The Parable of the Sower

Introduction: The Cultivated Heart Today, we’re talking about the fruitful soil —what Jesus calls the good soil —or what I like to call the cultivated heart . I love that word cultivated  because it implies intentionality . To cultivate something means to nurture it, to tend it, and to help it grow. Fruitful soil doesn’t just happen on its own. Without attention and care, the soil of our hearts can easily become overrun by weeds, choked by thorns, or cluttered with stones tha

Stay Focused and Expect Transformation In Mark 4 , Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower — a story about how the condition of our hearts determines how fruitful we are for God. We’ve already looked at the hard soil (the trampled heart)  and the stony soil (the shallow heart) . Today, we’re digging into the thorny soil — the neglected heart. Before we begin, I want to challenge you: Grab your notebook or open your phone (and put it on airplane mode if needed). Don’t just listen

A Lesson from the Stony Soil In the Gospel of Mark chapter 4, Jesus describes four types of soil in His famous Parable of the Sower. Each one represents a different condition of the human heart. Last week, we talked about the hard soil , or the trampled heart. Today, we turn our attention to the stony soil —what Jesus calls the shallow heart . “Some seed fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun c

Discover the meaning of the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. Learn how to recognize and soften a hardened heart so God’s Word can take root. A Word for Our Hearts In Mark 4, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. It’s one of His most well-known teachings, and yet, like all of Scripture, it has layers of wisdom we need to unpack. Today, we’re going to focus on just one part: the hard soil —what I also call the trampled heart . Before we dive in, let’s ask God to speak to us: “Fa