This week Kent shares with us from the parable of the 4 soils and fills in some blanks on some exciting news for Harmony moving forward.. IT’S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
So, growing up, I always thought if you had good kids it’s because you had just hit the lottery – it was just the luck of the draw. That’s why my basic plan for starting a family was to find someone with really good kids and offer money to buy their children… Lol, not really, I was just going to take them… Ha, I would never do that. But seriously.
I really thought it was magic, like there was a great coin slot in the sky that we all just put our quarter in and got what we got out of it. I thought it was just luck, that was, till I became a youth pastor. While it’s true that every kid has a personality and no one is going to parent perfect
I found that good kids were the product of lots of hard-won sweat and tears. It was lots of follow-through, lots of getting up when it would be easier to stay in your chair. It was thousands of little conversations and hours spent shaping and caring for those kids – stewarding their hearts towards wisdom and life.
It turns out things grow in the soil their planted in.
b
The Biblical idea for this is called reaping and sowing.
It means whatever you plant is what you will get back in return.
So, here’s the question our staff has been mulling over…
You know the whole reason I’ve given my life to the work of ministry is not just to keep you entertained up here or to help you leave feeling motivated for the week.
My life’s purpose is to raise up and release Leaders for God’s Kingdom – Disciples.
b
The question our staff has been struggling through is how do we help you move from “interested church attender” to “active discipled leader”?
I don’t mean that you would have to be a church leader or become a pastor. What I mean is, how do you go from “Yeah, I go to church” to, “I’m on mission for Jesus?” What does it take?
Jesus told a parable to tell us what kind of soil that kind of person grows in.
Here’s the parable:
There was a farmer who went out to plant some seed. He was doing it the old-fashioned way where you walked through afield and spread it with your hands. Some of that seed fell on the path next to the field. Birds came and ate it up before it could even take root. Some of it fell into some rocky ground – that seed took root, but as soon as it came up the sun baked it and it withered because it’s roots couldn’t go deep. Some of the seed fell into some weeds, it started to come up but it got choked out by the other plants. The rest of the seed fell on good soil, it took root and started to grow and it produced more seeds all the way up to 100x what was sown.
Jesus loved to tell these kind of stories. He used stuff people understood in those days – if he lived in Georgetown he’d talk about making car parts. But He lived in a place where agriculture ruled the day.
Jesus grabs his disciples and says this to them…
Matthew 13:18-23
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Jesus point is, the soil matters as much as the seed…
b
The question of how to move you from “interested church attender” to “active discipled leader” is a question of how to become good soil.
TAKE THE TURN:
Can I step aside from the sermon and share some of the difficulties we face in our church and culture right now?
We are living in an unprecedented time.
Most people know more about the Marvel universe than they do about the Messiah…
Even in churches I’d say…
We want to know how to follow Jesus but don’t know anything Jesus said.
I’m not saying this as a judgement or to make you feel bad – it’s just the truth of our situation.
Does that feel like good soil?
b
Our Kids ministry struggles because every single week we have a completely different set of children in there.
Imagine trying to take kids on a consistent journey into the heart of God and not know who knows what
Our teens are so involved in so many activities that our student ministry (which I’ve been helping with) has almost a completely different group of kids every single week.
Families are stretched thin already, right?
How do we become good soil?
b
This is the question we’ve been asking…
So,
Some day, God is going to look at our generation and say, “what did you do with it?”
I’m the kind of person who doesn’t see the challenge, I only see the opportunity.
While lots of churches are facing what we are facing, I see an opportunity for an entire generation to come passionately alive to the gospel of God’s Kingdom and join Him in redeeming the world back to Him.
b
All we have to do is become good soil.
-Jesus tells us what it means to become good soil
-You need to clear the things out that keep your roots from going deep and keep your heart and mind from getting distracted off His Kingdom.
Think about the things it takes to prepare soil – get rid of weeds, prepare the soil for deep roots by breaking it up, watering it, providing nutrients, etc.
So, we’ve been thinking about how can we create an environment that helps us produce good soil…
Not just for you, but for the whole family.
So, we’re taking an old thing churches used to do, and making it over for our modern needs.
Here’s the deal our plan is starting in September of this next year, we are going to launch a Wed. Night Environment called
Encounter
Encounter will have four main threads to it.
We are launching a new ministry initiative called
Base Camp [PUT UP BASECAMP LOGO]
-Base camp will be a rotating environment that will take every person in our church through the trail guide – we’re going to go over it as a church all together. But from now on, if you have a friend you invite or someone new comes to church – their first stop is to complete basecamp. This way we are all on the same page about what we are doing and where we are going. We are tilling the ground to become good soil and planting seeds.
Encounter Groups [PUT UP GROUP LOGO]
We believe EVERY single person needs to be in a group at harmony – it is the place where you can become good soil – for Christians, interacting with other Christians is how you get weeds pulled out, it’s how you get rocks cleared out of your soil. It is, iron sharpening iron. But we know it’s hard for you to join a group and add another thing into your life when you already have sports, and activities you’re involved in. We will continue to have connect groups that meet on other nights, but you’ll see how having Connect Groups that occur on Wed. nights is going to be a game changer for lot of people. That’s why the next step is so vital to our plan:
Encounter Kids & Encounter Youth [PUT UP Kids & Youth LOGO’s]
We want to provide an experience for the ENTIRE family, so we are going to be adding a program lots of you will be familiar with, called Awanas in order to take our kids to the next level. We want to intentionally create an environment where we know week to week who to expect and can put some expectations on them. For them to be growing deep in their roots with Jesus. We also are moving our student ministry to Wed. nights and rebranding it Encounter Youth – and REACH on Sunday nights.
Encounter on Wednesday Nights means you and your entire family will be growing in their relationship with God and becoming good soil – moving from “interested church attender” to “active discipled leader”
So, here’s what you need to know
Encounter is Launching Sept. 13.
Encounter will follow the rhythm of the school year.
Encounter Schedule:
5:45-6:15 Meal
6:30-7:45 Encounter Environments (Basecamp, Groups, Kids, Youth)
8:00 Go Home and Live it!
Check out this video, and while you do we are going to pass out some cards to you, we want you to fill these cards out and let us know you are in!
[PLAY ENCOUNTER PROMO]
So, here’s my question,
Are you willing to say “yes” to being good soil?
To standing with us to reach this generation for God and His Kingdom?
Here’s what I want to ask.
In the next few moments, Anthony and the team are going to come out and play our invitation song for communion. I want to ask you to do me a favor, everyone get out your envelopes you got on your way in today. On the count of three we’re all going to open them up! Inside you’ve find a “save my spot” card – we’re wanting to know, who is in to saying yes to this. It’s super simple. you’ll find two cards in there, one is the “save my spot” and the other is a prayer card. We are going to sing a song in a moment. And I’m going to ask if you are willing to stand with us to be good soil in this world and plan on joining encounter that you physically stand with us. I want you to Fill out your card, when it’s ready, I want you to stand up with me and someone will come and grab the card from you and then I want you to worship Jesus…
[SING SONG]
Kent Celebrates – tosses out some shirts to people who are standing
We pray for Encounter.
