[This sermon was I read from a Church in Logan, Ohio]
Mike Herman was a Saint Louis Cardinals baseball fan. From the time he was a little boy, he went to ball games hoping that he could catch a souvenir baseball. Grown to adulthood, he’d go to batting practices before games just to have a shot at grabbing a big-league ball.
During one batting practice, Herman got to know a five year old boy named James. James was on the same quest for a souvenir and after a time, Herman found himself telling James “he could have my ball if I caught one.” The promise may have been hollow in light of the fact that Mike Herman had been unsuccessful at retrieving a big league baseball for twenty-eight years! But, five minutes later, Herman explains, “I caught a ball, and yes, I gave it to James.” “I wonder,” Mike Herman asks, “how often God waits to give us something until we are willing to give it away?”
Jesus tells one of His most famous stories. It’s called the Parable of the Sower. A farmer, representing Christ or you and me with Christ working in us, sows or scatters seeds. Farmers planted seeds back in Jesus’ day by simply tossing them everywhere. Even top-notch seeds flung in the wrong places aren't likely to grow.
Some of the seeds flung by Jesus' fictional farmer, He says, fell along a path and birds quickly ate them up.
Other seeds fell onto rocky ground and warmed by the stones, sprouted quickly and died just as quickly for lack of soil depth and the sun being able to fry them, roots and all.
Another bunch of the seeds fell among weeds and thorns. As the thorns grew, they choked the life out of the good seeds.
Finally, one last batch of seeds fell into good soil and Jesus says that they gave yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.
To show you how impressive that is, in first century Judea where Jesus lived, harvests of four- to tenfold were the norm. Harvests yielding fifteen times the seeds sown were considered really great. So, the seeds that landed in good soil in Jesus’ story gave a giant crop!
Later, Jesus explained His story. The seeds are the messages about Him, the good news that, because He died on the cross and rose for us, we can have our sins forgiven and enter a relationship with Jesus and live with Him forever. That happens when we entrust our lives to Him.
First Peter 3:15, says: "Be prepared always to give an account for the hope that is in you, but do it with gentleness and reverence." In other words, 'Don't beat people over the head with the message of Jesus; but never be afraid to share it! Just as it gives life and hope to you, it can give life and hope to others!'
When we commit ourselves to scattering the Word of God, God will orchestrate amazing coincidences that give us the opportunity. We are share Jesus and recklessly scatter [seeds] the message of Christ. I pray that in God’s good grace, I never blow an opportunity to share the message of Jesus.
Keep scattering the seed of the message about Jesus, whether it seems to make a difference or not. Just as you can’t see the ways in which seeds are taking root beneath the soil, we sometimes can’t see the ways in which the Word about Jesus is taking hold and transforming people’s lives.
Resolve to spread the message of Jesus and then trust God to do good things with the seeds you scatter! Be a blessing to others; bless people with the Word about Christ! Let the seed of God's Word grow strong within you by giving it away.
During one batting practice, Herman got to know a five year old boy named James. James was on the same quest for a souvenir and after a time, Herman found himself telling James “he could have my ball if I caught one.” The promise may have been hollow in light of the fact that Mike Herman had been unsuccessful at retrieving a big league baseball for twenty-eight years! But, five minutes later, Herman explains, “I caught a ball, and yes, I gave it to James.” “I wonder,” Mike Herman asks, “how often God waits to give us something until we are willing to give it away?”
Jesus tells one of His most famous stories. It’s called the Parable of the Sower. A farmer, representing Christ or you and me with Christ working in us, sows or scatters seeds. Farmers planted seeds back in Jesus’ day by simply tossing them everywhere. Even top-notch seeds flung in the wrong places aren't likely to grow.
Some of the seeds flung by Jesus' fictional farmer, He says, fell along a path and birds quickly ate them up.
Other seeds fell onto rocky ground and warmed by the stones, sprouted quickly and died just as quickly for lack of soil depth and the sun being able to fry them, roots and all.
Another bunch of the seeds fell among weeds and thorns. As the thorns grew, they choked the life out of the good seeds.
Finally, one last batch of seeds fell into good soil and Jesus says that they gave yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.
To show you how impressive that is, in first century Judea where Jesus lived, harvests of four- to tenfold were the norm. Harvests yielding fifteen times the seeds sown were considered really great. So, the seeds that landed in good soil in Jesus’ story gave a giant crop!
Later, Jesus explained His story. The seeds are the messages about Him, the good news that, because He died on the cross and rose for us, we can have our sins forgiven and enter a relationship with Jesus and live with Him forever. That happens when we entrust our lives to Him.
First Peter 3:15, says: "Be prepared always to give an account for the hope that is in you, but do it with gentleness and reverence." In other words, 'Don't beat people over the head with the message of Jesus; but never be afraid to share it! Just as it gives life and hope to you, it can give life and hope to others!'
When we commit ourselves to scattering the Word of God, God will orchestrate amazing coincidences that give us the opportunity. We are share Jesus and recklessly scatter [seeds] the message of Christ. I pray that in God’s good grace, I never blow an opportunity to share the message of Jesus.
Keep scattering the seed of the message about Jesus, whether it seems to make a difference or not. Just as you can’t see the ways in which seeds are taking root beneath the soil, we sometimes can’t see the ways in which the Word about Jesus is taking hold and transforming people’s lives.
Resolve to spread the message of Jesus and then trust God to do good things with the seeds you scatter! Be a blessing to others; bless people with the Word about Christ! Let the seed of God's Word grow strong within you by giving it away.
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