Get Rooted

All right. So we’ve been planning out who’s speaking. This weekend the boys are gone together — Jay and our boys — and so we knew I was going to be speaking, or these next few weeks David and I would be.

As I was walking, I started noticing — and you might have noticed it here too — we have a field of gold. Do you guys know what I’m talking about? In our fields, all of the dandelions have now decided that they are ready to come out, and at full force. I don’t understand how they go from nothing to full bloom in moments. And then as I was walking my dog, I started noticing that my neighbors, and ourselves too, had some creeping Charlie coming up. And it’s so pretty, right? It’s purple and colorful in your grass, and you have yellow in your grass, and green. It’s all colorful, but they’re weeds.

And I remember when I actually learned about Queen Anne’s lace. It was on the side of the road. It’s an invasive weed plant that’s part of the carrot family, but that’s beside the point. Queen Anne’s lace is so beautiful. You guys know what I’m talking about? It looks circular and wide. And what I realized is that these plants are super aggressive, but they have no roots, and they spread very quickly. Again, I’m not an arborist or gardener or anything like that. But I see how quickly these invasive plants want to just take over.

Ears to hear

As I was pondering and thinking, the Lord brought me back to Matthew chapter 13, where He talks about the parable of the sower. In that time, Jesus often used parables so people could understand what He was trying to say. And again, I am not a farmer. We might have some farmers in here. We actually probably have some farming history and legacy. I did not grow up with farming history or legacy. I don’t like to do hard work outside at all. Can we just be honest about that for just a moment? I don’t like doing it.

I said something to Pastor David today — I don’t know what I was going to say — and he said, “Oh, you don’t like to break down boxes?” And I said, “Yes. That’s not what we’re talking about, but I don’t like to break down boxes.” I don’t like to move. I don’t like to do anything, apparently, that’s hard work. That’s what that all sounds like. I like to sit and talk and eat and drink and have some coffee. That’s where I like to be. So when I’m reading about farmers and sowing and seeds, I can only think about it. But here Jesus is using this parable to talk to people who followed Him. And I think what is amazing about Scripture is, when we read Scripture, if it’s in there, we need to give attention to it. Some of these things we can just pass by, either because it’s familiar or it doesn’t seem like a big deal.

If you have your Bibles — we’ll have it on the screen — you can turn with me to Matthew chapter 13. It says, “On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.”

Can we just talk about how that’s a miracle in itself? I’m talking about how I don’t even like to move, and here people are so eager to hear Jesus speak that they’re going to stand. They’re going to move. They move with Him. It wasn’t like they were driving to His location to meet Him. They were walking and journeying with Him. That in itself kind of blows my mind — that there were these multitudes of people gathered together, and they stood, and they listened, and they waited. Maybe they sat, but there was an expectation that they had.

And then He spoke. “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’”

As I was reading, before I even get to the rest of the Scripture — I’ve maybe said this before — I always want to identify with the good parts of Scripture. Anyone? Like, oh, I want to identify with the forgiven part. I want to identify as “I am loved.” And as I was listening to this, when Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” it sunk my battleship for that moment. How many times do I move on where I hear, but I don’t hear?

Now, I’m sure you have had an experience where you’re talking to someone who’s not listening, or they’re distracted, or you’ve repeated yourself multiple times. It is so frustrating not to be heard. And here Jesus is saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” I realize that so many times I find myself in that place where I just skip over to the good stuff. Or I hear something good on Sunday that Jay will say, and I write it down, and then I move on. I’ve heard it, but I’ve not sat with it. I’ve not allowed it to transform me.

And so even in that, I thought, man, right out of the gate we’re already getting to these places where I want to identify with the good places, which are all good and true. But we need to be people who, when we hear, have ears to hear. This portion of Scripture is really talking about receiving the gospel message, and that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. And today’s title is “Get Rooted.” I actually have a title this week. I never do. I always tell them in the back, just listen and name it whatever. I actually have a title: “Get Rooted.” Because I feel like it’s more important now than ever to be rooted in Christ, to be rooted in truth. And just as these weeds are beautiful, the thing that they lack is solid roots. And we don’t want to be believers who don’t have solid roots.

When hearts grow dull

So in verse 10 it says, “And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.”’”

Man, as I was reading that, I had to sit with it as I was studying and listening and looking at the weeds that grow quickly everywhere. And I just thought, Lord, I don’t want my heart ever to grow dull. Have we become so familiar with Scripture and church and tradition that it’s caused our heart to grow dull? That we come here, we come to church, we gather together, and we just let it be what it is, and it slowly dulls our heart?

What we see in the Scripture is that it’s really talking about how we receive the message of the Word of God. And the very thing we need to do is make sure our hearts are not growing dull. See, the disciples and students who were with Him had full access to Jesus. And that’s what they’re asking: why are You saying this? But even so, He had to break it down. He was able to tell them, and they were able to learn how to minister, so that their hearts would not grow dull towards Him as well.

“For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” Then Jesus says, “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

What I love about this is Jesus is saying, you are blessed because of where you find yourself. And I want us to consider, as we continue to break this down: what is the soil of our heart? What kind of farmers are we? Because we all are in this. As I was reading, I realized, well, He’s talking about the sower. So it’s twofold. When we hear the Word, we’re receiving and being sown into. But this is also about us sowing into other people. And we don’t want to be careless in our sowing. I want us to consider how we sow seeds of the gospel while also receiving seeds that are being sown into us.

Seed by the wayside

So verse 18: “Therefore hear the parable of the sower.” I’m going to come here. I write my notes, and sometimes I can’t even read my own writing. “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”

So, the word of the kingdom — the message of God, the good news of Jesus. As I read this, I thought back to Adam and Eve. They had a seed that was being sown in them. And what does the enemy do? He snatched it away. See, it had not had time to get its roots. And so the enemy comes, and because they didn’t fully understand the relationship and the access they had to God in the garden, they were able to be stolen from.

And then, as I was reading, I was reminded of Matthew chapter 4, just a few chapters before, when Satan is tempting Jesus. Jesus goes out into the wilderness. He’s been fasting for 40 days, and basically immediately Satan comes. And let me tell you what he tries to do: he tries to snatch the seed that was sown in that time of His fast with His Father. I’ll just quickly read it, verse 1 of chapter 4.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you,” and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”’ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’”

See, oftentimes when I think about it — when I am tempted, when I receive something, whether it’s on a Sunday morning or I’m reading His Word — when I don’t have the understanding of it, the more vulnerable I’m going to be to fall for the enemy’s lies and tricks. And so here Jesus is. He finds Himself in this place, and the enemy comes to try to snatch the very thing. But because He was rooted in who His Father was, He was rooted in the promises of who God was, there was nothing the enemy could do that would snatch away God’s promise from Him. There was nothing he could do to snatch the joy away.

So we see the difference between Adam and Eve, who were not rooted, who immediately fell for the lies, fell for the temptation, and ended up sinning, and then Jesus, who is deeply rooted, and the enemy can’t snatch anything away. It’s important for us to say this, because I think we find ourselves in situations oftentimes where we just let the Word be, and we’re hoping that we’re rooted, and then all of a sudden something just fades away — the promise, the hope, the Word, whatever it might be. We just allow the enemy to steal it from us. And because the circumstances and situations feel bigger than what maybe we’re feeling, we end up on the wrong side of things.

Holding on when it gets turbulent

Now, verses 20 and 21 are probably a little bit more where I felt like I could identify as I was reading this. It says, “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.” Come on — who is there with me? You hear something from the Lord, and you’re just like, “Yes!” When I was reading, I’m like, this is me right here so often. “Yet he has no root in himself” — now, I am rooted in Christ, but sometimes I guess I should be implying that I’m not rooted — “but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”

The word “tribulation” — I literally asked Alexa, what is the definition of tribulation? And it’s suffering. It’s severe trouble. It’s a grievous time. Persecution: people come against you maybe because of what you believe, or are putting pressure on you. And so He’s saying, you’ll receive My Word, but the moment things get tough, you hit the road. You start asking God, “Where are You?” And then we stumble. When things get tough, it can be easier to let go instead of pressing into Him.

I was thinking about this one time — this was not too long ago — we were with some friends up north in Hayward, and they had a boat and an inner tube. I think that’s what it’s called. A tube. And I was on it, and I was determined to stay on. I may have had one of the kids with me, or maybe I was just by myself. Jay was driving the boat, and I think one of our boys was giving the directions, which, all that combination is not great. Anyways, I remember being on this, and Jay’s goal was to get me off the tube. That was his goal. So he’s driving in a way that’s going to get me off. And I am hanging on to this. He’s not going to get me.

Well, of course he got me, right? He’s just going with the boat, and this inner tube is going, and I’m like, if I fall off this thing at this point in life, who knows what’s going to break, right? So it’s going and going, and I’m holding on. And of course I do not prevail, because I’m not strong, and Jay was more determined. I think we actually even have pictures of me flying in the air.

But so many times we will give up. We stop holding on, because the waters start getting in, and situations start getting so turbulent that we’re like, there’s no possible way. Where is God? And all of a sudden we go from, God, I remember I have this joyous word. I have this faith, this trust. And then situations start coming, and we’re trying to hold on, we’re trying to hold on, and they keep getting more turbulent. And what we do is we let go of God and His Word. And all of a sudden we’re sitting in the doubt and the frustration and the anger.

And hear me out. I’m not saying that we cannot grieve. I’m not saying we cannot question. I’m not saying that we can’t be mad about something. But we need to continue to turn back to God. We need to go back and say, “God, but You are faithful, and Your Word…” I remember. That’s why I write stuff down, because my mind is so quick to forget what God did. My mind is so quick to forget the goodness in my life that I experienced. My mind is so quick to forget the time He was faithful and a prayer was answered. My mind is so quick to forget those things, especially when things get turbulent and hard. And when we face turbulent and hard things, our humanity chooses to turn from God instead of lean into Him. Instead of looking for Him in our discomfort, we blame Him for our discomfort. And the seed we received in the Word, the message, the gospel that we received with so much joy, all of a sudden goes out the door.

We had an incident this week with our daughter. They had three lacrosse games, and the only days they had games, it was scheduled to rain. She plays very hard, very intensely, and she got hurt. On Thursday she pushed herself way too far, and they finally took her out. She’s pretty dedicated. So she was really bummed, because she wanted to play in Friday’s game, and she has something to contribute.

So Friday comes. Friday it was not supposed to rain, but all of a sudden it is 6:00, and the rain decides now’s a great time, and it’s literally pouring rain. They’re all out there — the teams, the coaches — everyone’s just soaking wet. So I go for a little bit and help out with some things, and then I’m driving home. I didn’t stay for the whole game, because she wasn’t playing, and I wasn’t going to sit in the rain unnecessarily. If she’s playing, I will sit in the rain and not complain. I don’t mind it. But if I don’t have to be there in the rain, I’m not going to be there.

And so I’m driving home, and it’s pouring rain, my windshield wipers are going. And she was very frustrated. I should have asked if I could share the story, but I think there’s testimony in this. It’s frustrating when you’re injured. It’s frustrating when you feel like you can’t do what you’re supposed to do. We came up with a plan. We were good. And I was driving home, and I had this thought: God, were You protecting her? He’s not causing the injury — I don’t think her getting injured was caused by Him — but I had to consider, what does Your providence look like in this situation? I just had the thought: if she was playing in this, she could have gotten way more injured, because of how I know she plays, and how soaking wet it was by this point. The field had been rained on three times this week, with probably hardly any time to dry.

So she and Jay come home, and we’re talking, and he goes, “Hey, so, weird thing.” Jay’s coaching as well, so they were both on the field at the same time. And around the same time, they had the same thought. Jay was thinking, God, is this Your protection, that she’s not playing in this game? She had the thought, God, are You protecting me, so I’m not playing in this game?

And I think so many times we look at the very understandable frustration of being injured, wanting to do what you want to do, all of these things, and we sometimes forget to step back and say, “Okay, God, what do You want me to know? What do You want me to see? Because You’re so much greater than this. You’re so much greater than the circumstances that I’m facing. You’re so much greater than the heartache that I’m experiencing. You’re so much greater than any of these things.” But too many times we sit in “This isn’t fair. This isn’t fun. This isn’t right. God, I did this,” whatever it might be, instead of stepping back and saying, “Okay, but God, Your Word says,” or “Your promise said,” or “When I was reading Your Bible, I was reminded.”

See, we don’t want to be people who receive the Word with joy, but then when tribulation comes, we’re the first to go. I want us to be a church and a people who hold on when tribulation comes. Because life happens. We live in a sinful world. Every person from here to your way home has however many decisions that they choose to make, right? We don’t get to decide other people’s decisions. We don’t get to decide other people’s choices. We only are in charge of ourselves. We’re in this huge thing called life, and there are all these people in it together. And so many times we can be so caught up in our own real situations and feel so lost, instead of just taking a step back and saying, “God, I know who You are.”

We’re going to face things. We’re going to face things that are uncomfortable. We’re going to face things that aren’t going to go our way. And I want us not to be the type of people for whom letting go of God is the easiest thing. Because I will tell you, to stop going to church, to not read your Word, and to not pray are the easiest things to do. It’s super easy. I don’t eat for, I don’t know, a couple hours, and I’m looking for the food. There’s not enough food for me. But I don’t read my Bible for a day or two, and all of a sudden it’s like, man, when was the last time I got into the Word? When was the last time I actually sat and prayed? These are just real things. Whatever the reason is, it’s so easy just to let off of our pursuit of faith, because things get either too comfortable or too hard. We’ve got to be growing and rooted in who He is.

The cares of this world

So, on to verse 22. And this is where the hope — wait, no, this is not the hope verse yet. Verse 22: “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” If you want, you can turn to Mark. Mark is the other place this parable is found. Mark 4, verse 19, says it like this: “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

Now, what I like about this is, number one, these seeds start bearing some fruit in us, and at the same time these thorns begin to come and choke it out. It’s a process, until all of a sudden the seed, the Word of God, is no longer fruitful. So we can come every Sunday and make room for everything else Monday through Saturday, and the Word and the message and the faith and the growth will inevitably get choked out if you’re not paying attention to where it’s being planted. It’s just the way things are.

There’s a difference here between caring for the world and the cares of this world. I want to hear: what would you say culture or society tells us matters? You could shout it out. What’s something the world tells us matters? Money. What else? Drugs. Yep. All right. What else? What are some cares of this world? Work. Yeah, that gets in the way sometimes, doesn’t it? Yes. There are a lot of things that culture and society will tell us matter. Self-image, our careers — your career matters, this matters. All of these things begin to be the thing that chokes it out.

The deceitfulness of riches. Striving for the wrong things will get us off course. If you notice here, He doesn’t say riches are the problem. I don’t think God has a problem with us being rich. It’s the deceitfulness and the pursuit of it that ends up being the problem. The deceitfulness of riches can get us off course. He wants us to be good stewards and mindful of what we have. The problem lies when we strive for more, thinking it’s going to solve the problems that we’re facing.

I was watching this video, and I thought, wow, money really does solve some things. It can, right? I was watching this very unrelatable celebrity lifestyle. They were celebrating their birthday, and they’re on a yacht, and I just had that thought, “Oh, that’s nice.” Then I thought, “Do they even know Jesus?” And it’s not a criticism. It was just where my thought went: oh, that would be really cool. And then I thought, no — above all else, it’s actually first to know Jesus. Because we can make everything a priority over Him and not ever actually know Him. I get that money makes it easier. But the moment any one of these things begins to draw us away, it begins the process of the thorns choking out the fruit of the seeds that have been planted in your life.

The desire for other things besides God. What I think about is that as Christians, we are not supposed to have these mundane, boring lives. No, they’re supposed to be filled with joy and hope and celebration in the midst of everything that’s going on. And I think sometimes we forget the celebrating. We forget the joy. We get so serious about God. No — we have a sense of humor, and there are all of these things that make us who we are, that are a reflection of Him. But so many times a desire for things other than God will choke the seeds and the fruit that is trying to grow in your life.

Good ground

And this is where we have the promise. This is where we have the hope. It says in verse 23, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” I’m telling you, God will do it. His heart is that our lives would be fruitful. And that looks like fruit in many different ways. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, self-control, and — gosh, I’m missing one. What? Faithfulness. I kind of went through them fast. But those are good things. If you look at the fruit of the Spirit, God wants us experiencing good things. He wants us experiencing joy. He wants us experiencing the gentleness and kindness of one another. He wants those things for us.

He also wants us to understand what we’re reading. It says that those who received seed on good ground heard the Word and understood it. I don’t know if you remember — you may not have been here — two weeks ago I was talking about how, when Jesus ascends to heaven, it says that He opened their understanding to the Scriptures. That’s something He wants to do for us: to understand that when we read this, it isn’t a mystery where we’re trying to figure out a riddle. No, He wants us to have understanding. Because as we have an understanding of who He is, an understanding of His promises, an understanding of how we’ve been created and why we’ve been created, then we’re able to walk in the fullness of joy. Then we’re able to walk freely. Then we’re able to walk and be giving to one another. Then we get to walk and bear much fruit in our life.

She’s with her mom, don’t worry. Her parents have her. She’s good. She wasn’t coming and screaming from kids church. She was with her parents.

In Luke chapter 4 — wait, Mark. It was not Luke. Was it Mark or was it Luke? Hold on. Mark chapter 4, where it’s talking about the same scripture. Verse 20 says, “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

What does it look like for us to accept the Word of God for what He says it is? Right now there are a lot of things online, everywhere, about anything, about anyone. And I had to think: can I just trust that God’s Word is God’s Word? Can I just accept it for what it is — that in my very limited understanding, if it’s in here, it’s enough? That when God says He’s going to heal someone, guess what He wants to do? He wants to heal someone. When God says He wants to provide for someone — the widows and the orphans who were without — He wants to bring provision. When He says that there was no lack among them in Acts — can we just accept the Word of God for what it is, instead of trying to find these caveats of why it’s not going to work, or why I can’t make it work for myself?

We can either be at odds with Scripture and look for all of the holes — and there are plenty of really intelligent people who will tell you online why the Bible isn’t relevant, isn’t real, isn’t for today, isn’t how it says it is. There are lots of people, and they have lots of letters after their last name or before their first name. You can go and search. You can find anything on anyone on anything. Or we could be a church and a people who just say, “No. But God, You said. But God, You promised joy. But God, You promised wholeness. God, You promised faith. God, You even said in here, ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ My flesh just feels weak today.”

Can we just be a people who accept God’s Word for what it is? That’s my heart: that I would continue to grow and accept it, and also be comfortable with the things that I don’t know. Because right now I’m in the Old Testament — I’ve said this a few times — and there are just some hard, uncomfortable things that I don’t really understand. I’m learning: oh, that’s descriptive, and that’s prescriptive, right? There’s this place of learning. But can I just also take God’s Word for what it is? Because I’m telling you, He wants us to take Him at His Word. That’s what He wants.

I am notorious for forgetting. I forget way too much — it goes between whether I’m tired or not tired. But there are so many times my kids will be like, “Mom, but you said…” “Hey, Mom, did you do this?” “Hey, Mom, you said you were going to do this.” And I’m like, “Oh my goodness, I forgot.” And then three days later, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I forgot.” And my kids will just be like, “But Mom, you said…” or “Hey, Mom, don’t forget. Hey, Mom, we’ve got to do this.” See, they keep me to my word. And I am fallible. I am, by the grace of God, saved. How much more does our heavenly Father want us to accept His Word as it is? So much more.

Sow, sow together, and water

So how do we bear fruit? That’s at the end. It says you will bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. How do we bear fruit? I think the very thing is we actually really need to get rooted. We must be rooted first in His Word. We must become sowers of His Word and sow His Word into our lives. It says in Scripture, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. There is no other way our faith is going to grow except to accept it as it is, and then speak it and sow it into our life. “God, I thank You that You’re growing my faith. Help me in my unbelief.” “God, I’m feeling like my body is falling apart, but Your Word says that by Your stripes I am healed. So God, I thank You that I’m healed.” That’s how we sow the Word of God into us. It’s really that simple.

We want to grow with Jesus in our relationship. Sow His Word into your body. Sow His Word into your heart, into your mind. In the same way that we listen to music and fill our time with all of these other things, start replacing them with the Word of God at times, and see what happens when we sow into ourselves. We are sowing life into us. There’s no way that anything else can come if we’re sowing the Word of God into us. It’s not like we’re sowing a seed and we don’t know what it is. No, we know what we’re sowing into us. It says this is the bread of life. It says it’s the life and the light. That’s what we’re sowing into us. And if that is what we’re sowing into us, that is what will begin to come out, and that’s where we’ll begin to bear fruit in our own lives and towards others.

So in order to be rooted, we must be sowers of the Word. We do this by daily being with Him, looking for Him, listening to Him, and seeing Him. When I drive — I’m most distracted when I’m doing nothing, okay? When I’m driving and there’s nothing going on, I am most distracted. I like days off. So when I drive, I like to look to see if there are people that I know. There are certain intersections — I have a friend whom I’ve seen at this intersection at a certain time many times. So when I go to that intersection, I literally am looking for her. I actually saw her the other day somewhere different, and I called her, because her license plate is a personalized one, and I was like, “I am right behind you. We’re supposed to be at a different intersection down the road. What are you doing here?”

Whenever I’m driving, I’m looking for people that I know. When I’m driving in my city — I have a relationship with our police department — I will drive by and see if I know the police officer in the car. Now, that proves to be a little bit more difficult, but I’m looking to see: do I know them? Do I know the car? When I’m driving, I’m looking. And I think that that’s how we need to be looking for Jesus everywhere. Where are You? Where are You? Because He’s everywhere. And we begin to see Him in the beauty of creation, in a conversation we have with someone. He’s everywhere to be found. We need to be looking for Him.

So that’s how we begin to be sowers of the Word, sowing into our life and growing in Him. When you’re in His Word, look to understand. Look beyond what you’re reading and say, “God, what does this say about You? What does this say about Your character?” Find a way and make a way to be in His Word deeply and daily. I don’t say that with condemnation. I just know that the first place we take our foot off the gas is His Word. Find a way. If you struggle with reading — I have to listen and read. I have the audio Bible, and I will just put it on, and I will read and I will listen. It just helps me comprehend. But find a way to be in it daily.

Number two, we need to sow into others. Sow your testimony of how God has done what He’s done. Sow truth. When we sow together, we grow together. I’m not trying to be funny and rhyming. It’s just true. When we sow together, we grow together. We begin to hold each other up. We begin to testify. We learn how to grow in faith with one another. Learn to stick with someone in prayer and faith, for them and with them. I’m telling you, the biggest place we can grow in faith is when we learn to pray with someone and stand on God’s promises for someone else beyond ourselves. It begins to challenge us. And because it is not a situation where we feel the pressure of desperation, we get to come in with a renewed sense. If you’ve ever been in a desperate place — and I have been in a desperate place — there are times when I couldn’t even pray. I didn’t know what to pray. And I needed people praying over me and with me, standing and holding me up with their faith.

See, when we sow together, when we sow truth — and it’s not Christian cliché phrases; that’s not what I’m looking for. This week I got a text from someone asking for prayer, and immediately this scripture just came to mind, so I just sent it. I’m just going to send this scripture. And they said, “Oh, that was a scripture God held me through in a difficult time before.” Just do it. Just step out. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to get it wrong. But when we sow together, we grow together, and when we want to contend for someone else, there’s no greater way of growing. And let me tell you, that was a boost of faith for me too. Because I’m like, yes, God, I do hear You. I do know Your voice. I do read Your Word. It boosts us up as well.

If there’s someone who comes to mind, reach out to them. “How are you doing? How can I pray for you?” Even, “Can I pray for you right now?” Or, “I was thinking about you. I was praying for you.” Whatever it is, we need to start sowing into each other and other people beyond this place, and share the goodness of God and what He’s doing.

I remember our wedding was on the tightest budget. Jay and I got married when we were 21. We were on a tight budget, and I remember telling Jay I would rather have hot dogs at our wedding and have everyone there than have this nice wedding and not have the people there with me that I love. So I was going to make every attempt that every person I wanted to celebrate with was there with me, that there would be no barriers. And we had a very beautiful wedding and some great moments, and everyone that I wanted to be there was there. We aren’t meant to do this alone.

It says in the Scripture, the more that you have, or the more that you give, the more you will be given. When you hold on, it will be taken away. We need to do this together. So step out. It keeps us rooted in God. When we step out in faith, it keeps us rooted. There’s nothing scarier sometimes for me than asking someone if I can pray for them. It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with God. And I’m going to tell you that in your mistakes, in your worry, in all of that which goes on in your mind, God meets us, and He wastes nothing, ever. There are plenty of times I’ve probably come up here and said things that were wrong, whatever. And God, in His goodness and mercy, just corrects and keeps us going. See, this is the God we serve, who says, “I want you to bear much fruit in your life. I want the words and the truth and the things that you’re learning to go deep, deep down. I’m not worried about these little things. I’ll take care of the rest.” He wants us rooted in Him.

And then the last thing we need to do to stay rooted is water the seeds that we’ve sown. Now, I was googling. I have these beautiful hydrangeas, and I read that coffee grounds are good for them. And so I’ve been sprinkling some coffee grounds out there, or leftover coffee — I’ll throw it out there. I don’t know. Again, I don’t do this stuff. I was just like, “Oh, I think this works.” And it looks so pretty. I told Jay, “I think maybe the coffee grounds are working.” But the thing that hydrangeas really need is water. They really actually need to be watered well. We need to water the seeds that we’ve sown into our life, trusting that God’s going to bear the fruit.

How do we water? It’s really simple. We start declaring His Word again. I can just keep going over and over this. We water the seeds we’ve sown by declaring the truth of what we’re putting in. We water the seeds when we stop playing the negative tapes and the lies. I’m going to tell you, I was sitting here this morning in worship, and the enemy was just bombarding my mind with dumb lies. Dumb lies. I’m like, “Nope. I’m just going to keep my eyes on You. I’m going to focus and worship You, God.” We’ve got to stop it. We have to. We’re the only ones who can stop and say, “No, I’m going to keep my eyes and my trust on You.” That’s how we water the seeds.

And then we worship, we cry, we do whatever it takes to guard and grow the seeds that have been planted in us, trusting that it’s God who brings the increase. That’s the other piece: I can’t produce any fruit. I can only sow into it. It’s God who keeps His Word. It’s God who’s faithful. It’s God who brings those things to pass in our life. And all we’re responsible for is planting and watering. Planting and watering. It says in one of the Epistles, Paul watered, Apollos sowed, or vice versa, and it was God who brings the increase. So we just keep planting and watering, planting and watering. And when circumstances around us look like they’re closing in, we keep planting and watering, keep planting and watering, and we repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat, because God is faithful. It says in His Word that His Word will not return void. It says that God is not a liar. Therefore, we just receive His Word, as it says in Mark chapter 4, verse 20. Just receive it as it is. Accept it as it is. God is so faithful and good.

All right, I’m going to pray over us. Could we stand? Heavenly Father, I pray that we would continue to grow and be rooted in You and You alone. Lord, I know that Your heart — even as Jesus was speaking to the disciples and to the crowds — His heart was that they would hear His words, that they would be hearers of His words. That they would see, and their eyes would actually be open to see what He was doing in their midst. Jesus, I pray that our ears would receive this word. We hear You, but Lord, that we wouldn’t be people who hear but do not hear and just move on. God, I pray that we would be people in whom the seed goes into good soil. Lord, that we would cultivate our lives, cultivate our spirits, to be good soil, God.

God, we thank You that You can be trusted. The thorns of life and the cares and the situations we have put ourselves in, Lord, come to steal and rob and destroy the seeds that have been planted. But God, I pray that we would be people who would continue to come back to You, come back to Your Word, come back to Your promises, and trust that You are faithful and that You are good. I pray that this word would bear much fruit in all of our lives, God. I pray that this word would bear much faith in what You are speaking to us individually, and what You’re speaking to us corporately. God, we thank You for who You are. We thank You for Your goodness. We thank You for Your faithfulness, and we thank You that You can be trusted. Lord, we look to You, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. We trust You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.