Dig Deeper - Sunday 5th October
Sermon Reflection Questions - Harvest Sunday: Seeds of Hope - Growing God's Goodness Together
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 5th October service:
In the Parable of the Sower, we have our farmer sowing the seed (this is God, and He is sowing a message of salvation, love and hope), and we have four different outcomes.
1. Some of the seed falls on the path. The seed can’t be buried in the soil, so it’s exposed, and the birds come down and take it away! That’s like when people hear God’s Word but don’t understand it, and maybe have closed their hearts to it. It stays on the surface and is quickly taken away by the evil one.
2. The next seed falls on rocky ground where there was some soil but also lots of stones. The seed was able to start growing, but it didn’t have enough soil to create good, healthy roots, and it soon withered up and died. That’s like when people hear God's Word, are really happy to hear it, but don’t do anything else! They don’t start growing roots by finding out more, praying, reading the Bible….and their faith just fades away.
3. The seed which falls among thorns and weeds. This seed starts growing too, but the weeds grow quicker and they stop the plant from getting the nutrients it needs, and eventually the plant withers. That’s like when people hear God’s Word, start to grow roots, but then distractions, worries and troubles take over and their faith fades away too.
4. Finally, we have the seed which falls on good soil, takes root, grows well and then produces fruit. We want to be like this! We want to be the good soil that God’s Word is planted in, we want the strong root system, we want to grow and produce fruit!
If we’re not nurturing and cultivating our soil, we can easily end up with our faith fading. But nurturing our soil is not a ‘self-improvement’ project. God is the One who helps us. We can ask Him to help soften our hearts, clear the weeds, and know Him more.
We also need to ask - are we being fruitful? When people come into contact with us, do they see the fruits of the spirit? We’re not called to be a church who grow together here and bears fruit here together - we’re called to go out and be in the community! We’re called to partner with God in sharing His wonderful message of hope and love to a world that really needs to hear it! Just like a farmer can’t control everything when they’re growing their crops, we can’t control how people will respond to the Gospel. We can’t change their soil. We can’t force the seed of faith to grow in their hearts. We just need to be faithful in sowing the seeds and allow God to do the rest.
Discussion & Application Questions:
1. How is the soil of your heart today? Which soil type do you relate to most? Has this changed over time?
2. How can we nurture and cultivate the soil of our hearts?
3. How would you define ‘bearing fruit’? Which of the Fruit of the Spirit do you need to ask God to help you bear more of (Galatians 5:22-23)?
4. How can we be better witnesses for Jesus in our community?
5. Where are you sowing seeds of faith at the moment? Who are you telling? Who are you inviting? Who are you praying for?
Let’s pray:
God, we thank you for the seed of faith which was planted within us - thank you for how you’ve grown it over the years. Please help us partner with you in nurturing our soil and remaining rooted in your Word. We ask that you would help us to bear more fruit…and we pray that the fruit we bear would be visible to those around us. Please help us to have the courage to sow seeds in other people’s lives. When it’s difficult or we’re not seeing the growth we longed and prayed for, help us to continue to faithfully sow and trust you for the growth. In Your name we pray. Amen.
