The Story of the Pumkin Jar. How we are a church
unique.
Not a church for everyone – not
the best church ever, but a church for those who want to grow in a particular
community of faith. If your parents are here I want you to look at them. If
they are not here by death or location I want you to picture them. How many
would say they are/were perfect parents? Is that true or were they perfect
parents FOR YOU? You see, God put you in a unique family that may have been
great for you. But your parents were not perfect. But, hopefully they were the right ones for
you. Some people have parents that are
anything but perfect. You can still have good parents without having perfect
parents – Just the uniqueness of who your parents are is part of what makes you
the person you are today.
The
church you are a part of makes part of who you are spiritually. We are not a
perfect church, but we may be the right church uniquely just for you. You don’t get to decide on who your parents
are but, like marriage you do get to choose your church. If you have chosen
FirstB as the church that has a Unique place in your life, I just want to say
thank you, because that means you are a part of determining the influence on my
spiritual life as well.
There
is a vision team who are currently working at defining what the uniqueness of
our church is from all other churches on earth.
What we will find is not a perfect church, but a church that is the
right church for some. Our job is always to give everyone we know the
opportunity to decide if FirstB is the right church for them. We don’t have to
convince anyone, we let the Holy Spirit do that. But we must give them the
opportunity.
Let’s
take another journey through the farmer’s field and see how we might give
people that opportunity to discover if our Uniqueness is right for them or not
and see how different people might respond. Tell the
parable of the SOWER!
Matthew 13:3-9
Then he told them many things in parables,
saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he
was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate
it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up
quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell
among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on
good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
Matthew 13:18-23
"Listen then to
what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the
kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what
was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who
received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and
at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short
time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls
away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who
hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth
choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on
good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:1-4
That same day Jesus went out of the house
and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got
into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he
told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer
went out to sow his seed.”
A Parable of Fishless Fishers
Once upon a time
there was a group of people who called themselves Fishers. They lived in a
place where streams and lakes abounded and where there were fish in abundance.
Week after week, month after month, year after year, the Fishers held meetings
and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish and how to fish.
Again and again they defined what it meant to be Fishers, defended fishing as
an honorable vocation and declared that fishing was the primary task of
Fishers.
The Fishers
continually sought new and better methods of fishing and for new and better
definitions of fishing “in a new day, in a new way.” They proclaimed “the
fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning,” and were ever
creating slogans such as “Fishing: The Task of Every Fisher” and “Every Fisher
Is An Outpost of the Fishers’ Club.”
The Fishers
sponsored special meetings – rallies – called “Fishing Campaigns,” held
“Fishers’ Months” and held costly national and worldwide congresses to discuss
and promote fishing, to hear about new fishing equipment and “fish calls,” and
to learn what new, more effective fishing bait had been discovered.
The Fishers
appointed committees and hired staff and held more meeting to define and defend
fishing and to decide which new streams should be considered for possible
fishing. But – the staff and committee members did not fish.
Large and
elaborate training units were created for the primary purpose of teaching
Fishers to fish. Courses were offered in the needs of fish, the nature of fish,
the care and feeding of fish and how to approach fish. Many of the teachers had
earned doctoral degrees in fishology. But the teachers still did not fish. They
only taught fishing.
Year after year,
many completed the tedious training and were graduated and given fishing
licenses. Some were sent to distant waters that were full of fish. Their going
inspired others to respond to the call to be Fishers. These, too, were
commissioned and sent out to fish, but, like the Fishers back home, they never
fished. They built power plants to pump water for fish, supplied tractors to
plow waterways and traveled here and there to look at fish hatcheries.
Others who said
they wanted to be a part of the fishing parties but couldn’t go contributed
funds to enable real live Fishers to go and to furnish fishing equipment. Still
others thought their job was to relate to the fish in a “good, kind way” so
that fish would know the difference between “good” and “bad” Fishers. A few
even felt that to let the fish know that some Fishers were nice, kind,
land-loving neighbors was enough.
Then, after one stirring meeting
in which the necessity of fishing was preached, one young person felt a “call,”
and soon after leaving the meeting actually went fishing. The next day the
young Fisher reported catching not one but two outstanding fish. The other
Fishers were overjoyed and began to honor the young Fisher for excellent work.
They scheduled appointments for the successful Fisher to share the experience
of success with others and tell other Fishers’ Clubs how to do it. Soon the new
Fisher, much in demand as a speaker, quit fishing in order to have time to speak
– and to serve on the General Board of Fishers International where his
considerable experience could benefit all.
Mark 1:16-20
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were
fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus
said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18 At once they left their nets and followed
him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his
brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them,
and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed
him. Mark 1:27-28 The
people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He
even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the
whole region of Galilee.
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