Parable of the Sower Part 1 - Mark 4:1-20

In today's passage, Jesus teaches in parables, like riddles. Parables were a language of judgment on the hard-hearted; even the apostles didn't always understand them immediately.

Jesus is the chief sower, but we also sow the Word of God, the truth of Jesus' story, God's Kingdom.

1 - Seed along the well-traveled path... people have heard it before. Birds steal it, in one ear and out the other; truths will not take root. This is not the sower's fault; his job is simply to throw the seeds!

2 - Seed in rocky ground... receives the word, but later falls away. Professes faith, but is not justified. We are saved as we endure; conversion isn't achieved by an initial emotional experience. This person begins to grow, but with no depth of soil, they fall away when persecuted about the Word.

3 - Seed among thorns... any passion they have is choked out by things outside God that take priority: family, work, sinful desires... anything more important than God, thorny weeds.

Receiving the Word requires the Holy Spirit! For people who fall away, Satan is strangling their faith. We must plead with them!