The Condition of the Heart

The sermon explored Mark 4:1-20, the Parable of the Sower, in which Jesus uses a farming illustration to reveal how the condition of our hearts determines how we respond to the gospel. Walking through each of the four soils, the sermon examined the hard heart that never lets the word take hold, the shallow heart that receives the word with initial joy but has no roots to endure hardship, the crowded heart that is choked out by the distractions and competing desires of the world, and the fruitful heart that hears the word, takes deep root in it, and produces genuine, lasting fruit. The sermon also addressed the perseverance of the saints, reminding us that those who are truly saved are kept not by their own faithfulness, but by the faithfulness of God himself.