CreatingCommunity is an email devotion to guide your preparation for worship next weekend. Imagine how much more clear and relevant God's Word will be if you have had an opportunity read, reflect, and dwell in the Word prior to worship. You may do this devotion alone, with others, as a family, or over Zoom as a small group.

This devotion is to be done in preparation for Sunday, July 12, 2020, The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost.

Please follow these three steps:

1. Read through the text
2. Respond to the questions (select one of the sets of questions)
3. Offer a Prayer
Matthew 13:1-9
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.  3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.  4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, 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 brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
No Experience Necessary Questions:
  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  2. What delights me in this text?
  3. What stories or memories does this text stir in me?
  4. What is God up to in this text?
Family Questions:
  1. Jesus told many stories that the bible calls parables. What is a parable?
  2. Parables often tell us something important about God. Who is God in this parable? What des this parable say about God?
  3. What kind of ground are you, according to this parable? Explain.
Advance Questions:
  1. Are parables factual? Are parables true? What is the difference? Explain.
  2. Name some of the "sowers" that you've experienced that planted the word of God (seed) in your life.
  3. What do you make of a sower who sows seed in places where it is known they won't grow? What does this "waste" say to you about God?
Click here to listen to this week's CreatingCommunity song
“Parable of the Sower"
Prayer
Jesus, you sow yourself the Word of Truth, generously the Word of Life, graciously.
Defend us from the Evil One who seeks to snatch us away, fortify us for hard times and costly discipleship that we may endure.
Deliver us from distraction from worldly desires and all that would lure us and choke us with false promises. Till us. Turn us.
Enrich us with every blessing of your Spirit
that we may be good, good soil. Forever faithful and fruitful for you. Amen.
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