Ephesus, don’t lose your first love

Preparing the soil

About Sermon Notes Matthew 13:1-23 The Parable of the Sower Youth Service  ·  28 June 2026  ·  28 min  ·  ESV The condition of your soil — not the quality of the seed — determines whether God's Word takes root, grows, and bears lasting fruit in your life. Teaching Introductory What this is about Why do some people hear the same gospel message and walk away changed while others remain completely untouched? Jesus reveals in this parable that the difference was never the seed — it was always the soil. What you'll take away * Why Jesus used parables — not to simplify truth, but to reveal who is ready to receive it * What each of the four soils looks like in everyday life, and how to recognise your own * Four nutrients — surrender, humility, forgiveness, and grace — that transform hard or shallow ground * A simple weekly practice using the Fruit of the Spirit to renew your mind and bear visible fruit This is for you if * You go through the motions — attending, reading, praying — but nothing seems to be growing * You keep getting excited about faith, only to watch it fade before it takes root * You want to share your faith but feel responsible for whether others accept it Also Matthew 13:11-12 Why Jesus taught in parables · 1 John 1:9 Confession, forgiveness, and cleansing · Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit · James 1:22 Doers of the word, not hearers only · 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love's patient, enduring nature The Big Idea Only prepared soil — marked by surrender, humility, forgiveness, and grace — can receive God's Word, bear lasting fruit, and share that fruit with others. Key Scripture > To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But for the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. > > > Matthew 13:11-12 ESV Main Points 1. The Sower and the Seed Never Change The gospel is constant and unchanging — our calling is faithful scattering, not guaranteeing growth, because the Holy Spirit brings the increase. 2. Four Soils, Four Heart Conditions The path, rocky ground, weeds, and good soil each describe a real way we receive or resist God's Word — from outright rejection to the slow strangulation of worldly distraction. 3. Good Soil Must Be Actively Prepared Surrender, humility, forgiveness, and grace are the nutrients a life needs before the seed can crack open and flourish — they do not appear automatically. Key Illustration In Johannesburg, trees shed every leaf through winter and stand completely bare for months. Yet weeks before the autumn rains arrive, new shoots appear and flowers open — without a single drop of rain. As temperatures rise, the warming soil releases stored groundwater and nutrients, feeding the tree from within. A tree with deep, well-nourished roots does not wait for ideal conditions to produce life. Neither do we. What This Means for Us * Choose one Fruit of the Spirit for the coming week, write a verse about it on a card, and keep it somewhere visible — your dashboard, desk, or pocket. Let it redirect your focus when pressure hits. Move to a new fruit and a new verse the following week. To Remember When you stay rooted in God's Word and surrender fully to Him, He will sustain you through every dry season — and you will bear fruit long before the rains return. Audio MP3 [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e78a619d1740b512626df1a/t/6a40f198cfcfc0302f9bb6a9/1782641068623/2026-06-28-preparing-the-soil.mp3] Video Family Church Andrew Goltman Preparing the soil Download [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e78a619d1740b512626df1a/t/6a40f198cfcfc0302f9bb6a9/1782641068623/2026-06-28-preparing-the-soil.mp3]

Ephesus, don’t lose your first love

Revelation 2:1-7 ESV · Revealing the Lion and Lamb 46 min You can be doctrinally sound, suffering for Christ's name, and faithfully guarding the truth — and still have abandoned your first love for Jesus. This passage asks how passion cools without warning, names the quiet dissatisfaction that sustained conflict breeds, and calls you back to the garden where God always wanted you.

The Hands of Jesus

Revelation 1:9-20 ESV · Revealing the Lion and Lamb · 42 min What do you do when your circumstances tell you God has abandoned you? John writes from a prison island — not bitter, but worshipping. This sermon unpacks a vision of the glorified Christ that reframes suffering, corrects how you read your circumstances, and calls you back to the church you were made to serve.

He Who Is

Revelation 1:4-8 ESV · Revealing the Lion and Lamb · 48 min You know Jesus as the lamb who died for you — but do you know Him as the Almighty? Revelation 1:4-8 peels back a one-sided view of Christ to reveal the God whose name is I Am: sovereign judge, eternal ruler, and the one every eye will see.

Reading, Hearing and Keeping the Word

Most people avoid Revelation because it feels too strange, too dangerous, too easy to get wrong. In Revelation 1:1–3, the book opens not with a warning but with a promise — a specific blessing for anyone who reads, hears, and holds on to what is written. This sermon unpacks what that blessing actually means: not a passive exposure to information, but the kind of hearing that says "I want that," and the kind of keeping that looks like carrying on with your homework while the plane flies through the storm. If you have ever picked up Revelation and put it back down, this is a good place to start.