eternal
word of god this is the bible and what i
just read you is so radically foreign to
us
because we live in such a constant
culture we drive through the fast food
place and we're wondering it's taken
them so long
have you noticed that
come on
it's absolutely crazy
it's absolutely wild and it's like put
in the microwave oh come on
we are sick
we're caught up though we're caught up
in this push and it can absolutely you
know what i'm gonna i think it's safe to
say it is robbing us of spiritual growth
not maybe it is
every one of us we all battle with this
and we need to fight it
we really need to fight this
you know think about that how does this
sit with you what if we go home tonight
or what's tomorrow thursday go home
thursday you come home from work on
thursday night and you're going to do an
experiment
no
tv
no netflix
no
no computer
none of that stuff
bible
open
you're gonna talk to god go to your room
whatever you do sit and i don't care
what you do but you're gonna imagine can
you imagine what would happen if you
said to your family hey you know what
tonight we're gonna from as soon as dad
gets home
we are going to
be in the word and we'll pray for each
you know you've got a test coming up on
friday we're going to pray for your test
or whatever it is
there'll probably be a riot
and that's to our chagrin
that's not good
there's a longevity that god desires
that we need to
be careful about because
the love of the world the cares of this
life there's so much bearing down upon
us that's eating us up and look our own
health or the lack thereof is announcing
this in our culture people are riddled
with
ulcers and all kinds of things because
we're not taking a true sabbath with god
and resting
our nerves we could be we could we could
be on vacation but every time you get a
text
you're all tied up in a not again and
you can be in paradise
it'll ruin your life
we need to pause think about this i'm
just going to read this through this is
for me
if it applies to you great
what
are some of the
signs of me
going through these
thorns and weeds and briars of my life
and i wrote these down i guess indicator
number one
our spiritual lungs
is often revealed in our prayer life
do we have a private prayer life
if we don't it's probably because
there are thorns choking out that from
us
do i pray with my wife
or do you pray with your husband if
you're married
if you don't it's probably because the
cares of this world
the pressures of home life and stuff
because we're out of kilter it's choking
i personally i don't think husband how
many husbands are here tonight raise
your hands your husband
your wife should not leave the house or
you should not leave the house
without praying for i don't care if it's
a 30-second prayer
god will honor that and what about
praying with our children
why are we not praying with our children
because the cares of this world have
choked out well i can't uh go it's time
to go to bed
listen turn off
turn off the rams playing the goats and
and go put go put your kid to bed
put your kid to bed tuck him into bed
who was 19 years old if you're a pain
listen if he's living in your house tuck
him into bed
i'm serious tuck him into bed
i'm dead serious tuck him into bed pray
for him
pray for her
that's one way look he'll move out if
you could if you do that
no but i'm serious though you love him
you pray
if we're not doing this you know what
we're i listen i know how this is
when i don't do these things it's
because it's because the cares of this
life
have pressured this stuff away the next
thing i thought about indicator number
two would be personal devotion
that time of meditation
do i make the time to be alone with god
if i'm not doing it then it's because
the cares of this life
the thorns the weeds are taking effect
in my life
i don't care if you're a pastor if
you're the pope or if you're a
contractor or a nurse it doesn't matter
if we're not going through these things
the cares of this world
are getting the best of us
and i'm thinking we have to fight this
constantly what about my my personal
thoughts my private thoughts inside
inside of me
what's going on
how much of it is just laden and
burdened
with the cares of this life
and what about personal convictions
are there things that i'm tolerating in
my life
because i've been too busy to sit down
and talk with god that he would probably
definitely tell me jack i want you to
turn right or turn left
regarding these issues
and the third indicator would be in the
area of public witness
the cares of this life the desire for
pleasure
and believe it or not and i know this
doesn't apply to you guys
i mean you're faithful on a midweek
service which is amazing it's awesome
but church attendance it's very vogue
right now satan's doing anything he can
to beat up churches
and yet the bible says that you should
not forsake the general assembling
together as a church
you see well it's tough of course it's
tough
well i don't like everybody that's there
they don't like you either it doesn't
matter
you're still supposed to come together
we're family that's why we don't get
along all the time we're a family
well it's really easy with my little my
group of three of course it's easy but
you'll never get anything done in the
world
don't do that
this is the hard thing to do
and the bible says do it
think of that
if that's not a priority it's probably
because the cares of the world have
crept into your life
and then what about evangelizing others
this is very convicting for all of us
there's neighbors i've not shared the
lord with in my community and i need to
do that
and here's what i was thinking about
today if i loved them i would i would go
down the street right now i'd shut this
service down because you guys are
probably all saved going to heaven
christians here anyway and what if my
neighbor's going to hell
and i need to go there and tell them
about the love of jesus for them
if i really really really really really
took the time to believe that
and get away from the cares of the world
because here's the cares of the world
what if my neighbor thinks i'm weird
that's the cares of this world right
there
well what if they won't listen
all whatever argument you and i can
generate and conjure up we'll all be
linked to
self-pride
i don't want them to think weird of me i
don't want them to be upset with me i
don't want to you see i'm saying and why
is that the case because
our love for this
world
we want people to think well of us
in the book of revelation it says that
in heaven remember this it dawned on me
just recently
in heaven
it says
listen it doesn't say there's not going
to be any tears
we all think so
read it again in the book of revelation
it says that he'll he will wipe away
the tears
there's going to be a time in judgment
when we as believers stand before the
lord that we're probably it doesn't say
why we weep i'm wondering if we weep
over opportunities that god wanted us to
enjoy and we didn't do it because we
were afraid and we were too much caught
up with the cares of this life
and then jesus says
in closing
some seed fell on good ground
and yielded a crop a hundred 60 30. the
volume of production
or
fruit is not the point
it's the results
it's what happens
the christian jesus is saying right here
this is key
in matthew 13 23 but he who received the
seed on good ground is he who hears the
word and understands it
and by the way that's not some personal
attribute of his own
he's only willing and god gives him the
understanding
who indeed bears fruit and produces some
100 some
60 and some 30.
and this is the key we're going to end
with this
do you tonight don't answer just on just
to yourself do you tonight
when you hear the word of god do you
want to know it
if you want to know it then the bible
jesus makes it clear he will give you
more understanding if you want it
remember he said to whom who has what he
does have if you invest that meaning if
you want god to be in your life he'll
give you more more what understanding
but he said the one who has what little
he does have if he doesn't employ it if
he doesn't put it
to a willingness
jesus said what he has will be taken
away from him
why why should he it's like a little kid
imagine a little kid who just comes out
of a you know pirates of the caribbean
movie
and he's got his little eye patch on his
eye and he's got a little bandanna on
his head
and he goes up to his dad he says i want
a sword
now what are you going to do with that
little five-year-old of the sword you're
gonna give him a popsicle stick
there's your sword
are you gonna give him a sword
number one
he couldn't use the sword but that's not
the point he'd kill himself with it
or the dog
he can't use it he can't use it he
doesn't know how to use it
and he doesn't even
really want to use it he doesn't know
that yet imagine
why would god give to somebody greater
light when the light that they do have
they just want to use for evil
right think about it i have my life
that's why jesus warned us about our
lives
he said you should take what's been
given to you and don't hide it under a
bushel or don't bury it in the ground
because your master will someday return
and require from you what was given to
you
and jesus said there will be that wicked
servant who will say i listen all the
other guys took what was given to them
and they invested their life do you guys
understand i'm not talking about money
or gold or silver or
life priceless
god's gonna come back and say okay what
did you do with the life i gave you
i did this with it lord and he's gonna
say well done
awesome
and he's gonna go to the next guy and
then the bible says he comes to another
guy
and listen what the guy says
jesus says and what did you do with your
life
and he says i know that you are a hard
and ruthless man
so
i took it
and i just kept it safe and did nothing
with it
so here it is you can have it back what
you gave me
30 years ago 50 years ago 85 years ago
here it is
unchanged
just existed in life
had no ventures of faith had no real
belief in you really
played it safe
here it is you can have it back
and jesus said that master will say to
that wicked servant
depart from me
into everlasting fire
why
because he never took
the abilities that he had to believe to
think to reason
and i'm really ending with this and i
mean this as a challenge listen to this
he never took
she never took her thinking seriously
and applied it to the existence of god
and squandered it
believed in other silly things other
religions
specifically i'm thinking atheism i
don't believe in god that's what that
guy was really saying
because when he said i i know you
he calls in the parable that we'll study
in future days
you are
very hard and mean
god's not hard and mean
he perceived god
to be hard and mean
didn't know him
and had nothing to give
back jesus engineered you he made you
to live a life
that brings forth fruit isn't it amazing
god wants you to have a radically
exciting productive beautiful life
that means something to you
he's radically on your side
we need to remember that let's pray
right now
together father
lord i don't know where we got it in our
minds
that you are somehow
rude or austere
cynical
that you're bitter that you're angry
that you
have some sort of moratorium on spaces
in heaven
what is wrong with us
lord maybe for some of us we have
carried our earthly relationships with
our parents
into our spiritual relationship with you
and we've imposed upon you lord our
earthly
parental example and made you the same
maybe just a bigger version i don't know
maybe
maybe we believe just enough
not so much
because we have
entertained the cares of this world
money
position place
where we appear in the picture
status
we've made that the pursuit of our life
and we've been
preoccupied with the cares of this life
[Music]
and the word
is being choked
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we ask you lord tonight as a church as a
people to forgive us of our idolatry
and lord i absolutely confess that in my
own life i
[Music]
and it's amazing to me because it
doesn't have to be
it's not even bad stuff i make it bad
stuff
it can be a tree it can be plants it can
be grass it can be
i'm always thinking about
just my
history and all from hawaii now i need
to be in hawaii there's too much clouds
today i should be in hawaii and i can
make it an idol you made beautiful
islands and i turn around and make it
some ridiculous
idol we can do that with cars we can do
that with people
that person can become an idol in our
lives and we let that happen
and lord tonight how we are reminded how
much we need your forgiveness your grace
your mercy
in our lives
to readjust us
to realign us
and lord if there's anybody here tonight
that is not a christian
they may have been told they're a
christian they may think they have that
label on them but
there's no real living life of jesus in
them
that tonight lord you to reach them
that the the message of the cross the
sowing of the seed that jesus
loves them came and died on the cross
for them rose again from the grave for
them
that you're the god of the bible you're
the messiah of the word of god and
you're coming back your bible says how
awesome is that
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but you are now willing you are very
able
and desirous
that if shun if someone tonight would
say jesus forgive me of my sins and i
want to have this life with you i want
to live with you i want to live for you
i want to become a new person
then lord reach them
father we thank you as a church as a
people may your word may we be
galvanized by your holy spirit
to bring others into the loving family
of god
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so lord as we go from this place
energize us in jesus name and all god's
people said amen amen
[Music]
you