Mark 4; Reading the Bible Together

Joy:
You’re listening to the Lifting Her Voice podcast Episode Number 32.  Today we will read the fourth chapter of Mark together.  Sowing seeds on different kinds of soils, and the disciples get a personal explanation of some parables.

speaker 0:   0:33
Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God’s word together.  Some things require discipline and sometimes that’s just not easy to muster by yourself, no matter how badly you want to do it or how much you know you should.  It’s just easier to do it with a friend.  So refill your coffee or tea, get comfortable in your favorite chair and follow along as I read aloud.  I’m so glad you’re here!

speaker 0:   1:31
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that we received such a blessing this morning.  Five of my precious friends from church drove up our long driveway in separate cars, stood six feet apart and serenaded us with a medley of about six praise songs.  It was almost surreal, actually, being in their physical presence for the first time in two months.  I mean, we Zoom our book club, and I follow them on Facebook and Instagram.  But it’s just not the same as being together.  Thanks, ladies.  I think I needed that more than I thought.  

speaker 0:   2:12
Mark Chapter 4.  Again, he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him.  So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.  He taught them many things in parables and in his teaching he said to them: Listen!  Consider the sower who went out to sow.  As he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it.  Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t very deep.  When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.  Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.  Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and 100 times.  Then he said, Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.  When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables.  He answered them, The secret of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables so that they may indeed look and yet not perceive;  they may indeed listen and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.  Then he said to them:  Don’t you understand this parable?  How then will you understand all of the parables? The sower sows the word.  Some are like the word sown on the path.  When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.  And others are like seed sown on rocky ground.  When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.  But they have no root.  They are short-lived.  When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.  Others are like the seed sown among the thorns;  these are the ones who hear the word hear the word, but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.  He also said to them, Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Isn’t it to be put on a lamp stand?  For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.  And he said to them, Pay attention to what you hear.  By the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and more will be added to you.  For whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  The kingdom of God is like this, he said.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.  The soil produces a crop by itself – first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.  As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.  And he said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?  Isn’t it like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all seeds on the ground.  And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.  He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.  He did not speak to them without a parable.  Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples. On that day, when evening had come, he told them, Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.  So they left the crowd and took him along, since he was in the boat.  And other boats were with him.  A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion.  So they woke him up and said to him, Teacher!  Don’t you care that we’re going to die?  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Silence!  Be still!  The wind ceased and there was a great calm.  Then he said to them, Why are you afraid?  Do you still have no faith?  And they were terrified and asked one another, Who then is this?  Even the wind and the sea obey him!

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 So…what kind of soil are you?  I’ll kick this off by confessing that I’m hands-down soil number three.  I tend to go too fast, run too hot and worry way too much…about money, about work, about whether people like me.  And as long as I’m focused on that stuff and not on what God is assigning me, well, I’ll never be able to bear the abundance of fruit that he has planned for me to bear.  Remember in Matthew when we read that we can’t serve God and money?  It’s a colossal tug of war, and we’re so much better off if we surrender to putting him first.  So there’s my confession.  I hope you will pray for me, that I will choose God over the worries of the world.  So let me ask you again:  What kind of soil are you?  Let’s pray.  Father God, I’m going to pray for all four of these kinds of soil right now.  I pray for those who are vulnerable to Satan stealing away knowledge of you.  If that has happened to anyone listening to this podcast, I bind that wily devil right now so he’s powerless.  If anyone listening has fallen away from you…Holy Spirit, I pray that you would draw them back and provide circumstances so that they can grow and take root.  Lord, for those who are entangled in the worries of this world right now, I pray that you would give them your wisdom and direction to break free of those thorns.  And I pray Jesus that you would do your good work and cause us to be good soil that bears good fruit that pleases you and loves others until you come again.  We thank you that it’s already done.  Amen.  

speaker 0:   9:29
Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray God will grow in you what has been planted and watered here.  In this time of unprecedented struggle worldwide, we can look to God for guidance and comfort.  Be sensitive to those in your circle of influence who need a word of encouragement and invite them to join us.  If you like this show, it would be great if you give it a five-star review.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you right here tomorrow.  Be well!