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The parable of the sower Luke
8
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Dear Friends,
At this time of planting crops and watching them grow, it seems appropriate to look again at Jesus' parable of the sower. Listen to His words from Luke 8: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." Jesus goes on to explain His parable. "The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for awhile, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell upon the thorns stand for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures and they do not mature. But the seed on the good soil stands for those who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
As Christians, our desire is to really know Christ and have that knowledge shown in the way we live our lives. In other words, we're to be like the good soil for God's seeds of faith. Summer, with its (hopefully) lighter schedule, is a great time to nurture our seeds of Godgiven faith so we can continue to grow as Christians. This is an excellent time to catch up on some devotional reading as you enjoy God's creation at the beach or the mountains or even your own back yard! Or take the opportunity to listen to Christian music or Christian radio and see what's out there for your encouragement and growth.
Speaking of encouragement and growth, we have an exciting summer Adult Sunday School Schedule planned. We are fortunate this year to have two outstanding Biblical scholars with us in July. On July 7 and 14, Dr. Robert Newman from Biblical Theological Seminary will be speaking to us; and on July 21 and 28, Dr. Manfred Brauch from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary will join us.
In August, we will be discussing our Worship Retreat coming up in the Fall and look at who we are and where we're going as Schwenkfelder Christians in the 2 1 1 century. August 18 will be our Christmas in August Program and on August 25, Rev. Roger Wambold from Hebrew Christian Fellowship will be our speaker.
Catholic monk Thomas Merton said, "Every moment and every event of every person's life on earth plants something in his soul. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because people are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of liberty, desire and faith." This summer let's cultivate our seeds as we seek to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ better through Bible study, prayer and fellowship with His people.
In His Love,
Rev. Karen K. Gallagher