Matt 13:1-8, 18-23

Read aloud.

The facts starting with the parable's beginning in verse 3:

1.	Who went out?

a.	The sower

2.	To do what?

a.	to sow

3.	Sow what?

a.	Seeds

4.	In what four places did the seed fall?

a.	Path, rocky places, among weeds, good soil (put in chart)

5.	What is soil/ground?

a.	The heart

6.	What is the seed that is sown?

a.	The word of the kingdom

7.	So what does sowing seeds on soil represent?

a.	The word of the kingdom being shared with people's hearts

8.	So what do the four kinds of soil represent?

a.	Four kinds of hearts/hearers

9.	Where do you see yourself in this parable?

I'm not taking responses from people, but what are some of the options? Sower? Soil? My brother and I read this parable once with the girl he later married and her response to it blew me out of the water. She said, "How do I know what kind of soil I am?" I had always assumed that I was the sower! Now I may be given the opportunity of sowing the word of the kingdom, but before I do that I must recognize myself in this parable as my sister-in-law did.

10.	What is the word of the kingdom in this context–go to pearl and treasure.

Facts:

1.	What is the result of sowing in each kind of heart, and the reason for that result, meaning of the word picture as given in Jesus' explanation. (divide into four groups?) Come back telling us result of seed falling on your ground and the reason, then tell us what the explanation is.

place	result	reason, explicit and implicit	explanation: what does it mean to be (soil type)
path	birds came and ate them up	nothing explicit, but implicitly it's due to the hardness of the ground	hardness represents lack of understanding. When there's no understanding the devil takes away the Word that has been given
rocky places	sprang up quickly but scorched by the sun and withered away	explicitly: they had not much soil, and had no root–implicitly because of hardness just under the surface: shallow ground–the problem isn't the sun–that's something they need. But when ground is shallow even what's needed damages, why? Not enough resources.	to be rocky means to receive the word with joy, but to have hardness of heart just below the surface, and not have enough depth to withstand persecution. Persecution is represented by the sun that kills when there's no root–implications? Sun isn't always bad, only if there's no root. Need to know what the root is.
among weeds	thorns came up and choked them out	implied: not enough room for them and the thorns and the thorns were stronger	to be weedy means that in one's heart the worries of world and deceitfulness of wealth (thorns) choke the word of the kingdom out even though the word initially finds a place there
good soil	yielded 100/60/3
0 crop	nothing explicit–implied 'cause soil wasn't too hard, shallow, or crowded, it was broken up, able to receive the seed inside, to let it grow deeply, and to nurture it alone.	being good (receptive) soil means hearing and understanding and producing a crop in multiples of what was sown.

Transition back from pearl/treasure?

Review pearl/treasure quickly and invite people to evangelize each other. You are treasure/pearl.

Let this transition back into the facts (on board)–see what a tragedy if this message never gets beyond the surface of your heart. And why joy is an appropriate response and what a frightening thing if that joy and new life were to fade (some of you can identify with this–I can remember experiencing this in the days when I first realized my value in God's sight). This is why it's such a shame if other things crowd it out–what's being lost sight of? My value–why is it impossible for the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth to coexist in the heart with this Word?–the deceitfulness of wealth is the belief that my worth can be measured in earthly wealth. Why are joy and worry mutually exclusive?

Point is to let this message get in, and continue to find your value in Christ's estimation.

Let's look at the different soils

1.	If you've got to be dirt, what kind of dirt do you want to be?

a.	Fertile dirt, or as the parable says 'good soil.'

1.	What are the three aspects of the good soil's/heart's interaction with the seed/word?

a.	Hear, understand, bear fruit (put in chart)

4 soils	3 Ways of Interacting with the Word of the Kingdom
information	conviction	action
pathy	yes	no	no
rocky	yes	yes	no
weedy	yes	yes	becomes unfruitful
goody	hear	understand	bear fruit

2.	Look at the 3 other soils and decide in your group which of these three ways each one interacted with the word of the kingdom.

3.	Path: What have you received if you heard but did not understand?

a.	Just sounds, raw data with no meaning (dabai namona), I'm going to write in 'information'

4.	Rocky: What does it look like to hear and understand in the parable and explanation, how is this portrayed?

a.	Springs up, receives with joy

5.	So how do you know when there's been understanding?

a.	When appropriate feelings accompany it–you can't get excited about dabai namona if you don't understand it. Now in spiritual circles we use a word to indicate that someone has heard and understood something personally–we say they have experienced conviction. There's no conviction if you don't understand. (add to chart)

6.	But when the sun came out what happened?

a.	Withered

7.	What is strange about that?–this didn't happen to the weedy or good or pathy soil.

a.	Sun is normally good for plants

8.	So why did it wither this one?

a.	No root

9.	What does the sun represent?

a.	Trials

10.	In light of what just came out, what are you telling me about trials?

a.	They are normally good for the heart

11.	Under what conditions?

a.	When the heart has roots in it.

12.	We need to understand what it means to have roots now.

13.	What do roots do for a plant?

a.	Stability and nourishment, so it makes sense if this plant has no roots that it will die if put under stress.

14.	But who cares if the plant dies–what is the plant? What does this plant represent?

15.	Make a list of all the characteristics of the plant that you can see.

a.	Comes from a seed, but it's not a seed anymore–we need to know what kind of seed was planted to know what kind of plant we've got

b.	Lives in soil, but it's life does not come from the soil (where does it come from? The seed, before the seed arrived, how alive was the soil?–not alive at all, but when the seed gets inside the dead dirt, what happens? Life springs up in the soil–who's life? Not the soil's life–the seed's life. What kind of bells are ringing in your head as you hear this?

i.	–creation where God breathed His breath into dead dirt and it came alive–but the life was not from the soil, it was from God.

c.	So what are you telling me about the seed and the plant.

i.	Seed is Jesus and the plant is His life in my heart

ii.	Read John 12:24, Jesus is dying to get into your heart.

d.	What would it mean for that plant to die?

i.	My close relationship with Him, having Him live in my heart would be over.

e.	How possible is that?

i.	Entirely possible, just because I have a relationship with Jesus today doesn't mean I'll have one tomorrow. Persecution might come up and I might fall away.

f.	Can be killed–is not indestructible–whatever this is, it once it is in place it is not guaranteed to survive.

g.	Can be rootless–can be shallow-only let in a little way by the soil because of internal hardness

h.	Can be choked out–can be superseded by other stuff growing out of the same heart

i.	Can grow and bear fruit–reproduces itself

j.	Can bring unheard-of yields

16.	So back to the roots–they're part of this plant. Where are they?

a.	Under ground–out of sight

17.	What do they do for the plant?

a.	Allow it to survive stresses, by nourishing and anchoring it

18.	What are these roots in real life? What is it that nourishes and anchors a person's spiritual life which may not be seen by others.

a.	Studying the Bible, praying, meditating, etc.

19.	Notice all these things are not for the benefit of others, they are matters for my own heart, to make my heart a welcoming place for Christ to dwell.

a.	When was the last time Jesus got a decent meal in your house?

b.	When did you last sit down and talk with Him?

20.	Notice all these roots–into what category do all of them fit?

a.	They're all actions

21.	So, what is it that makes the difference between staying alive spiritually and dying out after hearing the information about Jesus and understanding with conviction how much He values you?

a.	Action

22.	I'm just dying to ask why that is, but we'll save that for later.

23.	Look at the weedy soil. Which of the three ways did it interact with the word?

a.	Heard

24.	Did it understand? Yes. There's life there. Bear fruit?

a.	No–at least not continually 'became unfruitful'

25.	Now the problem isn't one of roots here. So what is the key to bearing fruit if you have the info about the word and understand it/conviction and your soil isn't too shallow?

a.	Not having other stuff growing in competition with the seed in your heart.

1.	Which type of soil do you identify with tonight?

a.	Maybe path, just not getting it?–what is appropriate if you're hearing all this and there's no joy? Pray for John Deere–some have been bold enough to do so and have not been disappointed.

b.	Maybe rocky, you're up at week of prayer, down in a month.

i.	Maybe you have rocks–let's ID some, things that get in the way of your secret time with God, concealed hardness

c.	Maybe weedy, you've got so much growing you don't know where Jesus is anymore. Weeds come in two categories

i.	Worries of this life–a sign that you think you've got to fix it yourself

ii.	Deceitfulness of wealth–finding your value in anything other than the cross–it can't be higher or more secure than the price He already paid for you.

d.	Maybe good–you should be praising God for condescending to dwell in your dirt by His grace.

2.	Pick one of the rocks, weeds, or roots we've identified that most needs attention in your life.

3.	If rocks and weeds need to be removed, who will do it?

a.	Gardener. My part is to make time and space for Him to come to my heart/garden and do His thing.

4.	What's the first step you'd have to take to receive the healing Jesus wants for you?

a.	If you're going to deal w/ some rocks, maybe you need to make an appointment at the counseling center, $ make a budget . . . .

5.	Write a prayer for the gardener of your heart. Share.