Revival church held Sunday service on November 22nd, 2020 with a total of 24 attendants. Intern pastor Joanna shared the sermon from the book of Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 and she entitled the message to be, ‘who hinders your spiritual growth’.
The Bible study was given by brother Matthew from the book of 2 Timothy 4:1-5 he shared about evangelism. Jesus said to his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and whoever will believe must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The word of God is useful for rebuke, encouraging, and comforting. Therefore we need to proclaim this message to people so that they can also receive the grace in which we now live. We must not selfishly hold onto the word of God, but we need to share with others. This is the heart that Christ had, he came and died for us because he loved us.
Joanna explained that the seed is the word of God which is the spiritual milk, and it helps them to grow in their salvation while the soil is the heart of people. The first soil which is the path is for the heart of a person who does not understand the word. Therefore, the enemy comes and snitches it out of their hearts. The rocky soil is the person who receives the word of God, but not the depth, therefore, the word does not have deep roots as a result it withers. The thorny bush stands for those who hear and even understand it, but because of worries, the plant does not produce fruit.
In these three soil types, the problem is not the seed, but it is the soil. Therefore the word of God has some power and sharpness, but the problem is the hearts. Some people hear the message with unprepared hearts, and some chose to receive only that which they like, while some fill their lives with worries about riches and life.
For us to be like the good soil, we need to allow the seed to grow in us. We need first to prepare our hearts to receive the word, and we must receive it in its fullness without living out any part of it. We must also not worry about what we will eat or wear, instead, we should cast all our burdens on Jesus for he cares for us.
The word of God is precious, it is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. But for it to work in our lives, we need to come with prepared hearts to receive it. Because the enemy knows the power of the word of God, he tries so hard to stop it from growing and producing fruit.