1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:07,280 Today's parable emphasizes the day by day of growth in the spiritual 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:13,200 life. See thee more clearly every day, just a little bit better. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:20,640 Love thee more dearly, closer to God, and follow thee more, nearly 4 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:26,930 more obedient, more faithful every day, just a little bit. If 5 00:00:26,930 --> 00:00:29,450 you had to make a list right now of all the things that are frustrating 6 00:00:29,450 --> 00:00:33,450 in your life, probably most of the things on that list would be 7 00:00:33,450 --> 00:00:40,930 that things go too slow, future plans just not moving fast 8 00:00:40,930 --> 00:00:47,010 enough. Maybe a relationship isn't developing fast. Spiritual 9 00:00:47,010 --> 00:00:53,300 growth feels like it's just inches along at best. Your educational 10 00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:58,860 or your athletic milestones seem slow to achieve. You're being 11 00:00:58,860 --> 00:01:02,980 a witness for Christ and trying to bring others to Christ, 12 00:01:03,140 --> 00:01:09,180 but nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to respond. Maybe you're 13 00:01:09,180 --> 00:01:13,700 doing all the right things, but nothing seems to be happening. 14 00:01:15,300 --> 00:01:19,330 That's what the parable of the grower is about. Growth you can't 15 00:01:19,330 --> 00:01:27,090 control, but growth you can trust. We live in a world of the 16 00:01:27,090 --> 00:01:33,090 immediacy. I like it. I like to track my packages. I like to track 17 00:01:33,090 --> 00:01:37,850 my Uber when a guy's coming to my house. I like that you refresh 18 00:01:37,850 --> 00:01:44,110 a page, expect it like that. You put up something on social media, 19 00:01:44,270 --> 00:01:47,750 and if the likes don't move fast enough, you get nervous, like 20 00:01:47,750 --> 00:01:51,870 somehow you failed. Of course, AI is moving us into a whole new 21 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:56,990 level of immediacy we've never seen before. But the most important 22 00:01:57,390 --> 00:02:04,830 things in life refuse to develop on demand. They take time, 23 00:02:06,350 --> 00:02:16,560 character, faith, calling, leadership. They grow steadily. They 24 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:23,800 almost grow out of sight. And Jesus tells a parable that almost 25 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,640 feels anticlimactic when you hear it. Unlike some of the others, 26 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:33,120 there's no drama, there's no crisis, there's no villains, there's 27 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,760 no tension point one next week. There's going to be a lot of 28 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,950 tension point in that one. But this one's just simple. It's a farmer 29 00:02:41,190 --> 00:02:47,070 who scatters his seed and then waits. That's all he does. He just 30 00:02:47,070 --> 00:02:52,790 waits for something to happen. And Jesus introduces that parable 31 00:02:52,870 --> 00:02:57,950 with this phrase. He says, that is what the kingdom of God is 32 00:02:57,950 --> 00:03:04,520 like. If you ever wondered whether or not you're quiet or obedience 33 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:10,840 matters, this is the parable for you. And if you've ever wondered 34 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,240 how you really fit into the Great Commission, that's our verse 35 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,920 of the year. This is also the parable for you. Our verse of the 36 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:23,680 year says, go make disciples, O all nations. And be sure of this, 37 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,960 I meet with you even to the end of the age. If we're to go to 38 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,160 all nations, not Physical nations. We talked about that last 39 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:36,200 semester. But to nations of influence. Some of you are going 40 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,240 to influence the arts. Some of you are going to influence medicine. 41 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,480 Some of you are going to influence business. Some of you are 42 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,400 going to influence education. You are going to go into nations 43 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,360 where if you don't have the right credentials, they won't let 44 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:50,680 you in. And in those nations, you are going to have influence. 45 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:57,570 Well, how do we build the kingdom of God in those places? And 46 00:03:57,570 --> 00:04:03,970 this parable gives us four characteristics of kingdom evangelism 47 00:04:05,170 --> 00:04:10,130 and what our role and responsibility is in it. It's real 48 00:04:10,130 --> 00:04:12,650 short, so let me read it to you again. It was read nicely to 49 00:04:12,650 --> 00:04:17,450 us earlier, but here's the scripture again. Jesus said the kingdom 50 00:04:17,450 --> 00:04:21,810 of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground night 51 00:04:21,810 --> 00:04:25,170 and day. While he's asleep or awake. The seed sprouts and grows, 52 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,680 but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the 53 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:36,000 crops on its own. First the leaf blade pushes through. Then the 54 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,520 heads of the wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And 55 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,640 as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it 56 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:50,920 with a sickle for the harvest time has come. In this scripture, 57 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,720 there are four important kingdom principles on which we need 58 00:04:54,720 --> 00:05:00,240 to build our lives. The first one is kingdom starts with scattering 59 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:06,040 seed. Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters 60 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:14,200 seed on the ground. The farmer doesn't manufacture life. The farmer 61 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:20,560 doesn't engineer germination. The farmer is not responsible for 62 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:27,850 the growth. He simply scatters seed. You see, faithfulness begins 63 00:05:27,850 --> 00:05:33,650 with obedience, not trying to force outcomes on you or anybody 64 00:05:33,650 --> 00:05:41,370 else. You and I are called to scatter the love and the grace and 65 00:05:41,370 --> 00:05:47,900 the joy and the justice and the goodness of God. Wherever we 66 00:05:47,900 --> 00:05:55,060 are. That's our responsibility to scatter through our daily choices, 67 00:05:56,180 --> 00:06:00,460 through lifting up others instead of tearing them down through 68 00:06:00,460 --> 00:06:06,500 integrity, especially when nobody's watching. When you speak 69 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:12,260 truth graciously, that's scattering through quality. Friendships 70 00:06:12,670 --> 00:06:16,830 were scattering by connecting to the people who were overlooked. 71 00:06:18,110 --> 00:06:21,870 Even how you prepare for your future vocation. That is scattering 72 00:06:21,870 --> 00:06:26,750 seed for where you're going to have influence. You scatter the peaceful 73 00:06:26,750 --> 00:06:36,270 presence in the world of fear and chaos and tension and danger. 74 00:06:36,350 --> 00:06:41,150 That's what the world is like. And here we come scattering the seeds 75 00:06:41,150 --> 00:06:48,080 of Christ and peace in that environment. And it's a night and 76 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:55,360 day clash. And Jesus was responsible for the outcomes. I think 77 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,960 sometimes, maybe because we're at a Christian college, we tend to 78 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,680 think, you know, it's not so rough out There. No, it's pretty 79 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:08,320 rough out there. It really is. It's pretty scary. It's pretty overwhelming 80 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,280 if you don't know Christ. So let me illustrate this to you in 81 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,160 kind of a different context. Okay, I'll tell you a story from 82 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,680 a long time ago. But it illustrates for me what the message 83 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,720 of Christ and the love of Christ can do in a scary, overwhelming 84 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:31,560 environment. Long time ago, back before we had kids. So it was 85 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:37,780 like 40 years ago, Maryland and I went to Africa. That's a picture 86 00:07:37,780 --> 00:07:41,260 from our trip. That's obviously hopefully me on the left. 87 00:07:41,420 --> 00:07:44,820 Maybe I've aged just a little bit. We went with my brother and 88 00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:48,620 his wife who are in the center. And that's his wife in the 89 00:07:48,620 --> 00:07:52,100 blonde hair. And my brother probably standing on his toes behind 90 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:56,260 to look taller than me, which he's not. But he's competitive. And 91 00:07:56,260 --> 00:08:00,030 that's Marilu, my wife in the black and white with some part pretty 92 00:08:00,030 --> 00:08:04,470 amazing glasses, I have to say for the 1980s. So that's us in Africa 93 00:08:04,470 --> 00:08:09,510 with some missionary friends who took us on a three week photo 94 00:08:09,510 --> 00:08:14,430 safari of Africa. This was not going and staying in the big fancy 95 00:08:14,430 --> 00:08:21,030 lodge. This was going into the bush, into the back country of Africa. 96 00:08:22,150 --> 00:08:28,140 And it was the most amazing experience of our lives. I've traveled 97 00:08:28,140 --> 00:08:33,060 the whole world. If I go back to one place, it's to Africa. I love 98 00:08:33,060 --> 00:08:38,740 it. There's never seen anything like was kind of an overwhelming 99 00:08:38,740 --> 00:08:42,500 trip. Mary Lou had never camped in her life. She'd never camped 100 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:45,700 out ever before. And the first time she goes camping is in Africa 101 00:08:45,780 --> 00:08:50,660 for three weeks. That's a little overwhelming. When you go 102 00:08:50,660 --> 00:08:55,710 to Africa, it just enormous when you get out away from the city 103 00:08:55,710 --> 00:09:00,950 and you get out into the bush where the animals are first of all 104 00:09:00,950 --> 00:09:03,590 at night. The stars are something else. You've never seen 105 00:09:03,590 --> 00:09:10,190 anything like it. Never see anything like it. You know, in America 106 00:09:10,190 --> 00:09:13,750 we have too much light pollution. You can't see the stars 107 00:09:13,750 --> 00:09:17,830 that God's creating. But then we saw all kinds of animals. We saw 108 00:09:17,830 --> 00:09:20,430 everything that there is, of course elephants and giraffes and. 109 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:25,580 And tons of zebra and wildebeests and lions and all kinds 110 00:09:25,580 --> 00:09:30,580 of things. But you know what it was? I think it was Disney who 111 00:09:30,580 --> 00:09:33,020 came up with that ad a number of years ago for Animal Kingdom. 112 00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:35,780 Probably when you were younger they had this word sounded kind of 113 00:09:35,780 --> 00:09:39,900 African, but it really wasn't. It says it is not a zoo. It is not 114 00:09:39,900 --> 00:09:46,310 a zoo. It is not a zoo in Africa. It's the real thing. In fact, 115 00:09:46,310 --> 00:09:52,190 one night we camped in a Little campgrounds area, not much 116 00:09:52,190 --> 00:09:55,470 of campgrounds, just a little clearing. And there was another group 117 00:09:55,470 --> 00:10:00,430 from us, from Germany, the youth group, and there were about 118 00:10:00,430 --> 00:10:08,390 10 of them. And next day we were to go on across this big stretch 119 00:10:10,630 --> 00:10:16,250 to the Ukavambu Swamp. And we couldn't. We headed out and our vehicle 120 00:10:16,250 --> 00:10:19,610 just couldn't. All the roads were dirt, so this was like 1500 121 00:10:19,610 --> 00:10:22,850 miles on dirt roads. And our vehicle couldn't make it. So we had 122 00:10:22,850 --> 00:10:25,850 to go back and go around and it took us two days to get there. 123 00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:28,490 They had vehicles that were four wheel drive and they got through 124 00:10:29,290 --> 00:10:33,090 and they got into that camp late that night and they didn't have 125 00:10:33,090 --> 00:10:38,090 time to set up a proper camp. And in the night one of the girls, 126 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,000 who was 17, just tossed and turned in her sleep, rolled with 127 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,880 one foot that came out of the tent and a lion came by and grabbed 128 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:55,440 her and took her across to an island in the river and sat there 129 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,600 and devoured her while the group screamed and hollered and there 130 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:04,850 was nothing they could do. It was a scary place. We would have 131 00:11:04,850 --> 00:11:08,890 been with them if our car had gotten through. It didn't get through. 132 00:11:09,530 --> 00:11:15,850 We heard about it later. So we're in this very overwhelming place 133 00:11:16,570 --> 00:11:20,610 and we finally get to this Ukavambu swamp, which is really marvelous 134 00:11:20,610 --> 00:11:26,330 in Botswana. And the Ukavambu swamp is this huge wetlands area. 135 00:11:26,330 --> 00:11:30,260 And of course, with the water, all the animals come there and so 136 00:11:30,260 --> 00:11:33,260 you can see everything that there is. But because of that, it 137 00:11:33,260 --> 00:11:37,260 is really teeming with activity and tons of animals. Now, 138 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:40,460 in Africa, you don't see a lot of the animals in the daytime. You 139 00:11:40,460 --> 00:11:42,980 see the animals at night. You see them early, early in the morning, 140 00:11:43,220 --> 00:11:48,060 at dusk, and you hear them in the night because it's so hot, they 141 00:11:48,060 --> 00:11:52,740 don't function much in the day. So we get to this Ukavambu swamp 142 00:11:52,740 --> 00:11:56,100 and it's one of the places in Africa where you can see hippos. 143 00:11:57,270 --> 00:12:00,510 Now the only problem with that is to see the hippos. They've got 144 00:12:00,510 --> 00:12:02,710 these guys, there are probably four or five of them, these little 145 00:12:02,710 --> 00:12:08,030 dugout canoes, literally primitive dugout canoes. And for 146 00:12:08,030 --> 00:12:11,070 a few dollars, they will take you out into the swamp to see the 147 00:12:11,070 --> 00:12:17,670 hippos. And they say, is it safe? Oh, yeah, it's safe. We don't 148 00:12:17,670 --> 00:12:21,630 get turned over very often. But sometimes the hippos, which is 149 00:12:21,630 --> 00:12:24,990 the most dangerous animal in Africa, you may not know that hippos 150 00:12:25,230 --> 00:12:30,990 will attack. And of course, if they do, the crocodiles are going 151 00:12:30,990 --> 00:12:36,630 to get you. If a Lion doesn't. I mean, if a elephant doesn't get 152 00:12:36,630 --> 00:12:40,350 spooked and come at you, it's like, we're not going out there. 153 00:12:40,910 --> 00:12:48,190 That's crazy. So after my brother got back from his trip in 154 00:12:48,190 --> 00:12:55,160 the boat, he's nuts, Absolutely nuts. We were making our 155 00:12:55,160 --> 00:13:00,120 camp. Now, at night, you make a camp, and the people experience 156 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,000 in Africa, they know when we make the camp, we bring all the tents 157 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,759 together, put the fire in the middle. We build fires around the 158 00:13:05,759 --> 00:13:08,680 edge. And then they also take shovels. They put them in all the 159 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:12,200 corners. They put white trash bags on them that blow in the breeze 160 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,210 because they'll scare the animals away, because the hyenas 161 00:13:16,210 --> 00:13:22,570 will come in and they'll go at you. And so we kind of got this camp 162 00:13:22,570 --> 00:13:28,130 settled and it started to get dark and the stars were coming out. 163 00:13:28,290 --> 00:13:32,450 When the stars come out, so do all the sounds. And you could begin 164 00:13:32,450 --> 00:13:35,650 to hear lions roar in the distance, and you could begin to 165 00:13:35,810 --> 00:13:38,890 hear the elephants pushing over trees. And you heard things. 166 00:13:38,890 --> 00:13:42,700 You felt like they were everywhere. It was pretty overwhelming. 167 00:13:44,700 --> 00:13:48,380 And all of a sudden, in the midst of that, we heard something. 168 00:13:49,420 --> 00:13:56,180 It was far away at first. It was real quiet. And we could hear 169 00:13:56,180 --> 00:14:01,660 the sound of singing from a village that wasn't very far away. 170 00:14:03,180 --> 00:14:14,040 Amazing grace, there it is. And in the turmoil and in the fear 171 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,160 and the overwhelming of the whole environment, everything changed 172 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,040 when we heard that song. And we grabbed our flashlights and we 173 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:29,000 started to go closer to the camp and the village where these 174 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,160 people lived. And they were singing as we got into their fire. 175 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,680 And I've never seen people singing so warm and welcoming. Of 176 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,480 course, there's no electricity. There's no nothing. 177 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,680 But they had brought peace and joy to a place filled with fear and 178 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:49,280 turmoil. And that's what scattering seed is like. In the kingdom 179 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:54,440 of God, in a world full of fear and turmoil and overwhelming 180 00:14:54,520 --> 00:15:01,490 and confusion and conflict, you can be that voice. You can be 181 00:15:01,490 --> 00:15:08,490 that voice of peace that brings people to you. You maybe can't 182 00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:12,650 sing. I can't either. I wish you could like these guys. But whatever 183 00:15:12,650 --> 00:15:17,290 your voice is of peace. That's what the kingdom of God is like, 184 00:15:17,290 --> 00:15:20,490 and that's what the scripture's trying to tell us here. 185 00:15:22,410 --> 00:15:28,450 Secondly, we don't control spiritual growth in others. The scripture 186 00:15:28,450 --> 00:15:31,890 says night and day, while he was asleep or awake, the seed sprouted 187 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:37,250 and grew. But he doesn't understand how it happens. The farmer 188 00:15:37,250 --> 00:15:41,130 doesn't understand how it happens. See, Jesus intentionally 189 00:15:41,370 --> 00:15:48,410 removes control of spiritual growth in others from us. Seeds grow 190 00:15:48,410 --> 00:15:53,940 night and day without supervision. Often we can't notice 191 00:15:54,180 --> 00:16:00,580 spiritual maturity. You can't rush formation. You can't engineer 192 00:16:00,580 --> 00:16:06,700 revival. The kingdom grows because God is alive and active. 193 00:16:06,700 --> 00:16:14,140 And he makes it grow in his time and in his way. And the most 194 00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:18,180 important growth happening in you and the most important growth 195 00:16:18,180 --> 00:16:20,860 in happening places where you're scattering the seed in others 196 00:16:20,860 --> 00:16:25,940 is probably not going to be very visible. The character is forming, 197 00:16:26,820 --> 00:16:32,900 convictions are deepening, roots are going down. Truth's becoming 198 00:16:32,900 --> 00:16:39,940 internalized. Most transformations, seasons of life, 199 00:16:39,940 --> 00:16:44,660 are often pretty quiet. It's kind of an underground growth before 200 00:16:44,660 --> 00:16:49,720 it becomes noticeable. And that's what the kingdom growth is 201 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,800 like. Kingdom growth takes time, and we don't know how it happens. 202 00:16:54,760 --> 00:17:00,600 But God is always growing seeds that are planted. If you scatter 203 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,720 seeds, God will honor it even when you don't have any control over 204 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:11,880 it. We had a student here a number of years ago, and he's gone 205 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:17,889 long, long, long enough. Now nobody knows him except me. And he 206 00:17:18,289 --> 00:17:22,729 had troubles. He had big troubles, bless his heart. He came 207 00:17:22,729 --> 00:17:25,889 here to play on an athletic team. I think he lasted on the team 208 00:17:25,889 --> 00:17:29,449 about three weeks before he got kicked off for multiple behavioral 209 00:17:29,449 --> 00:17:33,569 violations. He was having conflicts with everybody on campus. 210 00:17:33,569 --> 00:17:37,409 Seemed like no matter where the trouble was, he was part of it. 211 00:17:39,409 --> 00:17:42,409 Came from really tough background. I don't blame him. I 212 00:17:42,409 --> 00:17:46,390 understand he was raised in an environment if you don't fight, you're 213 00:17:46,390 --> 00:17:51,390 not going to make it okay, but that's hard. And so he felt a little 214 00:17:51,390 --> 00:17:54,030 bit like a fish out of water here. A little bit. I don't know 215 00:17:54,030 --> 00:17:57,390 exactly what was going on with him, but, you know, we tried to help. 216 00:17:57,390 --> 00:18:01,190 And he wasn't responsive to any help or anything like that. And 217 00:18:01,350 --> 00:18:09,560 one day in about late October in a fall semester, the people in 218 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,840 financial aid had to meet with him because the money he thought 219 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:19,120 he was getting in scholarship did not come through. And they told 220 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:21,600 it to him. They didn't probably tell it to him too well, 221 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:27,520 very bluntly. And he just exploded. He took a swing at the 222 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,640 admissions person. He tipped over chairs, he threw on tables. 223 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,320 He threw a disaster. People were trying to fight back or run 224 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,350 away. They didn't know what to do. And he was just absolutely out 225 00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:47,510 of control. We tried to get it calmed down. It was a tough, tough 226 00:18:47,510 --> 00:18:55,030 moment. And in the process of that, he wanted to talk to me, which 227 00:18:55,030 --> 00:18:58,510 was great. And I talked to him. He said, I feel like everybody 228 00:18:58,510 --> 00:19:01,710 here is out to get me. Everybody on this campus was out 229 00:19:01,710 --> 00:19:05,230 to get me. And I told him, I said, they're not going to get you 230 00:19:05,230 --> 00:19:09,670 I promise I will watch out for you, make sure you're okay. And so 231 00:19:09,670 --> 00:19:12,510 I said, I'll give you my cell phone and you call me anytime you 232 00:19:12,510 --> 00:19:19,030 feel threatened. And he did. He would call me at midnight. He'd 233 00:19:19,030 --> 00:19:23,270 call me at 2 o' clock in the afternoon. I remember he called me 234 00:19:23,270 --> 00:19:25,510 once at a basketball game. Somebody's looking really funny at 235 00:19:25,510 --> 00:19:31,610 me. I really don't like it. I said, okay, okay, we'll help. And 236 00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:35,050 the day he walked out of here at the end of that semester, well, 237 00:19:35,050 --> 00:19:38,770 just kind of breathed a sigh of relief, said, oh, he's gone. I 238 00:19:38,770 --> 00:19:44,369 don't have to worry about him anymore. I thought when he left, 239 00:19:44,369 --> 00:19:49,690 I thought, he's never going to make it. There's no real hope or 240 00:19:49,690 --> 00:19:52,170 nothing to hang onto there. There's nothing to build on. What 241 00:19:52,170 --> 00:19:58,020 are we? There's nothing. Well, he left. He did friend me on Facebook 242 00:19:58,340 --> 00:20:00,860 while he was here. And so I kind of kept up with him through 243 00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:05,260 the years. And a few years later, I noticed he had a baby. And 244 00:20:05,260 --> 00:20:09,660 a little bit after that he got married. And a little bit after that, 245 00:20:09,660 --> 00:20:14,500 he started coaching a youth league and he started a little business. 246 00:20:15,940 --> 00:20:20,740 He had another baby. He started posting pictures of his family. 247 00:20:22,570 --> 00:20:28,090 And one day a picture came up on his Facebook and I just lost it 248 00:20:28,890 --> 00:20:37,010 with tears of joy. There was this picture being baptized. God 249 00:20:37,010 --> 00:20:42,810 was working in his life because seeds were planted even when 250 00:20:42,810 --> 00:20:48,220 there was nothing we could do to help him grow. You see, God's 251 00:20:48,220 --> 00:20:54,540 preparing the harvest for his time and in his way. And like the 252 00:20:54,540 --> 00:21:02,140 farmer, we have no idea how night and day he lays asleep, seeds 253 00:21:02,140 --> 00:21:05,900 sprout. He doesn't understand how it happened. I don't know how 254 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:12,340 it happened in his life, but I'm so thankful it happened and God 255 00:21:12,340 --> 00:21:16,470 redeemed him. And God is using him because he's been in some hard 256 00:21:16,470 --> 00:21:20,110 places that he can speak into people's lives. I never could. And 257 00:21:20,110 --> 00:21:24,070 I'm so thankful, even though it was a hard time when he was here. 258 00:21:25,750 --> 00:21:31,790 Well, the third thing we see from this scripture is that spiritual 259 00:21:31,790 --> 00:21:36,190 growth is progressive. The earth produces a crops on its own. 260 00:21:36,190 --> 00:21:39,260 First the leaf blade pushes through. Then the heads of the wheat 261 00:21:39,260 --> 00:21:44,420 are formed and finally the grain ripens. You see, Jesus purposely, 262 00:21:44,580 --> 00:21:49,380 there are stages of spiritual growth. The leaf comes up through 263 00:21:49,380 --> 00:21:55,860 the ground and then the leaf blade, the stalk pushes through and 264 00:21:56,180 --> 00:22:01,620 finally you get the wheat harvest. The kingdom life growth 265 00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:06,350 is a progression. Well, in our culture, as I said earlier, we're 266 00:22:06,350 --> 00:22:09,870 addicted to immediacy. We want it to happen right now. But kingdom 267 00:22:09,870 --> 00:22:17,630 life grows Organically, not explosively. Depth takes time. In 268 00:22:17,630 --> 00:22:22,990 God's time. We gotta trust God's design. We gotta trust God's 269 00:22:22,990 --> 00:22:25,710 timing. Whether it's your growth or somebody else's growth 270 00:22:25,710 --> 00:22:32,000 you're trying to influence in the seeds you're scattering. You 271 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,840 see, we may not see the dramatic change we wish. Like that 272 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,200 student years ago. I didn't see an ounce of change in him when 273 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:45,160 he was here. But eventually God got ahold of his life. So as 274 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:50,680 you're scattering seeds of love and joy and peace and kindness, 275 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:56,200 change may not happen tomorrow, but consistent obedience 276 00:22:56,360 --> 00:23:01,800 compounds. And being consistent in your faith, God will 277 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,920 honor it. The stalk, the growing part of the plant may not 278 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,640 look very impressive, but without it, there is no harvest. 279 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:17,520 It has to have time to grow. And God does the growing well. The 280 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,880 fourth thing we see in the scripture is that the harvest is 281 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:27,100 certain. As soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvest 282 00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:31,500 it with a sickle. For the harvest time has come, the kingdom 283 00:23:31,500 --> 00:23:37,220 of God will reach completion. God will finish what he started. 284 00:23:38,340 --> 00:23:43,580 He will finish it. Now. The parable holds two assurances. First 285 00:23:43,580 --> 00:23:49,180 of all, we don't have to be in control. And secondly, the outcome 286 00:23:49,180 --> 00:23:54,930 is certain because it's in God's control. The harvest will come 287 00:23:55,890 --> 00:24:03,170 as soon as it is ready. Not early, not late. It will come right 288 00:24:03,170 --> 00:24:11,250 on time. So what's our action plan for scattering seeds? Well, 289 00:24:11,730 --> 00:24:17,090 be faithful in the small things. Scatter them every day. Don't 290 00:24:17,090 --> 00:24:20,560 get discouraged in scattering. You don't have to see results. Our 291 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:26,440 job is to be like the farmer. Scatter the seeds. Secondly, trust 292 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:33,480 unseen. Growth maturity is seasonal. It happens in seasons and 293 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,200 sometimes there's a growth season. Right now we're in a no growing 294 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,040 season. Things don't grow up right now. You wait a few weeks and 295 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,400 everything's going to start to bloom and grow. There's seasons for 296 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:47,810 it. Be patient with yourself and be patient with other people. 297 00:24:50,210 --> 00:24:56,010 Maturity just takes time. God's doing it in his way and his 298 00:24:56,010 --> 00:25:03,370 time. And then just rest. Rest in the assurance of the harvest. 299 00:25:03,370 --> 00:25:08,770 The harvest will come. The farmer sleeps. He's not anxious, 300 00:25:09,170 --> 00:25:14,000 he's not overwhelmed. He's not wringing his hands. How do I get 301 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:20,400 the seed to grow? His job was to scatter it and then let God do 302 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:26,520 the growing. Now, there are two facts. If you feel tension about 303 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,800 you're not growing fast enough or the seed you're scattering is 304 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,880 not making any difference, there are two facts that will change 305 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:42,700 your life from a life of tension to relaxing in Christ, enjoying 306 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:47,700 it and growing in it, the first is, and I've told you this 307 00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:50,420 one before, and I'll tell you this one often in chapel. There is 308 00:25:50,420 --> 00:25:55,020 nothing in the world you can do to make God love you more. And 309 00:25:55,020 --> 00:25:57,980 there's nothing in the world you can do to make God love you less. 310 00:26:01,500 --> 00:26:08,880 That's an absolute. There is nothing zero you can do to make God 311 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:15,160 love you anymore. And there is nothing you can do that would make 312 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:22,560 God love you less. He may be heartbroken for you, but he doesn't 313 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:29,600 love you any less. So know that. Second is this. It's not your 314 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,360 responsibility or my responsibility to convict others 315 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:38,060 that they need to come to Jesus. That's the job of the Holy 316 00:26:38,060 --> 00:26:41,980 Spirit. It's like taking, you know, the Holy Spirit's part of the 317 00:26:41,980 --> 00:26:47,700 Trinity, of the Godhead, of God, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 318 00:26:47,860 --> 00:26:51,860 It's like taking God's job away. No, it's not our job. The scripture 319 00:26:51,860 --> 00:26:57,980 here is very clear. It is not our job. Our job is to scatter, to 320 00:26:57,980 --> 00:27:02,920 be an example, to live a life of quality, to live a life that in 321 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,560 the fear and confusion, that you can sing Amazing Grace in your 322 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:13,880 spirit and people are drawn to you. That's our job. And when you 323 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,999 realize you don't have to bring them to Christ, you just have 324 00:27:17,999 --> 00:27:24,240 to scatter the seed, then you can have joy and relax in the spirit 325 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:29,250 of what God's doing in your life. When. When you internalize 326 00:27:29,250 --> 00:27:32,570 those two facts, I see too many Christians that are just all 327 00:27:32,570 --> 00:27:35,130 bungled up about their faith. I got to get this right. I got to 328 00:27:35,130 --> 00:27:37,530 get this right. I'm not doing it right. Whatever. And they're just 329 00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:45,090 so worried. No, God loves you. And God's job is to convict others. 330 00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:50,530 It's not your job. You know, on our campus, we've got some amazing 331 00:27:50,530 --> 00:27:55,950 trees. People come up here to take wedding pictures among our trees. 332 00:27:56,030 --> 00:27:59,230 Live oaks. If you're not from the south, they're called live oaks. 333 00:27:59,390 --> 00:28:02,630 Those trees in the middle of campus were probably planted 10010 334 00:28:02,630 --> 00:28:06,750 years ago. I planted one 25 years ago when it got taken out of 335 00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:10,789 storm. But it was 25 years old when we brought it in here on a truck 336 00:28:10,789 --> 00:28:13,230 and planted it in the ground. So it's probably 50 years old already. 337 00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:20,190 But when those trees were barely planted and brand new, hardly 338 00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:25,830 anybody noticed. Nobody admired, nobody came to take pictures. 339 00:28:26,550 --> 00:28:30,350 Nobody said, wow, look at this place. It's a beautiful campus. They 340 00:28:30,350 --> 00:28:32,150 probably looked at it and said, man, it's kind of a barren 341 00:28:32,150 --> 00:28:37,670 place. Nobody applauded the early growth, and that's how the 342 00:28:37,670 --> 00:28:44,070 kingdom of God works. What you may do may feel small, may feel unnoticed. 343 00:28:44,630 --> 00:28:47,430 You wonder if your faithfulness even matters at all. 344 00:28:48,790 --> 00:28:54,550 But every act of obedience plants something eternal. And it 345 00:28:54,550 --> 00:29:02,550 will grow. So live faithfully today and trust God for the harvest. 346 00:29:03,430 --> 00:29:08,150 Let's pray together. Our benediction. No eye has seen, no 347 00:29:08,150 --> 00:29:12,910 ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for 348 00:29:12,910 --> 00:29:15,560 those who love him. God bless. Have a good day.