• Mark 4:1–12

Main Idea: The church has been entrusted with the task of faithfully sowing gospel seeds and trusting the Lord with the harvest.

The Nature of Sowing the Gospel - Mark 4:13–20

• Most hearers will reject the gospel
  • Mark 4:13–15
  • Romans 2:5
• Some hearers will seem to believe but fail to endure
  • Mark 4:16, 17
  • Matthew 24:9–14
• Some hearers will seem to believe but exchange the gospel for the world
  • Mark 4:18, 19
• A few hearers will believe and be saved
  • Mark 4:20
  • Matthew 7:14
  • John 15:4

The Imperative of Sowing the Gospel

21–25 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

• Matthew 5:14–16

The Mystery of Sowing the Gospel

26–29 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

• 1 Corinthians 3:5–9

The Outcome of Sowing the Gospel

30–34 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

So What?

• How will I engage in the task of sowing gospel seeds as we pray, send, and go together?
  • Luke 10:2, 3