I must have hands. I need your help. I am so worried about offending people that I'm not sticking to the task at hand, and then we get off track and it gets confusing. Part of my responsibility is to keep the study moving, and if I don't require hands, people speak out of turn and we never get through the steps from hearing, to understanding to action.

By the way were any of you experiencing conviction last week? Was God speaking to you through the word as we learned about the rocky soil and the thorns? Conviction like that only comes from hearing the word. You don't just wake up one morning and have conviction. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I've often wondered why there is so little conviction in the church today, but this passage explains it. So few people ever learn to "hear the word" Even at the information level. Did you catch what happened. I didn't even see what was going on until after the third night, because I'm learning about hearing the Word, too. I am not an infallible teacher. I'm just another Christian who is interested in growing and maturing, and God has convicted me that there is a need for Christians to "hear" so I'm in ministry trying to learn to help and challenge people to hear. But did you catch what went on last week. We finally "heard" Matthew. We have heard some other passages, too, since we started, but Matthew 13 was a struggle.

I was not a stickler about it as I said I would be, but I'm learning. We barely made it to application. I would have preferred to have you all write down what you were going to do, but we were out of time. Is there anyone testifying today to what You heard and what You are going to do? If you've truly been convicted of something, and you are going to be the good soil, you haven't anything to lose by gaining the support of the body and telling us what you are doing by the grace of God.

I'd like to talk to you a little more about the whole process of Bible study tonight. We noticed three ways to relate to the Word of God last week that led to good results. What were they?

hear, understand, act

When my brother and I understood ourselves to be the sower, at which stage were we caught? (How do I know we are the hearers, it doesn't say explicitly does it? What about v17. Are we above the prophets and righteous men who longed to hear? v23 The good seed is a man who hears! In the context, what issue is He dealing with? Hearing and doing the will of God! The disciples were just affirmed for doing, the queen of sheba for hearing!) Do you see the difference, by the way, in the way the passage is interpreted depending on how one hears it? Just at the information level! Who can offer a suggestion as to why my brother and I did not put ourselves in as hearers among the different soils?

All of these can be summed up under one category. We were not "hearing" the parable. Even last week we were not hearing it clearly because some suggested that we take this as an indication of how evangelism will work. Another person I talked told me that in telling this story, Jesus has just indicated that only 1/4 of the world will respond to the gospel. Is that Jesus' point? Is it a valid point? Why not? My job as a teacher is to make sure that we are hearing the word. I have failed you miserably as a teacher, if I have not insisted that the word come out with clarity.

The first night we studied, the facts never came out with clarity, and I must apologize because I did not catch it. I couldn't figure out why so many of the applications suggested were to people other than us, but I understand now. Are you beginning to see the importance of "hearing the Word?" This is not a passage about feeling smug in our goodness while the rest of the world goes to pieces. I apologize to you for not catching that as the leader and bringing you back to the word to hear it. Was it easy to understand what the meaning of the passage was when we had not yet heard the facts? Was it easy to do it? The application made much more sense when we had heard and understood correctly!

What habit are many of us in which prevents us from hearing the author. Let me illustrate. Rev 19:13 Whose blood do you think this is? Rev 19:20 is destruction

What are we missing if we are not hearing the Word? Show me that our study has not been in vain! What really are we missing. Yes, but don't stop there. Give us the whole picture. What really are we missing!

There's a statement in GC p655 that always shakes me up when I hear it because of being in ministry.

Paper. Write 1. 2. 3. Are you presently in a regular pattern of "hearing the word?" I'm not talking about the Pastor's sermon here. I mean actually in the Bible hearing it for yourself.

Are you satisfied with that pattern?

If no, what would be the first step to get into a workable pattern?

When will you do it?

Who will testify to what the Word is doing in Your life tonight? This is not a human exercise, so you need not be afraid of human opinions here tonight. This is a matter of the word taking root in you and you're deciding to let it grow. Who's testifying tonight?