AUG 10 2025 | God’s Word: Can You Dig It?

Sea Change Church · "God’s Word: Can You Dig It?" Pastor Jim Smith · August 10, 2025
Luke 8:1-15
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

for us by your grace, glory to you Father, son, holy spirit. In your name we pray. Amen. Now, the mean idea this morning is this. God wants to sow his seed, his word, continually lifelong into your life. Think about that as seed that is sown. I brought a packet, I can't resist object lessons. My wife is going to sow this seed in our garden. She says in the days ahead, this is lettuce, it's blossoming lettuce, particular species.

She has two green thumbs. I have thumbs. Try and use them to dig and to do things like that. That's biblical. But in any case, a little seed here, this will be my living reminder. But God wants his word. Whether you read it from the page, whether you read it from the screen, whether you hear it along the way, whether it's hidden in your heart and comes back in your memory, whatever that word source may be, ultimately God wants to speak that to sow that as good seed into our lives so our lives can be fruitful.

Not just punching in, not just rhythms and regimens, not just shiny objects. But God can be the center of that and stir us in our response to all the details of life. And so in that, the only perfect one who did that was who? Jesus. We follow his example. We also hear his word to us this morning. So God wants to sow his word as seed into your life. And here's the key question this morning, and I hope we'll reflect on this.

The key question is, and I asked USD kids this across 17 years, and some of them came to the Lord for the first time hearing this question and this passage, what quality and depth of soil do you want to offer to the Lord? What quality and depth of soil do you wanna offer to the Lord? Because every one of us in this room, in some way resemble an aspect of this parable, don't we? Every one of us in this room has a tendency toward one or another way of receiving or not receiving so much God's word to us.

Now, God's word comes in several different ways. Down under group discussions, you'll see at certain points, Psalm 119, God's word is a light. Isaiah 55, God's word is like water. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12, the word of God is active, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. It's a tool. All those are true. And if that speaks to your life more than where I'm going, go there with the Holy Spirit and you'll discover a word for you.

All those are true. That's why they're in the notes. But the key issue this morning is the parable of the sower. What quality and depth of soil do you want God's word to have in your life? We're gonna do four basic points. This is a short one, and then we're gonna come to the Lord's table. It's in your notes. Number one parable of the sower. Some grain falls on hardened paths and soon traffic includes scavenging birds.

The word God's truth offers life. But as it sits, if it sits on hard ground, the evil one, Matthew's gospel calls it that Satan, marks gospel uses that the devil, Luke's gospel calls us that Jesus probably spoke this parable many different times in many different places. Hmm. So with that, the evil one, the forces of evil tend to steal it away. And maybe it's blown away, maybe it's snatched away by critics, by cynics, maybe something else.

But God's word goes in a different direction. I wanna say this morning, very simply it's the gospel. The good news. If your life tends to be hardened ground, you have an opportunity now to freshly cultivate and plow the soil of your life. Okay? For some of you, you may receive the elements of the Lord's supper, the bread which represents the body of Christ, the bl, the cup which represents the blood of Christ, his sacrifice for us loving us this much.

For some of you, this may be the first time you do it. God bless you. You may come in hard as a rock, but you've been led here. Or you may tend to be pretty well case hardened. You know, I don't put up with this or that or something else. God can work in your life and cultivate. I brought a book along this morning. I had some USD students. Actually this is the second edition. The first one was called, uh, called Christ Famous Conversions.

This one I helped actually as a consultant, John Mulder, finding God a treasury of conversion stories. If you like to hear about ways people have come to Christ, if that inspires you, if it opens your view as to how God can so creatively work in our lives, this might be a book you'd be interested in. I'll stand motionless out by the door with this book. And if you want to talk about it, it's great. I'm not selling it. Uh, you can find it on book finder.com.

That's my favorite new and used book source. It's cheaper. Okay? Enough said, finding God a treasury of conversion stories. I see a couple of you writing that down. God bless you. So with that, I'm gonna draw illustration simply from these. I'm not gonna go into a ton of life experiences. Alright, illustration number one, hard soil. Who is it? My example would be outta this book, Francis Collins, Dr. Francis Collins.

Any of you heard of him? Hmm. Alright. Dr. Francis Collins met him several times. He is a world class scientist. He was the head of the Human Genome Project. He was the head of the National Institutes of Health. Uh, Francis Collins, world renowned scientists, founder of a group called Bio Logos. If you're interested in how science and Christian faith interface bio logos, that's B-I-O-L-O-G-O-S. Feel free to take, uh, take note if you like.

He was hard as a rock. He says, I paraphrase, I, I grew up in a home in which we talked about Jesus. We talked about spiritual life possibilities, all those things. But as I went on in my education, I'm paraphrasing. As I went on in my education, I got interested more in data. I got interested more in just the facts. Ma'am, I got interested more in test tube. I got interested more simply in that hard ground. What changed his life? You know what it was?

He says in his testimony, finding God. He says, you know, when I went to the hospital, I found people that were facing critical illness, sometimes terminal illness, and they exhibited a faith. They exhibited a brightness of spirit, a courage, a resilience. I could not fathom. And I looked at these people and said, where did this come from? He said, God's at work in my life. How about you, doctor? And he said, that was my wake up call.

And that hard ground, those gentle words, cultivated, plowed into open space in his life to where for the first time he said, I gotta look deeper. Then he read CS Lewis, wonderful apologist, defender of the face, Oxford University and CS Lewis writings moved him. And for the first time he said, personally, yes to the Lord. Yes to the word in a deeper sense. Isn't that beautiful? Hard ground can be broken up. There is hope for all by the grace of God and the word of God.

You tend to be hard ground a little bit. God can be invited into your life to cultivate good things. Cultivate blessing is his word. Is meant to be life-giving for you and for others around you. And a blossom like my wife's garden, number two in the parable, other seed falls into rocky soil. It sprouts, but it stays shallow in root and then drought prevails. And in tough times without a depth of root, there's a fade.

There's a withering and so forth. A shallowness word, God's truth is received. But when the heat's on tribulations Without depth, it withers away, becomes unfruitful, Shallow, my faith, my confidence, my experience in God's word. I'll let it, I'll let it in. Yeah, I kind of believe that. But it's only gonna go so deep. I'm not gonna spend much more time with this. I'm not going to allow it to penetrate some of the more profound areas of my life.

I'm not gonna allow my life to be changed by the word of God. I'll be in the religion department and that's where it stays in the religion department. May I say very simply, I've got a dear friend, former, uh, former student of mine, uh, this is from Boston years. Uh, he has pastored several churches with a blessing. He's now pastoring a church in Kentucky. He's been there for several years. And the previous two pastors before him left because of scandal, manure scandal.

And he has had the ministry of seeking to live a life of integrity with his dear wife, who we remember well and to be upright and let God's word into every area of his life. And what happened, we were talking on the phone the other day, said, my predecessors, I still pray for 'em. But you know what, they only let God into these areas of their life, this area over here. They could make their moves, they could play their games, they could do their angles.

They could be as tough as they wanted. Whatever they wanted to do. Thank you so much. There was someone in history back to the book, the author of Amazing Grace, the composer of the lyrics. You know, the hymnals in front of you. I dunno if you look at 'em. We use them periodically. Thank you so much for that. And they go on the screen. A historic treasures New and old Jesus said, Matthew 1352 Treasures New and old. But those are not just hymn books, those are books of poetry.

Those are Christian poetry. Ever think of that. And so the composer of amazing Grace, John Newton, guess what? He professed Jesus as Lord. But he was a slave traitor. He ran slave ships, oppressed humanity for sale signs on people. That's what he did for years of his life. He was good at navigation. He found a job. I needed a job, I did the job and I delivered people. Isn't that special? Only this deep? And he said, but I kept feeling so empty.

Again, paraphrase, but close the day came where scripture came into his life. I'll let you read the account. Scripture came into his life and he said, in the middle of my barbarism, God's grace wants to be at work in my life. Isn't that fill in the blank? Amazing composer of amazing grace. John Newton, only this deep for so long, but God's word began to penetrate the areas of his life. He said, God, I, I still need a job, but I think I'll go out once more.

Maybe another voyage. And you know, he says, but show me if I can't. Well, he got sick. Isn't that great? Isn't that great? He got sick. And he goes, I saw the sign. Right? So anyway, with that, he says, no more. I gotta let this go. In fact, I've gotta be an advocate for human rights as we'd call it today. I gotta advocate for the end of the slave trade in Britain. And so he did. And so he was one of the backers of William Wilberforce, who was a key to abolishing the slave trade in England.

Good move. God plowed that shallow life and gave him hope. You may be, I won't say shallow howl, that's a whole other movie. But you, you may be tending towards shallowness. I'll let God into these departments. I'll let they got into over it. But you know what, over here, I'm just gonna kind of try to bull my way through or finesse or bargain or whatever else. If that's you, I'm not asking for a show of hands. If that's you, ask the Lord to go deeper. Hmm.

What's the title of the sermon this morning? God's Word. Can you dig it? What? Louder. Can you dig it right? God's word. Can you dig it? All right. Is that a play on words? Uhhuh. So you know God's word. Can you dig it? Let's go in a way that cultivates God word in our life. Number three, brain may also fall among the thorns where competing growths choke out the growth word God amid distractions. As Gilda Redner used to say, it's always something right?

Always something. If we have many distractions, we are threatened with many masters. Other number ones in our life worries, riches, pleasures. And it gets tangled up, tangled up. We pray regularly in our household, over our calendars, we pray regularly, Lord, over the different tasks. I pray regularly over the calls that I have and all these text messages and stuff, and I'll just, I'll spare you. We pray regularly that God, in echoing Colossians chapter one, all things that says through Christ are made by him, for him and in him.

It all holds together. We pray that regularly in our lives. Otherwise it can be so pick and tangled in life. You see the tangles? Is that part of your experience? God wants to move in. And as you seek to place him, lead with your faith rather than any doubt. We all are a mixture of some faith and some doubt aren't. We lead with your faith. When we do that, we say yes to the word of God, yes, I want you in every area of my life.

Yes, I can dig it. Yes, the door is open. Then God can move into those areas and disentangle and set in order and say, know when to hold them and know when to what. Fold them. Know when to what. Walk away from this thing in life. Know when to run. Do I like to have a little fun Uhhuh. So with that, God will show you how that works, how that comes to pass. If your life is often tending toward entanglements, this is a wonderful day to say, Lord, in a fresh way, I want to have you disentangle and set in order and in sequence the blessings in our life.

Several of you in this room, some of you know who you are, just one of you's got a twinkle in your eye. You know how much I appreciate you as an example of praying over the entanglements of life and seeing the Lord set things in their proper place. What's an example of that? Well, my example book in the book, Dr. Lin Yang, that he may or may not be familiar to you, but Dr. Lin Yang Chinese came to America. Uh, he was, uh, one of the pioneers in articulating in the English language, the history of Chinese culture for an English speaking audience.

And Lin Yong would say, and he's recognized even today in China, sometimes in China, they'll teach heroes but won't even mention their Christians. Very interesting approach. So in any case, official government perspectives, Lin Tang raised in a Christian home, uh, said, I boy, I, you know, I love God. But then, you know, I went to university and then I found out more about Chinese culture and the various varieties of things, and I got all confused and I got all tangled and I got all wrapped up.

And I let go of Jesus being, you know, the center of my life. And it was all kinda like this. And ultimately, ultimately, he said, I gotta simplify this. And the simplification, the focus became, there is no one else like Jesus Christ, the uniqueness of Jesus. And I wanna focus everything on Jesus. I wanna focus everything on his reality, his witness, his personhood, his love, him being full of grace and truth and not full of something else.

John one 14. And you can fill that in with street language or any other preoccupation, entangle that's out there, but full of grace and truth. I want that in my life. And his life was changed that beautiful. And so he became a leading advocate. He wrote a book, why I Am No Longer a Pagan. I wanna follow Jesus. If your life's tangle, what a great day to pray. Lord, disentangle my life. Enter my life by your word. Show me what priorities should be.

Maybe it's revisiting the 10 Commandments. Maybe it's the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew five through seven, whatever it may be. But God can lead in that way. Dr. Lin Ang, Francis Collins, number one example, John Newton Lin Ang. This is, here comes Mother Teresa. Scene number four, grain received in good soil means there are deepening roots and blessed fruits in each season. Word, god's, uh, word comes to us. And this is God embracing God's grace and truth with loving and good hearts brings manifold fruit.

Nobody's perfect but Jesus. That includes all these people. It includes Mother Teresa. I think it's extraordinary the kind of ministry she had across the years. There are people that I know that have come to Christ because of the ministry of Mother Teresa. And because their lives were touched in her humanitarian efforts, engaging others, uh, to reach out in the name of Christ and provide for the needs and address the situations of others.

And so with that, what a wonderful opportunity for us to be soil that is fully cultivated. Now, down below there are discussion questions. Uh, what are some of your favorite tools? Maybe it's reading scripture. Uh, maybe it's music. Maybe it's, uh, works that follow Jesus' example. What would Jesus do? Whatever it might be. What a great day to refocus. There. A takeaway world class New Testament scholar in T Wright. Jesus was not commenting on farming problems, but explaining the strange way.

The kingdom of God, the reign of God, the fruitfulness of God was arriving. Many hearers expect, uh, big and obvious things, but we see people he is talking to and about villagers, pharisees, gentiles, men and women, prejudiced, preoccupied. What a wonderful array we have here today. Tom Wright says, today, what can we do? Well, we can plow rough ground in our lives and in our situations. We can remove stones, we can weed out thorns, we can sow more successfully.

How much mature growth and fruit is the word producing in our lives? If we have ears, let us hear. What kind of soil do you tend to be? Start there. We, we don't start in la la land. We start with where we are, don't we? And then we go from there. One of my buddies who plays golf says, play the ball where it, where it lands, right? So with that, let's bring that to the Lord this morning. Let's ask him to go deeper in our lives.

And, uh, with that, uh, we find God's word speaking to us. Uh, one of my, uh, my Harvard professors, I have a doctorate in church history from Harvard. I have some wonderful conversations here. Uh, you know, I'm not bragging or complaining, I'm just saying, you know, that's why I wind up teaching at different spots. But in that one of my teachers, Henry Nowan Catholic spiritual writer, uh, said, uh, often we think of life as being what can I produce?

What can I make happen? How can I have these, this, these numbers, this count, he says, the real emphasis is called to be fruitfulness in our lives. What, how do we allow, receive the best opportunities for God's word to touch us, to sow fresh seed in our life like my wife's garden and sow to be fruitful? And I love the garden effect in this church, don't you? The array. This is not a church where you come and toe the line.

This is a church where you come and seek the Lord. And what a wonderful privilege we have. We're gonna bow in prayer, then Joe's gonna lead us. One final word. Uh, this is many will say, and I think Pastor Joe, you'll use this word, the word sacrament. Some will call it a sacrament. Amen. What's the original meaning of the Latin word? Sacramentum. A vow of loyalty. What a wonderful day to renew or for the first time express a vow of loyalty, seeking the best we have to offer to the Lord, to the reception of his word.

Will you pray with me for this moment? And Pastor Joe, will you come to the table? Lord, we bow before you reveal to us by your word, speak to us what kind of soil we tend to be and what we can draw toward. I have kept my vow to finish by 20 minutes after the hour. Lord, I fail sometimes. But Lord, your promises never fail. We let you in. This is a sacramental moment. We celebrate Father, son holy Spirit in your name and rebuke any strange spirits that want anything else.

They got no claim on us. We're yours now and forever. Amen. Amen. Thank you Pastor Jim. Um, if the helpers that are gonna help distribute the elements can come up. Um, my name's Joe Brandy. I work with, uh, young adults here. And it's my honor to lead you in communion. Some administrative stuff, in case I forget is, uh, this side, after I read the Lord's words will come up in a single file. You'll take the bread and the wine, go back, sit down, do work with the Lord, examine yourself, and then I'll re-read the words of Jesus and we'll take it together as a corporate one.

We're many, but we're one. If, um, You have put your personal faith in the Lord Jesus, who is the eternal word of God, who became flesh and then communicated his words to his people, and then he died on the cross in your place for all who would have faith in him. You've received eternal life. You've been justified, you've been adopted, you've been incorporated into his family. This is a family meal. If you have not personally accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we'd ask you to not take communion, but to ask for prayer.

'cause it's a family meal. And thinking of, uh, pastor Jim sermon, if you've been wandering or your, your sin feels so big, this centers us because Jesus knew every sin you would ever commit. And yet he still died for you. He was s slain before the foundation of the world out of love for you. So may this meal refresh you and may his word go deeper into you. And the Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, he took bread.

And after giving thanks to God, he broke it. And he gave it to his disciples saying, take and eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord until he comes.

If you want to help proclaim Jesus' life and death, this is your meal. Let us rise and let us come up and take the elements. Draw me close to you. The warmth of Faster jam gave a great word from the parable of the soils, uh, causing us to examine, uh, different ways that maybe the word of God, uh, gets lost or not enough fruit or shallow soil. And it was so good. Um, but guess what? We're prone to wander. Lord, I feel it.

We live in the world. There's distractions, there's worries. And this meal shows us that Jesus did it all. You're never gonna do it perfect. Help it fuel us as we look to him. Jesus said, take and eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Let us eat together. And he said, this is my blood shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins when you drink it. Do this in remembrance of me. Let us remember him together.

Gracious God, may we who've received this sacrament live in the unity of your Holy Spirit, that we may show forth your gifts to all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, let us all stand and recite the Lord's prayer. And then I'll, I'll give a quick blessing after that. Our Father who art in heaven, hallow be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us and lead us temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Invite the prayer team forward. If you need prayer today, we wanna pray for you. We believe in prayer. We believe in healing. Prayer, intercessor uh, intercessory prayer. Come forward. Chris will, uh, we'll play, uh, a song here at the end.

And I wanna bless you. I wanna thank Pastor Jim for stepping in today. I desperately needed a week off. Uh, we just pumped out two series in a row and next week I'm starting with a new series on Elijah the Prophet. We're gonna be talking about the prophetic. What does it mean today? What does it mean for your life? How does the prophecy work in the Old Testament, the New Testament? And then this incredible character study of somebody who is just awesome for God, the prophet.

Elijah, next week, do not miss it. Be jumping into that new series. Uh, if you need, if you extend your hands, I wanna bless you, Chris. Would you play? And if you need prayer, come forward. Lord Jesus, we bless your people. Got this little corner, God, where we wanna see change happen, Lord God. We wanna see a deep change in our own hearts. That's the starting place. The soil of our hearts. I pray that you would soften the soil of each person's heart here.

You would soften the soil. Just ask God in your own heart right now, God soften my heart. Maybe fertile soil for what you want to plant God for the tender shoots that want to come up to grow into mighty oaks. God, in our lives, God, make this city softer soil. Make San Diego softer soil. Lord God in California, in the United States, God, we wanna be a church that is transformative God, that is sowing seeds and harvesting God when the harvest comes.

We bless your harvesters and your seed sowers right now that are here.