FRUITFUL FAITH THE CALL TO FAITH

Damon Life Group – 04.28.13

Thank You!

Fruits of Sowing

The Living Word of God

“For the word of God is

alive and active. Sharper

than any double-edged

sword, it penetrates even to

dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow; it judges

the thoughts and attitudes of

the heart.” Heb 4:132

Duck Dynastyology

“The Bible is a

weapon of mass

instruction.”

Jase Robertson

How Can we Have a Fruitful Life?

How do we leverage the living

power of the Word of God to

yield fruit in our lives?

Does the idea of a fruitful,

joyous life sometimes seem out

of grasp?

Do you ever feel like the

mysteries of God are just that?

Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus just

came right out and told us how

to have a fruitful life?

Explain the Color Blue

How do you explain the unexplainable?

How do you make the infinite translate to the finite mind?

In Matt 13, Luke 8, and Mark 4 (today’s focal passage) HE DOES – He reveals what the kingdom of God is like and tells us how to change our lives

Passage Overview - Mark 4:1-34

The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-10

The Purpose of the Parables

Mark 4:10-20

A Lamp Under a Basket

Mark 4:21-25

The Parable of the Seed Growing

Mark 4:26-29

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Mark 4:30-34

Why the Word is Like a Seed (ala Tim Keller)

Three implications about God’s

Word that will bring fruit to your

life

Interestingly, of all the ways Jesus

could describe the kingdom, He

likens His Word to a seed because…

It has power

Of how it releases that power

It’s weakness is the key to its power

Outline: Keys to A Fruitful Life:

The Word of God is Like a Seed –

Focal Passage Mark 4:1-20

Because it has power

Because of how it releases that

power

Because its weakness is the secrete

of its power

Outline: Keys to A Fruitful Life:

The Word of God is Like a Seed -

Mark 4:1-20

Because it has power

Because of how it releases that

power

Because its weakness is the secrete

of its power

It Has Power

In the beginning of the Gospel, we see the power of God’s spoken Word – “let there be light”

His Word not only has creative power, it has re-creative power

James 1:21- “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you..”

1 Peter 1:23 – “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God; for – ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ ”

Power Released

Yes, the Word has information…but its more than information – it has power, like a seed

The Word releases that power

Does anyone plant gardens?

Have you ever planted glass, metal, iron, etc?

They don’t have the power of life in them

The Gospel has the power to release the very power of God in you!

What is New Life?

If the Gospel gives us new life, does that mean we are dead before receiving this life?

Three orders of life

Plant

Animal

Human

Each order of life sees more reality

Plants can’t see object

Animals can’t sense right and wrong

So what is Jesus saying when He says the Word of God brings you eternal life?

His Word has the ability to bring you into a new order (a higher order) of life

Of course, this doesn’t mean you are “more/better”

Rather, the spiritual life opens your eyes to a new reality that you have never seen before (holiness of God, hope of the resurrection, etc.)

Is God’s Power a Reality?

Before experiencing “new life” we either deny this reality or we just intellectually assent (“believe”) to it

Remember, most people “believe” in God

The litmus test is this – when real trouble/failure comes your way, can you fortify yourself in the reality of who God is, or do you just freak out?

But…if you have received the Word in you and it is a reality in your life, you are living in a new order of life

Living in this new order of life means the applause of heaven is more deafening than the demands/distractions/criticisms of this world

Then, the Gospel is not just information, but power living in you

What Does Change Look Like?

Real change involves organic growth, not mechanical growth

What does this mean? In the first three chapters of Mark, we see Jesus pushing against “religion”

Religion = “I obey, therefore, God accepts me and now He owes me”

Gospel = “God accepts me, through Jesus. Therefore, I want to obey.”

Both “religion” and the Gospel will produce change (one mechanical, the other organic)

Mechanical (religion) – piling on of more bricks

Organic (Gospel) – like a bulb growing into a tulip (inside out, becomes more complex, more rich, more beautiful

The Power of the Word

When we grow in Christ (organically) we get “tougher” to the criticism of the world, yet more sensitive to others, more confident and bold yet more humble, more generous, more forgiving

If you have this kind of growth in you, it is the power of the Word of God

Romans 1:16 –”For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…”

Paul doesn’t say the Word brings power, has power, or results in power – he says it IS THE POWER OF GOD

Have you felt this power?

Has the Gospel moved beyond information in your life?

Is is living in you with power, coming after you?

Outline: Keys to A Fruitful Life:

The Word of God is Like a Seed -

Mark 4:1-20

Because it has power

Because of how it releases that

power

Because its weakness is the secrete

of its power

How the Power is Released

What determines if a seed takes root and ultimately produces fruit?

Bottom line is how deep the seed penetrates the soil

Look at the three soils that do NOT produce organic growth – in each case, it is a depth problem

The 1st soil does not produce life b/c the seed doesn’t go in at all

The 2nd soil doesn’t produce life because it doesn’t go in deep enough

The 3rd soil, the seed does go in, but it goes in at the same level as the weeds and thorns (worldly concerns just as important as the Gospel)

So, in each case, the problem has to do with depth

What Getting “Deep” is Not

When you plant a seed in a flower pot, you are not using a pick axe

It is slow, gentle, and gradual process

Jesus is telling us that the way we get initiated into a whole new order of life is by taking the Word of God and listening, reflecting, contemplating, discussing, and applying it over and over again – we “work it in” our lives just as you work the seed deep into the soil

The Gospel does not do something “to you” that is “without you” - you work it in through thinking, listening, understanding, studying, etc… - this is how the Gospel power is released in your life

From the Inside Out

Galatians 2 – two apostles having a fight

Peter refused to sit down to eat with gentiles

Paul confronts

He could have said, “racism is against God’s will” – could have come right after him to get mechanical change

Rather he goes for the heart to get organic change

Gal 2:14 – basically says, Peter, you are not walking in light of the Gospel

In other words, think about the Gospel of grace – you were saved by grace – the Gospel needs to go deeper and become the controlling reality

This is very different from religion and very different from how we try to get people to change

Make Beautiful Art

CS Lewis biography by Allen Jacobs

People wrote to Lewis following the Chronicles of Narnia about being a “Christian artist” and asked how you do it

He says, some people think I began by asking myself how to say something about Christianity to children, then fixed on fairytale to do it, then studies child psychology and decided on a target audience, then hammered our symbols for Christian truths – crazy

Lewis says, you should not ask what children want, or even what they need, don’t start with a moral and then try to come up with a story – rather, let the images and stories that come to mind tell you their own moral – for the moral inherent in them will emerge from the spiritual roots in you

Work the Gospel deep into the roots of your life and then whatever comes out will be deeply Christian

Have you worked the Gospel deep into the soil of your life so that whatever comes out reflects Christ instinctively?

You must keep working it in, deeper and deeper so that it is reflected in all you do and say

Outline: Keys to A Fruitful Life:

The Word of God is Like a Seed -

Mark 4:1-20

Because it has power

Because of how it releases that

power

Because its weakness is the

secrete of its power

Strength in Weakness

Think about the image Jesus has chosen to represent the Word of God

There are many images He could have chosen…

Hammer, fire, or sword

Why does he chose a weak seed?

It’s not something that strikes fear in the heart of man

Remember, 3 out of 4 soils reject the seed

1st one – does not accept it at all

2nd one – excited at first, but really just wants miracles

3rd group – concerned about what the world thinks and gets choked

In each case of the soils, the people respond to the Word with “extrinsic” or “intrinsic” faith (Gordon Alport – Harvard psychologist)

“Extrinsic” – serve God for what He can do for you – to get things

“Intrinsic” - serving God to get God

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Faith

It’s easy to “come to church” and not come for Christ

It’s easy to think we are coming to Christ, but really we are coming to get something for us

What’s the key?

Has the Word made its way deep into your heart?

It doesn’t do so with force, but by invitation that keeps working it deeper

This is very different from a hammer that smashes opposition, or fire that consumes opposition, or the sword who cuts through it – rather, the seed is weak

There is a paradoxical weakness in strength

Consider the power of one acorn

The hammer, sword, or fire can’t do that

Yet, the seed is week and can be destroyed

Uproot the Heart

G. Campbell Morgan

Visited graveyard in Italy

Two things

It is easy for our hearts to become cold and callous to the Gospel

If allowed to penetrate deeply into the soil, the power of the Gospel can break through the hardest slab of marble over any heart

Again, why would Jesus use this example of the Word of God being like a seed?

The Gospel Response

Up to this point in Mark, every soil represents how people have responded not only to the Gospel, but to Jesus

1st soil – Pharisees and religious leaders (rejected)

2nd soil – crowds (happy as long as doing miracles)

3rd soil – his family (upset they are loosing face)

So, here’s the thing…the parable of the soils is not just a parable about how people respond to the Gospel, but how people respond to Jesus

But Jesus did not come as a hammer, as fire, or as a sword

He came not to Judge, but to be judged – not to be strong but to be weak and die

Why? What does this mean for me?

The Paradox of Weakness

How is Jesus’ weakness made into strength?

A seed is only fruitful when it goes into the ground and dies

If Jesus had come as a hammer, fire, or a sword (what the people wanted), then we would have no victory

Rather, Jesus came as a seed

When discussing that the time had come for him to die, Jesus says in John 12:24, “unless the seed falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane - He asks if there is any other way

The answer from heaven was that eternal life could not be made possible unless Jesus becomes a seed that goes into the ground and dies

THAT is the secret of the Gospel’s power!

The power of the Word is the weakness of the Lord

When we see the beauty of His weakness, that will change you

Back to Peter & Paul

Again, Paul could have said, “stop being a racists” but that would have just stirred up more fear

Too often we try to change ourselves (or others, especially our kids) through more fear that they must conform (extrinsic faith) - the most they can hope for is mechanical growth

Rearranging fear does not push the Gospel deeper into the heart’s soil – that’s why Paul says, “Peter, you are not living in light of the Gospel…think about what Jesus did for you, how He was rejected for you so you could be included…be happy enough to not be a racist anymore, let it capture your imagination and control your heart…”

It is the weakness of the Lord that transforms your heart from the inside out (intrinsic faith) that is organic growth

Spiritual Fruit

Until we let the gravity of the sacrifice made by Christ for you, we can never understand that in His weakness we are more than conquerors

The power of the seed is the weakness of the Lord

His weakness transforms us at the very root – it makes us want (not have) to love the unlovable, find joy in difficult circumstances, experience peace in chaos, have patience with others, express kindness instead of bitterness, show goodness rather than evil, live with faithfulness instead of disloyalty, display gentleness instead of anger, and walk with self-control instead of an undisciplined life

Hymn from John Newton

Our pleasure and our duty,

Though opposite before,

Since we have seen His beauty

Are joined to part no more.

To see the law by Christ fulfilled

And hear His pard’ning voice,

Transforms a slave into a child,

And duty into choice.

Wrap Up

This passage ends in triumph

While ¾ of the soil reject the Gospel (Christ), the soil who works the seed deep produces God math (30, 60, and 100 times over)

Nothing produces this kind of fruit – its supernatural!

This means, it doesn’t matter what kind of marble slab is over your heart (addiction, fear, alienation, failure, hatred, bitterness, disloyalty, anger, etc.) – the Word, Christ, has the power to crack it wide open and roll it off

The secret of the Word is the weakness of the Lord, weakness for you and me and in that weakness, we are more than conquerors through Christ who is our strength

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLLMzr3PFgk