Women's Bible Study - October 2nd, 2024 - Trusting Jesus in Life’s Storms

October 2, 2024 · Matthew

Series · Matthew · Week 12 of 13

Scripture referenced 15 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Matthew 12:7 Jesus tells the Pharisees he desires mercy, not sacrifice

7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the guiltless.

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Matthew 12:22

Jesus heals a demon-possessed blind and mute man

22 Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

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Matthew 12:28

Jesus says if he drives out demons by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come

28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you.

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Matthew 12:30

anyone not with Jesus opposes him; neutrality is hostility

30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.

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Matthew 13:10

disciples ask Jesus why he speaks to people in parables

10 The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

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Matthew 13:19

seed sown along the path; evil one snatches away what was heard

19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

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Matthew 13:20

seed on rocky ground; receives word with joy but falls away when trouble comes

20 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;

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Matthew 13:22

seed among thorns; worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth choke the word

22 What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

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Matthew 13:23

seed on good soil; hears and understands, bears fruit

23 What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

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Matthew 10

price of two sparrows; God knows each one and we are more valuable

1 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.

2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother;

3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.

6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’

8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.

9 Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts.

10 Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.

11 Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.

12 As you enter into the household, greet it.

13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn’t worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 Whoever doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

15 Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.

18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

19 But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.

20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

21 “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.

22 You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.

25 It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!

26 Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.

27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.

28 Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

29 “Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father’s will,

30 but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.

33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

34 “Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36 A man’s foes will be those of his own household.

37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.

38 He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me, isn’t worthy of me.

39 He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.

41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward.”

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Matthew 11:28-29

come to Jesus when weary and burdened and find rest; the yoke illustration

28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.

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Psalm 103

as far as east is from west, God has removed our sins

1 Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name!

2 Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits;

3 who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases;

4 who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;

5 who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel.

8 Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.

9 He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.

14 For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. Its place remembers it no more.

17 But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children;

18 to those who keep his covenant, to those who remember to obey his precepts.

19 Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens. His kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.

21 Praise Yahweh, all you armies of his, you servants of his, who do his pleasure.

22 Praise Yahweh, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion. Praise Yahweh, my soul!

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Romans 8:28

God works all things for good for those who repent and give their situation to him

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

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1 Peter 5

humble yourself under God's mighty hand; cast your care on him; resist the devil

1 Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.

2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;

3 neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.

4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.

5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.

10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son.

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Revelation 12:11

we defeat the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony

11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This message came from the middle of a women's study working through the Gospel of Matthew. The preacher traced two connected ideas: the heart condition that either welcomes or resists Jesus, and what it actually looks like to follow him rather than simply know about him.

What was said

The message opened in Matthew 12, where Jesus heals a blind and mute man who was also demon-possessed. The crowd responded with wonder, asking whether this could be the Messiah. The Pharisees, who knew the scriptures thoroughly, responded instead by accusing Jesus of drawing his power from Satan. The preacher drew a straight line from that moment to today: when truth or goodness cannot be attacked on its own terms, the attack shifts to the person and the motive.

Jesus answered the accusation by pointing out its own absurdity. If Satan were casting out Satan, his kingdom would be collapsing from within. But the deeper point Jesus was making, the preacher argued, is that there is no neutral ground. The words of Matthew 12:30 were read directly: "Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." Calling Jesus a good moral teacher, the preacher said, is not a middle position. It is a refusal of the claim he actually made about himself.

Moving into Matthew 13, the preacher offered a second reading of the parable of the soils, one she said had opened up for her in her own study. The common reading, that the soils represent different people who hear the gospel, still stands. But she felt the Lord showing her a layer that addresses those who have already come to follow Jesus, and the condition of their own hearts over time. The disciples are the ones Jesus turns to after the crowd disperses and explains the parable to directly, which felt significant.

The first soil, the hardened path, was read as a warning against letting truth simply sit on the surface. The preacher applied this to the familiar experience of knowing a promise from scripture without actually letting it land. She used the example of Psalm 103, the image of sin being removed as far as east is from west, and the way people can hear that and still carry old guilt because the truth never penetrates past the scroll.

The second soil, the rocky ground where plants spring up quickly but have no depth of root, was connected to the kind of faith that runs on emotional momentum. The preacher named the experience of seeing women come into Bible study full of energy, only to step away when the social cost of following Jesus became real, even something as mild as being called a Jesus freak. Her point was the one she attributed to Jesus himself: he does not want to be a filler savior, called on when things collapse but otherwise left aside.

The third soil, the thorny ground, was described as an unfocused heart choked by worry and the pull of wealth. Here the preacher drew on Matthew 11:28-29, the image of a yoke, and worked through it personally. She described a family conflict over the previous Christmas that left her unable to sleep, and how the words of 1 Peter 5 came back to her from memory: humble yourself under God's mighty hand, cast your care on him, and stay alert because an enemy is looking for an opening. The humbling, she said the Holy Spirit made clear to her, had to come first, because the situation was entirely outside her control.

The fourth soil, the good ground that yields fruit, was presented not as a personality type but as a posture anyone can choose. It is the person who hears, understands, and gives Jesus a genuine chance. The preacher closed this section by acknowledging that most long-term followers will hit what theologians call the dark night of the soul, a stretch where God feels distant. Her read of that experience was that it is either a sign of having let the relationship go shallow, or a sign that God is taking the person somewhere deeper.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The preacher described Jesus telling the Pharisees, 'I desire mercy, not your sacrifice,' and said the Pharisees had drifted into checking off a religious to-do list rather than a heart relationship with God. Where do you notice that same drift happening in your own life?
The preacher said that neutrality toward Jesus is really hostility toward Jesus, using C. S. Lewis's point that liar, lunatic, or Lord are the only real options. How would you respond to someone who says Jesus was simply a good moral teacher but not someone they personally need?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 5,792 words

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Ready? Good morning, ladies. Let's stand together. I know. Don't be afraid to sit at these front tables just so you know.

Let's worship together.

Jesus. Think about these words this morning.

your eyes with me for a second. I know we all know this song, and sometimes when they're familiar and we like the melody, we just kinda, we skim over the power in it, and I just don't wanna ever just take for granted the powerful name and the power that is available in the name

of Jesus. And when we sing that, what

a powerful name it is. And then when we really just grab a hold. It's in that name, in the name of Jesus, like we sing that death could not hold you. Think about that for a minute. That death could not even hold him and that that is our inheritance when we cry out in the name of Jesus.

So what is it that you need today? Cry out in the powerful name of Jesus, the very name that death, hell, and the grave could not even hold. Amen? That power is available today by his Holy Spirit. So when we sing this, let's actually apply this to our lives today.

Amen? Let's not just sing it, let's apply Just take a minute just right where you are and just ask the Lord to just settle your mind and settle your heart today. But we just remind ourselves that you're in control today. You have our steps numbered.

God of my present, God

of my future. You're at my story. You hold it all together. God of my presence. It's really simple.

Just sing that. Of my future. You wrap. You wrap my

Just be still for a minute. Let him just speak to you. Just talk to him from your heart this morning.

Heaven without us. So, Jesus, you brought heaven down. Even though my sin was great, my sin was great,

Lord, we just give you all the glory in this place today. We cry out in your name that it's... When we fix our eyes on you, Lord, there can be a storm all around us, but when we fix our eyes on you, you bring peace in the middle of it.

So I just ask

that for every heart in this room today. God, that you would just come and you would settle the storm in us, that we would keep our eyes on you. I tell you we love you, Jesus. We love you. We love you.

Thank you for all that you've done for us and all that you continue to do even though we couldn't earn it and we don't deserve it. You are so full of grace. I tell you we love you in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen.

Thank you. Good morning. Wow. That was beautiful. Thank you.

I am so excited you all made it with these roads. Oh my goodness. Did you follow Natalie's instruction when you were in the car? She said, don't be angry and fret. Just listen to a podcast or praise music.

Alright. So last week, Natalie pointed out, I thought this was very interesting in Matthew. By the way, are you just falling in love with Matthew? We are halfway through, ladies. And I was telling the small group leaders, I don't know if you're sensing this, but the Holy Spirit is moving.

He is bumping through this. It is amazing. And last week, Natalie said, it's very interesting in Matthew that Jesus would often refer to the people as the crowd or as his disciples. And it's so interesting that one of our main focuses in going through Matthew is that we really learn how to disciple, how to follow Jesus. And do you remember we're gonna say this every week, Jesus went into the crowd and he lovingly invited them to repent and to follow him.

So what does a follower of Christ do? Number one, they choose to be with Jesus. Number two, they become like Jesus. They start thinking like Jesus. And number three, they do what Jesus did.

And I am so excited to share this lesson with you because I think this is a very powerful lesson in Jesus teaching the disciples how to do what Jesus did. About eight years ago, I wrote my first Bible study and it was on mercy because I was in Matthew chapter 12, part of your reading this week, and this verse verse seven just jumped out at me where Jesus is turning to his people, supposedly his people, the church leaders and the pharisees, and he's telling them one of the reasons he came to earth. And he says to them, I came to teach you mercy, not to watch you go through your sacrifices, your rituals, and your traditions. What was Jesus really saying to them? He was saying, you've gotten off course a little bit.

It's about a heart issue with me. It's about you and me doing life together. And you think you're righteous because you're checking off this to do list of what you consider to be righteous, and that stuff doesn't even matter to me. Because see, the Pharisees were... They knew Torah, they knew the prophets, they knew the old testament, but they were also following what many rabbis follow today called the Talmud, which was added traditions and added practices by man but not inspired by God.

And many of them are moral and good, but Jesus was coming back to recenter them. And it's very interesting that he says this in Matthew 12 verse seven, I desire mercy, not your sacrifice. And then he immediately performs this miracle that kind of exposes the lack, the absolute lack of mercy the religious leaders had. If you brought your Bible chapter 12 verse 22, Jesus is gonna perform an amazing miracle. Then a demon possessed man who was blind and couldn't speak was brought to Jesus.

He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. Okay. Can you imagine witnessing this? This man is tormented by a demon. They didn't have government programs then.

So he's living on the street. He is a mess. He's tormented by this demon. He's blind. He can't see.

Jesus heals them, and even the crowd was amazed and said, oh, could this be Jesus, the son of David, the Messiah? The crowd recognized this was a divine thing we just witnessed. Could it be the Christ? And you know what? The Pharisees were there too.

And the Pharisees fell to their knees because they knew the Bible and they said it's Jesus. No. That's what we wish they would have done. Instead, the pharisees do what we see happening today in our culture because Solomon says human nature never really changes. We just keep repeating the same cycles.

The pharisees saw truth in front of them. They saw something so good happen to this poor soul. They should have been like, wow. Amazing. Hallelujah.

Thank you, God. And you know what they said? But when the pharisees heard this miracle, they said, well, no wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons. Okay.

So do we see this today? Especially... I mean, it... It's really obvious in politics. When someone stands for something right and good, you can't attack that.

So what do you attack? You attack the person. You attack the motive, and that's exactly what the Pharisees did to Jesus. And Jesus, who is... Has the best sense of humor ever, Jesus goes, oh, yeah.

You're right. Because if Satan is casting out Satan, then he's divided and fighting against himself, and his kingdom will not survive. Jesus is saying your logic makes total sense because I defeated Satan through the power of Satan. That doesn't even make sense. That doesn't even make sense.

So what Jesus is really doing here is he's exposing their heart. He's exposing them for where they are. They can't attack truth standing in front of them. They can't attract... Attack this goodness.

So they're gonna go after him personally. And Jesus turns to them and he says in verse 28, if it is by the spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God is upon you. He's like, do you not see this? I am truth and love and mercy, and I'm standing right here in front of you. And thank God, you know, some of the Pharisees did see it.

Nicodemus saw it. Joseph of Arimathea saw it, and we know some other pharisees did get it. But these pharisees didn't. And you know what Jesus is telling us here too throughout Matthew? He doesn't leave a room for us to just walk the fence.

Jesus is basically exposing two sides in this world. He's saying there are two forces at work. There is the force of goodness rooted in truth, and truth isn't what we think, ladies. Truth is a person. It's Jesus Christ.

This is truth. And he's saying, you are either going to support this or you're gonna support the prince of this world. And what is he rooted in? He's rooted in lies because he's the father of lies. And Jesus goes on to say in verse 30, anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me.

So I put in your handout neutrality toward Jesus is really hostility toward Jesus. You know, when we say, oh, Jesus was a good moral man, that is hostility toward Jesus. I just invited a gal to come to Bible study, and she said, you know, I know a couple ladies in there, and they're really good ladies. They're some of my favorite ladies. And she said, but I'm also a good person, Deborah.

I I'm a good person. I live by the golden rule, so I don't think I need Bible study. And I'm like, you don't think you need Jesus? And she's like, no. I believe he was a good moral teacher, but I don't really need him in my life.

Neutrality toward Jesus is hostility. We don't have the right to say that he was a good moral teacher because he said, I am the great I am. I'm God Almighty. So if you don't believe that, then you're calling me a liar. Or as C.

S. Lewis says, there's only three options: liar, lunatic, or he is the great I am. And the great I am was standing before the Pharisees saying, you've got to make a choice. And I was telling my husband, I said, you know what I'm seeing in me more and more? That every choice I make every choice I make, the words I say, the choices I make are either conforming me to my culture or transforming me to be more like Jesus.

I mean, that's really the choices we are constantly making in life. Last week, Natalie also quoted Saint Teresa, where she said, Christ has no body on earth but yours. And I love that because I kept thinking, we are the body of Christ. We are here to push back against the other side, the other force that's at work, but are we doing it, ladies? I mean, culture...

Our American culture, I keep saying this, is really just a reflection of the church. The White House is a reflection of the church house because we haven't done our job. We haven't spoken truth. We haven't pushed back against the evil forces. And I find it absolutely appalling, and I think you and I will stand before God and answer for this, that 50% of all Christians, that means half of us in here, are either not registered to vote or will not show up to vote.

We are a blessed country that has the rights to come in here and worship God freely. We have the freedom of speech to speak truth, and we sit back and say, I don't wanna do that because it's uncomfortable. That is not okay. Our privilege to vote is a responsibility as a follower of Christ that we need to engage with because we're at a real crossroads. I don't know if you're tuned in or not, but we're about to lose those privileges.

So I want to encourage you, the Teton County Courthouse, it's two blocks away, 200 South Willow Street. Go register. Go vote. We have to do that. Yes.

Okay. Julia is going to be sending you a video from a pastor that explains how we have been suppressed falsely. It's not truth. We have the right to talk about issues and policies and what's happening in our country. Please watch the video, and then please share it with others, and then please vote.

Use your right to vote. That is how we push back. Jesus ends chapter two, and he says, you know who my real family is? My real family are those who are following me. That's my real family.

And followers of Christ stand up and speak out for the truth. Okay. So now we're moving on to the next section. I just got so fired up there. Alright.

The the soils. Now speaking of being fired up, the soils. I am so excited to teach this with you because my whole life, I have just looked at this parable of the four soils and thought, oh, okay. This is... I am...

I represent Christ. I'm supposed to be salt and light and plant seeds with other people, and sometimes the seeds will fall in hard places, and they they won't care, like the friend who said, I don't need Jesus. And sometimes they'll fall in soft places, and they'll say, I'm all in. I'm doing this. And I still think that's what it means, but I felt like when I was sitting with the Lord, he was showing me this other layer to this parable that's about us, his followers, and the condition of our heart.

So when I first came back to the Lord, if you think I'm on fire now, oh my gosh, thirty years ago, I... Anyone who would listen to me and even those who wouldn't listen to me, I was gonna share Jesus. And I was in this small group, and I was the small group leader, and we were all young mamas, and we were on fire for Jesus. Every week, we would tell our Jesus stories. And I just had this memory of one day where one of the gals in the small group invited us all over, and we're having lunch, and she's like, Deborah, I haven't been baptized.

I have a pool. Baptize all of us. And I'm like, in our clothes? Like, are we prepared for this? She's like, let's do it.

Let's be baptized. So I look up the verse, and I'm like, okay. Do you publicly declare you're gonna follow Christ, and in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, I baptize you. And we were just, like, on this spiritual high. But you know what's really sad?

Thirty years later, a lot of those girls aren't going to church. They're not in Bible study. Where are they? They they fell away. What happened?

And I felt like the soils here, the the disciples came to Jesus. I wanna read this part to you because this part just was like, woah. You're really telling us something here, Lord. Because the Lord had given this parable, and then the disciples, his followers came to him in chapter 13 verse 10. And they said, why do you speak to the people in parables?

And Jesus replied, because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. And then skipping a few sentences, he said, those seeing, they do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. You will be ever hearing but never understanding.

You will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For your hearts have become hard. They hardly hear with their ears. They have closed their ears. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.

But blessed are you because you do see and you do hear. And then Jesus says, so listen up. So, really, Jesus is talking to those few. He's talking to us. He's saying, you've come.

You want to really understand how following me is gonna play out, how you and I are gonna have a deep abiding relationship, listen up. I'm gonna tell you. Okay? And this is what he says. Number one, verse 19, when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches it away what was sown in their heart.

This is the seed sown along the path. So the first thing he tells the disciples, be soft and receptive to my truth. Because here's the thing, you're gonna be in hard places, and his truth is gonna hit you hard. It's not gonna penetrate because your circumstances are hard. Something is going on in your life, and you hear Jesus loves and adores you and is there for you, and you're thinking, well, it doesn't feel like that.

It doesn't feel like that, and it doesn't penetrate your heart. Or you are kinda stuck in this narrative of past sins that you've committed, and they play over and over. And the truth of what he says in Psalm one zero three, as far as the east is from the West, I have removed that from you. I've hurled your sins into the depth of the sea, but you can't get past it. Why?

Because you're not letting that truth penetrate you, so this is what you do. You don't... Jesus is saying, I'm not meeting with that sin again. That sin is gone. So when it comes back to your mind, you say, I'm not meeting with it either.

And you say, thank you, Jesus. You took care of that. Now there may be consequences that we have to deal with, but then we stand on another promise. Romans eight twenty eight, Lord, I believe that because I repented and gave this to you, you're gonna start working this out for good. That's how we let it penetrate.

His word penetrate. Another big issue that I think almost all of us have is really grasping the depth of his love for us and how valued we are. Matthew himself said in Matthew 10, what is the price of two sparrows? It's like a penny. Matthew is like, I'm gonna give you an example of, in this world, one of the things that has the least amount of value.

Matthew didn't say a beautiful, exotic peacock. He said a sparrow has no value. But I want you to know that not even a single sparrow can fall to the ground without the father knowing about it. And the very hairs on your head are numbered. So why are you afraid?

You're far more valuable than even a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew is saying, this truth penetrate. In God's kingdom, there's no such thing as a misfit. There's no such thing as a nobody. There's no such thing as someone who doesn't have value, and we let that sit on the surface.

And Jesus is saying to his disciples, if you wanna have a deep relationship with me, absorb who you are in my kingdom, and you're a somebody that has great value. And I think, oftentimes, you know, his truth, we kind of live in a scroll by culture. What do I mean by that? I mean, we pick up our phone, we go to Instagram, and we just scroll on by. And this morning, we prayed for the devastation that has happened in our country with this awful hurricane and the storms it caused.

And I was thinking about this because I saw on Instagram, and you know what? It's easy to just scroll on by that and go to the next thing because Instagram, social media, doesn't ask me to pause and take action, to pause and really think about this. And Jesus is saying to us as his disciples, don't scroll on by me. Don't scroll on by what I'm telling you. I have a plan for you.

I love you. I wanna be in relationship with you. Don't scroll on by. Stop and pause and consider what I'm saying to you. And that leads us to number two, the condition of the heart.

We deeply root our life into his truth. Chapter 13 verse 20 says, the seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time, and when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they fall away quickly. I can't tell you how many women over the years I've seen come into Bible study, and they're praising the Lord. They are all into it because they're getting this emotional hit, and they love it.

But then Jesus says, trouble comes or persecution comes. And as we discussed, persecution in America may not be over I'm coming after you to kill you, but it could be as subtle as, Deborah, have you become a Jesus freak now? Like, did you join a cult? What's wrong with you? You're you're kinda crazy.

What's going on? And we back away. And here's the thing. Jesus is saying, Root into me. I don't want a shallow relationship with you.

And don't accept a shallow relationship because if my relationship with you is shallow, the first time you get some pushback, you're out of there. And I was telling my husband, so, you know, we live in a a very interesting place here Jackson. 50% of homeowners are part time. Right? And I am not referring to you 50 percenters that are my friends in here.

You're my heart. Okay? I'm referring to this other group of 50 percenters that Greg and I know, and so please don't take this personal, it's not you. It's this other group that we know, and here's the deal. They come in every summer, and then they start texting us, Do you want to hike?

Do you want to golf? Do you want to go to dinner? Now, I haven't heard from them since the day they left last summer. So I told Greg, said, You know what? When we're with them, there's really nothing meaningful anyways.

There's no meaningful conversation. And I am I am not gonna be their filler friend. And Greg's like, what do you mean by filler friend? And I'm like, they're just calling us to fill their fun times in Jackson during the summer. I want more than that in my friendships.

I don't wanna be a filler friend. And Jesus is saying to you, I don't wanna be a filler savior. I don't want you to go for days or even months and not even contact me, not even open my word, not even talk to me, but when the you know what hits the fan, oh, then you come to me. And Jesus is like, I don't want that. I don't want to be your filler friend.

Invest in me. Take time in me. Make choices with your day to be with Jesus. Just talk to him throughout the day. Start your day with the devotional.

Start your day in the word. He wants to wake up with you. He wants to go to bed with you. He doesn't want to be your filler friend. He doesn't want to be your filler savior.

And that's what he's telling the disciples here. He's like, if you really want to see me move in your life, if you really want to see change in your heart, it's got to be more than here and there. And that leads to point number three. We intentionally nourish the seeds of truth in order to be fruitful. So in verse 22, Jesus says, the seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Jesus is saying this thorny soil is a heart that is unfocused, an unfocused heart. So we have to intentionally nourish the seeds. He's... He doesn't Jesus doesn't ever sugarcoat this life with us. He says, my path is narrow.

It's difficult. He doesn't say, if worries of life come to you. He says you're all going to have some worries in this life. So what are we gonna do when that happens? Well, Matthew told us in last week's lesson, the very last verse, Matthew eleven twenty eight and twenty nine.

He says that Jesus says, come to me when you're weary and burdened, when you're stressed, you're over the top, you're anxious, you come to me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your soul. Now, I used to think that was the weirdest verse because I'm like, yoke? That's so weird. I don't relate to that.

And you know it's just this wooden harness that they put two oxen under together to plow the ground. And I thought, well, that makes total sense to me now because here's the thing, you and I, we are always walking under something. And Jesus is saying, if you're walking under a hardship that's just come to you, maybe it's your bad choice, maybe it's just a circumstance you had zero control over, somehow you're connected to it. Right? And he he isn't promising to immediately take it away, but he says, if you will come to me and invite me to walk under it with you, you're gonna find rest for your soul.

You're gonna see some movement in your life. And I'm not saying this is easy. I shared with the winter study that this past Christmas was one of the hardest experiences I have ever had. We had a conflict in our family that I did not see coming, that came out of nowhere, and it almost took me down. And I would love to share the details, but the other people involved just aren't ready for me to share that.

But I will tell you that I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was like, what what is this? And you know when you're you're just in this horrible place and you can't even think of the promises of God? You you just don't even know how to pray? I was in bed, like, two in the morning, three in the morning, and I was just, like, crying.

I was saying, Jesus, you have to help me. I just don't even know what to do about this. And I had memorized a couple years ago, first Peter five, because of some other hardship I had found myself under, and that came back to me. And the Lord said to me, Deborah, humble yourself under my mighty hand, and in due time, I will lift you out of this. And then he says, cast your care upon me because I really care.

And I paused there, and I was like, why do I have to humble myself before I cast my care upon you? And you know what the Holy Spirit said to me? Because this is out of your control. Only I can move. The great I am has got this, Deborah.

Don't try to control the circumstance. Don't try to control the outcome. Don't try to control your family members where this is happening. You have to give this to me and cast your care upon me. So I just said, okay, Lord.

And you know what the next verse is? You need to be alert because you have an enemy. He's called the devil, and he is prowling around looking to destroy you and your family. So what do you do? You stand firm in your faith and resist him.

How do you stand firm in your faith, ladies? I don't know any other way but then to play the narrative that, Jesus, you've got this. I am giving this to you. You've got this. I will tell you, it was so bad.

I couldn't turn my neck because I was so stressed, and I usually don't have neck issues. So I went to this lady to get a massage, and she's a... This prayer warrior. I didn't even know this. And when she finished with me, she said, I was praying over you the whole time.

Now, I had not said a word to her. I just said, I can't turn my neck. She said, I was praying over you. Would you like to know what the Holy Spirit told me? I was like, Yeah, sure.

She said, I have no idea what you're going through, but if you don't keep giving it to Jesus, it's going to kill you. And I will tell you, I said, okay, wow, Lord, I'm gonna keep playing the narrative that you have got this because here's the thing, if we don't give it to him constantly, we try to take control. And where does that get us, ladies, when we don't give him control? That just ups our anxiety. It just it steals the rest from us.

I will give you rest for your soul when you yoke up with me and invite me into this constantly. And that leads to number four, Verse 23, But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop yielding a 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown. This is the heart that bears eternal fruit. This is the follower who does what Jesus did.

This is the one who says, you know what, Jesus? I'm gonna give you a chance. Because that's really what he's asking all of us. Give me a chance. You can trust me.

I am good. I know what you're going through isn't good. It's awful. It hurts. But you can trust that I'm good, and I will go through it with you.

And I just want to encourage you. You know, some of us in here are new in our relationship, and if you are opening his word and you are calling out to him, I promise you, your relationship is going to take off like a rocket, and you're going to be on fire. But there is always this point in our walk where we kind of feel like we hit the wall. Theologians call it the dark night of the soul. There's just this place where you feel like, are you there?

Are you hearing me? Are you moving in my life? And I wanna encourage you, I've had this before. And it's either one of two things. Either his promises are are just on the surface of my heart, I'm I'm just scrolling on by him because I'm so busy, or he's just my filler, Jesus, or he is saying to me, I'm taking you to a new level with me.

And this is it's gonna be hard. It's a narrow, hard path, But if you will hang in there, you're gonna see me like you have never seen me before. And I think that's the story of Matthew 14. You know, the disciples I wanna tee up are gonna show a clip from The Chosen, but just to tee up this clip for you. So the disciples, they had been watching Jesus perform these miracles, and some of them were kinda struggling because they're like, we have our own issues.

And in The Chosen, we know Peter was married. How do we know Peter was married? Because Jesus healed his mother-in-law. So he couldn't have a mother-in-law if he wasn't married. Right?

So some of the disciples were married. And in The Chosen, Peter and his wife lose a child, and Jesus didn't save the child. So there is a storm within their hearts because they're like, we don't get it. Why is he healing some gentile demon possessed man, and he's not saving our baby? It doesn't make sense.

There is a storm brewing in their heart. Amen.

Let's just... Before we go into our small groups, just take a minute and just close your eyes. Just talk to him. Let him search your heart. Lord, we just pledge ourselves and surrender again to you.

Show us where we have just made you a filler, Jesus, where you have just been a filler savior to us. We wanna give you all of us where we look like Peter in that image of just clinging to you desperately because we know we need you every moment, every second of every day. So, Lord, we just surrender again to you today. Thank you that your mercy is new again today. Meet every single one of us exactly where we are, and then reach your hand out and pull us up to deeper, to more intimate relationship with you.

That's our desire today. Be in our small group time. Speak to us each individually that we would leave here changed because we met with you, the risen savior, powerful, powerful Jesus. We tell you we love you. Amen.

Amen. Do we have any announcements today or just head on to our groups? Would you would you take that experience, that real experience and encounter with Jesus, and would you pray that over us that we would have the faith to cry out and see him in the midst of the storm? Will you just pray that over us? Amen.

What a great example of the scripture that says... Yeah. What a great example of the scripture that says we defeat the enemy by two things, the blood of the lamb and what? The word of our testimony. So amen.

Good job.

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