Soil: Preparing your heart for growth

This week at New Life we are talking about soil.  You might not have heard a sermon about soil before, so it's worth being there.  Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13 called the parable of the sower.  The message of the parable goes right along with our series: The Greenhouse Effect.  Good soil is an important ingredient in the greenhouse and spiritual growth.   I think Jesus' parable could be renamed the parable of the soils. Let's take a look at it.

In Jesus' parable there are four characters: 1) the farmer who sows, 2) the seed of God's word, 3) the soil of your heart, and most importantly 4) a variety of soils.  Jesus focuses on the four types of soil.  the soil represents our heart, so let's think of the soils as different types of people.  

First Jesus spoke about "pathway people".  "Pathway people" have hard hearts and therefore don't understand the message of the kingdom of God--they just don't get it!  If you want to understand Jesus and His message you have to step out by faith and repent of your hard heart.  Passages in the Old Testament like Hosea  10:12 talk about "fallow" or hard ground and command us to break up our hard hearts to receive God's word.  Pathway people can't receive the seed of God's word because their hearts are like a hardened pathway.

Second, Jesus spoke of "rocky road" people.  Rocky road people have no roots because they lack deep soil.  Jesus was saying that shallow hearts produce shallow plants with no roots.  If you want to grow spiritually and keep on growing you must have deep soil or a deep heart.  Jesus spoke about this when he taught us to love God with our whole hearts.  You can't receive the seed of God's word with half your heart and expect it to take root.

Third, Jesus spoke about "thorny people".  these are the ones that allow the distractions of life like money or worry to choke out the seed of God's word.  Many people today are well-intentioned when it comes to the things of God, but they allow other concerns in life to choke out God's kingdom.  

Finally, Jesus spoke of good soil.  When the seed enters the good soil it produces good fruit.  That's what the kingdom of God is all about.  If we will humble our hearts and break up our "fallow ground" with repentance, if we will love God completely, if we will remove anything in competition with our relationship with God, then we can expect to grow spiritually.

So much of our thinking about how God works in our lives focuses on God's activity and certainly there is no spiritual growth without God (see John 15:5).  But the parable of the sower reminds us that preparing our hearts to receive God's word is vital if we expect to grow up in the Lord.  This week let's prepare ourselves to receive the seed and to grow in fruitfulness. See you Sunday, Tom Ragsdell

The Greenhouse, the Gardener, and You

I'm looking forward to this week at NLCC.  We are currently in a  series, called the Greenhouse Effect, it's all about spiritual growth!   This week we will be taking a look at Jesus' allegory of the vine out of John 15.  Have you ever wondered why some people grow and others keep spinning their wheels?  As a spiritual leader, I have!  I think spiritual growth has a lot to do with positioning your life in the presence of God--that's what the Greenhouse Effect is all about!  

It's amazing how clear the Bible is about the reason for our existence on the planet.  Maybe we miss it because it is so simple.  Our purpose is to produce! That's right, God wants us to produce fruit!  He wants us to grow, to flourish, to prosper so that He will be glorified in our lives and so that we will be blessed.

Jesus' allegory in John 15 is all connecting with God and producing fruit.  Fruitfulness is the key to living a joy-filled life.  If your life isn't producing, you're probably not filled with joy!  The key to producing fruit and joy is "remaining" connected to Christ Jesus and living out his commands.

This Sunday, we are taking a look at the essential elements of a greenhouse and fruitfulness.  Every greenhouse consists of a gardener, water, sunlight, good soil, and a seed or seedling.  when each element is brought together in the right proportion maximized growth occurs.  That's exactly what God wants for you.  Take water and sunlight, for example, have you heard of photosynthesis?  Photosynthesis is the process in which a plant transfers sunlight's energy into sugar and oxygen.  Did you know that 6H2O + 6 CO2 = C6H12O6 + 6 O2?  You probably didn't know that, so let me translate.  6 parts water + 6 parts carbon dioxide = 1 part sugar and 6 parts oxygen.  Plant growth produces a terrific byproduct, oxygen!  

That works in spiritual growth as well.  when we submit our lives to God's plans and God's ways, we not grow, but we produce fruit and all kinds of good byproducts that bless others.

Join us at NLCC this Sunday as we commit our lives to fruitfulness.  Tom Ragsdell

 

Greenhouse Effect

I'm excited!  Spiritual growth doesn't happen by accident.  That's why we're launching a new series at NLCC called, "The Greenhouse Effect: Accelerate Your Spiritual Growth".  I'm really looking forward to the series, because I believe spiritual growth is the key to solving most of our problems in life.  Let me say it again another way--if you will include God in the equation of your life, He can help solve a lot of your personal problems.

You might be thinking--why is spiritual growth so important?  I think we in the church have done a really bad job of answering this question.  I think we need to get back to the reality that TRUTH matters especially when it is lived out.  Spiritual growth matters because it can produce in you a truly wonderful life which will bless others as well.  It's like the ripple effect of a pebble in the pond.  You might not think that your life can amount to much.  But, I couldn't disagree more!  When you begin to grow spiritually, not only will you change, but you will begin to impact the lives of others around you, just like a pebble.  That's why spiritual growth is so important because it is the key to saving the planet, not carbon offsets.  So be a pebble!

Here's one more thought.  Our personal problems are why spiritual growth is so important.  Just the other day, I heard about a woman who divorced her husband because she was unhappy and married her high school sweetheart six months later only to discover that he was a real jerk and impossible to live with.   So many of the people I meet with from day to day or hear about on the news are suffering from the same ailment.  They are all looking to circumstances and others for a better life.  This is really timely today as our entire country seems to be looking to the government for a bailout or a promise of prosperity.

I can't promise you that your difficult circumstances will change immediately, but I can promise you that you will change for the better as you turn your life over to the Lord and commit yourself to spiritual growth.  In time many of your circumstances will change!

The first message in the series will be entitled "Inconvenient Truths About Spiritual Growth."  I believe there are many truths about life-change and spiritual growth that we really don't want to face up to, but here is five inconvenient truths to chew on as we look forward to Sunday.

1. Spiritual growth requires a greenhouse

2. Spiritual growth requires a new birth experience

3. Spiritual growth requires child-like faith

4. Spiritual growth requires intentionality

5. Spiritual growth requires selflessness.

Have a great day and see you Sunday! Tom Ragsdell

Rise Up

What's it going to take for you to live the kind of life you have always dreamed about living?  Well I'm not sure what kind of life you're dreaming about, but let me share with you some of my dreams.  I want to live a life that is a blessing to others.  I want my spouse, my children, my friends, and my community to be blessed because they knew me.  I think most of us share this desire, even though we express it in a variety of ways.

I'm not talking about putting on a "public face" or or facade of success, I'm talking about living a truly different kind of life that elevates me from my selfishness and empowers me to live a truly significant life.  How can I do this?  I have found a one word answer -- Easter!

Easter is all about "rising up" and living a resurrected life.  Most people are familiar with the Easter story.  Jesus lived, died, and rose again.  Then he appeared to the disciples and others on many occasions before he gave them the Great Commission and left for heaven.  For too many people that is the end of the Easter story.  I believe Jesus wanted the Easter story to be about you and me today, not just about his death and resurrection over 2,000 years ago.

Easter is the centerpiece of Christianity and the key to "rising up" and living a resurrected life.  Are you satisfied with the life your living?  Often times I am not!  And I see many people around me that are living way beneath their potential in life.  They are bound by selfish desires, addictions, and bad decisions that leave them trapped financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.   I want to rise up and become a better person and more of a blessing for those around me.  And I want to help you rise up and live life god's way!

This Sunday we are going to take a look at the story of Easter, the resurrection of Lazarus, and three steps to rising up to a resurrected life.  Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life."  Then he asked, "Do you believe this?"  I hope you do.  IT can make all the difference in your life.

Join us at the ARC this Sunday for Easter.  Tom Ragsdell

Sayings of Jesus

The last seven sayings of Jesus put into action everything Jesus taught us about living the Christian life.  This coming sunday at NLCC we will focus on the last hours of Jesus' life and the things he said.  I'm hoping we embrace the teachings of Jesus in a new and deeper way as we witness Jesus living out what he taught us even as he faced crucifixion.  Here's a summary of the seven sayings. 

#1: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." (Lk 23:34)  Jesus often taught about the importance of forgiveness.  Now he was living it out.  It's a lot easier to talk about forgiveness than to offer it to others--that's why we need God's help.  I'm a firm believer that we really can't forgive others until we receive forgiveness from God.  It's certainly more blessed to give than to receive, but we have to receive before we have anything to give.  this principle of forgiveness works in marriage, among friends, and with your enemies.  Only as we receive a large dose of forgiveness form our Father in heaven are we equipped to forgive ourselves and others who harm us.

#2: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Lk 23:43)  I love the simplicity of the gospel.  Over the centuries both friend and foe of the gospel have tried to complicate the message and turn it into to tradition, ritual, or some complicated religious observance.  In the last moments of Jesus' earthly life, he confirmed the simplicity of his message, offering hope to the criminal who turned to him.  How complicated is your Christianity?  the Christianity which Jesus launched was so simple that even a criminal hanging on a cross could receive the promise of paradise.

#3: "Dear woman, here is your son . . . . Here is your mother." (John 19:25-27)  Love is a centerpiece of life and the Christian message.  Too often we speak of love in emotional, spiritual, or intangible ways.  For Jesus, love was practical and tangible.  Love was taking care of your practical responsibilities.  sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do in life is just taking care of your responsibilities by loving those around you.

#4: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)  a part of any spiritual journey is spiritual suffering.  Spiritual growth doesn't occur without sacrifice.  Jesus' sacrifice took him face to face with the cup of God's wrath fro the sins of the world.  JEsus was forsaken and he felt the spiritual pain of abandonment.

#5: "I am thirsty" (John 19:28)  Spiritual suffering eventually shows up in the realm of physical suffering.  We are not spirit alone.  We are "dirt and divinity" all mixed up together.  that's why Jesus said to his disciples, "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."  It's the same reason today that you feel a desire to pray or grow spiritually, but you still have a battle ahead.  the spirit says go and the flesh says no!

#6: "It is finished" (John 19:30)  Jesus' end was just the beginning.  The obedience of the cross would give way to the victory of the resurrection.  What needs to come to an end in your life so that God can work a victory?  Jesus had accomplished the Father's will by enduring the cross.  Now, he awaited his ultimate victory in the resurrection. 

#7: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)  What helped Jesus get through the shame and pain of the cross?  He trusted the Father.  Jesus lived out Job's cry, "though he slay me, yet will I hope in him." (Job 13:15)  Are you entirely committed to Christ Jesus?  Or have you only trusted him for the good things in life?  The essence of the Christian journey is your willingness to fully trust God, just as Jesus trusted his Father.

The last seven saying of Jesus not only summarize his gospel, but they reveal to us that Jesus was willing to practice what he preached.  In life and death Jesus was committed to forgiveness, love, sacrifice, obedience, victory, and complete trust in God.  If I can commit myself to these truths I know my life will be better for it.  See you Sunday.  Tom Ragsdell