The Cross-Carrying Way of Jesus

In the culmination of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus emphasizes being not just hearers, but doers of his words.  He gives the example of the wise builder who built upon the rock and was sustained through the storm.  Matthew 7:24-27. 

In Matthew 13:1-23, Jesus begins his sermon of parables with a story about a farmer who’s sowing seeds.  The seed falls upon 4 different soils and we’re told, by Jesus, that each type of soil represents a heart condition.  In this sermon, Pastor Noel Piepgrass shares how the heart can be hard, shallow, or distracted and thus unable to receive the seed of the gospel and thrive.  Finally, Noel points us to Jesus, the one who makes our soil good as we turn to him through repentance.  (sermon credit due, Danny Bartlett, whose work Pastor Noel drew heavily from) 

In Matthew 14:13-21, Jesus performs the most famous miracle of his ministry, the feeding of the 5000.  In this story, Pastor Noel teaches us how Jesus work through his disciples to turn a little into a lot.