Sabbath 1/30/16 Seventh Day Baptist of Daytona Beach Pastor Wray sermon �Word Problems�

Posted : 30 Jan, 2016 12:12 PM

Sabbath 1/30/16 Seventh Day Baptist of Daytona Beach Pastor Wray sermon �Word Problems� Mark 4:1-34

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Word Problems- What�s the difference between a fable and a parable? Fable is a clever story to offer insight into life and it gives instructions. Parable is intended to be disruptive, to interrupt what you thought you knew and to surprise you with an unwanted truth.



Jesus described the coming of God and His Kingdom in parables because the people couldn�t understand too well what He was saying. Parables were used by Jesus because the coming of God�s Kingdom was too hard for his hearers to grasp. Parables would help the people slowly understand what Jesus was teaching. It would come to them gradually and finally it would go �tick tock� and they would �get it� and understand the true meaning.



The parables Jesus shared in this scripture were not about actual soil, rocks or weeds. He was talking about the weeds and rocks that choke our spiritual lives. In this parable, it is the �seed�, the Word that is the focus of the parable. The seed, the Word was what Jesus was talking about and focusing on. The parable shows that we cannot control God�s Kingdom. God�s Kingdom can only be received as a Gift from God. Faith like Love, grabs hold of you whether you want it or not. The Kingdom sprouts and grows in our lives. We will be changed. As the kingdom grows in us, we will live our lives and drop kingdom seeds as we go along. After we share the gospel with people, the seed is planted and it�s now the Holy Spirit in control. The Holy Spirit will take over and do its work on them.



The Word is like light from a firefly. You can catch the firefly in your hand but you cannot stop the firefly from lighting up. The light glows thru your fingers. The light of the Kingdom of God will never go out and it will shine through our words and our attitudes. The darkness of the world will be pierced by the light. We should shine brightly as the people who live in the Kingdom of God. The light will shine because the Kingdom will shine!



The Mustard Seed- God can have small things grow into big things. The Kingdom penetrates and takes over our lives. The mustard seed is a little seed that grows into large bushes and trees. When we have faith in God and a relationship with Him, we may be happy with just that. But the Holy Spirit in us can and will make us grow more. The Kingdom will have us doing things we never thought we would do. Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of God comes of its own and it comes for us! The Kingdom of God creates a new and open future for us. This is Good News for us and bad news for those people who think they are self-made men.



A parable is something that is intended to be disruptive and gives us new thoughts that lead to new truths. May we become more like Jesus Christ in our actions each day. We pray that we become not what we want to be but what God wants us to be. In Jesus name.

Amen

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