Mark 4:1-20 :: “Growing in Christ”

[Music] hey good morning church family so good to be gathered with you here in person and with you online i'm pastor roger and i just want to make sure you get a hearty welcome this morning okay if you don't feel welcome come back and see me i'll welcome you again but no i'm just so glad to see you guys before we get started this morning i just uh i want to tell our online folks that uh before our 11 o'clock service if you happen to want to come to that we're going to shift to indoors as well because it's we're expecting really really high winds and we'd blow away and that would not be good okay so i'm glad you guys the first service are in here nice safe and snug but before we get started let's pray and ask god to really be powerful among us amen all right heavenly father thank you so much for your great love for us thank you for my church family lord that is here to worship you lord here to have an encounter with you and so lord we invite you into our lives lord we open up our hearts we open up our minds lord to what you have for us today father as we worship you we just we realize how worthy you are to be worshiped lord help our focus to stay strong on you this morning we pray in jesus name amen okay austin [Music] i praise all ours faithful and true there is no one stronger [Music] life [Music] the majesty and greatness [Music] there is [Music] is [Music] true [Music] the majesty and greatness [Music] is one is [Music] is the name of jesus [Music] let our creations [Music] salty [Music] our creations so we're gonna sing a new song this morning it is very easy during this time to focus on the evidence that we live in a fallen world it is true we live in a fallen world that has been corrupted and tainted by sin but we also worship a good and holy god gives us the promise of eternal life and he's evidenced that through the holy spirit in us through the blessings that he gives us unconditionally not based on our merits or performance so this song is just about focusing on the evidence that god is [Music] faithful [Music] all throughout history faithfulness beside [Music] in every season from where [Music] all over my life i see your promises help me remember you lead my heart to victory [Music] you are my strength and you always will be [Music] i see the promises [Music] see the cross the empty grave the evidence [Music] the is gray [Music] all over my life [Music] in my life [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is so why should i [Music] fear [Music] [Music] lord we thank you for the evidence that you're so faithful god that you're still here and that you will neither leave us nor forsake us lord help us to see and to cling on to and to live by the promises that we're going to find in your word today thank you jesus and it's in your name that we pray these things and thank you amen amen guys thank you for being here with us on this windy day we're actually going to watch a video real quick just highlighting some of our neighborhood groups [Music] hi church family i'm andrew price this is my wife danielle price and uh we've been going to calvary nexus for now it's been people always ask us it's kind of funny two and a half years i believe two and a half years but when we were going in the beginning almost every week oh you're new here and even still sometimes today people say it and it's wonderful though because over time we've made some incredible relationships yeah including our small group which we um we started going to i think like a few months after we started coming to calvary nexus so it took us some time to find a group that fit us we definitely found people that we could talk with and pray with and felt comfortable around especially during this time of covid and the pandemic everything is all up in the air and ever changing but our small group was was there and we met weekly still even though it was different but we knew we had a group to rely on and lean on in challenging times so if we needed prayer for something if we just needed someone to talk to and they were there and available and meeting weekly was definitely helpful in that time too just to remember god is there for like a better term for us growing up in the church it's at this point the healthy blend of different people different ages whether they're married single kids no kids we have a lot of that in our small group so we get to hear unique different perspectives perspectives that you know you may not be able to hear if you were just in the same age and the same spot in life and that's really really helped us grow as a married couple as well as christians so um there's stuff about the scripture that some people can pull out and they'll talk about and it hits me differently just because i never thought of it in that way and that's a really really wonderful thing so um yes we met in small group and uh that's how actually you know that's how we met so it's kind of funny not everyone's gonna find their spouse in small group but we did so anybody who hasn't found one and you want one and they're looking to get married you might find oh my goodness the spouse's small group you might not it's okay that's it well we we love you guys and hopefully we can see you guys in person very soon and meet more of you um so yeah get involved in a small group yeah yeah anything you want to know like come and talk to us we're more than happy to tell you about our small group and maybe other experiences or we can help point you and direct you as to whether it's jeremy or any of the pastors on staff to help people with small group it's it's a great experience and we definitely recommend it to anybody who wants to connect with calvary yes [Music] good morning what an endorsement for neighborhood groups there found true love um andrew and danielle are actually here this morning if you just want to give a little wave yes so you were right when you said hopefully we'll see you soon because you're seeing everyone now and you're here and so it's good to have all of you here this morning my name is jeremy adam i'm the community life pastor here at calvary nexus and i have the privilege of walking you through our program announcements if you got one of these paper programs on your way in that's awesome you can follow along if you did not you can follow along on the calvary nexus app which you can download and the program announcements are there as well um one of the things that i wanted to bring to your attention this morning is that we do have kids ministry we have kids church that's going on on sunday mornings during our 11 o'clock service and so if you have kids anywhere from 18 months up through elementary we would love to have you stop by the kids table and check them in and then there's a toddler room for those who are between the ages of 18 months and three and a half years and then there is a kid's church for everyone in elementary age beyond that and so uh yeah it's exciting it's fun we have a lot of kids out there that are enjoying the service and they're able to get a little bit from our children's ministry team and it's just it's been amazing so also if you are a nursing mother and would like to utilize the nursery during the service um that is uh available for you and so um that's a place where you can go you can watch the service and have your privacy if you need that space as well so that's available during this service and also during the 11 o'clock service our mission spotlight for this morning is pastor jose luis and cindy posina and they are church planters in tijuana and uh they have an incredible ministry where they actually have the opportunity yes to to do church and have community there but also um they feed children uh who wouldn't otherwise have meals throughout the day and so it's a really really cool ministry and i'm gonna do my best at pronouncing this but if you would like more information on them you can check out their facebook page at gracia del calvario vista de valle i'm still learning my spanish words i'm sorry i'm doing my best um so uh you can check them out on facebook another thing that we have coming up is our blood drive that is on march 7th it's right here in the sanctuary it's a sunday uh ventura county is in a blood shortage right now so if you would be willing to that would be an amazing way to help out our community and to love our neighbors around us is by donating blood you can go to bloodforlife.org and when it asks for a sponsor you can just put in calvary nexus there are appointments there from 12 o'clock noon until 3 30. so if you have that uh time available we'd love to have you support the community in that way on the following sunday march 14th we have our night of worship our night of worship is going to be outdoors at the back of our campus it's going to be from 6 o'clock to 7 30 and we're going to gather together for an incredible night of worship that will be capped off with some mr softy ice cream and so uh we would invite you to invite everyone else that you know any of your family or friends or neighbors or anyone in your community they are all welcome to come out uh sing some songs and worship to the lord and then enjoy some time with each other eating ice cream what better night could there be so i would invite you to invite others to that event as well again that's on march 14th um if you don't know us here at calvary nexus we are a movement of jesus followers devoted to loving god and loving neighbors and one of the primary ways that we do that is exactly how andrew and danielle were talking to us in the video this morning which is in our neighborhood groups and i want to highlight two groups we have a new one that is just forming they haven't even actually met for the first time but it is going to be a calvary nexus hiking group and that's going to be on the second saturday of every month and so the first one will be on march 13th um they're going to be doing a hike in ojai if that is something that you are interested in uh please reach out to josephine liu or you can reach out to me and i'm happy to help you get plugged into that group as well but it's exciting they're going to do it once a month go on a hike on saturday mornings they're going to pray at the beginning and the end of their hikes and there's going to be a biblical encouragement before the hike as well so i would just invite you guys to check it out it's going to be cool and if you like hiking it's a beautiful place to hike those hikes are going to rotate each month and josephine will let you know if you're interested where that hike will be it's at 8 30 in the morning on march 13th the next neighborhood group that i want to highlight is the palmer's neighborhood group can you guys just give us a wave austin and mindy they are both on staff here at the church but they've started a neighborhood group in their home in mission hills and they meet on tuesdays from 6 30 to 8 30. so if you are looking to get plugged into a neighborhood group and you aren't yet um you could have an amazing story and testimony just like uh andrew and danielle price and the palmers would love to have you join their group if you are interested in looking so those are our program announcements for this morning we're going to transition into a time of giving online and also submitting your prayer requests online as you probably know there are hundreds of people that would love to go before the lord on your behalf so if you have a prayer request or if you know of someone in your family or your life that we can lift up in prayer just take a moment right now on the app you can click the connect tab and you can submit those prayer requests so i just invite you to do that right now brings us down in the morning all right uh would you join with me in prayer heavenly father thank you so much for this morning thank you for this time for us just to gather together to come before your throne in worship this morning god i want to thank you so much for the opportunity that we have just to submit our prayer requests to one another so that we can go before you so that we can lift up our brothers and sisters in christ so that we can uh whatever is going on in life we can bring those things before you you are our god who cares deeply about every little detail in our lives so lord we thank you for that privilege we thank you also for this this chance this morning just to to bring our tithes and our offerings before you lord um genuinely we want to give from a cheerful joyful heart god and so i just pray that uh all of our tithes and our offerings would be used in ways to advance your kingdom in mighty ways here in this community god we're excited that your spirit is working in this community lord we thank you for this morning and this opportunity that we have to open up your word god we don't just want to come into this place this morning and leave having just gone to church because it's the right thing to do but we want to be stirred by your spirit this morning through the preaching of your word so god we ask that you would move in a mighty way that you would transform us and that we would leave this place so that we can go out and love our neighbors in this community lord we love you and we thank you it's in jesus name we pray amen all right grab your bibles we are going to continue in our series in mark we're in chapter four uh and would you please give a warm welcome to our teaching pastor this morning which is pastor bruce zachary [Applause] hi guys it is so good to see you all in 3d and for those of you watching and 2d it is good to welcome you in as we look to engage together do me a favor if you haven't already turn to the gospel of mark chapter 4 mark chapter four as you're turning there how many of you remember maybe as you were growing up or as your children were growing up that experience of taking the kids to the door jam maybe on a closet and marking their height for their birthday just to show a hands those of you online get your hands up in the air like you just don't care all right so i had this experience yesterday so excuse me for those of you who don't know i i like to ride a single gear bicycle that's been my jam for a while and going up hills on a single gear bicycle has some challenges so i finally got to a point where i thought okay i'm going to look for a bike that has gears and so it wasn't a humbling thing it was a kind of fun thing but to get a bike that fits you have to have a measurement and to figure out height now it's humbling for me to figure out height and it's even worse because i realized at this stage in my life i actually shrank a little and i just don't have that much margin for error and so to be standing at the door jam well my wife is measuring my height and to contemplate this idea of shrinking oh my well as you contemplate the idea of your physical growth you know as a child it is fun every year to at your birthday mark off your height and see how you're growing through the years but to contemplate in regard to the spiritual realm whether we're actually growing or perhaps we're shrinking that in the spiritual realm that we have the advantage that we can keep growing in mark chapter 4 in the first 20 verses jesus teaches the parable of the soils it is a message about how we receive the word of god and four typical responses are described but only one the good soil represents true spiritual growth that reflects maturity and produces contentment and glorifies god as we bear spiritual fruit as a result of our connection with him what i want to encourage you about today is to experience spiritual fruit from receiving god's word and growing in christ that you'll experience contentment so let's take a look together i'm going to read the first eight verses mark chapter four and again he began to teach by the sea and a great multitude was gathered to him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea and he taught them many things by parables and said to them in his teaching listen behold a sower went out to sow and it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air came and devoured it some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth but when the sun was up it was scorched and because it had no root it withered away and some seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no crop but other seed fell on good ground and it yielded a crop that sprang up increased and produced some some sixty and some a hundred let's pray father i pray that as we hear your word that our hearts would be soft to receive it and in receiving it lord that we would apply it in our lives and that by your spirit you would produce fruit in our lives and we would bear that fruit that we would experience all the contentment of spiritual maturity that you would be glorified as that fruit would be displayed father do what only you can do in this place teach us and transform us for we pray this now in jesus name amen the subject we're talking about is the parable of the soil says you're taking notes the subject is the parable of the soils and really the object i believe god intends for us is that we would receive god's word and grow receive god's word and grow and the first idea that we're going to consider here is that jesus plants a seed and here we're going to see four typical responses to the gospel and god's word that jesus plants a seed so we're told in verse one that the multitudes again are coming to jesus there at the galilee and as the crowds are pressing in you can just imagine this scene of hundreds of hundreds or thousands of people gathering there at the galilee jesus doesn't have an amplifier doesn't have a microphone doesn't have a bull horn and to effectively communicate to all the people that are gathered he gets into a small boat and goes just a little way off the shore the multitude are at the edge of the sea or the lake there at galilee and jesus is using the natural acoustics to amplify his voice as he addresses the multitudes that are gathered there he's going to teach them many things we're told at verse 2 by parables a parable you may want to note is simply an earthly story that comes alongside to explain a spiritual truth and he begins his teaching at verse 3 with this admonition this exhortation in our english bibles we see it as an exclamation he declares to them listen he's calling us to pay attention he's bidding us to enter in to engage with him and to understand what he's going to tell us is critical to our understanding about god and our growth in christ and so whether you're gathered in this sanctuary or watching online i pray that we would stay engaged with jesus and listen he begins his teaching by talking of a sower it's an agrarian image that would be incredibly familiar to that culture the idea of a farmer in that day sowing seed if you imagine having a large bag slung across your shoulders and inside the bag is seed grain and as this farms were plowed as the fields were plowed and preparing for the new seed that would be sown the farmer would simply sow by hand that method of sowing seed continues in much of the developing world world today so it would be a very familiar image and jesus uses this imagery in this parable of the sower or the soils and he describes four kinds of soils and i just want to go over them quickly because we're going to revisit them later in a little more detail so we see here first there's this hard soil or the pathway and so as you imagine the area of the farm where people walked in the land was compressed and hardened it hadn't been turned up by the plow that is the hard soil or the pathway we're seed with some there was a second type of soil that was described there and that was rocky soil so it has this thin layer of dirt and then underneath is rock if you get to israel and i hope and pray that each of us do in this lifetime and when you get to israel what you'll discover is this is typical uh one of the things that the fields of israel grow more than anything else is rocks i mean there's just rocks everywhere and they've done an amazing job of dealing with it when you get to israel you see what a fruitful abundant land it is but this is an obstacle and we'll talk about it more the third saw is described as thorny soil so if you imagine seed is growing up and then weeds or thorns choke out that plant before it has an opportunity to produce good fruit and then the fourth type of soil that describes it verse 8 is good soil it produces a yield that's described as 30 fold 60 fold or a hundred fold which is atypical normally if you plant seed in the ground the type of return that you would see in that culture would have been about eight times and so whether it was 30 or 60 or 100 it's pointing to this super natural increase what i want you to see with me here is that the seed is perfect but the growth depends on the type of soil or the response the seed is perfect but the growth or the yield depends on the type of soil or the response now here as the multitudes are gathered jesus is not impressed and it's like oh wow look at all these people coming to hear me what he's really interested in is fruit not fans i'd encourage you to write that down jesus wants fruit not fans he wants fruit not fans which brings us to our second point jesus test the soil just test the soil here we're seeing the reason for the parables at verse 9 and he said to them he who has ears to hear let him hear but when he was alone those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable and he said to them to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of god but to those who are outside all things come in parables so that seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them jesus is testing the soil here and the test is simply this do you want to grow in your relationship with god and i i would encourage you to write that down do you want to grow in your relationship with god so jesus has been addressing multitudes and as he's been speaking to the multitudes to the crowds he ends this sermon with this thought of the good soil and then as he has stopped people have walked away and somebody could you imagine if moments ago i said to you okay so that's the four types of soils and you guys are free to go god bless you but if you want to hear more you can stay and putting aside some of the social awkwardness of being gathered in a room and you're looking to other people for cues on what to do or if you're watching online you think well you know i guess that's it so i got the rest of the day for myself today i'm out and you try to imagine that is in effect what jesus is doing he's saying those of you who want to hear more and understand and grow stay tuned come back after the intermission and those of you who are done you you've had enough you've so to speak have fulfilled what you perceive as your religious duty you've checked the box i'm good you're free to go it's an interesting thought to contemplate and so we're told that the 12 and others who are following him so we've got the the 12 referencing the apostles that normally we talk about as the disciples but we recognize that there were others following him others who were seeking to learn from him to be apprenticed by jesus who were followers of jesus or disciples of jesus and in verse 10 it's like lord that was great what does it mean in other words we don't understand what this parable was all about i mean it was great the farmer the birds of the air the four kinds of soil and 30 60 100 fold inca that's fantastic but what does it mean you ever have those feelings where you're reading the word of god or you're watching a sermon or listening a sermon or you're at church it's like this is great what are they trying to say i i don't get it and so god is so gracious in this so jesus begins to explain in verse 11 to you has been known the mysteries of the kingdom of god so whenever we see the term mystery in the new testament we tend to think in our culture of like some murder mystery who done it plain clue you know and it was colonel mustard in the library with the lead pipe that's the way we think culturally mystery as it's described in the new testament is something that was in the old testament but it was veiled it was somewhat nebulous and in the new testament it is made abundantly clear so in the old testament we have an understanding that when christ comes that he's going to set all things in order but we see two pictures in the old testament we see a picture of a suffering messiah who gives his life to reconcile god to man and we see a second picture of a triumphant messiah who establishes all things restores all things and redeems and renews all things and makes things better than it was at eden and from our vantage point looking back at the cross 2000 years we can see the same messiah in a first coming and then the second coming that is still yet to be and in between is one phase of the kingdom of god where god is reigning and ruling in the hearts and the minds and the wills of men and women and so jesus is saying this picture in the old testament people wondered well is are we going to have a triumphant messiah or are we going to have a servant sacrificial messiah and it's both and and that mystery has been made clear to us that god is establishing a group of people through faith in him who have yielded their life to christ who are now subject of the kingdom not only jews but jews and gentiles all of humanity who will receive christ that mystery is being made known to all those who want to know god who want to be known by god and who want to make god known to others and then jesus would go on quoting from isaiah chapter 6 at verses 11 and 12. he says but to those who are outside at the end of verse 11 all things come in parables so that seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand lest they should turn then their sins be forgiven in effect jesus is testing the harp that to those who aren't interested in god that aren't interested in the gospel who don't want to know more and understand god and grow in their relationship with god god is not going to force himself upon anyone and if they don't want to know god then they can close their heart to god and the consequence their sins will not be forgiven they will be separated from god and they will not experience life with god and the joy and the satisfaction and the contentment that god is offering to us so jesus is testing our hearts if you want to know more i'll reveal more and if you don't i'll honor your request and simile for all of us who are engaging online in person the same is taking place do we want to know more or are we content do we truly want to grow in christ or not so we see first of all that jesus plants the seed second that jesus tests the soil now we come to the idea that jesus helps you grow a call to prepare your heart beginning at verse 13 and he said to them do you understand this parable how then will you understand all the parables the sower sows the word and these are the ones by the wayside where the word was sown when they hear satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts these likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the word immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves and so they endure only for a time afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they stumble now these are the ones sown among thorns they are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful but these are the ones sown on good ground those who hear the word accept it and bear fruit some 30-fold some 60 and some a hundred full so jesus begins at verse 13 he says don't you understand this and he makes it clear that it is essential that we understand this parable because in understanding this parable all the parables that he's about to teach hinge on understanding this one the parable of the soils the farmer sows the word at verse 14 the seed is the word of god or the bible and then he goes on to explain how people respond and the four types of soil so the pathway at verse 15 represents that hard soil or hard heart then when that seed is sown it doesn't penetrate at all i assume that everyone here has had an opportunity to share jesus and his gospel with friends with relatives people that you work with or people that you go to school with or people that you recreate with who have responded in effect well that's great for you but i'm not interested or good for you but i don't care that hardness of heart that there's no receptivity the seed doesn't penetrate at all the antidote for that type of soil is engaging and slowly preparing the soil befriending and sharing the love of god consistently not simply with our words but with our deeds to demonstrate the love of god and then being prepared as peter would say in first peter 3 15 to give a reason for the hope that lies within you with gentleness and with respect so in this first type of soil this hard soil satan the enemy of men's soul snatches the seed the word of god before it has a chance to even germinate let alone bear any fruit so the second type of soil is described as stony ground or shallow the stony ground or a shallow heart the seed as you imagine in the springtime the seed is sewn and you've got this thin layer of top soil but the the conditions there in the mediterranean are warming up that seed begins to germinate and now it begins to sprout and it is starting to grow and it looks like this can be so promising and then the hot summer of the mediterranean comes and as that hot supper hot summer comes because that seed has no deep root that's going on beyond this shallow layer it withers and jesus likens this to what happens when someone receives the word of god and they start off man they're so excited and i love this experience i love seeing somebody i even jump up i get excited about it my voice goes up an octave and you see someone receive christ on a sunday they're super excited they have had the experience where they have been moved by god's spirit to pray to receive christ they have the assurance that their sins have been forgiven they've received an experience with the holy spirit a spiritual birth they're excited you can almost sense it in a palpable way just how excited they are and how passionate they are and then they go to work on monday they encounter their family on sunday evening they go to school on tuesday and they start to share their experience and they're confronted and they're opposed and because there was no root there to support this growth they just wither they fall away it's heartbreaking they never get the chance to produce fruit now it doesn't have to be simply that result of 72 hours it can be someone who professes and receives christ but they've never grown and got a deep root and then they're confronted sometimes we could be confronted in our culture for example if you're a student at high school university and you're being challenged for your faith on campus if you're being challenged by your biblical worldview by friends who don't share a biblical worldview perhaps it's a challenge in regard to a biblical view regarding sexuality a biblical worldview regarding marriage and people who have adopted the values and the morals of the culture that are very contrary to god's ideal who are thinking that wow this seems to be a popular opinion especially in a jurisdiction such as ours and you're feeling a sense of opposition you're feeling a sense of persecution you're feeling perhaps i don't want to be seen as someone who's a hater or whatever other perception is the concern and because your faith isn't deeply rooted you feel a sense of the persecution the opposition and you just find yourself being silenced find yourself being less influential less effective and and to encourage you the antidote for that situation is to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your lord and savior jesus christ so that you are prepared to respond to those challenges that opposition that persecution whether it's coming from well-intentioned or poor intentioned people that in engaging my culture i recognize that a biblical worldview regarding sexual intimacy regarding sexual identity gender identity regarding marriage and regarding the role of sexual intimacy and being preserved for marriage may not be culturally a popular idea at this precious cultural moment and yet i've got no problem defending why god's way is better i have no problem in communicating that god's ideal of intimacy for two people to come together and enter into a covenant relationship where they are committing to love one another that that commitment is ultimately a choice it's more than a feeling there there are many moments for sure when my wife wakes up and looks at me and thinks gosh i don't love him right now or at least she doesn't feel that way and i imagine that each of you has had that experience where you may not feel that emotion of love there's nothing like morning breath to give you that feeling love is a choice and for two people to experience unity to understand that all the sexual behavior that we would have outside of the marriage relationship is an obstacle to us experiencing intimacy with god as well as intimacy with another human being and that activity also has consequences on other people's ability to have that experience of intimacy with god and intimacy with another human being and the unity the oneness that god wants to create in our marriage relationship is a picture of his relationship with the church and as pleasant and as comforting as any other sexual experience may be for a moment it becomes an obstacle to experiencing god's exalted pinnacle view of unity that comes through a marriage that honors god so i have no problem in trying to so to speak discuss that with someone who has another worldview because my faith has been rooted in christ not because i'm a theologian or a pastor it's simply understanding and it's available to all of us as followers of christ similarly you can experience opposition within the body of christ in a politically polarized and a culturally polarized nation that we live in if you have a biblical worldview you're going to understand that god wants you to care for the poor we who live in the united states we who live in the developed world the western world when you contemplate how much resource that you have compared to 40 of the people on the planet who exist on two dollars u.s a day jesus says to us if you're my followers you're going to care for the poor you recognize that you can be confronted with those who are claiming to be followers of christ well that's the government's job that's not jesus followers job that's not what jesus said he didn't say look you just watch out for yourself nero's going to take care of the poor somebody if you understand the biblical world view regarding social justice god wants to do the right thing god wants people who are oppressed who are marginalized to be cared for and to be restored and to be treated with dignity you understand a biblical worldview regarding immigration god loves refugees and wants to be careful the decision on immigration from a political standpoint is for politicians the decision on immigration from a biblical worldview to love people who are suffering as refugees is not a political issue it is not a cultural issue it is a biblical issue and if you're going to engage and experience opposition to that position from people who identify themselves as christians you're going to have to be rooted or you're going to be silenced and i want to encourage you the antidote for this rocky soil is simply removing the rocks and preparing the soil so that the root can grow deep i used to practice law in the city of van nuys and the building we had had this asphalt parking lot with cinder blocks that would separate from the adjoining property here in an asphalt parking lot with cinder blocks in the city of van nuys were grapevines just mind-blowing somebody had planted grapes they grew up on this cinderblock and you imagine this big cluster of incredibly sweet grapes growing in a parking lot amongst asphalt and cinderblocks in all places van nuys not exactly known as the great growing capital of this great state of ours and you might say to yourself how improbable is that and the moral of this story is despite adversity if there is a deep root there is sweet fruit if there is deep root there is sweet fruit regardless of the adversity the third type of soil the thorny ground or the crowded heart so at verse 18 we we see the sea disowned it is starting to produce a plant that has all the capacity to produce beautiful fruit but there's a problem the cares of this world the desire for comfort and the desire for jesus says things can choke out good fruit now when i was a kid growing up we just got all excited when the ice cream man would come down the street you'd hear the the chime you'd hear that just the melody of the music man coming down the street with the ice cream the kids would run out the license store now i get that way when amazon shows up oh my gosh it's a package it's got my name on it right desire for things you know i recognized as i was sharing with you about looking for a bicycle and just looking online and trying to find something and there's not a lot of options in my size and putting that aside and thinking about is this becoming an obstacle to me spending time with christ now there's nothing wrong with things per se and there's certainly nothing wrong i'm not suggesting that having things in and of itself is bad or wrong what i'm suggesting is all of us need to be more aware of the danger that our desire for comfort in this world the desire for material pleasure the desire for things living for this world rather than living for the world which is to come which hinders us from bearing fruit that's what jesus is encouraging us when karen and i lived in santa ana before we moved to camarillo there was this orange tree in our backyard we got married in the backyard karen was the most beautiful and godly bride ever and i i remember this orange tree that there weren't a lot of oranges on this tree at one point i was thinking maybe this orange tree is just about gone it's it's had its best days it's it's died and talked to a landscaper gardener he said look all you've got to do is to remove the weeds put some nutrition and water and give it a year it'll be fine and after a few months that tree just started to produce the most abundant sweet juicy oranges it used to be my great joy to go out to that tree and just pick the fruit that it was burying it just happens naturally supernaturally that's what orange trees do they bear oranges that tree wasn't sitting in the backyard like oh bruce is coming tomorrow better get another orange out it just does it it just happens supernaturally naturally you don't have to produce fruit you don't have to strain to produce fruit you bear the fruit and you bear the fruit by guarding against a desire for the love of this world the things of this world and the comfort of this world which brings us now to our fourth soil the good soil or a fruitful heart this at verse 20 is a picture of a true follower of jesus the prepared soil receives god's word and by god's spirit then produces fruit the growth and the production of fruit is evidence that it is good soil it's evidence of spiritual maturity and so how does jesus help us to grow how does jesus help you to grow in john chapter 15 jesus gave an incredible teaching where he likened himself to a true vine and he likened his followers to the branches and he goes on in the first four verses to explain three things that he does so that we can grow first he lifts us up if you humble yourself he will lift you up second he prunes you every branch in me jesus said in john 15 that does not bear fruit he prunes so that it will bear more fruit now i just want to encourage you before we go to the third thing that jesus does pruning pruning is incredibly difficult emotionally it can be very difficult spiritually when god takes something away that you have sought comfort from whether that's a relationship your wealth your health your good looks some of you are thinking i'm talking to you right now whenever god takes something away a job and it is frightening it is disconcerting and the encouragement that i want to share with you is the gardener is never closer than when he is pruning you can fertilize at a distance you can water the distance but to prune you have to get close and when jesus is pruning in our lives he is close third he washes us by the water of his word the water that will continually remove contaminants continually remove things that are an obstacle to growth so what do we need to do to produce good fruit what what must you do to grow so i want to encourage you again in john chapter 15 between verses 4 and 10 you'll see the word that we translate most of our english translations abide 11 times it is the greek word meno it means to dwell with to connect or to abide jesus is talking about the only thing that you need to do check this out there's only one thing you need to do to grow in christ and that is stay connected to jesus if you are in intimate proximity with jesus you are going to bear fruit it will happen supernaturally naturally if you imagine a cluster of grapes and we've all seen these scenes it's so prevalent in california from temecula to napa and beyond we've gone through and seen beautiful growing regions you go through the central valley you see selma california the raisin capital of the world you see large clusters of grapes that are just laying out on brown butcher paper that are just drying in the sun it's an amazing concept to see these glorious clusters of grapes but you know what the difference is between grapes and raisins the connection to the vine raisins are no longer connected grapes are and some of us feel like look at me i'm a big cluster of grapes it's like you were but now you're a raisin and i just want to give you this is not a question of our physical appearance at all this is a spiritual question to be able to look at your friends people that you know that you're in relationship and your group with and you're seeing growing and saying to them man you are a cluster of grapes that's like the highest compliment we pay in christendom and also to be able to say to somebody bro you're starting to look more like a raisin and i'm just telling you this in love no i'm not talking about the crow's feet i heard an interview with mick jagger once they asked him about the wrinkles that he had and he said they were smile lines and the interviewer said nothing could be that funny we're talking in the spiritual realm so what does good fruit look like and so i want to go over characteristics of good fruit with you first christ-like character christ-like character we see in galatians beginning in chapter 5 verse 22 that the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control these are the characteristics of christ and so when you're growing in those christ-like characteristics rejoice you're bearing fruit worship praising god in song in hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15 that desire just to give praise to god in song lifting up your voices sharing a melody in your heart to god making music in your heart that there's something inside of you that has to come out it's not about you singing or i love that song or that's my jam it's just the work of god's spirit that you become a worshiper not only in song but in your obedience to christ spirit prompted giving that we recognize that god has provided all the resources that we have of time talent and treasure and we are moved to be generous people because our god is generous and we're not doing it because someone's twisting our arm or has us in a headlock or making an appeal to guilt or shame or need it is simply a recognition that god you have blessed me and now i want to give to advance your kingdom because the spirit of god is prompting that is fruit fourth evangelism we see in john chapter four the desire to share your faith to see souls one for christ is an example again of fruit spirit prompted good works people who just have a desire to serve god by serving others we're told in colossians chapter 1 verse 10 that this is fruit and then finally unity with other believers james chapter 3 verses 17 and 18. it is the ability to recognize that others in the body of christ as we talked about last week are family and we don't divide over differences typically if you've got a chip on your shoulder it means there's wood higher up those of you who are watching if you weren't able to write all of these down as quickly as i shared them and for those of you here those are available in the sermon study guide that's on our website christ is calling us to bear fruit more than being fans and i want to encourage you unlike the physical realm where our growth chart ends in the spiritual realm you can actually have this hockey stick line of growth how glorious that would be let's be honest with ourselves if we're in a season where there's a rut that's happens if there's a season where we've been up in a valley that happens we don't have to remain there we can choose to receive god's word to seek to apply it in our lives and to live it and have confidence that we are going to bear fruit and so as you look at your life and you see that you're bearing fruit rejoice if certain of these traits are just being magnified in your life fantastic if there's other areas where you say like i'd really like to see god grow me in this area let him know and my encouragement is that as i look out among you as we look to one another that we would be saying grape grape grape be no raisins here amen let's pray father i pray for those who don't know you yet that today would be the day that they respond to your love receive you and receive your word and press in to grow that we might bear fruit and father for so many of us who have just been so challenged during this last year and it just seems that the the growth has been just uh different to say the least would you encourage us you're not mad at us you're not angry you're not upset with us you're just by your spirit reminding us that we can experience spiritual maturity that we can grow that we can bear fruit that we would experience contentment and that we could bring glory to you help us now i pray in jesus name amen god bless you guys let's uh worship god in song together with austin and chris god bless you amen they just want to remind us communion is available and it's really nice to be able to do that in person now to actually commune with god and each other in actual physical space we get to partake of elements as they're really intended through bread and through the juice of the fruit of the vine so i encourage you just use this time to worship whether that is singing along whether that is praying meditating partaking of communion with each other and with god take advantage of this time [Music] for all of my savior both bruised and crushed show that god god is just [Music] holy sir [Music] what a priceless [Music] have i been given [Music] through christ's crucified [Music] and i was under [Music] the crossing [Music] is [Music] is up across i must confess [Music] us [Music] faithfulness the cross [Music] oh [Music] sweetly broken [Music] so [Music] so [Music] suddenly i'm not afraid [Music] there is [Music] everything you say is life to me i don't wanna miss what words [Music] oh [Music] and i don't wanna miss one words you speak cause everything you say is like to me [Music] and i don't wanna miss what words you [Music] speak [Music] jesus [Music] i trust you jesus i don't wanna miss one word to speak cause everything says life to me i don't wanna miss what words you see my heart i'm listening [Music] i don't wanna miss one words you speak [Music] cause everything you say is life to me i don't wanna miss what would you speak [Music] everything you say is life to me i don't wanna miss one word you speak my heart i'm listening [Music] [Music] [Applause] come let us worship our king come let us bow out his feet he has done great things see how his love overcomes me [Music] [Music] [Music] you have done great things [Music] you'll be faithful [Music] for your promises [Music] your freedom awaken the life of jesus [Music] yeah you [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] awakened oh jesus oh god [Music] lord we thank you that it is not on us to produce fruit but just simply to make way for the fruit lord to remove the things from our lives that would choke growth lord help us to do that by your grace help us to do that for the glory of your name help us to do that for the sake of our family and friends who are looking to us to be christ and to put the gospel on display thank you for the opportunity lord through your son through his death and resurrection in jesus name amen amen that was awesome um we've got i'm pretty sure we've got refreshments right yeah we've got refreshments going on please just fellowship with one another enjoy one another's company have a great week [Music] my face my head has been lifted [Music] sleep [Music] all of this joy in my heart is greater [Music] is [Music] the river of god [Music] there is no greater relief than knowing in christ all my joys [Music] [Applause] peace [Music] in peace my joy is contained in peace i will rise up and sing in peace i will lift up my hands [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] is [Music] good decree [Music] set me free to follow you in is you by the [Applause] way [Music] me [Music] you

Channel: Calvary Nexus

Views: 183

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Nexus, Gospel, Mark, Bruce Zachary, Camarillo, Church, Online

Id: oYKPyPUDFkk

Length: 88min 11sec (5291 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021