Only the grace-tilled heart that is open to the Good News of Jesus Christ will produce a lasting harvest both in this life and for eternity. The message was given on January 19, 2014 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, go to www.NewCityChurch.ca.

1. The Soil of Your Heart
~ Luke 8:1-15

2. God Gives Us His Words of Eternal Life
Today’s Scripture:
Luke 8:1-15
Found on page 864 in our guest Bibles.

3. “The Sower” (1888)
Vincent Van Gogh
image: ILRI

4. “Vincent van Gogh’s
Sower with Setting Sun
changed my life. Although
I had been surrounded by
art and architecture of
great significance all of
my life, I did not have the
eyes to really see the art.
I don’t know why this
painting presented itself in
a new way.

5. “…However, when I encountered Sower with
Setting Sun… I understood
it as something more than
a picture…. I knew the
parable of the sower. I
knew I was the soil….
I understood that Vincent
was challenging me to
open myself to it, to let the
work take root in me.”
~ Dr. James Romaine

6. RI
The Soil of Your Heart
~ Luke 8:1-15
image: Mathias

7. Be on the lookout for...
1
…the different soils
of the human heart
2
…what this parable
reveals about you

8. Luke 8:1
Soon afterward he went on through
the cities and villages, preaching
and bringing good news of the
kingdom of God….

9. “The Lord will be king
over the whole earth.”
~ Zechariah 14.9

10. Luke 8:2-3
And the Twelve were with him, and
also some women who had been
healed of evil spirits and infirmities:
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom
seven demons had gone out; and
Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s

11. Luke 8:2-3
…household manager, and Susanna,
and many others, who provided for
them out of their means….

12. Luke 8:4
And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town
came to him, he said in a parable….

13. Luke 8:5-6
A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some fell along
the path and was trampled under
foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock,
and as it grew up, it withered away,

14. Luke 8:6-8
…because it had no moisture. And
some fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up with it and choked
it. And some fell into good soil, and
grew and yielded a hundred fold….

15. image: James Wheeler / Phyllis Harris / Les Chatfield / — Tico —
“…the path…”
“…the rock…”
“…among thorns…”
“…good soil…”

16. Luke 8:6-8
And as he was saying these things,
he called out, “He who has ears to
hear, let him hear….”

17. Luke 8:9-10
And when his disciples asked him
what this parable meant, he said,
“To you it has been given to know
the secrets of the kingdom of God,
but for others they are in parables,

18. Luke 8:9-10
…so that ‘seeing they may not see,
and hearing they may not hear….’

19. ~ Isaiah 6:9-10
And he said, “Go,
and say to this people:
‘Keep on hearing,
but do not understand;
keep on seeing,
but do not perceive.’”

20. The same sun that hardens clay…
…melts wax.
image: Jalal Hameed Bhatti

21. Luke 8:11-12
Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God….

22. Luke 8:11-12
Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God. The ones along the
path are those who have heard….

23. Luke 8:11-12
Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God. The ones along the
path are those who have heard. Then
the devil comes and takes away the
word from their hearts, so that they
may not believe and be saved….

24. “In their case the
god of this world has
blinded the minds
of unbelievers, to
keep them from
seeing the light of
the gospel of the
glory of Christ….”
~ The Apostle Paul in
2 Corinthians 4:4

25. Luke 8:13
And the ones on the rock are those
who, when the hear the word receive
it with joy. But they have no root;
they believe for a while, and in times
of testing fall away….

26. “…those who hear with
enthusiasm, but the
enthusiasm doesn’t go
very deep. It’s only
another fad, and the
moment there’s
trouble, it’s gone.”

27. Luke 8:14
And as for what fell among the thorns,
they are those who hear, but as they
go on their way they are choked out
by the cares and riches and pleasures
of life, and their fruit does not mature…

28. “
‘The pleasures of this life…’—these are
not evil in themselves. These are not
vices. These are gifts of God. They are
your basic meat and potatoes and coffee
and gardening and reading and
decorating and traveling and investing
and TV-watching and Internet-surfing
and shopping and exercising and
collecting and talking. And all of them
can become deadly substitutes for God.
~ John Piper, A Hunger for God

29. Luke 8:15
As for that in the good soil, they are
those who, hearing the word, hold it
fast in an honest and good heart,
and bear fruit with patience….

30. “…you have been born again, not of
perishable seed but of imperishable,
through the living and abiding !
word of God….And this word is the !
good news that was preached to you.”
~ The Apostle Peter in
1 Peter 1:23, 25

31. Important Question
Why does Luke include this
teaching of Jesus
in his historical biography?

32. Only the grace-tilled heart
that is open to the Good News
of Jesus Christ will produce a
lasting harvest both in this life
and for eternity.

33. 1
Ask Jesus
for a
good heart.
image: Josh Kenzer

34. 2
Cultivate the soil
of your heart
image: mystuart

35. “
My people come to you, as they usually do,
and sit before you to listen to your words,
but they do not put them into practice. With
their mouths they express devotion, but their
hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed,
you are nothing more than one who sings
love songs with a beautiful voice and plays
an instrument well, for they hear your words,
but do not put them into practice.
~ Ezekiel 33:31-32
”

36. Conclusion

37. flickr images courtesy of:
ILRI: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/5240469654/
Phyllis Harris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baine/699788014/
Les Chatfield: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/93650804/
James Wheeler: http://www.flickr.com/photos/james_wheeler/9035674677/
Mathias: http://www.flickr.com/photos/afroboof/3591077177/
—Tico—: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tico_bassie/120810354/
Jalal Hameed Bhatti: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalalspages/711161806/
Josh Kenzer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoot-art/4329432316/
mystuart: http://www.flickr.com/photos/melystu/5004414541/