1. Read the Parable of the Sower incarnationally, where do you find yourself in the story?
2. In the first few verses of the text, we see large crowds gathering around Jesus. Why were people gathering around Him? Why do you people gather around Him today? What prevents someone from coming to Jesus?
3. Why does Jesus speak in parables?
4. Jesus talks about the Kingdom in this parable, and in each of the parables in Matthew 13. What is the Kingdom of God? How does it operate? How do you see yourself as a citizen of His Kingdom? In the last week, how has the Kingdom dynamic been lived out in your life?
5. The message on Sunday highlighted four points Jesus made in this parable. What are they? What’s the implication of each?
6. Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about sowing for a great awakening. Answer and expound on the following:
Why are we doing this?
For whose benefit is a great awakening?
And what is an awakening anyway?
7. Read and respond to J.D. Walt’s description of awakening. Awakening is not a touch from God, as though all that was needed was a bit of healing and renewal. No, awakening is a totalizing invasion and infusion of Word and Spirit, the present in-breaking of the realm and ultimate reality of eternal life. We are not talking about the renovation of an old house into a better house. We speak not of renewal of life but the resurrection from death; dead bones coming to life. This is not a spiritual self-improvement program. This is a comprehensive shifting of the center of gravity in our lives, from sin and death to love and life.
The Word of God wills to be made flesh—to take on human skin. The Spirit of God wills to be made a breath, filling mortal bodies with miraculous life. No, awakening cannot be reduced to mere spiritual renewal. It happens when Word and Spirit come together to make gloriously visible the will of God in the working of human beings. J.D. Walt
8. Jesus takes the time to explain the parable of the sower. How does that in and of itself encourage you?
9. What’s your best definition of the “seed”?
10. Who was the primary sower of God’s Word in your life?
11. Who is the primary sower of God’s Word in your life today?
12. In the message, there was encouragement given to ensure that someone other than the pastors at Sanctuary being your primary sower. Why would that be so?
13. The soil is an important element in this story. There were three ways the soil was described, “hardened”, “shallow” and “cluttered.” Using the word “soul” instead of a “soil” describe the condition of your soul?
14. As you close this study read, reflect and respond to the following:
The Holy Spirit is not about creating cool environments for crafty religious experiences. The Holy Spirit creates corporate, collective, and even generational movement. Deeply personal? Yes. Profoundly communal? Yes. When enough of God’s people reach the threshold of honesty about their holy discontent, the movement begins to happen. Historians call it “revival.”…Revival begins not so much with lost sinners as it begins with saved sinners whose salvation has grown cold. True revival, given a wide berth, always holds the possibility of spilling into the broader culture. This is the stuff of awakenings.
