Matthew 13
July Memory Verse: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Read: Matthew 13
If you have a relationship with Jesus, you know the struggle of sharing the Gospel with someone over and over again, only to have that person walk away and never invite Jesus into their life. We have all been there. There are people in our lives who we want more than anything to be a follower of Jesus, yet for some reason they never do.
I believe Matthew 13 is a perfect depiction of evangelism. As you read verses 10-17 and 34-35, we see that people will hear the words of the Gospel but never truly understand them. Jesus, the best teacher that ever existed, couldn’t get some people to follow Him. So why are we surprised when people don’t invite Jesus into their life after we share the Gospel with them?
Here me out though: this is not an excuse to stop sharing the Gospel with people. Instead, I want to remind you that most people do not invite Jesus into their life until they have heard the Gospel eight or more times. Which means, if we share the Gospel with someone and they do not invite Jesus in, our job is to share again. And again. And again. We cannot force someone to invite Jesus in, but we can give them every opportunity. Because here is what else I know, someday their heart might go from rocky ground to good soil (v. 1-9).
And why do we do this? Why do we continually share the Gospel with someone who seems to not be interested? Because we do not want them to be one of the weeds that gets plucked (v. 30, 38b-42) or the containers that get thrown into the fire (v. 48-49). Instead, we want them to enjoy Jesus now and forever (v. 44-46).
For us: do not get discouraged in evangelism. We cannot save anyone, only God can do that. Our sole mission is to continually share the Gospel with people and pray that their heart would be one of good soil. And never give up on someone, you never know when God might be working in their heart.
If you are interested in learning how to better share your faith, reach out to someone on staff. We would love to help you in this!
By: Brice Stockton
Read: Matthew 13
If you have a relationship with Jesus, you know the struggle of sharing the Gospel with someone over and over again, only to have that person walk away and never invite Jesus into their life. We have all been there. There are people in our lives who we want more than anything to be a follower of Jesus, yet for some reason they never do.
I believe Matthew 13 is a perfect depiction of evangelism. As you read verses 10-17 and 34-35, we see that people will hear the words of the Gospel but never truly understand them. Jesus, the best teacher that ever existed, couldn’t get some people to follow Him. So why are we surprised when people don’t invite Jesus into their life after we share the Gospel with them?
Here me out though: this is not an excuse to stop sharing the Gospel with people. Instead, I want to remind you that most people do not invite Jesus into their life until they have heard the Gospel eight or more times. Which means, if we share the Gospel with someone and they do not invite Jesus in, our job is to share again. And again. And again. We cannot force someone to invite Jesus in, but we can give them every opportunity. Because here is what else I know, someday their heart might go from rocky ground to good soil (v. 1-9).
And why do we do this? Why do we continually share the Gospel with someone who seems to not be interested? Because we do not want them to be one of the weeds that gets plucked (v. 30, 38b-42) or the containers that get thrown into the fire (v. 48-49). Instead, we want them to enjoy Jesus now and forever (v. 44-46).
For us: do not get discouraged in evangelism. We cannot save anyone, only God can do that. Our sole mission is to continually share the Gospel with people and pray that their heart would be one of good soil. And never give up on someone, you never know when God might be working in their heart.
If you are interested in learning how to better share your faith, reach out to someone on staff. We would love to help you in this!
By: Brice Stockton
4 Comments
Excellent Brice! There are a number of examples from the College department this year that exactly support your encouragement to continue to share with the same people more than once! Grateful for your exhortation!!
That’s so encouraging, Brice! We shouldn’t ever give up!!!
Thank you for the encouraging message!
Thanks so much bro