SUNDAY LESSON, 9/24/23
THE SOILS: RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL
Matthew 13:18-23
Last Sunday I began a two-part series on “THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER” as we prepare to reach out to our neighbors with the gospel of Christ. My emphasis Sunday was on “the Sower” spreading the seed of God’s Word. The Sower, of course, represents you and me and our privilege/responsibility of sharing the gospel wherever we go.
This Sunday my focus will be on “the soils” that represent four different heart-responses to the gospel of Christ (seed of God’s Word). The responsibility of the Sower is only to spread the seed. In turn, our responsibility as followers of Christ is only to spread the gospel with no concern about who hears the Word of God, but only that they hear it and get a chance to either receive it or reject it. Whether or not the seed produces fruit is not in the power of the Sower but only in the seed—the Word of God. We plant and water, and let God do the rest.
MATTHEW 13:18-23:
“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.”
