#6 and final in series: Contrast

BIBLE READING:

Matthew 13:47-52

47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

THEME

It’s an ongoing discussion in the email marketing world: Do you choose to grow your list via opt-in or opt-out methods? It's an issue that the government has received a lot of backlash over with their decision to implement an Opt-out only system for your 'My Health Record'. Opt-in or Opt-out. Many people see Christianity in the same vein - as something that you can opt into or out of.  

But today in the final week of our parable series "Contrast", Jesus uses the illustration of the dragnet to show the indiscriminate, non-selective catch of the Gospel as it moves silently through the sea of life drawing all people, almost without them knowing it, into the shores of eternity. But here’s the catch. There is no opt-in, only an opt out option. But therein lies our comfort, our challenge and the mission of the Kingdom of heaven. We will experience and explore that today.

THEME VERSE

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. Matthew 13:46

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

We are caught up in the net of God's grace and mercy. Through Christ's death and resurrection God has chosen us in Christ to be part of his eternal joy and a life that never ends. Christ proclaims us beautiful and loved by the Father. So until the net is finally hauled ashore, our task is to live in that grace and let that grace in us love indiscriminately for grace alone can transform hearts and lives.

FAITH TALK

Of all the parables that we have looked at over the last six weeks, which one caused you to think the most or responated with you the most?

If the net drawing all people to the shores of eternity is drawing closed, who do you need to talk to in your sphere of influence to tell them about the God who will be with them for ever?

#5 in series: Contrast

BIBLE READING

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

THEME

“I’d give my right arm for one of those.” Well...maybe not your arm, but every now and then we want something and we want it so badly that we are willing to go to great lengths to get it…emotionally, mentally, physically. Whatever the cost. Whatever the challenge. The length to which you are prepared to go is directly proportionate to the value you assign to it and how high it rates on your scale of what matters in life. Today Jesus tells us that the greatest treasure, what has most value is found right before our eyes, in him and his love and grace. And when you discover that priceless gift…you’ll also find that there is nothing that has a greater value or is worth giving everything in your life to other than that.

THEME VERSE

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44 

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

God gave up what he valued most in this world, his own Son, to get what he treasured most in this world. You!

You are precious and valuable in his sight! Always and forever. Never forget that.

FAITH TALK

1  What do you value most about your dad?

2  What is your most prized possession?

3  What in your life has the greatest value?

THEME

BIBLE READING

Matthew 13:31-32

31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

THEME

“From little things big things grow. From little things big things grow.” We hope that’s true about our super. We want it to be true about that business venture we’ve backed. It’d be great if it were the case with that song we uploaded to YouTube. Human aspiration normally points up and to the right; growing profit, advancing prestige, increasing power. From little things…. Jesus says his kingdom looks like one of those little things…a mustard seed. It’s easily missed and overlooked, often disregarded or despised. But when you recognise the Kingdom of heaven for what it is and let it invade, take over and transform your life, you will see and experience God do something so great that it will leave you in awe and lead you to worship.

THEME VERSE

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.” Matthew 13:31

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

God takes little things…insignificant things…seemingly worthless things…to accomplish great things. He takes your stammering lips, your faltering prayers, your acts of grace and generosity and your fragile service and by it the kingdom grows. Improbable? Yes!. But mightily. That's his promise.

FAITH TALK

1.  What is something little that has grown in your life in surprising ways?

2.  In the last week, where did you catch a glimpse of God’s presence in the world?

3.  How has the Church been a place of rest, refuge or nurture for you?  

#2 in series Contrast:

BIBLE READING:

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

THEME

Ambiguous: having more than one possible interpretation or meaning; difficult to understand or classify; obscure. So much of life is ambiguous - filled with situations where there are no clear or easy answers. Where taking action in one part of life may cause unintended consequences in another. Where what seems right and good may be harmful and foolish. Jesus' parables are so often ambiguous: multi-layered stories that get under our skin; make us think, challenge our beliefs and make us squirm a bit as they create ambiguity in our lives. But maybe that's the point. For the Kingdom of God is so radically different from the world we live in. So today we ponder the ’Parable of the Weeds’ as Jesus gives us a kingdom perspective on how to live and act in the face of the evil and resistance that will surround us in this life.

THEME VERSE

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. Matthew 13:24

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

Leave the weed pulling to the expert. God alone knows the thoughts and actions of every single heart, for he made them all. Your calling is to simply be; be who he has created you to be in all situations; pointing others to the Son of God who gives life in all its fullness.

#1 in series: CONTRAST

BIBLE READING

Matthew 13:1-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though 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 this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,

    and they have closed their eyes.

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 your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 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. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 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. 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 hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

THEME

It just doesn't make any sense. A farmer turning on the seeder as soon as he gets out of the shed? It's wasteful, haphazard, indiscriminate, ineffective and a surefire way of going out of business quickly. It's a story that leaves you shaking your head. But maybe that's the point. The purpose of contrast is to amplify; it moves the thing you want to show into focus and here the spotlight is well and truly on God and the aim and scope of his kingdom work. For what seems wasteful, inefficient and unprofitable from a worldly perspective reveals a God whose love is indiscriminate, whose grace is extravagant, whose methods ensure no life, no person, no soil is left unsown and whose work produces a harvest that is out of this world. Join us as we discover this God today in the Parable of the Sower.

THEME VERSE

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Matthew 13:16

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

In God’s world wastefulness gives way to hope, inefficiency gives way to love, and profitability gives way to generosity. For his heart is expansive, his love is inclusive, his Word is effective and his grace is generative. For the scope and aim of his mission is clear: to sow his life in yours and the lives of all people.

FAITH TALK

When it comes to gardening are you a green thumb (everything grows) or a brown thumb (everything dies)? Why do you think this is?

What do you think the Parable of the Sower is all about?

In what ways are you nurturing or nourishing the spiritual seed scattered in your life?