Allow Both to Grow Until the Harvest

In one paragraph

On Mother's Day 2022, the pastor opened in Proverbs 1, drawing out how a mother's teaching shapes wisdom, integrity, and righteousness in her children. He then continued the church's series on the parables of the kingdom in Matthew and Mark, focusing on what grows when seed falls on good ground and what happens when an enemy plants counterfeits alongside it. The message carried a sobering weight:...

Read together

1. Proverbs 21:30 opening verse leading into worship: no human wisdom or plan can stand against the Lord
2. Proverbs 1:1-7 introduced as the beginning of Proverbs, read through Solomon's purpose statement including fear of the Lord as beginning of knowledge
3. Proverbs 3:5-6 quoted as something the preacher's mother loved: trust in the Lord, lean not on your own understanding
4. Psalm 89:1 quoted before the offering: I will sing of the Lord's great love forever, making faithfulness known through all generations
5. Ephesians 3:16-17 read as a prayer: that God will empower with inner strength through His Spirit and Christ will make His home in your hearts
6. Matthew 13:3-9 the parable of the sower and four soils, reviewed as last week's text
7. Mark 4:26-29 the kingdom of God compared to a man who casts seed and does not know how it grows until harvest
8. Matthew 13:24-30 the parable of the wheat and weeds sown by an enemy while men were sleeping
9. Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus explains the wheat and weeds parable to his disciples, identifying the son of man as sower and the harvest as the end of the age
10. Daniel 12:3 quoted as background to the righteous shining like the sun, those who lead many to righteousness shining like stars forever
11. James 1:5 closing: if any of you lacks wisdom, ask God who gives generously without finding fault

Talk about it

1. Pastor John opened with Proverbs 1 and the idea that a wise person can learn from the mistakes of others, including imperfect parents. What is a piece of instruction from a parent or older person in your life that took you a long time to recognize as true?
2. In the parable from Mark 4, the farmer sows seed and then goes about his life, and the seed grows in ways he himself does not know. What does it look like practically to trust God with the growth of something you have planted, whether a conversation, a relationship, or a act of faithfulness?
3. Pastor John described darnel as a plant that looks almost identical to wheat but is worthless and even poisonous. He used the phrase 'all show and no go' for what it represents. What do you think makes it so difficult to tell the difference between genuine faith and a convincing imitation, in others or even in ourselves?
4. Jesus explains that the field is the world and that both wheat and weeds are allowed to grow together until the harvest. Pastor John said universalism is 'the most attractive heresy.' Why do you think we are drawn to soften or set aside the parts of Jesus' teaching that involve final judgment?
5. Pastor John closed by saying the response to the gospel is binary, the way of life or the way of death, and invited people to come to God in humility without needing to understand everything about how He works. Is there an area of your life right now where you are trying to figure out how God works before you will trust Him with it?