This Sunday we’ll be reading a famous parable told by Jesus – the parable of the sower and the soils. We’ll be reading Luke 8:1-21. It’s really interesting to me that Luke places this parable sandwiched between two glimpses of the demographic of Jesus’ followers and Jesus’ radical definition of family. To me, they are all related – the radically inclusive family of God, which the parable explains the formation of.

In the mindset of 1st century Israel, the whole idea of being the family of God was tied to being in the family of Abraham. It was an assumed, automatic right of birth for the Jewish people.

Jesus shows up forming a strange, new kind of family of followers – made up of outcasts and women – something highly unusual for that time and place. Then he makes a statement indicating that genealogical lines were not an indicator of who was in or who was out of God’s family – but obedience is.

This brings us to the parable. Jesus uncharacteristically explains this story to his disciples. The soil represents the state of a heart. I think, given how truly nuanced human beings are, one heart could easily contain elements of each type of soil . What are areas of life are difficult for you to surrender to God’s rule? What areas come more easily for you? How might we tend to the soil of our hearts to make them more receptive to God’s purposes and plan?

Hope you can join us this Sunday at 10 AM as we continue our exploration of this wonderful gospel!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.