What Makes Christians Different – Planted By God is the second sermon in our series on the unique life of a Christian. We’re planted by God’s word. God’s word, just like a seed, sprouts by the Spirit’s power and brings life to our lives that were dead in trespasses and sins. Let’s take advantage of the powerful seed of God’s word every chance we get.
Get In The Boat
I can’t say that I’ve ever had this problem, but imagine you’re in a crowd and there are so many people around you that they can’t hear very well. You’re on the shore of a lake and you see a boat sitting on the water. You jump in, push off from the shore a little and – bam – you have created a natural amphitheater! If you’ve spent much time around lakes, you know how quickly and how easily sound can travel over the water.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables,
An Earthly Story
This is the setting for Matthew 13. In this chapter Jesus shares seven different parables with the people. Our text, and it’s explanation, is the first. This Sunday we continue our sermon series – the extraordinary ordinary life of a Christian. We’ve considered how we can keep God above all things – how we can find real spiritual rest – and now we’ll see how we can be planted by God’s word. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. At least that’s the definition I grew up with.
Farmer On The Hill
There are a few dos and don’ts when it comes to parables, but in general they have one point. We can get into a little trouble if we try to pick apart all kinds of meanings – if we go too far connecting dots where God does not. When Jesus picked the illustrations for his parables its quite possible that there was an example that wasn’t just fresh in their minds, but maybe even sitting before their eyes. Might there have been a farmer on the hill by the lake with a bag on his hip casting seed as he walked?
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message, What Makes Christians Different – Planted By God.
https://youtu.be/oGL6SQ-9GLg
Topic(s): EvangelismBook(s): Matthew
Series: What Makes Christians Different
Tag(s): God's Word
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg