Mark 4:26-29 – 26And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

I. TIME — THE WAITING PROCESS

James 5:7 – “Therefore, be patient brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.”

Genesis 8:22 – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 – 1“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted.”

• How to Wait: PATIENTLY

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS “FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.”

1. The loss of God as The Moral Center

2. Extremism, Polarization, and the Destruction of the Reasonable Center

3. The replacement of Personal Responsibility with Government Dependence

I. We failed to learn the lesson from the Garden — The Pattern is Established.

• Authority – Dominion: not muscle, power, or a throne — The Right to Decide.

Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, OVER ALL THE EARTH and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

• Accountability – “You shall surely die”

1 Corinthians 14:12 – Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

Habakkuk 2:2 – Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.”

I. THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED — COMPREHENSION

1 Corinthians 14:13 – Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

1) The Message is Released, But Not Received.

1 Corinthians 14:5 – I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may RECEIVE edification.

2) The Message is Spoken, But Not Understood.

1 Corinthians 14:9 – So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.

3) The Message is Claimed, But Not Tested

I. God Measures Gifts by Outcome, Not Expression

• Outcome Is Prioritized

1 Corinthians 14:1 – Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, BUT ESPECIALLY that you may prophesy.

• Outcome Is Contrasted

1 Corinthians 14:2 – For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

1 Corinthians 14:3 – But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

− The Outcome: Edification, Exhortation, and Comfort TO MEN

Romans 8:9-11 – 9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

● Agape Suffers Long — It stays when every natural impulse is screaming to leave.

● Agape Is Kind — It gives good when the flesh is demanding revenge.

● Agape Does Not Envy — It can celebrate someone else without needing to diminish them.

● Agape Does Not Parade Itself — It does not need an audience in order to feel valuable.

● Agape Is Not Puffed Up — It is secure enough to stay low.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

● Agape Suffers Long — It stays when every natural impulse is screaming to leave.

● Agape Is Kind — It gives good when the flesh is demanding revenge.

● Agape Does Not Envy — It can celebrate someone else without needing to diminish them.

● Agape Does Not Parade Itself — It does not need an audience in order to feel valuable.

● Agape Is Not Puffed Up — It is secure enough to stay low.

A MORE EXCELLENT WAY

John 13:34-35 – 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, If You Have Love for One Another.”

I. The Wrong Way – Ranking and Comparison

Romans 12:3-4 – 3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function…

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3 – 31But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you A MORE EXCELLENT WAY. 13:1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but

have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

• The Verdict on Tongues — White Noise: “I Say Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:1 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I HAVE BECOME sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

• The Verdict on Prophecy, Knowledge, and Faith — Identity Loss: “I Am Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:2 – And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I AM NOTHING.

• The Verdict on Self-Sacrifice — I Gain Nothing: “I Profit Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:3 – And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, IT PROFITS ME NOTHING.

II. The More Excellent Way – Love

I. Motherhood Is More than Birth — It’s a Life Rhythm

• Raising Children requires a Daily Rhythm.

Deuteronomy 6:7 – You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

• Raising Children requires a Devoted Parent.

Deuteronomy 6:6 – And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

II. Motherhood Takes More than You – It Takes a Family

• The greatest protégé Paul ever had was discipled at a kitchen table.

1 Corinthians 12:14-22 – 14For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

I. The Autoimmune Mechanism

• A healthy body attacks what’s foreign; an autoimmune body attacks what’s natural.

Galatians 5:15 – But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

• The church's Autoimmune Disease is an “Anti-Body Ideology” — the deeply embedded theology of individualism that has taught us to function as isolated units rather than connected members.

I. He Became Flesh

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

II. He Humbled Himself

Philippians 2:7-8 – 7He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

III. He Suffered Innocently

1 Peter 2:22 – Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.

I. Eternal Life Is Not Merely Believing in Jesus — It Is Knowing Jesus

John 17:3 – And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

II. The Holy Spirit Makes Jesus Personal, Not Merely Historical

1 Peter 1:6-9 – In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,8whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

John 14:16-18 – 16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I WILL COME to you.

The Holy Spirit must not be defended by Scripture; He must be DEFINED by it!

I. Movement 1 – The Holy Spirit Begins the Life of Christ in Us

1. Creation: The Holy Spirit creates a new life through a new birth.

John 3:5-6 – 5Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of

water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born

of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Core Purpose: To initiate divine life where none existed that is capable of

perceiving and participating in the Kingdom of God.

2. Sustaining: The Holy Spirit becomes your inner source.

John 4:14 –

“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water

springing up into everlasting life.”

Core purpose: To provide ongoing internal supply for spiritual vitality.

I. We Are Not the Destination — We Are a Link

Exodus 3:15 – Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of

Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and

the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My

memorial to all generations.’”

• We inherited truth from those before us.

Jude 1:3 – Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common

salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend

earnestly for the faith which was ONCE FOR ALL DELIVERED to the saints.

• We steward it faithfully in our time.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 – 1Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of

the mysteries of God. 2Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found

faithful.

• We must pass it to those after us better than when we found it.

1 Corinthians 11:1 – Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

II. What We Do Today Creates Ripples Beyond Us