Welcome

1. Adult II Couples Class Welcome discoverjoy.com

2. Would you say that you grew up in the city or the country? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

3. Prayer Requests -Tony: Cancer treatments -Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments -Abraham Garcia: Cancer treatments -Griffith Goodyear -The Savages -Country Haven Church -Heup Family -Haraway Family -Global Missions Offering

4. Church Stuff Class Events Church Events • Benevolence Fund • Pastor Appreciation • R.E.A.P. (P-Team) • Scripture Readers Needed • Monthly Fellowships • November?? • December – Woffords • January ?? • Dinner out Friday (30 Nov) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (30 Dec) • Quarterly Service Project • Ends of the Earth Project • Olive Grove Terrace Visitation (28 Oct) • Harvest Festival (31 Oct) • Men’s Prayer Breakfast (3 Nov) • Goulde Shower (4 Nov) • Blood Pressure Checks (11 Nov) • Lantz Baby Shower (11 Nov) • Youth SNAC (11 Nov) • Thanksgiving Meal (14 Nov) • Mexico Mission Team (Nov 17-24) • Mid Week Service (20 Nov) • Church Offices Closed (21-23 Nov) • Olive Grove Terrace Visitation (25 Nov)

5. Would you say that you grew up in the city or the country? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

6. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithfulness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Pro-mised Land and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself. Conquest: Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land. Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into the sin cycle.

7. Review Kingdom: God raises up a suc-cession of kings from Saul to Solomon who rule over a united Israel. Divided: Israel divides into the northern and southern king-doms and each descends into rebellion and idolatry, inciting God’s judgment. Captivity: A succession of wicked kingsbrings God’s judg-ment of captivity on first Israel, then Judah. God moves to preserve a remnant of Judah for seventy years in Babylon. Return: After the seventy years, God moves in the hearts of pagan kings to authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s temple and allow His people to return to their own land. Silent: After the Jews return, God is silent for 400 years. Israel builds religious schools that evolve to teach religious interpretations of God’s Law rather than the Law itself.

8. Gospel Era • The 400 years of silence are broken • An angel appears to Zacharias the priest announcing that he and his barren wife would have a son named John • The angel Gabriel appears to Mary three months later and informing her that she will bear a Son by the Holy Spirit • When Jesus is 30, He asks John to baptize Him • The Holy Spirit descends upon Him • He is tempted for 40 days in the wilderness • Jesus begins His public ministry as Isaiah prophesied • Opens the ears of the deaf, gives sight to the blind, heals the sick • Preaches good news, forgives sins, proclaims God’s kingdom • Jesus commits no sin and always pleases the Father

9. Chronological Bible Discipleship Iva May and Dr. Stan May week forty-four Matthew/Mark/Luke/John

10. Context • Jesus used parables often in His teachings, but par-ables were common in the Old Testament as well • Balaam uses a parable about a lion to describe Israel to Balak • Jothan comforts Israel after Abimelech with his parable about a tree • Samson uses a parable-like riddle to confound the Philistines • Nathan confronts king David over the death of Uriah with a parable about a lamb • The Old Testament prophets use parables to portray Israel’s sin and coming judgment

11. Overview • Knowing the common use of parables through-out the Bible, it is no surprise that Jesus Himself uses parables to teach kingdom truths • Parables were His preferred method of teaching practical applications of heavenly concepts • “And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when there were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” (Mark 4:33-34)

12. Overview • Parable– Stories drawn from everyday life to convey a moral or religious truth and is designed to convey essentially a single truth rather than a complex of truths (George Eldon Ladd) • “An earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” • Today’s lesson focuses on the parable of the soils

13. God’s Word is instrumental in man’s salvation, and thus God hold’s man totally responsible for how he responds to the Word. Key Truth

14. GOSPEL ERA Matthew 13 The Parable of the Soils The Purpose of Parables The Framework of the Parable The Meaning of the Parable

15. The purpose of Parables Matthew 13:10-17

16. Purpose of Parables • Jesus told Parables for Practical Reasons • Provided a simple container for conveying the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven • So intriguing that only those who were serious about the things of heaven pursued an explanation • Awakened the thirst in those who were truly spiritually thirsty • Still able to condemn those who did not understand • The telling of them served to fulfill prophecy • Conveyed a blessing to those who understood them

17. Purpose of Parables • Jesus’ Parable-telling Separated Him from the other Religious Teachers of the day • They were more concerned with appearing scholarly • Sought to use their position to control followers rather than communicate God’s truth • The meaning of Christ’s teaching is concealed from these

18. Discussion Does it seem unfair that Jesus taught using parables instead of speaking plainly, so that even the disciples had to have them explained? Did he always teach in parables? No. Started about halfway through His ministry May reflect the need to relate to the greater crowds of more common people we were coming to hear Him

19. The Simplicity of the Parable Matthew 13:3-9

20. PARABLE Simplicity • The Parable of the Soils contains Four Components • Sower – the one bringing the gospel message • Seed – the gospel message • Soils - four types • Hard-packed dirt of the roadside • Rocky terrain with thin layer of soil (poor growth environment) • Soil infested with other wild plants competing for resources • Good ground for growth • Results – four types • Seed falling on the hard soil are carried off by birds (snatched) • Seed on stony soil produce plants that wither (scorched) • Seed in thorny soil sprouts but is overwhelmed by the native plants (choked) • Seed finding fertile soil produces a harvest of varying degrees (multiplied)

21. PARABLE Simplicity • Anyone Living in the Agrarian En-vironment of Jesus’ day would be able to Relate to this Parable • Those who don’t can Easily Grasp the Picture of the Seeds’ Reproductive Process

22. Discussion What modern example might we come up with today to substitute for the four types of soils? The hard-packed soil The shallow rocky soil The thorny soil The fertile soil

23. The Meaning of the Parable Matthew 13:18-23

24. Parable Meaning • The Sower Spreads the Seed of God’s Word (13) • In this case, Jesus is the sower of the gospel • In the time after the resurrection, His disciples become the sower • God’s Word Sown on the Soil of Human Hearts (19) • It is intended to be heard by all men in every heart condition • Heart (Soil) Conditions Vary (19-23) • A hard heart – Gives the enemy opportunity to prevent reception of the Gospel • A heart unwilling to count the cost– Shallow heart response aborts the Gospel’s work • A divided heart– Competing interests destroy the Gospel’s potential effectiveness • A heart surrendered– Creates an environment of reception, understanding and fruit in varying degrees

25. Discussion Jesus uses the parable as a simple image that communi-cates a spiritual truth. How does the parable of the soils force people to think about their spiritual condition? It forces the listener to identify with one of the four spiritual conditions Helps to give the listener practical insight as to their spiritual condition Every listener can identify with one type of soil What is the common trait of all the seed that fell on fertile soil? What does that tell us about the spiritual status of those represented by the other soil types? How does this parable help Christians to understand those who are said to “fall away” after making “professions of faith”?

26. Conclusions • God’s Word is essential for salvation • Man will be held responsible for how he responds to the Word • Not all who respond to the Word are truly converted • Deterrents exist that prohibit the Word from bearing fruit in the hearts of hearers • Satan’s power to disrupt • The cost of following Christ • Worldly distractions • Those who are genuinely converted mature to different levels • The proclamation of the Word of God reveals the condition of the human heart

27. Bible Trivia QUIZ The Gospels (2pts) • When Jesus warned His disciples to be wary of following after false Messiah’s, to what natural phenomena did He compare His real return so they would know what to look for? • “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.” (Luke 17:24) • When the Scribes and Pharisees presented the woman caught in adultery to Jesus, what did He do before and after proclaiming, “Let he who is without sin…be the first to throw a stone at her.” • “They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ” (John 8:6) • How long had Lazarus been dead in the tomb when Jesus raised him back to life? • “On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days?” (John 11:17)

28. BONUS ROUND Bonus Questions (4pts) • While Jesus was teaching in the temple, He confronted the Scribes and Pharisees about their ‘true’ father, the devil. What two wicked attributes did Jesus ascribe to the devil? • “You are of your father the devil...he was a murderer from the beginning, and…there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) • In the parable of the hired workers, at what hour did the landowner hire the last of the workers? • “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’.” (Matthew 20:6-7)

29. Matthew 26 - 28 The Lamb King Adult II Couples Class Next week….. discoverjoy.com