Scripture Reading:   Mark 4:26   “This is what the reign of God is like. A man scatters seed on land.”

I think it’s natural and right for us to think, “Jesus was that man who went out to sow.” We affirm that the seed that Jesus scattered has to grow in us. It should grow in our hearts until we have the feelings of Jesus, and even reach our feet so that we walk “in the way of Jesus.”

Today, though, I would like to suggest another thought. When we plant a garden, do we sow only one seed? Not likely. You can’t plant one stalk of corn, or one bamboo shoot, or even one blade of grass. What plant would offer shade to the other? Or, how would a single plant stand up against fierce rain?    It’s when plants stand together that they help one another to profit from their environment and to overcome threatening forces.  So it is with us.

Jesus scattered the seed of the word of God, and it should grow in us so that all of us together may grow to our full measure and bring glory to God’ s name.

In Christ,
Pastor Ana

Scripture Reading:   Mark 4:28   “The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the ear, and finally the ear full of corn.”

Dear friends,

Once when I had dinner with my daughter, she fondly remembered our “table talks” at home, during her childhood. When our children were young, my husband and I were focused on trying to plant seeds in them. After our evening meal, we taught them the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, a night-time prayer, and things like that. Yes, my daughter remembered learning “that stuff”, but what she remembered most was that that everyone participated and we prayed. I wish now that we had had better resources and ideas for making children more aware of the presence of God around them and in their lives. But we didn’t, so we used the models we had.

In his parable about the farmer and the seed, Jesus points out that God is graciously and actively present in the lives of our children. They, like we, are the soil of God. We don’t need to drive the seeds into them. Our job is merely to sow. When our kids receive the seeds of Jesus in themselves, God’s creative power will open their potentialities. When they listen to the word and example of Jesus, they will know who they are, and bear the fruit of God’s kingdom in their own way.

God’s strength and joy be yours,
Pastor Ana

Dear friends,

“He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.” Mark 4: 26-27

Aren’t you sometimes amazed at what we can do in the service of God? As I look at some of the ministries that people around me carry out –with the Spirit’s help- I’m filled with awe and gratitude for their gifts and devotion. Likewise, it saddens me to see how some people can talk themselves out of their God-given call. They get cold feet when they look at the challenges, or they focus too much on their shortcomings.

I’m very aware of my shortcomings. I can run up quite a list of them if I wanted to. But, why should I do that instead of focusing on God’s sufficiency for my needs and the needs of the people I’m called to serve? God didn’t put us here to wallow in our shortcomings and not use our gifts.

In next Sunday’s Gospel lesson, Jesus encourages us to sow the seeds of God’ s kingdom with total confidence in God’s good purposes. To sow the seeds of God’s love in Jesus, that’s our job. The world doesn’t depend on us for our salvation. We have a wonderful Savior who chooses to use us.

God’s strength and joy be yours,
Pastor Ana

Dear friends,

Yesterday, as I passed a bush near the bank, I caught myself picking off a tip of one of the branches. I don’t know why I did that so automatically. When I looked at the twig in my hand, I really felt bad because I know I shouldn’t have done that. Haven’t we all learned by now, from Native Americans and others, that we should respect plants and have compassion for all forms of life around us?

The environmental movement has done a lot to raise our awareness, but its concerns aren’t new. There are many old rules in the Bible that asked for compassion for work animals. Even the earth was to be respected and not overworked. The land was supposed to lie fallow in the seventh year in order to be replenished. People were supposed to respect their workers and slaves, and they weren’t supposed to overwork themselves either. These biblical suggestions give a new meaning to the words of Jesus, “be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.” We need them to survive in a world where we are depleting the soil and causing massive erosion. The compassion Jesus calls for should be extended to any piece of land we might own, and the plots of “public” land that support bushes like the one I plucked from so
automatically.

God’s strength and joy be yours,
Pastor Ana