Tonight we began our new series: Red Shirts. Red shirts in Star Trek are the expendable crew members. They are usually killed off quickly to show the danger of the situation. They usually are wearing red shirts, thus the name, and have no name. They are destined to die. When it comes to churches we have red shirts too. They are the ones who don't have a faith tht survives and they never end up growing in their relationship with Christ. Don't be a red shirt!
We read the parable to the sower (or soil if you wish) from Luke 8:4-8, 11-15. A parable is a story with a point, trying to cmmunicate the point through a comparison. Jesus used them quite often in order to help those who were listening understand what he was talking about, using fimiliar images. he also used them so that only true seekers could understand the true meaning of the parables. This particular parabel can teach us 3 ways we can be red shirts (those that don't survive or grow in their faith).
The seed is God's word, going out through preaching, evangelsim, etc... This is the gospel, the good news that Jesus died, came back to life, and we can get forgiveness for the bad things (sins) we ahve done through Him so we can havea good relationship with God now and for eternity in heaven.
The soil is different types of people's hearts and how they respond to the gospel. Some never grow, some grow but die, some grow but never thrive, and some grow, thrive, and hel others grow.
The Path soil (verses 5 and 12) represents a hardened heart that refuses to ever listen to the gospel. It is trampled down and hardened. There is no way the seed can ever get into the ground in order to grow, so instead it lies on top , waiting its fate without ever fulfilling its purpose. Why is it so hard? It has been trampled down by others, it has never been softened through plowing. These are people that have beaten down by those aruond them, they ahve experienced pain and are now bitter and unwilling ot allow anyone in to heal their pain. Maybe you are this type of person, abused, neglected, hurt by something in your past, bitter against God for allowing theings to happen in your life. Your heart has become hardened to hearing that God cares for you and wants to heal you, so you never let the message sink in.
The birds that eat up the seed represents the devil, our enemy. The ultimate fate of the seed on hard soil is to be eaten by the birds. Satan desires to keep you away from God, so that you, as he is, will be condemned to an eternity in hell. He watns you to be bitter and in pain and never experiece the freedom that comes through Christ.
You don't have to be a redshirt, you don't have to live in pain and ibtterness any more. But you hae to allow God to soften your heart, by opening up your pain and bitterness to him, releasing the grip you have had on it and let God have it isntead so he can heal it for you.
I give tonight: B-
Favorite Moment: Group resplit!
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