Tips for Teaching This Week’s Session of The Gospel Project for Adults

Listen to this week’s leader training podcast with Y Bonesteele, team leader for The Gospel Project for Adults, for a summary and guidance in leading your group.

This week’s additional resources for study and preparation:

• Article: “The Sower, the Soils, and the Reality of Unfruitful Believers” by Jason Neill
• Sermon: “The Message Does Not Change” by Carson Humphreys
• Sermon: Part 1: “Corrective Lenses” / Part 2: “Four Kinds of Hearts” by Chris Brooks

Transcript of Leader Training Podcast:

Hi, this is Y Bonesteele, team leader of The Gospel Project for Adults. Welcome to another Leader Training Podcast. Today we are starting a new volume, Volume 9: The Son Has Truth. Starting in Unit 25, Session 1: Power of God’s Word, we have the core passage of Luke 8:4-15 and the key concept of: Jesus taught the importance of receiving the Word and producing fruit from doing so.

Jesus continued teaching in His ministry as crowds came to see and hear Him. Jesus sometimes was clear in His teaching, but other times He spoke in parables. Luke prompted the scene by commenting that: “As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town” in verse 4. This parable Jesus was about to share was to be a lesson for these crowds.

And so it goes, “A sower went out to sow his seed.” Jesus began His story with a common character with a common action, a sower sowing his seed, something the crowds would have known and understood. Then, “as he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it.” I can imagine the crowds thinking, yes, that happens when seed falls on the path without soil. “6 Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture.” The crowd would continue to agree, nodding their heads. “7 Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.” Hmm, yes, this Jesus is talking about seeds and soils and a sower who is not very good at sowing, a sower who just throws seed wherever.

Then, “As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone who has ears to hear listen’” in verse 8.  Jesus purposely taught with a parable to separate those who were really trying to gain wisdom from Him with those simply there to be with the crowds. But “Then his disciples asked him, ‘What does this parable mean?’” If the disciples didn’t understand, the crowds would have had a problem understanding as well. So Jesus had to explain, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that Looking they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Jesus referenced the Lord’s words to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:9, “Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.” Those who truly want to seek the kingdom of God and its wisdom will receive it but those who don’t, won’t strive for understanding. Those who want to learn and to grow will ask for understanding like the disciples who asked, “What does this parable mean?” They wanted to learn and grow from Jesus.

What does Jesus’s exhortation to listen tell us about Jesus’s desire for His audience? Jesus doesn’t care about crowds and popularity. His mission was not to win a popularity contest. His desire was for people to repent and turn to faith in God, namely faith in Jesus and in what He was about to do to rescue them from sin and death. Jesus cared about the people more than He did about Himself and He knew that if they truly listened, they would find truth in Him.

How does the fact that wisdom must be sought in a Person change the way we approach Bible Study? Knowing that Jesus is the way, truth, and life and all these things are found in Him, we know the Bible is one big story that points to Jesus. Through Him we have redemption and salvation and when we study His Word, we are trying to learn more about Jesus and His kingdom and His way that we can be more like Him.

Because the disciples asked for the meaning of the parable, Jesus gave it to them. He started with, “The seed is the word of God.” He didn’t start with the sower. The sower could be God or any believer who spreads the Word. Even if we are spreading the Word, we do remind ourselves that God is working through us in His perfect plan. So God sows the seed indiscriminately. The Gospel Project Commentary on page 13 quotes a commentator stating, “The farmer knows that some of the soil is unproductive, but he willingly scatters the seed on it anyway. God is like this farmer, allowing his words and his love to fall on many who will not receive them. And yet he is still willing to pour out his mercies upon them. God knows the high potential of this seed. Christians sometimes tend to pull back from those who are uninterested or even just different—but God doesn’t.” What a great quote.

So the sower scatters the seed, and it is the type of ground that Jesus focused on. “The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” in verse 12. These types of people, representing the path, are hard, not penetrable. The seed, the word of God, cannot grow at all. With hardened hearts, the birds, the devil, easily took it away from them.

“The seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.” Rocky soil has just enough soil for roots to start to grow, but not for very long. With no roots, these people believe for a while but fall away when testing comes. Notice the warning: they hear and receive the word with joy initially. Those who have ears to hear will be examining their own hearts here. Do I truly believe in the truth of the gospel and of Scripture? Do I believe and obey, even when struggles come and life is hard? These folks fall away when testing comes. What do we turn to when testing comes to us?

The next seed “fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.” The thorns grew up with the seed. It possibly rooted a little, meaning they absorb the knowledge of the Bible, but they don’t live it out at all; they don’t produce mature fruit. Even with knowledge, they are not only swayed, but choked with “worries, riches, and pleasures of life.” Jesus pointed out three things that can choke us even with knowledge of the Word. First, worries. Yes, worries can be a part of life, especially in the age of social media and the internet at our fingertips. But we cannot let our worries uproot our faith. We must stand firm in the midst of worries and give those worries to God. Second, riches. Money and the need for money is a real need. But it is one thing that is hard for us to think we have enough of. Jesus warns against the need for riches often. Riches of this world is a strong temptation for all of us. Last, the pleasures of life. We all want pleasure and comfort. It has a strong hold on us, no doubt. So much so that we might even guise it in God’s will. If we don’t feel comfort, we don’t feel peace; and if we don’t feel peace, it must not be God’s will, we tell ourselves. But worries, riches, and pleasures will choke us from the faith, will strong arm us to thinking we’re in God’s will when we may not actually be, and thus we don’t mature and produce fruit.

The last seed is in the good ground, those who “having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, produce fruit” in verse 15. Notice the person is not blameless or perfect in any way; they simply receive the word with an honest and good heart. We need to be honest when we receive the word. Honest enough to know we are sinners, that we need rescuing. Honest enough to know that the evidence for Jesus and His resurrection is real and defensible. Honest enough to know that we need Jesus, every day, every second. And the good soil person holds on to the word. The word for “hold” also can mean retain or possess. That person retains the word of God and endures. And the result is producing fruit. True retention and reception of the word of God leads to producing fruit. If people cannot see any fruit in your lives, it is possible that you have not truly held on to God’s Word.

To see a comparative view of the parable of the sower in the other synoptic Gospels, scan the QR code on page 24.

On to the Group Experience, start with the icebreaker about gardening. Move on to the Context, explaining what a parable is. Recap going over the passage, especially for those who didn’t have the opportunity to study, and ask what stood out to your group. Review and transition to the Group Activity, recreating the chart on a board.

Have someone read Luke 8:4-15. Form 3 smaller groups and give each group a box from the first 3 seeds. Have each group answer these 3 questions: 1) What did Jesus say the type of soil represented? (2) What are the obstacles that create barriers to faith? (3) How might you have overcome such obstacles to receive God’s Word in faith and grow and bear fruit in your life?

Discuss answers together and record them in the chart. Then ask: How does Jesus’s explanation for the seed in the good ground contrast with that of the other soils? In the good ground, the word of God was received with an honest and good heart, it was held onto, and it endured, producing fruit. Record answers in the last box. Summarize and display Pack Item 3: Kingdom Growth, highlighting the Believers’ Mission section.

Debrief with: How should this parable encourage us as we share the gospel with others? We just need to scatter seed even though we don’t know what kind of ground it falls on. Changing hearts is not our responsibility, but scattering seeds are.

What “fruit” should we expect to see in our lives as believers in God’s Word? We should expect to see the fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should also see the fruit of faithful service, obedience, love for others, and gospel witness.

Summarize and answer the Heart question if time is limited: What evidence do you see in your life that the Holy Spirit has given you “an honest and good heart”? As we look at our lives, our hope is that we are honest with our sins, our temptations, and our weaknesses, confessing and repenting when needed. We also need to have a good heart, willing to put others first before ourselves, serving for God’s glory, reaching the lost, and loving all people for the gospel’s sake. These qualities do not make us worthy of salvation; they demonstrate God’s gracious work within us as we listen and obey His Word.

End going through Next Steps and going through prayer requests and praises. And if time permits, pray with Psalm 81:10-14, “10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel did not obey me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own plans. 13 If only my people would listen to me and Israel would follow my ways, 14 I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.”

Hey, thanks for joining me on another Leader Training Podcast. Reach me at [email protected] and hope you have a great group time!