Tough Soil
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Today we’re starting a new series called ‘Cultivation.’ It’s called Cultivation, and it’s a 4 week series that’s all about ‘reaching people far from God.’ It’s about reaching people far from God and everybody knows somebody that’s far from God. It’s your family member, your friend, your co-worker, your classmate, your neighbor, the person at the gym or coffee shop. Everybody knows somebody that’s far from God, and this series is about how to reach such people. It’s about how to reach people far from God, especially in a tough soiled city like East Orlando. Our staff’s been studying this topic the past several months, and we want to bring you with us in that study. We want to teach you what we know about church planting, about why it’s so hard to grow a church in East Orlando, and about how to reach people far from God in this tough soiled city we’re in. If you’re a Christian, our hope’s that this series will inform, challenge, and encourage you to reach people far from God. If you’re not a Christian, the very fact that you’re here tells me you’re at least open to learning more about Christianity, possibly even open to drawing near to God. If you weren’t open to it you wouldn’t be here, but you’re here, which tells me you’re at least open to learning more about Christianity, possibly even open to drawing near to God, and in today’s text Jesus is gonna check the soil receptivity of our hearts. He’s gonna check the soil receptivity of all our hearts when it comes to having a relationship with him, and when ti comes to telling those who are far from God about him. Jesus is gonna check the soil receptivity of our hearts. So let’s turn to Mark 4:1-20 and get into it. The title of today’s message is ‘Tough Soil.’ It’s Tough Soil, and tough soil needs cultivation...Tough soil needs cultivation. We need to cultivate the hearts of people far from God, if we want them to hear the message of God.
Context:
Here’s your context. The gospel of Mark was written by a guy named Mark who was a friend and co-worker of two great Christian leaders named Peter and Paul. Mark wrote this gospel during the time when Peter was being executed in Rome, and his purpose in writing this was to tell people about who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and to pass on some of Jesus’ teachings. We’re gonna study one of those teachings now in Mark 4. Mark 4 brings us to a place where Jesus is on a seashore having a beach day, a boating day with his buddies, and all of a sudden he stands up and starts teaching. He starts teaching on a seashore. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Mark 4:1-20 states this, “Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables...” A parable is simply a story that highlights 1-2 particular truths. Usually it’s 1 truth, but sometimes it’s 1-2 truths, and a common mistake people will make is they’ll try to interpret the details of a parable literally. The details of a parable aren’t meant to be taken literally, but the truths a parable teaches are meant to be taken literally. So whenever you see the word ‘parable’ in the bible, it’s a clue to not take that story literally, but instead to ask yourself “What 1-2 particular truths is this parable teaching,” and that’s the question we’re gonna ask of the parable Jesus is about to teach. We’re gonna ask what 1-2 truths is Jesus trying to teach in this text, in this story, in this parable?
Again vs. 2, “And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 ‘Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.” It yielded no grain. Notice that none of the soils yielded any grain. There’s 3 different soils and none of them yielded any grain. Why? Why aren’t they yielding any grain? It’s because this guy just starts carelessly throwing seeds everywhere. He’s starts carelessly throwing seeds on the road, on rocky ground, even on areas with thorn bushes. Man who does that? Who just starts throwing seeds everywhere like that? I’ve heard of people not having a green thumb before, but this guy doesn’t have any thumbs. I mean any good farmer, gardener, botanist, agriculturalist, or horticulturalist knows in order to grow a seed you have to cultivate the soil first. With today’s technology you can grow seeds without soil through hydroponics, but if you’re gonna grow seeds in soil you have to cultivate the soil first. If the soil isn’t cultivated, if it’s not loose enough, then water and air can’t penetrate the soil so micro nutrients can nourish the seed. You need to first cultivate the soil, till the soil, loosen up the soil, especially if it’s considered a tough soil. In Eastern cultures during the time of Jesus the soil was often tough soil, it was often hard soil, so they’d sometimes sow seeds and cultivate the soil after. But this guy doesn’t even do that. He just starts carelessly throwing seeds everywhere and expects the seeds to grow. He’s very careless in his gardening, and as a result the seeds fall on different soils, on tough soils, and they don’t last, they don’t produce a lasting harvest. It’s because tough soils need cultivation...Tough soils need cultivation, including the tough soiled hearts of people far from God...We need to cultivate the hearts of people far from God, if we want them to hear the message of God...But check out what happens next.
Vs. 8, “And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Notice this soil produced fruit, it produced grain. Why? Why did this soil produce fruit and not the others? Why did this soil produce grain and not the others? What made this soil so much different than the other soils? It was good soil...It was good soil...It was good soil, it was loose soil, it was soil that was ready to receive the seeds. Was it cultivated first? It doesn’t say that, it just says it was good soil, it was soil that was ready to receive the seeds. But tough soil, needs cultivation...It needs cultivation... We need to cultivate the hearts of people far from God, if we want them to hear the message of God.
Vs. 9, “And he said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’” He who has ears to ‘hear,’ let him hear. In vs. 13-20 we’re gonna learn Jesus is talking about the gospel, he’s talking about letting people hear the gospel, and what I want you to notice is that he says people need to ‘hear’ the gospel. They need to hear it, meaning somebody has to speak it. In order for someone to hear the gospel, somebody has to actually speak the gospel. We can’t hear something that’s not spoken, and I know some of you’ve heard the phrase ‘Preach the gospel use word’s if necessary’ but it’s a lie. It’s an oxymoronic lie because preaching requires words. Preaching without words is like saying you’re gonna eat vegetarian meatballs and drink non-alcoholic beer...Its like saying watching the Dallas Cowboys get beat is ‘awfully good.’ No it’s not. It’s not awfully good, it’s just good...It’s like a pastor saying at the end of their message “I’ve got one final point...’ It’s not true! None of it’s true. It’s all a bunch of oxymoronic lies, and preaching without words is an oxymoronic lie because preaching requires words. It’s not preach the gospel use words IF necessary, it’s preach the gospel and use words because words ARE necessary. Yet according to a recent study done by LifeWay research not many evangelical Christians are using their words to share the gospel anymore. They said even in the most evangelistic denomination in America, the Southern Baptist Church, 95% haven’t ever led someone to Jesus, and 92% haven’t ever shared their faith...95% of Southern Baptists haven’t ever led someone to Jesus, and 92% haven’t ever shared their faith. It’s like we’re standing in our holy huddles yelling break, but nobody scatters to run the play. City Awakening we have to run the play, we have to share the gospel. 95% of churches in America aren’t growing by conversions, they’re growing by church transfer. That’s not disciple making, it’s disciple shifting. It’s disciple shifting and we have to get back to disciple making, we have to get back to sharing the gospel and using words, because words are necessary. We can’t expect people to know about Jesus, if we’re not willing to talk about Jesus.
Now look I can appreciate people who say we should preach the gospel and use words if necessary, because what they’re basically saying is we need to show the love of the gospel, and they’re right. We need to show people the love of the gospel. We need to be both a proclamation and a presentation of the gospel in our city. It’s a both/and thing not an either/or thing. In fact it’s your presentation that can lead to the receptivity of your proclamation. ...It’s your presentation of the gospel, it’s your loving actions towards others that can lead to the receptivity of your proclamation of the gospel. Love is your greatest apologetic as a Christian, and it’s your love that becomes the work of cultivation...It’s your love that becomes the work of cultivation, and the tougher the soil, the harder the person’s heart, the more love and cultivation it might require. I remember it took me 6 months of getting to know a guy before I was finally able to share the gospel with him. His heart wasn’t ready yet. His heart needed 6 months of cultivation, but eventually I was able to share the gospel with him and he received it. The harder the heart, the harder the soil, the longer it might take for them to be receptive to the gospel. There’s no specific timeline on sharing the gospel, but eventually there needs to be a time when we actually share the gospel. Eventually your presentation, your cultivation, needs to turn into a proclamation. Jesus said “he who has ears, let them hear.” Who do you know that has ears, that’s ready to hear? ...Who do you know that has ears, that’s ready to hear?..Who’s heart have you been cultivating that’s ready to hear the gospel either proclaimed by you, or by our church, which you can give them an invitation to come to?..Jesus says “he who has ears, let them hear.” Let’s go to vs. 13.
Vs. 13, “And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.’” He’s talking about the bible, he’s talking about the gospel. He’s saying the sower sows the seed which is the bible, it’s the gospel. The sower is anyone who sows the seeds of the gospel, it’s anyone who proclaims the gospel.
Again vs. 14, “The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Again I want you to notice it’s only the ‘good soil’ that’s able to ‘bear fruit.’ The other soils couldn’t bear fruit. It’s only the ‘good soil’ that was able to ‘bear fruit.’ So what’s Jesus teaching us? What 1-2 truths is Jesus teaching us in this parable? He’s teaching us 2 truths and here’s the first. It’s to check our hearts...It’s to check our own hearts, to see which type of soil we are. Are you like soil 1 not really interested in the gospel? You’re more of a cynic, a critic, a skeptic of the faith, and completely disinterested in the gospel? Are you like soil 1?..Are you like soil 2, you’re interested in the gospel, but as soon as trials come, as soon as something bad happens in your life you start hating God, blaming God, even run away from God? Is that you, are you soil 2?..Are you like soil 3, you’re very interested in the faith, attend the church, participate in some of the activities in the church, play the part of church really well, but you’re not really a Christian you’re a nominal Christian, a cultural Christian, and you have a greater interest in cash and worldly cravings than you do Christ? Are you soil 3?..Or are you soil 4, you’ve received the gospel, you’ve kept the faith, you’ve withstood the weeds and thorns of life, and you’re producing lasting fruit? Are you soil 4?..Which soil are you?..Which soil are you?..Only one soil can be considered Christian and it’s soil 4, it’s the only soil that produced fruit. We’re not talking about seeing the fruits of our labor like I mentioned last week, we’re talking about seeing personal fruits, personal growth in our love for God and others. A fruitless Christian is just another oxymoron, and if you’re truly a Christian, you’ll show signs of fruit, signs of growing in your love for God and others. Are you bearing fruit?..Are you bearing fruit?..Which soil are you?..Jesus tells us to check our hearts.
The 2nd truth Jesus teaches us is we need to proclaim the gospel, but the receptivity of the gospel will vary based upon the soil...We need to proclaim the gospel, but the receptivity of the gospel will vary based upon the soil...I mean think about it, all 4 soils received the exact same gospel seed, but only 1 soil produced fruit. That means the issue isn’t with the seed it’s with the soil...If they all received the exact same gospel seed, then the issue isn’t with the seed it’s with the soil. The issue isn’t in the gospel’s ability to save, it’s in the soil to receive. I mean we can stand on street corners with megaphones yelling at people all we want, but if the soil of their hearts aren’t ready to receive they’re not gonna receive the gospel. Jesus isn’t teaching us to carelessly scatter gospel seeds everywhere like the guy in the parable hoping it’ll save people. He’s teaching us to recognize the different soils that exist in our city so we know how to reach them with the gospel. So here’s what I want to do. I want to give you 4 things, just 4 things to keep in mind as we approach our 1 year birthday as a church, as we continue cultivating hearts in this tough soiled city we’re in. East Orlando’s considered to be a tough soil, and so I want to give you 4 things to keep in mind as we continue cultivating in this tough soiled city we’re in.
#1 Identify The Soil = We need to learn to identify the soil in people’s hearts and the soil of the cities we’re in. When you know the type of soil you’re dealing with you’ll know how much cultivation is needed. Jesus teaches us there’s different kinds of soil and some soils, some hearts are gonna be more receptive to the gospel than others. Some soils, some people, some cities are gonna need more cultivation than others. East Orlando’s one of those cities that’s gonna need a lot of cultivation compared to the bible belt. I have a buddy of mine who planted in the bible belt and his church is blowing up. They put out a street sign and about 500 people showed up. It’s a city that has good soil. But we’re not in the bible belt we’re in the dirty south, which means we’re less like a belt and more like the tight roles on Zack’s skinny jeans...We’re not the bible belt, we’re the steel tip on a steel tip boot. Steel’s hard, but it gets scuffed up when it’s on the tip of a boot. A lot of people in East Orlando have been scuffed up by Christians and the church. They don’t hate Christians and the church, they’ve just been scuffed up and hurt by Christian’s and the church. People in Orlando are more willing to talk about their faith, than they are to attend a church. That’s why we have to go to the people, instead of expecting the people to come to us. It’s why we have to spend more time cultivating hearts, compared to if we were in the bible belt. So identify the different soil of the people you’re trying to reach who are far from God, and if they’re receptive to hearing the gospel, share the gospel. If they’re not receptive, start cultivating, because tough soil needs cultivation, and God invites you to play a part in that cultivation process. He invites you to cultivate tough soil. Learn to identify the different soils.
#2 = Cultivate The Soil, Don’t Compare The Soil = Cultivate the soil, don’t compare the soil. One of the mistakes Christians make is we’ll compare churches. We’ll be like, “Why is that church blowing up and this one isn’t? Why is that church growing and this one isn’t?” But we can’t do that. We can’t compare different churches because every soil, every context is different. Even something as little as 5 miles can make a difference. For example a large church in Virgina called New Life said anything they planted south of their campus thrived, but anything they planted 5 miles north of their campus, struggled. The difference, was the soil...It was the soil... The communities 5 miles north of their campus were less receptive to the gospel than the one’s south of their campus. They used the exact same approach to planting for each, but anything 5 miles north of the campus struggled. Sound familiar to the parable we just studied? I mean Jesus said the guy used the exact same approach for each soil, the exact same gospel seed was sown for each soil, yet only one soil was able to bear fruit. The difference was the soil. It sounds crazy, but even something as little as 5 miles can mean the difference between one church blowing up and another struggling. It depends on the city’s soil receptivity. A couple months ago I was talking with a buddy of mine Pastor Cam Triggs who’s planting Grace Alive in West Orlando next month. He said West Orlando seems to be receptive especially in Pine Hills. He said Pine Hills is practically begging churches to plant there, to the point where they’re offering building spaces to churches. Compare that with our context in East Orlando, we couldn’t even get realtors to call us back on building space. As soon as they found out we were a church, they wouldn’t call us back. We’re talking just a 30 minute difference between East and West Orlando, yet that 30 minutes can make a lot of difference when it comes to church planting. It depends on the soil. The purpose of planting a church isn’t to compare churches, it’s to cultivate and evangelize cities. So let’s identify the soil, let’s cultivate the soil, but let’s not compare soils.
# 3 = Invest Your Time And Resources = Be willing to invest your time and resources to helping us cultivate this city. Invest your time by serving in the church, invest your time by cultivating a few hearts outside the church, and invest your financial resources to the church so we can keep the cultivation process going. Most new churches don’t die in the first 3 years, they die in years 4-5. It’s because that’s when the external financial support stops coming in. It stops coming in after years 4-5, and if the church hasn’t reached self-sufficiency by then, they die. It’s one of the reasons why East Orlando’s considered a church planting graveyard. It’s because so many churches come here to plant, but they can’t reach self-sufficiency by that 4-5 year mark. In a tough soiled city like Orlando it takes more time and resources to cultivate. We’re off to a great start as a church now, but we still haven’t reached self-sufficiency. So invest your time and your financial resources, so in 4-5 years we don’t end up with a City Awakening tombstone.
#4 = Give It Time = Give the cultivation process time. This entire process of cultivation takes time, and it doesn’t always have immediate pay off like other contexts might have. There’s a lot of weeds and thorns you have to navigate through in a tough soiled city, and all of that takes time. I’ll say more about this and even give you some specifics on how to cultivate hearts in the upcoming weeks. But for now, just know the cultivation process takes time, so give it time.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. Tough soil needs cultivation...Tough soil needs cultivation...We need to cultivate the hearts of people far from God, if we want them to hear the message of God...Look I don’t know what type of soil your heart is, but what I do know is for those of you who are far from God, you have a chance to draw near to God. If the soil of your heart was loose enough to come here today, let it be loose enough to receive the gospel seed today. Be willing to repent of your sins, believe Jesus was God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for your sins, and God will draw near to you. He’ll draw near to you. But not only will He draw near to you, He’ll also continue cultivating your heart so it’ll never be the same again, and so your life will always be fruitful. Your life will always be fruitful with Jesus.
As for those of you who are Christians, those of you who are the 4th soil, I leave you with this story. It’s a true story about a missionary named Jim Elliott. “In 1956 Jim Elliott and four other men, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint, attempted to make contact with the violent Huaorani Indians deep in the jungles of Ecuador. They circled the village for months in a little, yellow airplane trying to get a glimpse of the hidden natives. Each time they flew, they dangled a gift at the end of a long string as a peace offering. They even figured out how to make the gift hang above the ground within arm’s reach by flying in concentric circles around the drop site. Eventually the tribesmen not only took the gift, but they returned gifts of their own to the missionaries as well. It was a good sign.
But one day the plane landed on a bank near the edge of the jungle, and the Huaorani killed all five men, leaving their corpses to float down the Curaray River. Tragic? Yes, but not unfruitful. Their death opened a door for their wives to enter the village unharmed, and the wives were able to share the gospel with them. Their wives used the death of their husbands to model the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. The Huaorani people were forever changed by this experience, and many of them are following Jesus today. In fact, the man who killed Nate Saint travels around the world with Nate’s son, telling the story of forgiveness and redemption. It all started with five men in a little yellow airplane, giving peace offerings to tough soiled hearts.”
Now if cultivation’s not our job, then what was that?..If cultivation’s not our job, then what was that?..Like these missionaries, Jesus came to cultivate our tough sin soiled world, and he was murdered in the process of that cultivation. But his death prepared the way for many to be forgiven of their sins, and his cultivation has been bearing fruit ever sense. Our job as Christians is to continue that cultivation process, in this tough soiled city we’re in. Tough soil needs cultivation, so let’s cultivate...Let’s cultivate...Let’s cultivate some hearts in this city, let’s cultivate the hearts of those who are far from God...so they can one day hear the message of God.
#1 Identify The Soil
#2 = Cultivate The Soil, Don’t Compare The Soil
# 3 = Invest Your Time And Resources
#4 = Give It Time
In 1956 Jim Elliott and four other men, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint, attempted to make contact with the violent Huaorani Indians deep in the jungles of Ecuador. They circled the village for months in a little yellow airplane trying to get a glimpse of the hidden natives. Each time they flew, they dangled a gift at the end of a long string as a peace offering. They even figured out how to make the gift hang above the ground within arm’s reach by flying in concentric circles around the drop site. Eventually the tribesmen not only took the gift, but they returned gifts of their own to the missionaries. It was a good sign.
But one day the plane landed on a bank near the edge of the jungle, and the Huaorani killed all five men, leaving their corpses to float down the Curaray River. Tragic? Yes, but not unfruitful. Their death opened a door for their wives to enter the village unharmed, and the wives were able to share the gospel with them. Their wives used the death of their husbands to model the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. The Huaorani people were forever changed by this experience, and many of them are following Jesus today. In fact, the man who killed Nate Saint travels around the world with Nate’s son, telling the story of forgiveness and redemption. It all started with five men in a little yellow airplane, giving peace offerings to tough soiled hearts.