Receptive Ground: Sowing a Spirit-Filled Harvest - Mark 4

Trinity Baptist Community Church International is shepherded under the direction of Bishop Dr. Michael J. Love. Trinity is a preaching, teaching, and reaching church. Under the direction of Bishop Love, Trinity has over 100 ministries, as well as global expansion, church planting in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and 37 churches in India. Please come out and join Bishop Dr. Michael J. Love as he critically imparts the Word of God at Trinity Baptist Community Church International www.trinitybcc.org

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:36

Well, good morning, Trinity. God is good and He's worthy. Aren't you glad? Oh, I'm just loving the cap and gown back there, Miss. I love that. I love that. I love that on graduation day. Congratulations, graduates. Congratulations. My sermon today is taken from Mark 4, uh, the Receptive Ground, Sowing for a Spirit-led Harvest. And I would ask for you to turn to Mark chapter 4 so that we can go through the scripture together, study the scripture, explore God's words and intentionality, and uh pray that you will all be blessed. Amen. All right. We'll get to the next slide. Our scripture for the morning is taken from Mark chapter four. The key verses are 11 and 12. He said to them, The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you who have teachable hearts, but those who are outside, the unbelievers, the spiritually blind, get everything in parables, so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand. Otherwise, they might turn from their rejection of the truth and be forgiven. Let's go to the next slide. All right. This slide cracks me up. This is a slide of um my tools. I love to garden, I love to work out in the yard, and um pretty dangerous with all my tools. I get excited about it, but obviously I'm the only one excited, not my grandsons, neither is my husband, because I like sawing things and cutting things and digging and tilling and cultivating the soil, and there's always a life lesson behind it. So a few weeks ago, uh Diana and Eddie had to be out of town. And so I said, okay, Nana will go stay there and hang out with my grandsons. Well, hanging out with my grandsons, uh, Avery thought that meant, well, Nana won't bother us. I can just sit and eat and, you know, do video games. She's pretty quiet. And so Nana turned into this person, well, let's clean your rooms, let's wash the dishes. You know, let's get things organized in here. So Avery called his mother, so when are you coming home? Because Nana and Poppy think they own things around here. I was like, what? Okay, now we're really gonna get annoyed. And so they were just okay, we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it. That's all right, Avery. She's retiring, and so you know it's okay. Our parents would be home, you know, on Sunday, so all is well. And then we invited them to come and work in the yard. Now, Evan, because Evan doesn't like conflict with adults per se, he's gonna be a little more receptive. Avery is going to push back. So, with all my tools and everything that was going on in the yard, uh, Avery, just like he does when we're playing uh racquetball, I'm tapping out. I need I need to tap out because if I injure my muscles when play I have to play football tomorrow, if I injure my muscles, then I can't play. I can't work at peak performance, Nana. So perhaps I shouldn't take the axe and knock down some trees. No, that's that's not gonna work. What about my dehydration? You know, I haven't eaten enough. He he always says an argument now. You know, you talk about protein, I don't have enough protein. And so my favorite argument, because Averion Evan knows that I like econ, and so I was sharing with them about this great economist, uh Gary Becker, who built this economic model on labor, labor, and discrimination. And we talked about the psychic costs. In one particular example, is that when at that time white employees were hiring women and minorities, what he did was build a model, an economic model, to say, what is the psychic cost for hiring minorities? So Avery translated that to mean his psychic cost for all the work I wanted him to do that day. He said, it's not gonna work. And he was really pushing back, he was really pushing back every argument and everything that I taught him about theory and everything about theory. Oh, Avery had an argument for it. He had an argument for it. So I said, Avery, these are life lessons. He says, Yeah, but Nana, he said, Poppy preached to us and he talks to us, and and he's a little gentle in his presentation. You you've got tools and equipment, and you want us to hack and saw and sew and cultivate. He said, Can Poppy just preach right now? You're not getting out of this one. No, you're not getting out of this one. So sowing the seeds and really focusing on the receptivity of the heart is so important. Because so many times I've seen with my students over the years, uh, they are very um innovative in how they approach learning. Now, when I first started teaching economics, and this was before AI, I didn't realize that the student that went out of class who told me he had to go to the bathroom was actually uh connected to someone in class who was taking a picture of the questions, texting them to the person that's outside the class, and he has a book in hand, looking up the answers, and then I'm asking, wow, why did everyone receive a hundred on this test? You know, all of those things. And now it's it's AI. And teaching the students what's ethical, what's not ethical, but do not be afraid of the tools that God has given you. So responsibly, I had to teach them how to use those tools. Let's use those tools to craft the outline. If there's something about the question you don't understand, let's do the deep dive. And let's let's responsibly use those tools so that when you step outside of this environment, you won't be afraid to, or you won't feel ashamed or unethical, uh, because that's the competition nowadays. So I want to give you the tools so that you can um compete and you can confidently confidently talk about how you're using those tools and why it benefits the recipient of all the things that you're creating, but it has to be your work, your question. So we're citing everything. So, in saying that, in the sow and the seed, I just want to read the scripture and go through some of the teaching elements of it, and then we're going to get to the life lessons. So, all right, just stay there for a minute. So, let's talk about the parable and the sower and the seeds. In chapter 4, Mark says, And Jesus began to teach beside the Sea of Galilee, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into the boat, a boat, anchoring that it was a short distance out on the sea, and sat down. And the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. Now, this is more than uh one-off proclamation here. This action is dynamic, right? And he taught them many things and parables, and his teaching, he said to them, listen, now look, let's look at this. When Jesus is teaching the parables, he's framing an expectation of the outcome. And that is very, very important. He's framing that expectation using the fact that there were a varieties, a variety of receptivity of the seed that has been planted. And the seed is the word. And Jesus says, listen, a sower went out to sow seed, and as he was sowing, some fell on the ground by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil, and immediately a plant sprang up because the seed had no depth. And when the sun came up, the plants were scored, the plant was scorched, and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced 30, 60, and a hundred times as much as had been sown. So you notice that this action is outgoing. The seed lands in different soil, different outcomes here. Now, Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed my word. Now, as Jesus is teaching this parable and he's given this outcome, he tells them, he warns them, he who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed my word. Now, when we talk about the receptivity of the soil, not the seed's performance, he moves us into a framing of interpretive responsibility. What is your receptivity to the seed? Is the soil cultivated? Is it hard? Is it rocky? Is it thorny? And so it's not just seed that you throw out and you have a reaction. It may be immediate, but it's not sustainable. You're very reactive to it, and it doesn't, it doesn't uh bode well for you in the long run. So that interpreted responsibility. Verse 10 says, as he was alone, those who were around him, together with the twelve disciples, begin asking him about interpretation of the scriptures. He said to them, The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you who has teachable hearts. But those who are outside get everything in parables, the unbelievers, the spiritually blind, so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn from their rejection of the truth and be forgiven. So you see the contrast there, hearing but not hearing, listening, understanding but not understanding. There's that contrast that's there within this scripture, and then ultimately, if you do hear, you do see, you do heed the word, you will receive truth, and there's no rejection. So there's a choice there. There's your volition of freedom. You get to choose your path, graduates. You get to choose your path. But there are outcomes. So think about that. And as soon as he was alone, those who were around him, together with the 12 disciples, began asking about the interpretation. And I'm gonna go back here. Um, yeah, I'm gonna go back here. Let's see. Jesus asked them, Do you not understand the parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables? And so, how do you understand the parables? That's that interpretive responsibility. Because is this the parable that's the key to the other parables? Because he says, You do not understand this parable. How do you grasp the meaning of all parables? In this totality, all parables. Well, we're gonna see. We're gonna see the alignment in verses 21, 26, 30, and 35. Then he gives the explanation. The source shows the word of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation. These are the first group are the ones along the road where the word is sown, but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes a word, away the word which had been sown. Uh, how many of you can relate to that? Pastor preaches a good sermon and you felt good in the sanctuary, and then you step outside the sanctuary, and a car just cuts you off. I love I love what the young people say, especially my grandson. I don't feel respected. You disrespected me because A, B, and C. All of those things. So, what about that seed? What about that? Is it sustainable? Did you hear it, or was it did you have an emotional type of reaction to it? Here today, gone in the next nanosecond? So we have to think about that. And in a similar way, these in the second group are the ones of whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they heard the word, immediately received it with joy, but they only accepted it superficially. So maybe I feel good in the sanctuary, and oh yeah, let's carry it on to the nonface, and maybe even the parking lot, and maybe in the in the store. But graduates, particularly you, what if your instructors decide to challenge you in your thinking, challenge you in your critical development, and tell you that no, no, no, what you're spitting out to me, I already know this as a professor. I want to know what you think. How are you interpreting this information? Are you interpreting this information? Because for us, we need to know that so that we can provide the resources so that they can get to where they need to be to succeed. But if in class you're listening, yes, I understand because you you sit by your peers, and yes, they understand, and everybody's feeling good, of course, we all understand. And then you're sitting there alone and you don't even remember the assignment. And not only that, you don't remember the assignment, you're ashamed at this point because you're not asking the questions superficially with us as Christians. How are we sustaining the word of God? Okay, same thing. Okay, all right. This group has no root, so they endure only for a little while, then when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they are offended and displeased at being associated with me and stumble and fall away. Uh, one of the funniest moments I remember in teaching is when I was teaching in Rockford, it was a face-to-face class, and this young African-American student was in class and she wasn't doing well, and I was talking to her, and she says, You're discriminating against me. How? Well, because how am I discriminating against you? Well, I don't like your tone. But do you know before graduation she thanked me because I challenged her, challenged her thinging. If you're going to make those assumptions, you have to come with the evidence. You have to come with the evidence. You have to prove to me. Amen. Amen. So when we're making those assumptions about God and those things that we're looking to do to be a part of the community, and you look in the Bible and it does not align with the word of God. This is superficial belief. Because we're not testing it. We're not testing it. So we tend to stumble and fall away. Again, this is about receptivity. Hearing, not hearing, understanding, not understanding, shifting from the crowd, external hearing. Now he's asking about your internal sustainable reaction. Verse 18 said, and others are the ones of whom seed was sown among the thorns. They are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries and cares of the world, the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures, and the deceitfulness, and the false security or glamour, or wealth or fame, and the passionate desires for all the other things to creep in and choke out the world the word, and it becomes unfruitful. You're reading the word, you're in church serving, but there's no fruit. How are we cultivating the word? What are we doing? What are we doing in church? What are we doing students? And particularly the graduates, what are we doing? Okay. We're so distracted, and today's challenges are definitely the devices that we all have. And with some students, because they have the the orientation toward focusing on their devices, they might hear you and then they're on their device. And you and when the teacher asks, What are you doing? Let's let's look up front, let's listen, let's hear. And say, Oh, but I I am, but I am. Here's an emergency, here's this, here's that, and I said, No, let's let's focus here. So that we can give you the tools to go forth. And those distractions become that's that's really a device for Satan to use so that you will not grow in the word of God. You're so distracted by what's going on. You have to ask God, how should I use it? And we do, we use it. It's not just students, it's adults too. Yeah, it's adults too. We do not want to choke out the word of God. And the last group are the ones of whom seed was sown on good soil, and they hear the word of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation, and accept it and bear fruit. Thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much as was sown. And that's interesting because there is a progression there, thirty, sixty, a hundred times as much as was sown. And then I ask you the question: is this a key parable that leads to other parables? Jesus said in verse 21, he talks about the lamp that is brought not in to be put under a basket or under a bed. Is it? It is not brought in to be put, is it not brought in to be put on a lampstand? For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nothing has anything been kept secret, but that it has come to light that things are hidden only temporarily until the appropriate times come for them to be known. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed my word. And then he said to them, pay attention what you hear by your own standard of measurement. That is, to the extent that you have studied spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom, it will be measured to you, measured to you, and you will be given even greater ability to respond, and more will be given to you besides. And that's good news. That's good news. And so I I share this with my my grandson now. He didn't appreciate my teachable life lessons. He'd rather be in the comforts of the church or Reverend Tim's Sunday school versus taking an axe and a hammer and things like that that I enjoy. But to be productive again, we go back to we hear the word, what type of soil is it falling on? Rocky ground, thorny ground, is it shilled out or good soil that has been cultivated? And the reason I get so excited, and this is just a tangible lesson for my kids, is that as they are looking at those tools and they realize these are the things that I'm having problems with in life, whether it's focus, whether it's friends, whether it's responsibility, how do we excise that out? How do we remove that root of bitterness, of anger, of those distractions, the lack of focus, and which graduates you will find out as well. Um, I I talk about Avery and Every a lot. Um Avery uh had a friend um right before he went to high school who committed suicide. It was Avery's best friend. They were planning to do something that weekend, go to the movies, just have fun. And he committed suicide. And he was just asking questions about life and salvation and mandating that his family sit down and have Bible study every night because they were all going to hell unless they know the word of God. In his mind, in his mind. That's how he interpreted. But it was based on that experience from his friend committing suicide, just taking his life, and he asked those questions. He asked the questions, why didn't I see it? Why didn't I know it? Why didn't I hear it? Why didn't I hear it? This 13-year-old kid committed suicide, and it was his best friend. So we're gonna talk about those things as a sower in our interpretive responsibility and the seed, responding to the seed as well. But I'm just gonna finish this scripture. My hands are shaking now because it's God's word. When we look at the different scriptures, um Terry, is there a way to get to Mark 4 verse 21? No. If not, I can get there. It's not in it's not in this presentation. Okay. I'm sorry. I can get there. So Mark 4, 21 talks about using your light. Mark 4 verses 26 talks about the parable of the growing seed, the mustard seed. And it says the soil produces a crop by itself, first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. And then, I'm sorry, that's the parable of the growing seed, and then the mustard seed. And he said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed that when grown upon the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground, and when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants and produces large branches so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade. It provides shelter, it is not the weed, it forms purpose. Amen. Okay. Secondly, um in the parables, we're talking about the growing seed, we talked about the mustard seed. Uh, another parable in Mark 4 talks about the winds and the waves, and we know uh that story and how it obeys Jesus. So going back to the sower and the seed and our level of receptivity, how we cultivate the soil as sowers, as God's ambassadors. So we're praying that we will be God's ambassadors. It is so important that we do that and take the responsibility. And it's hard. It is so hard. There are so many events that go on at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning that competes with this worship hour. So many things going on that seem to be pleasing to the eye, but it has a long-term impact on what's going on in the world. How are we preparing these children to deal with those things? I mean, I mean, I go back to to Avery and his friend who committed suicide and all the things that the children are going through in life, particularly in college. You have so many groups that you can choose to be with and align yourself with and the thing your values are questioned, the things that you've learned, and maybe because Satan says, Well, you've been sheltered, but here's real freedom. You need to experience different things, you need to be out there, find yourself. All that messaging confuses these kids. It really does confuse them. And and I see it. If I see students that are, you know, very, very responsible with submitting their homework and engaging and everything, and all of a sudden they're quiet. Something has gone on with them emotionally. They're shutting everybody out. And we have to pray and pray and pray and as source to become their mentor and their friend, trusted friend. And there's some responsibility, as Deb knows in the education, where you have to report certain things because you don't want the students to harm themselves or anybody else. But you can also create that world in which you're sharing a part of your life with them. And I've seen Deborah do it over and over again with her group. Um, and even in our in even in our households when students are just kind of struggling, and maybe they don't understand or they're wondering what the interpretation is, or maybe there's some anger that's going on, and and uh she and Reverend Tim have just been instrumental in the development of my grandkids. I I just I gotta and that continued growth, and they both said that they would never graduate from Reverend Tim's Bible study. That's what they both said. But us as SOARs, it is so important as parents to and guardians to be very responsive to our kids and and what they're going through in life. Um the Hebrew word is Shema, S-H E M A. That's foundational to our faith. It is the integration of faith in our daily lives and our rhythms and our cadences and what's going on. So if I'm teaching a course, it's that faith integration, right, Dr. Sartor? How do we respond in different disciplines? Ask mathematicians or economists or architecture, where is God and all of these things? And students, you might or you might not hear it, but you ask, you continue to ask those questions. You continue to find that community that's having those discussions and engaging in that type of discussion. Yeah, it's not just a discipline. What does God say? And what is my role and responsibility here? Why am I learning this information? It might not be important to me. I might, I might not even like the subjects at the time, but how what does God say about it? Because if we're all a part of the integrated sum, God's responsible for the sum. So I want to know about my father. I want to know about him. It's not just the micro steps, it's globally and culturally, Lord, how do we get there? How are you shaping me? And those are some tough discussions to have, even in a Christian university. Yes, yes, tough discussions to have. Um, but it is so important for us to be with our children and to mentor them and to walk with them and to be their friend or their spiritual leader or just somebody to support them. That the word in the North African tribe is suburbona, which means I see you, I recognize you, I know you're in my presence. And students want to know that, they need to know that. So, our pledge to these students and these graduates is that we want to be there for you. You may not be here physically, but we're continuing to pray for you. So let's look at some of this responsibility as a sower. And this is taken from Deuteronomy 6 and verses 6 and 7, my papers. Let's keep going. Deuteronomy 6, verses 6 and 7. These words that I am giving you today to be in your heart, repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down, and when you wake and when you get up, bind them as a sign on your hand, and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. And our responsibility to you is to teach you the word so that when you are going out and you are being challenged and you will be challenged, that you will have them in your hearts, in your minds, and you're right, you've written them down. So to the soar, be consistent in developing the spiritual, physical, and intellectual framing for mature growth. Number two, be consistent in developing and encouraging Christian values, ethics, and moral framing. And number three, be consistent in messaging the future of hope, service, and spiritual prosperity. This is the challenge that we have as sowers of the seed, as God's ambassadors. Now, if we try to do it on our own, we're failing and we're setting our students up to fail, and that's not what we want to do. That is not our intention. Verses 18 to 21 says, Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight so that you may prosper and so you may enter and possess the good land of the Lord your God, sworn to your ancestors, by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said. All right, let's look at the responsibility of those who are recipients of the seed, the receptors. Number one, we're cultivating a receptive posture. Graduates, you're going to pause and listen. When you're pausing and setting yourself, you have to set yourself. And for me who has dealt with ADHD, there is a reset that has to take place in my life. I cannot transition from one to another. The environment has to be right. I can see Rev reading, I don't care how loud the music is, but I have to set the environment. Quiet yourself. It's okay to do that. You are in control because the only voice you want to hear is God. So you want to approach scripture with humility, asking God to instruct, to lead, and to guide you through the understanding and the application of his word. And then you want to prepare your heart for good soil. Now, if I'm listening to music that does not glorify God, but I like the beat. Or the game, dominoes, spades, whatever. How am I gonna walk into the presence of God and say, I'm ready? I'm ready. So daily devotions, there are multiple iterations of your learning, daily devotion, confession and repentance to soften your heart. Amen. So you want to be open to God's word. I am not open if I've been over here A B C and then decides I'm D. Okay, God, I'm I'm I'm ready. No. Okay? And then you want to engage with the word actively, not passively. You don't want to just sit in church or sit in Sunday school or sit in a team vibe ministry, hear the word. Oh, you're going to ask questions and ask critical questions. There's no bad questions. Because when you're asking questions, you're trying to figure out how that apply to my life or the situation that I'm looking at now. Students, do that. Do that actively. There's no shame there. There's absolutely no shame there. Next slide, please. All right. You want to guard your distractions. You're going to limit your device. Devices doing Bible study. And that's so hard. I remember when um Jordan Smith and that generation came up, and they they were just so technically savvy, and the students wanted to look up the scriptures with their phones. I'm like, what is this? I don't understand this generation. What's happening here? You need your Bible. You need to take that Bible with you. You live, what is this? Scripture, you're not gonna understand it. You know, but that was me. I did, I wasn't caught up with what was going on and their needs. But you're going to create a time for focus in space. God, it's just you and me. Not you and me and the, oh, yeah, wait a hold, hold on a second. Facebook, yeah. Somebody just I just received a message. Look on Facebook. Here's a video for you, blah, blah, blah. No, no, no. Create that space. You're going to address spiritual warfare by being aware of the opposition of truth. You won't know that if you don't read the word of God. So you're going to rely on God's words and you're going to pray. All right? And then expect and persevere through resistance. Because it is resistance. It's the opposition to truth, opposition from truth. You authentically know the word of God. Next slide, please. Yeah. All right. The three things you learn in divinity school is to observe, interpret, and apply. So you want to know what the text says about God, about people, and about reality. Secondly, to interpret, you're going to ask, what does this teach me about faith, my worship, ethics, and life? And use cross-checks with other scriptures. You'll see in the Bible that in the bottom there are commentary, so there are cross-checks. And then, you know, if you still have questions, you have scholars in here for the interpretation of the Bible. Do not be ashamed. I'll put their phone numbers up here. I'm just kidding. Identify concrete steps to live out the truth. Um, you're creating a habit, uh, your relationship to heal, or there's some sin that you're struggling with.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

Okay. And the next one. Yeah, this is my final one. Memorizing God's scripture. Let scripture transform thinking by dwelling in your mind. Psalm 119, 111. Uh, your word I have treasured and stored in my heart that I may not sin against you. Psalm 119-11. My grandmother was one that not only interpreted scripture, she was one who brought scripture to life. She loved the dramatization, and I loved just sitting under her feet for hours and hours. So every Mother's Day, it was a different dramatization. And it was like a hundred plus of us from grandkids, and we would just all sit and listen to her. And in one Mother's Day, she had a heart attack and died, like just right in front of us. And we were traumatized. That loss was incredible. But we realized what she brought to our lives through the interpretation of the scripture, and she would dress and she'd sing. The things I like to do. I just studied her. I was just so amazed with her presentation. And there were so many of us that was just captivated by her. And so she memorized the scripture, and she taught us to memorize the scripture. And so I challenge graduates, I challenge you today to follow God's word. Not only the word, the seed is the word, and you are the receptor, but there's a legacy that's taken place here. You have been graduated from child to young adult. So in every succession plan, the banner has been passed on to you. God has already orchestrated and created that crowd, that person for you to meet. What will your response be to them? What will your response be to them? So thank you so much for allowing me to take a few minutes here. Congratulations to all the Trinity graduates. God is good and He's worthy. Aren't you glad? So glad. Amen. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

And give you at least the last. Let me give you this last little section here so you can clean it up. Thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you so much for blessing us. Yeah. So we as we get ready to uh worship God with our giving, and then we're gonna flow right into our Excel time, Reverend Tim will come in. And uh we recognize our graduates for today. Uh Dr. Sarto if he'll come and lead us in our uh worship time of giving. Uh as we prepare our hearts and minds to uh to bless into what God is doing, sow into what God is doing in his work. Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Amen. What a wonderful message today to our graduates. Really, not only to our graduates, but to us as well. Sowing. Uh, you know, sowing also applies to giving, it also applies to our finances as well. God loves a cheerful giver, but God made us responsible for what we sow. So sowing also involves reaping as well. And we want to reap those good things that God gives us from sowing. We don't sow to get, we sow to show our love for God and our love for his ministry as well. So whatever you sow into this ministry is used for the upbuilding of God's kingdom. Hopefully, you know that you are part of God's kingdom. So God loves us so much that he wants the best for us. So he will even provide us with seed to sow. That's what Corinthians says. That's what the word says. He will provide us with seed to sow. So as our ushers come down, I'm gonna ask that you stand and we're going to pray. And I want to thank uh Dr. Karen Love again for her wonderful message on sowing. It applies to all of us. Thank you. So let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, you are our great God. And Lord, you give us so much to sow. You give us so much to give. I don't know if we acknowledge that, Lord, all the time, but you've given us breath to live. We're here. You've given us health in our body, you've given us speed, you've given us nose, you've given us care. Thank you for all the great gifts you've given us that we don't always acknowledge. Thank you for all the youth that we have, the youngest that. That we have for allowing us to input into their lives today, Lord. Lord, as we give today, we acknowledge that. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your gifts you've given us, Father. And as we give back to you, Father, we ask that you would continue to use us in the upbuilding of your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Everybody says, Amen.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

Let the church say amen again. All right. I I want to start off by uh uh this Excel program. I just want to give the parents a little bit of honor. I just think back um to the anxiety. Now, whether this is your first child that you've gotten to high school or your fourth, um, I I just think back to that milestone um of going off and doing um official visits and and things of this nature. And I remember um with my son, um they make a lot of emphasis to let you know that your child is an adult or something to that sense. And they when it comes to medical, unless they put your name on there, you they they can't tell you nothing. Uh when it comes to their grades, unless they allow you to have their access, they can't tell you nothing. But when it came to the money, you don't go anywhere until you go to registration. And it was kind of funny because my my son, both of them pretty much went to college almost on awful scholarships. Leah had a bunch of little scholarships, but Tim had a full ride athletic scholarship. And I'm like, well, why are we signing anything? If everything is paid for, uh they want that commitment, they want that fallback, they want that that person they know they can come after that's got some resources. So I just think back to that. I just want to give the parents kudos. If if this is your first baby that's heading off, uh I think you did a wonderful job. And uh the fact that they are part of our church, we've had an opportunity to be around them uh and and just a blessing. I'm going to ask the recipient as um we read um to stand. Now the first one isn't here. Uh his name is Justin Bouchard. All right, and bear with me. Uh the name of his high school is St. Joseph. Well, his name is his higher education institute is St. Joseph's. He's already graduated, St. Joseph Hospital of Elgin. He majored in paramedicine. His favorite subject and why said my favorite subject would have to be cardiology. Learning cardiology felt like trying to read sign language blind. He said the most used word in the class for a month straight was what? You really don't understand anything at all until one day you just wake up and it oddly makes sense. And uh we have some slides that's gonna pair with these questions. He said, What are your next steps after graduation and how do you envision you will grow or develop in the first year? He said, My next step after graduation is to get my national paramedic license. And I envision my first year will be the one that will be the most critical for future growth. I will have to still do a lot of education and testing during my first year as a probationary medic. Second question: What is one main goal you hope to achieve in the near future, and what steps will you take to reach it? My main goal is to become a firefighter. It has always been one of my dreams. I just need to keep studying, get back in shape from all the late-night study snack sessions, and start applying for the rigorous full-time fire department applications. And the third, how do you plan to apply the skills you've learned during your studies to your future work, community, andor service? I plan on developing my skills as a paramedic by getting out in the field more and attending more education courses and starting to teach the newer EMTs. It is such a wonderful feeling to teach someone a subject or topic that you once went through. Having a good teacher is pivotal in the field, and I would like to give back. Fourth, who or what inspires you as you look ahead and how do you want to contribute to the people around you or your broader community? Said, my dad inspires me the most. My dad has always had my back for my higher and my lows. I am thankful for all the lessons I was taught all the time. I said, yay, or yeah, that never going to happen. To this day, I'm still eating my words and telling him he was right. And I want to contribute to my community knowing I am going to be there on your worst day. Someone to call when you need help, knowing that someone is going to be there at 3 a.m. for toe pain or chest pain or not expect anything in return. And then fifth, what is a moment during your educational journey where you felt God's guidance most clearly, felt God's guidance most clearly, and how did it shape your path forward? He said, A moment when I felt God's presence in my education journey was when I was failing, falling behind in class. At this point in the year, the test had five to six chapters coming every two weeks, working 40 hours, doing your clinical rotations in a hospital, fitting in 100 hours of time on an ambulance, all while trying to spend time with your wife. You just reunited with and added up, it added up mentally. My last test before the final, I felt mentally defeated. I was telling myself as I was walking down the class all these negative things, like it's okay. There's always next year. Or you are not as smart as the rest of the class. Before I turned the corner to open the door to the classroom, that morning announcement andor prayers came on. I froze. Isaiah 41, 10. So do not fear, for I'm with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with the righteous right hand. Alright, guys, that is Justin Bouchard. All right. Our next recipient, and again, please stand, is Victoria Grant. Looking lovely back there in the back. All right. High school, Victoria graduated from Woodstock North High School. Her favorite subject and favorite year, she said, baking and pastry. Learning different ways to bake bread and getting to spend time with one of my favorite teachers during my last year in school. Activities and academic achievements. She has the dual degree program, SEAL of bioliteracy in Illinois. Three track and field school records, all conference athlete. 12th and the 200 meter, I assume that is. She has her um associate's degree already in college. She she qualified for that as well. That's that dual degree. All right, what is your next steps after graduation and how do you envision you will grow and develop in the first year? She said, go to university for nursing. I will definitely grow next year by learning time management, especially for my harder classes like anatomy and biochemistry, and being able to communicate with others now that I will be in a new environment. Second question: What is one main goal you hope to achieve in the near future and what steps will you take to reach it? Time management. With two extremely hard classes and balancing sports every day will be a challenge, but learning how to write efficient notes and make plenty of time for studying would benefit me greatly during the first semester. Third, how would you plan to apply the skills you've learned during your studies to your future work, community, andor service? In my current job, time management is so critical, not only for myself as a worker, but also to the residents that I care for. It'll especially be helpful when trying to memorize or studying for a big test. And fourth, who or what inspired you as you look ahead and how do you want to contribute to the people around you or to your broader community? She said, my grandmother. Knowing that she looked down on me, that she's looking down on me right now and cheering me on really motivates me to continue on with my education and be and to become successful and be able to help other people. And fifthly, what is a moment during your education journey when you felt God's guidance most clearly and how did it shape your path forward? Definitely taking the CNA course and having to complete 40 hours of hands-on patient care. The in-person experience prepared me for what's to come in the future and being able to know what to expect with all sorts of patience and knowing how to handle different situations. Everybody, Victoria Grant. And I'm gonna say this too. Most of these kids got Cash Apps. So Vemo, Cash App, make sure you ask them now. They got them. So all right, God bless you. Alright. We want to honor them truly. Alright, our next recipient is Jillan Stevens. Alright, there he is, young man in the back. Alright. Name of high school was Homeboard Flossmore. Favorite subject and why? And what year? He said as my sophomore year was favorite for me because everything just felt nostalgic. I wasn't as shy. I felt that I was coming out. Oh yeah, sorry, I'm sorry. Come on up. All right. Okay, he said my sophomore year was my favorite year for me because everything just felt nostalgic. I wasn't as shy. I felt that I was coming out of my shell a little bit more in activities, academics. He said I made all conference for football, and I had a written article for me about it. All right. He said, I envision myself becoming more disciplined in all areas, whether it's on the field or in the classroom. A major role in being disciplined for me would be the procrastination. I want to do a lot less of that in this first year. I also want to use my resource to the best of my ability. Second question. What is one main goal you hope to achieve in the near future, and what steps will you take to reach it? He said, I want to become the best version of myself for my athletic. The steps I will take to accomplish that will be to do more than average, whether it's going over the playbook again or doing more cardio on rest days. I want to be more than just the average student athlete. And then his third, how do you plan to apply the skills you've learned during your studies to your future work community andor service? He said, I want to eventually do digital marketing, specifically a social media manager or sports marketing, because I love sports and social media trends. Fourth, who and what inspires you as you look ahead, and how do you want to contribute to the people around you or your broader community? He said, My parents have always been a huge impact on me, especially within my senior year. I want to contribute by always being helpful hand, or I always want to be a shoulder to lean on whenever someone needs it. And fifthly, he says, what is the moment during your educational journey you felt God's guidance most clearly, and how did it shape your path forward? It's been times when I had to face adversity academically, and his guidance paved the way for me to be successful. And I think it says here there's a bonus question. Okay, but I think those are just directions. Everybody, Mr. Jill and Stevens. I'ma just tell you, it don't take much to fool me. You change your hairstyle or you do something. I came in today, I was like, who's that young man over there on the side? They're looking at me like that's Joe's side. I'm like, Jonathan? That's Jonathan. I said, Oh, okay, yeah, he kind of did something different with the hair and throwing glasses. First, me and my wife was kind of like, I don't know if y'all remember Cheryl Norman's uh niece and nephew, great niece and nephew, as used to bring. I was like, that ain't him, he didn't get that grow up that fast, did he? But uh kind of funny. All right. Jonathan Wiseman graduated McHenry West High School. Favorite subject was biology, because there was always more information about something you just learned. Activities in academics, it was basketball for two years, football four years, three years of varsity for football, and academic honors. What are your next steps? What are my next steps? Uh save up money while getting my associates in biology at McHenry Community College, and I envision myself growing by getting my first healthcare job as an EKG technician with a scholarship achieved for it. All right. What is one main goal to achieve? He said, go to MCC to Northwestern after my associate's degree. How do you plan to apply the skills I've learned? How do these are kind of he's summarizing the questions? How do you plan to apply the skills I've learned? Just to be me, outgoing and resilient every step of the way, taking in all new information and applying it. And who has impressed me? He said, My dad, who I all he said, who I've seen relentlessly do his job as a man, a husband and father every day without complaint. He will figure out whatever it needs to get it done, no matter how long it takes. And he says, when did I feel God's guidance most? He said, I had a dream one night of getting injured, playing football sophomore year. All I knew was football, and I thought, what do I have? What do I have? What do I have for me after this? I think of what I like and I see images of my best moments in science class. I think about it more throughout the day and realize how interested I am to learn more about the human body and how much I actually enjoy learning about it. I made me, it made me more and more open, less narrow-minded. I let myself be vulnerable, and I see, and it set me on a path to become an anesthesiologist. Everybody, Mr. Jonathan Wiseman. And again, we we have some more recipients that that aren't here, but um just remember they got they got VMil, they got Cash App, they got oh, okay. Just yeah, Josiah Ryan graduated, Kerry Grove. Um he's already working somewhere. I read on Facebook, he got a nice little write-up and um um um um where where's it at? Swiss Automations, and he's um kind of on the mechanical maintenance team or something like that. So he was fixing machinery, and um and that's very applicable, very applicable. And uh we're gonna keep them. All right, God bless you.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:08

One more hand clap on face before I graduate. It's uh this is always such a special time. We're so proud of uh uh young folk. We're gonna close out our time together. I think I saw something out there. It looked like there might be some snacks out there because you're pointing in that direction. You're pointing in that direction. So we have a little fellowship time before we close. So thank you so much, First Lady. Thank you so much, graduate. Thanks so much, Reverend Tim. Wait, you got one more? Oh. Oh, well. Well, well well, gift to be coming then. Amen, amen. Get that hand clapped, man. Congratulations, huh? Congratulations. Next Sunday is Father's Day, and we'll be doing some special things for the service on that day there. In my friends, family, neighbors, anyone that you have the Lord sent to cross your hand. With your hands bowed, eyes closed, and hearts humble before the living God. As we assume an attitude of prayer, lifting our hands to Him in praise. And now to Him who is able to keep you and me from falling. And present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Glory, majesty, dominion, and power. Now henceforth and forevermore. Let all God's people say amen. Three lift our voices and say, Holy, holy, holy. God is Jesus. God bless you and God keep you. Have a wonderful day. Give God some praise for the house. Advice to Moses, that's something.