Cornerstone Video Podcast

Click here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. When teaching about the Kingdom of God, Jesus often spoke in parables in order to cause people to reflect and think about his words. In this week’s sermon, we focus on Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower in which he uses the imagery of soil to describe the receptivity of the heart. In his desire to yield good things in us and around us (Fruit of the Spirit), God is constantly sowing seed within us. However, there are times when the seed bounces off of us (like the hard path), or our relationship with God lacks depth (the rocky ground), or the growth becomes choked out by the cares of the world (seed sown among thorns). In contrast, we seek to cultivate a life that bears fruit by softening, deepening, and pruning our soil. In turn, making our hearts more receptive to what God wants to grow in us.

Click here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. As followers of Christ, we choose a life marked by the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). However, there is an ongoing battle within all of us between the flesh and the Spirit. When we are living by the flesh, we are being controlled by our most basic and selfish desires. We recognize that there are things that need to die in us and things that need to be birthed in us. We also feel the tension between what we can do and what only God can do. A life in the Spirit is not something that we can achieve on our own; it is something that we receive when we believe and trust in God. Through prayer and practice, we can cultivate a life with God where the Holy Spirit yields good things in us and around us.