1. Parable of the Sower Parables of the Messiah

2. Shema – Hebrew Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu – Adonai echad Ve’ahavta et Adonai eloeikah B’khol levavkah Uve’khol naphshekah Uve’khol m’odekah Ve’ahavta le’reacha Kamocha, Amen

3. Shema Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord alone. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And Love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.

4. Group of 4 parables Mark 4 – Sower – Lamp on a Stand – Growing Seed – Mustard Seed #4 is often used in learning and studying 4 kinds of soil

5. Jeremiah 4 Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns. vs. 3 My wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done – burn with no one to quench it. vs. 4

6. Unkempt fields

7. Paths

8. Boundary

9. Thorns

10. Kinds of Soil We are the soil not the farmer – Not a warning on where to spread the gospel – Call to reflection What kind of soil are we? – Hard – Rocky – Thorny – Fertile

11. 4 Soils = 4 Hearts Sponge – soaks up everything Funnel – in one ear, out the other Strainer – focuses on details and loses main idea Sifter – filters out chunks and keeps fine flower

12. Prepare the soil The first thing you did was burn off the thorns Parable of fire – lamp on a stand – Expose your sin and get rid of it – Do it in a loving community – Warning – the measure you use for others will be used for you

13. Thorns and Rocks Rocks keep coming up in the ground You can’t see them to remove them until after thorns are burned Work together to remove rocks

14. Fertile Soil 3 rd parable – growing seed Once your “soil” is ready you can produce a crop 4 th parable – mustard seed Even small seed produce in fertile soil

15. Ears He who has ears to hear, let him hear Isaiah 6 – Be ever hearing, but never understanding Isaiah 5 – garden, what is a good crop? – Justice, righteousness, caring for needy May God chisel out our ears so we hear the tze’akah of the needy

16. Next week Feeding 5000, feeding 4000 Mark 6: 30-44, Mark 8:1-26