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Harvest Time

October 15, 2023

Mark 4:26-29

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

  1. The obvious question: how does the growth of a seed into a plant that is harvested provide us with a picture of the kingdom of God? What is Jesus getting at? Is there any clue in the context of the passage?
  2. What does this parable suggest about growth that can be seen and growth that cannot be seen?
  3. Is there anything to learn here about pain, suffering, death?

Matthew 9:37-38

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

  1. According to this passage, whose responsibility is the harvest? What does this suggest for us today?
  2. Consider what it is like to live in south Orange County. Does it feel to you like the harvest is plentiful? Why or why not? What unique opportunities for evangelism do we have in the area in which we live?

1 Corinthians 3:6-9  

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

  1. Think about your own journey of faith. Who planted the seed? Who watered? How do you see God at work in all your growth?
  2. Do you naturally align more with Paul, the seed planter, or Apollos, the seed waterer? What might be the danger of making too strong a distinction between the two?
  3. Evaluate yourself as a co-worker in God’s service, reaching those who don’t know Him.