Pastoral Letter 237
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hope you all well.
As we come closer to the end of the year, we prepare to welcome the Christmas and Advent Season. The next six weeks will be a busy time for us at St. Andrew’s and a lot will be happening.
We commenced the screening the Trilogy documentaries known as “The Map of Gratitude”. Last Tuesday, 12 November we screened the “Map of Salvation”. This will be followed on Tuesday 19 by the screening of “The American Good Samaritans” and on Tuesday 26 “The Golden Chain of Mercy”. Don’t miss! Come and join us! We are glad that Uniting Church Australia President Rev. Chariss Suli will be in attendance for the third documentary and hopefully many other UCA leaders and members.
On Wednesday 27 November we will have our Bus Trip to Mount Annan Botanic Gardens. If you want to join, please put your name down on the registry sheet. The bus will leave the church latest by 9:00 am. Thanks to Rev. Gaby of Bankstown Uniting Church for providing and driving the bus. I am sure we will have a great time on the day, as we have had in the previous Bus Trips.
On Sunday 1 December, which is Advent 1 and the beginning of the Christmas Season, we will be privileged to have with us a special guest preacher, Rev. Bill Crews, from Exodus Foundation, who will preach during the morning service. Also, on the same day we are going to celebrate our traditional St. Andrew’s Day during the Morning Service followed by St. Andrew’s Day Lunch. Please secure your tickets for the lunch as soon as you can.
On Sunday 8 December will have our Annual Congregational Meeting after the Sunday Morning Service. Please have the date in your diaries and plan to join us.
On Sunday 15 December we will have our traditional Carols Service during the Morning Service and on Tuesday 24 December, Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 pm, hopefully on the lawn weather permitting, and on Wednesday Morning 25 December Christmas Service at 9:00 am.
We have commenced collecting Christmas gifts and food for the Exodus Foundation. All should be in by the 15 December 2024. Please accept our thanks in advance.
If you are not able to join us for worship tomorrow, please light a candle and worship with us following the attached Order of Service.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, as the hostilities and war continues.
- Pray for the displaced people of Artsakh in Armenia, as well as those who are displaced by war and violence.
- Pray for the sick, the poor and those who are recovering from surgery or ill-health.
- Pray for Virginia and Ruth as she recovers from a pacemaker surgery she had on Thursday.
- Pray for our future plans beyond 31 May 2025.
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
People Responding to God’s Word
Math. 13:1-9 and 18-23
Often, Jesus spoke in parables. The word “parable” in Greek means “to place one thing next to another for the purpose of comparing.”
A “parable” is an illustrative story in which a familiar idea is placed next to an unfamiliar idea in such a way that the comparison helps people better understand the unfamiliar idea.
A parable is “an earthly story that has a heavenly meaning.”
Let’s learn the meaning of the parable of the Sower in Mat.13.
The seed/seeds that the Sower sows is/are the Word of God. The place/soil where they fall are the people. The different kinds of soil represent the different types of the people, who hear the Word, and the response is accordingly.
Four different kinds of people:
1. Hard Hearted People (v. 19)
The seeds that fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate them up (v. 4)
According to v. 19, the enemy took the word because they did not understand, not because the other way around. And they don’t understand it, not because of the Sower or preacher, but because of the condition of their hearts.
Three boys talked about their fathers. One of them said: “My father is a great professor. When he is talking about a subject, only ten percent can understand him!” The second boy said: “My father is a great brain surgeon, and when talking about his surgery, only five percent of the world can understand what he is saying.” The third boy said: “My father is a preacher, and nobody can understand what he is saying when he is preaching.”
So, the listeners need help understanding the professor, the brain surgeon, and the preacher. Whose fault is that the listeners don’t understand their sayings, the speakers, or the listeners? It can be both. The listeners probably needed to become more familiar with the subject the speakers talked about. Or the speakers needed to explain the subject more clearly.
Therefore, the listeners needed help understanding them. According to Jesus, in this parable, it is the fault of the people who do not understand the Word, not because of the preacher. It is not because the speaker does not explain the Word well but because the listeners’ hearts are not right. So, here, what determines the response to the Word is not the preacher but the recipient.
Characteristics of the first type of people in this parable:
a. Arrogant. They thought they already knew the Bible well and did not need to hear other people’s teachings.
b. Have a certain mindset that wants to stay the same. Sadly, some people are willing to hear sermons, but don’t want to do the teachings in the sermon or change their minds and attitudes.
c. Often fall asleep when hearing the Word. They have no interest of God’s Word.
2. Emotional People (v. 20 & 21)
The seeds that fell on the rocky ground immediately grew, but after the sun rose, it withered and became dry because it had no roots (v. 5 & 6)
Characteristics of the second type of people are:
a. Enthusiastic in hearing sermons. They respond to the Word with: “Amen!” or “Hallelujah,” they may weep with joy or say: “I feel the Lord’s presence.” But a few moments later, they become lukewarm again.
After attending a Revival Service, Bible Camp, or Retreat, people usually are excited. But after a month or two, we become lukewarm again.
b. Not paying attention to what God’s Word says.
Do we pay attention to what a preacher teaches?
Are we emotional people? Excited and eager for more or not paying attention.
3. With Weak Faith Foundation People (v. 22)
Seeds that fall amid thorns, then the bush grows bigger and crushes it to death (v. 7)
Characteristics of the third type of people:
a. They only want to listen to sermons but do not want to study the Word seriously.
b. They lack understanding of the fundamental truths of God’s Word. Therefore, their faith is easily shaken and confused.
c. They love the world more than the Word of God. Many people, including some Christians, want to get rich. The Apostle Paul warns in I Tim 6:10 – “For the love of money is the root of all evil because it is through the pursuit of money that some people have strayed from the faith and tormented themselves with many sorrows.” What the apostle Paul said is proven.
A professing believer unconcerned about sin in his life and does not hate evil and love righteousness gives strong evidence that the soil in his heart is weedy. He will eventually discover that his love for the world and identification with Christ’s word cannot coexist. If his faith is genuine, he will forsake the world; if it is not, his sin will choke out what knowledge of the word he has (John MacArthur).
4. God’s Word Loving People (v. 23)
The seeds that fell on good soil bore fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (v. 8)
These people are like what Psalm 1:2-3 says: “But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”
Characteristics of the fourth type of people:
a. Preparing their hearts well. They go to church not just as a habit or to socialize but to receive the teaching of God’s Word.
b. Receiving the Word with humility. They do not focus on who the preacher is or how to convey it but on the truth of the Word. The word of God we hear always has something for us to learn!
c. Having daily devotion and spending time studying God’s Word.
d. Keep God’s Word in their hearts and put it into practice. The fourth type of people not only hear the Word of God but keep it in their hearts and put into practice what they learn. Therefore, they grow spiritually, experience life transformation, and bear much fruit. James 1:22-24 says: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
Do you remember what you learned from the sermon when you got home from church? Do you keep it in your heart and put it into practice? I hope all of us can be like this man.
A trader heard a sermon at church teaching that, as Christians, we must be honest in trading. He realized that all this time, he was using a scale that had been modified and inaccurate. He begged God for forgiveness. When he got home, he replaced the scale with a new and accurate one. And to make amends, he gives more to his customers.
As we close let’s ask ourselves:
Which kind of people are we in responding to God’s Word?
Are we People whose hearts are:
Hard and emotional, whose faith foundation is weak, or people who love God’s Word?
Hopefully the last one! Amen!