Date: July 16, 2017
“SEED SOWING AND CHURCH GROWING”
SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 55: 10
–
13; MATTHEW 13: 1
–
9, 18
–
23
GRACE COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ASHEVILLE, NC
July 16, 2017
The Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop, Pastor
Isaiah 55:10
–
13
55:10 For as the rain and the snow come down
from heaven, and do not return
there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving
seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
55:11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me
empty, but it shall
accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for
which I sent it.
55:12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the
hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their
hand
s.
55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come
up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that
shall not be cut off.
Matthew 13:1
–
9, 18
–
23
13:1 That same day Jesus went ou
t of the house and sat beside the sea.
13:2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there,
while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to
sow.
1
3:4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them
up.
13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they
sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
13:6 But when the sun rose, they
were scorched; and since they had no root, they
withered away.
13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
2
13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.
13:9 Let
anyone with ears listen!”
13:18 “Hear then the parable of the sower.
13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the
evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown
on the path.
13:20 As
for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word
and immediately receives it with joy;
13:21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble
or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immed
iately falls away.
13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but
the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
13:23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hear
s the word and
understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in
another sixty, and in another thirty.”
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
“February 2, 1968
,
”
A Poem
by Wendell Berry:
In the dark of the moon,
in flyin
g snow,
in the dead of winter,
war spreading,
families dying,
the world in danger,
I walk the rocky hillside,
sowing clover.
Sowing seeds in a wintery world. Believing in germination, gestation,
and
growth in
a world of war, death, and danger.
Seed s
owing
isn’t about knowing, it
is about hope.
It is about trust. It’s about faith
.
