00:00:00.000 - 00:01:02.960

[Silence] [Music] [Music] You are our new glory

00:01:02.960 - 00:01:29.460

God said, you are our new grace Hallelujah I will lift my voice and say ♪ So I worship you ♪

00:01:29.460 - 00:01:51.460

♪ For I know who you are ♪ ♪ Lord I worship you ♪ ♪ For I know who you are ♪ ♪ For I know who you are ♪

00:01:51.460 - 00:02:13.020

♪ I need you only ♪ ♪ Because of who you are ♪ ♪ I need you, babe ♪ ♪ Because of who you are ♪

00:02:13.020 - 00:02:32.140

♪ I lift my voice and say ♪ ♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because of who you are ♪ ♪ Lord, I worship you ♪

00:02:32.140 - 00:02:47.220

♪ Because of who you are ♪ ♪ We will never change ♪ ♪ Never change ♪ ♪ I will never change ♪

00:02:47.220 - 00:03:09.720

♪ Oh, Jehovah, please speak ♪ ♪ Lord, you made it mean to me ♪ ♪ Jehovah, shadow, Jehovah, shadow ♪ ♪ Our Prince of Brittany ♪

00:03:09.720 - 00:03:28.820

♪ And our all to you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ With open channels ♪ ♪ Fire of fire ♪

00:03:28.820 - 00:03:49.360

♪ With open keys ♪ ♪ For whom any sin could be ♪ ♪ In open shadows ♪ ♪ Shine on me ♪

00:03:49.360 - 00:04:10.040

♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because the truth is love ♪ ♪ All the things you do ♪ ♪ I will lift my voice and sing ♪

00:04:10.040 - 00:04:38.460

♪ Because of your love, Lord, I will sing ♪ ♪ Because of your love, Lord, I will sing ♪ ♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪

00:04:38.460 - 00:04:59.840

♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ My God ♪

00:04:59.840 - 00:05:12.880

♪ Jehovah, he's here ♪ ♪ Jehovah, he's here ♪ ♪ He's in victory ♪ ♪ Jehovah, shout ♪

00:05:12.880 - 00:05:29.240

♪ Jehovah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ In a trophy ♪ ♪ And our worship is impossible ♪ ♪ You are ♪

00:05:29.240 - 00:05:49.160

♪ Jehovah, shine on me ♪ ♪ I'm your father's son ♪ ♪ Jehovah, he is near ♪ ♪ Oh, you make it easy for me ♪

00:05:49.160 - 00:06:07.780

♪ Jehovah, shine on me ♪ ♪ I pray myself to be ♪ ♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪

00:06:07.780 - 00:06:28.680

♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪ ♪ Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ He calls the blue ♪

00:06:28.680 - 00:06:49.540

♪ He calls the blue ♪ ♪ To God ♪ - Amen. And Jesus began to teach by the seaside

00:06:53.520 - 00:07:24.160

And there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered a ship, and sat in the sea. And the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. Jesus said unto them, "Behold, a sower went out to sow;

00:07:24.160 - 00:07:58.080

behold, a farmer went forth scattering seed." This is a story that comes out of an agrarian economy. And so we focus today on the subject scattering seed. Behold a sower went forth to sow.

00:07:58.080 - 00:08:36.240

To everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. In this story it's planting time. So this man goes forth to sow, to scatter seeds.

00:08:36.240 - 00:09:03.240

The sack contains seeds which are scattered. And it seems that those who engaged in this particular practice in ancient times had something like a sack in front of them containing seeds. And as he would go forth, he would reach into the sack and get seed and scatter it. Scattered here and there.

00:09:04.240 - 00:09:30.240

scattering seeds. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven, the rule of God in human history, is like that of a sower who goes forth scattering seed in the field.

00:09:32.240 - 00:10:19.360

There's a song I remember we sang many, many years ago in the elementary school. Out in a garden field I planted a small little seed. Who would think that a plant would grow from something as small as a bead? And yet, this seed, the smallest of seeds, is used to illustrate the presence and power

00:10:19.360 - 00:10:47.400

of the kingdom of God in the world. So our lives are like seeds planted in a field. Our lives and our influence are tiny seeds, just as we may think of our thoughts, our acts, our habits.

00:10:47.400 - 00:11:07.840

All are seeds planted in the field because they serve to determine our character and how they are scattered and how they grow. Determine the kind of person we are becoming

00:11:07.840 - 00:11:28.900

and the kind of person we will be. Our parents, our relatives, our teachers, the school, the church, the community, All of these have a profound influence in making that determination.

00:11:28.900 - 00:12:09.340

We recently read of two teenagers planning to repeat the Columbine experience. This happened very close to us, Cedar Park. And somehow, some way, there was seed scattered in their lives that found some expression in what they planned to do.

00:12:11.860 - 00:13:01.860

Now, we never know, many times, the influence that we will have, or we have in the lives of those with whom we come in contact. Listen to this story. The sower goes forth to sow, and as he scatters his seed, it so happens that some of it falls on the wayside. the hard ground of the wayside, that pathway that leads through the field, that's walked on, that's this wayside,

00:13:01.860 - 00:13:34.860

hard beaten path. And that seed that falls on the wayside is eaten by the birds. Birds come and consume it. Some of the seed falls on stony ground, and it sprouts up quickly.

00:13:34.860 - 00:14:20.860

But when the burning sun rays strike it, it withers away. Some of it falls on ground that is filled with thorns. It too sprouts up rather quickly, but in the course of time it is choked and it dies. But there is another group of seeds that fall on good ground.

00:14:20.860 - 00:15:01.060

It grows and produces some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some one hundredfold, because it falls on good ground. So, we're like that sower, every day, every year, every month, all of the time God has allotted us, us we go forth sowing seed in the field. You remember the story of Johnny Appleseed?

00:15:01.060 - 00:15:35.540

Wherever he went he planted apple seeds and those apple seeds became trees and and he gained a good reputation just by doing what he was prepared to do, scattering seeds in the field, apple seeds. So the seed that falls on the wayside,

00:15:35.540 - 00:16:19.740

seed that falls on stony ground and the seed that falls among thorns. All of the seed, as we look at it, the seed is good. Nothing wrong with the seed. It's very, very good. Small, and yet the seed contains great promise. And the smallness is typical of the kingdom of God.

00:16:19.740 - 00:16:42.740

Some people think that the kingdom of God is to be determined by size. It's not determined by size. I've had some persons to come to Ebenezer and they're worshiping on a Sunday morning and they say, "Well, this church is too large for me."

00:16:42.740 - 00:17:20.740

They have a misunderstanding of the kingdom. whether it's a huge cathedral situated in the midst of human traffic, or whether it's a storefront, or whether it's some church in the backwoods, as long as it is a part of the kingdom of God, size does not determine its value. In fact, some people think that the Sunday newspaper is better just because it's bigger.

00:17:20.740 - 00:17:51.740

But that's not necessarily true. Vitality is mightier than size. Some seed scattered one place, some scattered another. But even though some seed falls on the hard way, hard ground or the wayside, it is of value.

00:17:51.740 - 00:18:20.740

The sower doesn't stop sowing because some seed falls on the wayside. He keeps on sowing. A lot of the work that you do, many times the people ignore it and say that's for the birds. But the sower keeps going on scattering the seed, scattering the seed.

00:18:20.740 - 00:18:53.740

Because that seed has in it hope. It has in it that which is necessary for growth, and the expectation is that if given proper conditions, that the seed will produce good fruit. So the sower continues to scatter his seed. There's always work for us to do.

00:18:53.740 - 00:19:31.260

There's always places to sow. But of all places, the hard ground of the wayside is the place where the seed is destroyed by the birds. Now in Mark's teaching, or his record concerning the teaching of Jesus, Jesus' teaching falls

00:19:31.260 - 00:20:05.960

into four stages. First is that popular teaching, and the second is parabolic teaching. third is pastoral teaching and the fourth passion teaching popular parabolic pastoral and passion teaching and Jesus divides his hearers into four

00:20:05.960 - 00:20:50.560

classes. Those who are quick to hear and quick to forget. They embrace it quickly but they discard it just as quickly. Then there are those who are slow to hear and slow to forget. Now in the case of those who are quick to hear and quick to forget, their gain is canceled by their loss. Those who are slow to hear and slow

00:20:50.560 - 00:21:43.840

to forget, their loss is canceled by their gain. And then there is this fourth group, those who are quick to hear and slow to forget. Once they hear it, they're slow to forget it. So this last group is good soil. Jesus divides his hearers to those who are acceptable, that last group, that good ground, and to those who produce some 30, some 60, and some a hundredfold.

00:21:43.840 - 00:22:12.840

But in every case, the sower continues to sow his seeds. He goes forth sowing his seeds. And those of us who, to be compared with this sower, in moments when we least think it, some seed is being scattered.

00:22:12.840 - 00:22:43.840

I remember there were persons when I was in high school who came to the high school assembly and spoke to us. And I remember some of the things they said. Many of the things sometimes they've forgotten. But they found a lodging place in my mind and in the minds of other students.

00:22:43.840 - 00:23:12.640

One man said, "Well, a quitter never wins and a winner never quits." I took that as a slogan. And I tucked it away and found soil which it lodged and all through the years when something comes up and it's sort of a test in my life I remember that saying.

00:23:12.640 - 00:23:42.640

He just dropped it in an assembly. it be found that seed found a lodging place, lodging place. And these opportunities are around us all the time. I can remember getting on my bicycle and riding five miles across town and hiding my bicycle in the bushes to go to an

00:23:42.640 - 00:24:22.640

afternoon forum. That afternoon forum was one in which Dr. F.D. Patterson spoke with President of Tuskegee. I was the only teenager there, but I still remember some of the things he said that enriched my life. I remembered J.W. Anderson who was the most wealthy, he was the wealthiest African-American in Dallas back in the

00:24:22.640 - 00:24:59.440

30s he was a doctor he gave every boy a free membership in the YMCA who couldn't afford it and I was one of those who couldn't afford it and through that experience. I became a part of the YMCA and I went on to college. I was president of the YMCA and I went to seminary. I cleaned up the YMCA building.

00:24:59.440 - 00:25:32.000

When I came to Austin and I came to Dallas I worked on the YMCA board and I came to Austin I was on the YMCA board. All of it goes back to J.W. Anderson, Dr. Anderson. He just dropped a seed. He never knew me. He just dropped a seed. And somewhere along the line, all of us are scattering some seeds. Scattering seeds.

00:25:32.000 - 00:26:03.720

Scattering seeds. Maren Anderson came to our high school assembly and spoke. And And there was several young ladies there who were aspiring to be singers. Some of them were there and went on, and one lady in particular gave a concert at Carnegie Hall. She couldn't sing, she just came and talked and told about her experience, but she was dropping a seed.

00:26:03.720 - 00:26:28.720

And those of us who teach in Sunday school and public school and in other places we have the opportunity to share our experiences. We are scattering seed. And that seed, someday, somewhere, will spring up and bear fruit.

00:26:28.720 - 00:27:01.920

Because you know brothers and sisters there is a harvest time. We plant now and some may fall on hard ground pathway, some may fall on stony ground and And some may fall among the seeds, but some of that seed will fall on good ground, and harvest will come.

00:27:01.920 - 00:27:20.800

Harvest will come, and as the harvest comes, it bears fruit, and that fruit will bless humanity. be to God that we have the opportunity to scatter seed. We have the opportunity.

00:27:20.800 - 00:27:42.800

And you see the results of the harvest depends on the soil. Notice the seed is the same, but the soil is different. There is the hard ground, that's one kind of soil. There's the hard ground of the wayside.

00:27:42.800 - 00:27:54.800

There is the stony ground. And then there's the thorny ground. All of those are different kinds of soil. And then there is the good ground.

00:27:54.800 - 00:28:19.800

All kinds of four different kinds of soil with one seed. And the seed is given by God to scatter. We have the blessed opportunity of scattering seeds. We also do it because there is the promise that once we scatter it,

00:28:19.800 - 00:28:55.680

that it will produce if it's scattered in good ground. Thanks be to God that someday, somewhere, we shall all see the fruit of the seed we have scattered. I thank God for those persons in my life who scattered seed, found a lodging place in my life and caused me to see things that I would not have seen

00:28:55.680 - 00:29:25.240

and to do things that I would not have done. But thanks be to God that he provides that good seed. No matter where you are, there's some good seed that touches your life. And what we're to do is to cultivate it and to use it in such a way that we become a channel through whom others are blessed.

00:29:25.240 - 00:29:58.240

So, Jesus tells this story, and then he has the word there, "Hear, hear." "Here, here." He tells this to people. He said, "Here, here." That's all he says, "Here, here, here." And I say to you this morning, "Here, here." We were children and we played a game. Some of you probably played it. I've forgotten the words.

00:29:58.240 - 00:30:43.040

Marguerite may I go to play? No my, is that right? No my child it's too early in the day. And she says well the children say I'll be a good child all the day and she says yes you may go and play. Then after they go she says my children I'm calling you and they answer I don't hear you I don't hear you. So the important thing is that

00:30:43.040 - 00:31:18.860

there were many who followed Jesus who didn't hear. Good song, good teaching, good concern, but they didn't hear. But then there are those who heard the Word. There are those who may be identified with the words of the song, "I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest, lay down thy weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast.

00:31:18.860 - 00:31:59.060

I came, I came to Jesus as I was weary, worn, and sad. I found in Him a resting place, and he has made me glad. Thank God for the seed. Thank God for the sower and thank God for that good ground that responds and produces fruit some 30, some some 60 and some 100 fold.

00:31:59.060 - 00:32:03.060

>> Yes, Lord. >> Amen. >> Amen. >> Amen.

00:32:03.060 - 00:32:23.060

[BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] >> The opportunity to identify with the family of God here at Ebenezer.

00:32:23.060 - 00:32:44.380

we present it now. You may come by letter, by Christian experience, or on profession of faith. Come. [ Music ] [applause] [Sings]

00:32:44.380 - 00:33:15.180

[Sings] Sit right here. the duty each. Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the seed, bringing in the seed, bringing in the seed. We shall come rejoicing,

00:33:15.180 - 00:33:43.180

Bringing in the seas, bringing in the seas, bringing in the seas. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the seas. Throwing in the sunshine, throwing in the shadows, ♪ He will bring the clouds of hope ♪

00:33:43.180 - 00:34:04.640

♪ And by the harvest of the fruit of your work ♪ ♪ He shall come rejoicing, bringing in the seed ♪ ♪ Bringing in the seed ♪ ♪ Bringing in the seed ♪

00:34:04.640 - 00:34:24.440

We shall come rejoicing, ringing in the sea. Ringing in the sea. Ringing in the sea. We shall come rejoicing, ringing in the sea.

00:34:24.440 - 00:34:40.400

Ringing in the sea. Ringing in the sea. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sea. Bringing in the sea.

00:34:40.400 - 00:35:03.880

Bringing in the sea. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sea. Let everybody-- [BLANK_AUDIO]