3.2 Scatter Seeds

Mark 4:26 And Jesus was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;

The man in the parable is a seed sower. He knows that if he wants to see a crop, he must sow seeds. And so it is with us. We’re called to be seed sowers.

Start by building relationships.

It was twelve years ago that I realized I didn’t have anybody outside of the church with whom I could share Christ.

So I began with prayer. “Lord, I don’t have anybody to share Jesus with. I want to share my faith, but I don’t have any friends who don’t know you. Would You guide me?” This actually is not uncommon among pastors. We’re so busy with the business of the church that we don’t make time for relationships outside of church.

Do something you love.

God answered this prayer when I went to enroll my eight-year-old son in the summer baseball league. I love baseball. So I signed up to be a coach. And for twelve years, I’ve coached a baseball team in the summer. In those years I’ve met literally hundreds of people I would have never known otherwise. Over the years we’ve seen several entire families come to faith in Christ through that initial contact.

For you it might not be baseball. It might be golf, or quilting, or reading, or taking a class at school. It doesn’t matter so much what it is you do, as long as you find something you are passionate about and get among others with a similar passion.

Invest in these relationships.

As I get to know people through my passion, I take a genuine interest in them. And I start scattering seeds.

I start with simple seeds – like, “Is there any way I can pray for you?” And if they give me something to pray for, I do it. And then I follow up on the prayer later.

Always include other believers.

I also ask others in my community of faith to pray for me as I scatter these seeds. As we begin to make this a matter of prayer, we’re all encouraged to see the way God answers the prayers.

Prayer Prompts and Discussion Starters:

• Do you have people with whom you can scatter the seed?
• Ask God to show you this week someone with whom you can share seeds of faith.
• Ask God to show your church a people with whom you can share seeds of faith.
• Ask Him to show you needs in the community that you or your church can meet, as a means of opening doors to scatter seed.
• Ask the Lord for a desire to scatter your seeds of faith.Ask the Lord to give you a boldness – and a great joy as you scatter seeds of faith.