Planting, watering, growing, harvesting
A Christians Gardening Responsibilities.
Focus – What is our responsibility for the growth of the Kingdom and how should we react when people refuse to listen or obey? In particular, loved ones.
Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• What are our three responsibilities according to this charge of Jesus?
• How responsible are we personally for baptizing those we come into contact with?
• How responsible are we for the learning of those we convert?
• How do we know if we are failing at “teaching?”
• Do we have excuses for not spreading the Word?
· “I don't have the gift of evangelism.”
· “I show God by the way I live my life.”
1 Corinthians 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
• What does this say about Christian growth?
• Are people expected to grow on their own?
• Are we expected to teach them?
• What is our responsibility in the growth of the Kingdom?
• Is it a responsibility to the seed or the soil?
• Is it to plant only?
• Is it to water only?
• What is our responsibility for the growth of each individual planting?
Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1 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, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
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 his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
• If they don’t understand the message are we not doing a good job of explaining it?
• How accountable are we for our work with the seed that was sewn along the path?
Matthew 13:5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
• Is this due to a lack of discipling on our part?
• Is there a way we could help them to be better “rooted” in Christ?
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
• How do we intervene such that the thorns do not prevail in the effort of growth?
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
• Can we change the soil?
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
Matthew 13:24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?” 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds *and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
• Who came and planted weeds?
• When did he come?
• What will God do with the weeds?
• What are we to do with the weeds?
• What does this tell us about the soil?
Finally
Mark 4:26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
• Does this tell us anything about the responsibilities that we have and those that God has?
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
A Christians Gardening Responsibilities.
Focus – What is our responsibility for the growth of the Kingdom and how should we react when people refuse to listen or obey? In particular, loved ones.
Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• What are our three responsibilities according to this charge of Jesus?
• How responsible are we personally for baptizing those we come into contact with?
• How responsible are we for the learning of those we convert?
• How do we know if we are failing at “teaching?”
• Do we have excuses for not spreading the Word?
· “I don't have the gift of evangelism.”
· “I show God by the way I live my life.”
1 Corinthians 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
• What does this say about Christian growth?
• Are people expected to grow on their own?
• Are we expected to teach them?
• What is our responsibility in the growth of the Kingdom?
• Is it a responsibility to the seed or the soil?
• Is it to plant only?
• Is it to water only?
• What is our responsibility for the growth of each individual planting?
Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1 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, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
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 his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
• If they don’t understand the message are we not doing a good job of explaining it?
• How accountable are we for our work with the seed that was sewn along the path?
Matthew 13:5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
• Is this due to a lack of discipling on our part?
• Is there a way we could help them to be better “rooted” in Christ?
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
• How do we intervene such that the thorns do not prevail in the effort of growth?
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
• Can we change the soil?
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
Matthew 13:24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?” 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds *and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
• Who came and planted weeds?
• When did he come?
• What will God do with the weeds?
• What are we to do with the weeds?
• What does this tell us about the soil?
Finally
Mark 4:26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
• Does this tell us anything about the responsibilities that we have and those that God has?
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
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