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The Hidden Treasure

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Click here to listen to this sermon. “[Jesus said:] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Hidden treasure. Who among us has not dreamed at least one time of finding hidden treasure? A map that leads us to the buccaneer’s buried booty. An old chest covered with dust in the attic of an abandoned farmhouse. The valuable antique discovered in the contents of a box purchased at an estate auction for a dollar. We’re captivated by stories of hidden treasure. Jesus tells a story of hidden treasure and He puts you and me right in the middle of it. “The Parable of the Hidden Treasure” is one of seven parables in Matthew 13. In each, Jesus describes an aspect of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ disciples asked, “Why do You speak… in parables?” Jesus explained, “To you has been given t...
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The Patience of the Sower

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 Click here to listen to this sermon. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’”(Matthew 13:27-30). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! One of my favorite sports movies is Hoosiers . Gene Hackman plays a veteran basketball coach who takes over a small-town Indiana high school team in the 1950s. Right from the beginning, everyone thinks he’s doing everything wrong. During the first practices, he won’t even let the boys touch a basketball. In early-seaso...
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The Patience of the Sower: Circuit Pastors

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Click here to listen to this sermon.  Our text for today is our Gospel from Matthew 13, which was just read. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! One of my favorite sports movies is Hoosiers . Gene Hackman plays a veteran basketball coach who takes over a small-town Indiana high school team in the 1950s. From the start, everyone in town thinks he’s doing everything wrong. During the first practices, he won’t even let the boys touch a basketball. In early-season games, he requires them to make four passes before taking a shot—even when a good shot seems open. They lose games they should have won. The impatient townspeople question his judgment. Some even want him fired. But the coach knows something they don’t. He’s not trying merely to win the next game. He’s shaping the team into champions. His players and their fans cannot yet see what he sees. Eventually, everything comes together, and the tiny school wins the state championship. Sometime...
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God's Word Works

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Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:18-23). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Sometimes ...
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