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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Jul 12, 2014 11:58 am<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 10A<br>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “A Sower Went out to Sow” or “What
Soil Do You Provide for the Sower?” or “Plastic Bags” and deals with the gospel
(Matthew 13: 1-9, 18- 23).</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Here it is:</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000" size="3">We just heard Jesus tell the story of the farmer who went
out to sow his seed.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">In those days, as
you probably know, seed was planted by broadcasting it- tossing it across the
ground.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Wherever it landed, that’s where
the farmer hoped it would sprout.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Jesus
told of four kinds of soil that received the broadcast seed: a soil on a road;
thin, rocky ground; soil full of weeds, especially thornbushes; and good
ground. It’s easy to see that each type of soil represents a kind of human
heart hearing the Word of God.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">If you’ve
been at </font><font color="#000000" size="3">St. Paul</font><font color="#000000" size="3">’s
for a while, you’ve seen all of these types of reception of the Word.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">You’ve seen people like the soil on a road-
hard and unyielding.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">The seed lands but
doesn’t sink in, so Satan (represented by the birds) snatches it away.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">People like this come once or twice, but
don’t ever seem to “get it.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">You’ve also
seen people like the thin, rocky ground (shallow and warms easily).</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">The seed really seems to take root.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">They come for a while and are very
enthusiastic about the Lord and </font><font color="#000000" size="3">St. Paul</font><font color="#000000" size="3">’s.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Then the hard work of living like a Christian
can’t be avoided, and they fall away.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Maybe a drug or alcohol habit drags them down.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Maybe the message of the Gospel convicts them
of sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Whatever- following Jesus gets
increasingly difficult, so they opt for an easier Gospel.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">You’ve also seen people who start out fine,
but get bogged down (Jesus uses the word “choked”) by the needs of life and
fooled by the desire to get rich.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Finally there are those- the good ground, who nourish the seed (the Word)
and produce amazing results.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">A seven to
ten fold increase would be a nice yield.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Even the </font><font color="#000000" size="3">USA</font><font color="#000000" size="3">
using all the benefits of modern farming methods shows a yield of 15 to 20
fold.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">So a yield of 30, 60, or 100 fold
is miraculous!</font></font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000" size="3">I started by telling about other people, but it’s really not
about them- it’s about us.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">The nice
thing is, we can become the kind of soil we choose.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">We choose the reception we give God as he
comes into our hearts.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Maybe we’re so
heard-hearted that we don’t even consider living His way.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Maybe we are excited about being a Christian
for a while, but when it gets hard- we fall away.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Perhaps worries about our families, money,
cars, friends choke out Jesus’ call to follow Him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">But perhaps- even if we started out weakly,
we change and grow and fertilize our soil until we produce amazing results for
the Lord.</font></font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000" size="3">I’d like to close with a story that represents most of us at
one time or another.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">A family had been
renting for years and finally saved up enough money for a down-payment on a house-
a home of their own.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">After moving in,
they decided to renovate the yard, since it had been neglected for years.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">They planted and watered, so the flowers grew
and the grass became green and lush.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Everything responded to their loving care- everything that is, except
the row of bushes that separated their yard from the neighbor’s property.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">The family gave those bushes lots of
attention, watered and fertilized them regularly, and hoped they would thrive;
but all their work seemed useless. No matter what they did, the bushes remained
spindly and nearly lifeless.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">They
finally lost patience and decided to uproot those pitiful, unresponsive bushes.
When they pulled the first one up, to their amazement- they found it still had
a plastic bag from the nursery wrapped around its roots!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Would you believe- each plant was this
way.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">With great care, they removed the
plastic and replanted each bush.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">In a
few years, the bushes were the most beautiful in the neighborhood.</font></font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000" size="3">What’s the message for us?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Don’t be hardhearted with God.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Don’t let cares or worries or desires or fears or as Paul says in Romans
8 “anything else in all creation” separate you from God like that plastic
separated the plants from the moisture and nutrients in the soil.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">My prayer for all of us is that we stay open
to Jesus and his Word all the days of our lives.</font></font></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated
African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s NEW WEB SITE
under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: </font><a target="_blank" href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</font></u></a><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> .</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Blessed preaching,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Judy Boli</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></div>
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