Yesterday, I talked with a friend that I have not spoken to in quite a while. When I was a youth minister in southern California, we had served together at some on-campus ministries, and really lifted one another up. Yesterday, He let me know that God is working on him, and sending him to plant a church in San Antonio Texas; what a leap of faith! And it's a leap I understand well; leaving everything you know to trust that God is calling, and will be faithful to His call. Join me in praying for this friend of mine, as the Lord leads he and his family on this new journey.
In thinking about this, praying for good soil that this church plant may thrive, I wondered why we all are not church planters. I know many who read this go to established churches, and I am not calling you away from that, but the idea is the same. We're to spread the Gospel, praying for the seeds to land on good soil. Jesus does not promise a hundred percent success, in fact, he says, according to the Parable of the Four Soils, that the seed will land on good soil 25 percent of the time (see below). It's the seed that will bear much fruit, we're responsible for spreading it! Some seed is immediately snatched up, some is planted in shallow soil and is easily destroyed when the pressure of a hot sun is on it, some is choked out by weeds and can't bear fruit, but it's that good soil we seek. Don't be discouraged! Even many of Jesus' disciples left when the teaching got too hard (see John 6), and so He knows what rejection feels like. Just keep spreading the Gospel, and that good soil will catch the seed, and what is planted will bear much fruit. Matthew 13:1-9 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:18-23
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
