Matthew 13:3-8
3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

If you had to guess, what would you say is the point of a seed? You take a seed, you bury it in the ground, you feed it water, you give it time, and what happens? If everything works like it supposed to, growth is what happens.

God has deposited a seed inside of you, and really that's in two forms.
First, there is a purpose that God has for your life. This is the purpose he plants in every single one of us when he breathes life into us.
Second, there is the seed that is the Gospel. This is the Word that goes into your heart and grows. This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 13. The Word falls on different types of soil and has different results.

Which soil do you think is the one that produces the best growth? Good soil. So that leads to me to ask in the natural, what is good soil?

Healthy soil is composed of organic matter (leaves, decaying matter), microorganisms (fungus, bacteria, even worms), minerals (the macro & micro natural fertilizers), air, water. You need it all to function and support plant life. There are lots of ways to create a good soil, some faster than others. Adding compost (whether homemade or bagged) is the easiest and fastest way, as it has organics, minerals and microbes in it, aerate/mix with the native soil to add air, water to start melding it together. Over time, you keep adding compost, increasing the soil's fertility and ability to retain both water and air, and the result is soil that is ideal to produce a healthy, fruit-bearing plant.

We are talking around this idea this month of being all in God's family. Last week we talked about how we get in God's family, which, to recap, is only done through your confession of faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I told you last week that you did not need your labels or identifiers or cultural identity to get to God’s family, and that you didn't need those things to stay in his family.

So what does it mean to be all in God family beyond salvation? In a word, it's growth.

Jesus loves you so much he refuses to leave you where he found you. 48 of you raised your hands last week. Jesus found 48 of you, that we know of, last week. He found at least 70 of you last year.

But you know what is news that's even better than Jesus finding you? It's that he doesn't want to leave you where he found you. He wants you to grow, develop, be discipled. He wants you to go from receiving a seed to bearing fruit for the Kingdom.

Do you want that? And before you answer, you need to understand what that entails.

When a seed goes into the ground, the very first thing it has to do is die. If you watch a time lapse of a seed in development, you see that as the seed itself dies and breaks open, a young, tender shoot claws its way to the surface. And once it breaks through the surface, it begins converting light into energy roots begin to dig deeper into the soil out of the dead seed, and over the course of time, the plant begins to grow, take shape, strengthen, and finally, weeks months, and sometimes even years later, it begins to bear fruit.

Everybody wants the fruit. But not everybody wants the development. Not everybody wants to die in the darkness, covered and unseen. Not everybody wants to fight so that your head can breakthrough the surface so you can grow. Not everybody wants to rely on the soil around them for nutrients for encouragement, for wisdom, for growth.

The simple question is how bad do you wanna grow?

When look to the Bible we see many stories of people who went through intense growth seasons.
- Moses went from being a murderous coward to leading the people of Israel, and even communicating with God on the mountain as the law was given.
- Peter was a rough and tumble fisherman, yet over the course of three years through ups and downs he was able to grow to become the leader Jesus saw in him from day one.
- Ruth went from being a pagan in a foreign land, yet through encouragement from Naomi, and faith in the one true God, she was found in the genealogy of Jesus himself.

And think of Joseph.
Joseph had two dreams where it seemed as if the world itself was bowing down to him. Yet when we meet Joseph, we don't see the man who has second in command of Egypt, filled with humility and grace. We see an arrogant version of him, one who is quick to tell about his dreams that has him lording over his family.

Joseph was a 17-year-old who was the 11th out of 12 sons, desperate to be seen and accepted, craving attention, who arrogantly ran his mouth. 13 years later, we see Joseph walking in his purpose.

13 years of slavery, prison, of being covered up, hidden, & forgotten. 13 years of not being the thing he saw in his dream. 13 years of opportunities for growth and development.

Now you might be curious about that last one. Growth and development in slavery and prison?

I find it interesting that the very negative attributes that Joseph had as 17-year-old were miraculously worked out of him by the time he became Pharaoh’s second in command. Being a slave has a potential to crush your hopes for the future. Being falsely accused has the power to silence even the biggest mouth. Being forgotten about in prison has a way of killing that thing that craves attention.

We look at those 13 years and we see brokenness, failure, defeat, and bitterness. But the truth is, he was under development.

There are some things in you that if God were to give you what he had for you, those things would destroy it. There are some things that are not in you that you are going to need in order to sustain the thing God has for you.

Development often happens in the darkness.
Growth often happens where people can't see it.

So what do we need to know about growth and God’s family?

1. Being in the family means you need to grow.
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Notice: Jesus didn’t tell us to go and make sure everyone prays a prayer to be saved. Jesus knows you need growth beyond salvation, not just salvation alone. You are saved at the moment of your confession, but Jesus has called us to be disciples.

Disciple here is matheteou. From the word that means to learn. A disciple is someone who progressively learns the Word of God to become a matured, growing Christ-follower.

Have you grown since you said yes to Jesus? If yes, rock on. Keep growing. If not, why?

Zero or minimal growth is usually due to one or more of three things:
Environment, discipline, vision.

Maybe your environment is not conducive to growth.
Maybe it was a dead church before, or pagan family members. Maybe you are in a culture that is ungodly. Maybe your environment is naturally growth-inhibiting.

Your only two options are change the environment, or be disciplined.

Maybe your discipline is keeping you from growing.
Maybe you find discipleship too hard. Maybe you are just too lazy to get up and engage with God. Maybe you just find it easier to ask for forgiveness rather than be proactive to see change become a reality.

Maybe you lack vision.
When I read the story of Joseph, one question always emerges: Why didn’t he just give up? It would have been really easy when the family rejected him, or when they attempted murder, or when he was sold into slavery, when he was falsely accused, when he was forgotten in jail. But I always come back to one thing that, at least to me, makes sense why he never gave up: In Genesis 37:5, 9, he had two dreams where he was exalted.
I think he remembered those dreams in the pit, as a slave, in prison.

“I see who God said I would be and it hasn’t come true yet. I can’t give up until what he promised has come true, until he gives up.”

Maybe you aren’t growing because you’ve never taken the time to imagine what your life would be like without that addiction, that thought process, that burden, that hurt.

Maybe you have no vision beyond what you can currently see.

Maybe you haven’t been able to see what God sees in you and it has made you unsure at the least and unbelieving at the most that you can grow.

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

If you haven’t grown since you said yes to Jesus and vision is the problem, can I lovingly invite you to stop focusing on what is going on around you in this moment, and rather focus on who God believes you can be? Some here today don’t even know where to start with that. Here’s how:

Jeremiah 29:12-13
12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

The way you find yourself is by finding Jesus first. You’ve found him in salvation. Now let’s grow.

You do this through the process of discipleship. Alpha, DGroups, Freedom Class, Serving, Praying, Reading.

Why is it so important we grow? Because God is not satisfied with you just being saved. He wants you whole.

James 1:3-4
3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Did you see it?!?!? GROWTH. God wants you whole.

This is partially for your sake, but partially for the Kingdom.

2. Being in the family means you help others grow.
Jesus loves you so much he doesn’t leave you where he found you. And what’s even more amazing, is that, once you get in the family, he invites you into the family business.

In the Old Testament, God specifically chose the nation of Israel to be his possession. This is just Old Testament language for being in his family. Why did he choose Israel? Is it because they're the biggest and the best? No in fact, he says specifically in Deuteronomy 7 that's not the reason. Here's the reason:

Isaiah 42:6
I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.

Isaiah 49:6
I will make you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

God wanted Israel to be the example of what a relationship with him looks like, and the purpose was to direct them to salvation. Remember, this is the Old Testament, Jesus had not died on the cross yet, so everything in the Old Testament was to set up the type and pattern for the day Jesus would die and be resurrected and salvation through him could happen.

This whole time I've been making the argument that once you get in God's family that he wants you to be in the family business of helping other people be discipled. So far everything I've talked about the Old Testament is leading to salvation, not necessarily discipleship. So how do I get this notion of helping other people grow out of this?

Everything in the Old Testament is about rescue. Adam and Eve rescued from death in the Garden. Noah rescued from destruction in the flood. Lot rescued from divine judgment in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Israelites rescued from slavery into the Promised Land.

Listen family, salvation is rescue. It is rescue from sin, from death, from eternal damnation, permanent separation from God. Yet God’s intent for us all along was sonship and daughterhood.

Hosea 11:1-4
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

God’s heart towards humanity has always been restoration of the relationship we were created to have with God. The Old Testament could only point to that restored relationship.

Hebrews 7:19a
For the law never made anything perfect.

But in the New Testament, because of Jesus, we can be restored.

Hebrews 7:19b
But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The point here is that God has always wanted his family to not only reflect his intention, but to be actively engaged in his work, which is restoration.

So when we are adopted into his family, we get to join in the work he’s been doing since the Garden - finding lost sheep, restoring relationship, discipling sons and daughters.

1 Peter 3:15
You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Let me explain this verse like this:
God is not asking you to be the preeminent theologian on planet Earth. All he is asking is that when the opportunity arises, tell somebody about his family. And when that person is adopted into God’s family like you were,
that you do whatever you can to help them get closer to Jesus.

Family loves each other enough to help them succeed. I don’t know what family you’ve been in. I don’t know everything about your previous church experience. I don’t know what might be hindering your growth today.

But I do know this: Salvation is the start, relationship is the goal, discipleship is the process, and the family business is our role.

Are you growing?
If yes, then who are you helping grow?

If no, then how can we help you grow?

Practically, we have:
- Open House today after third service
- Alpha starting next Sunday
- Freedom Class starting February 1st
- DGroups you can start today
- Serve Teams that you can dive into to help you grow.

Spiritually speaking, we have:
- An altar so you can get right with God
- Salvation to offer through Jesus Christ
- Baptism so you can walk in the new life Jesus died to give you
- And a team to pray with you today.

The farmer can create the atmosphere for growth, but the farmer can’t make the seed grow. The seed has to decide.

I can create the atmosphere for you to grow. But you have to decide.

I am inviting you to take a practical and a spiritual step today.

Let’s pray