SPB Sermons | Sunday 12 July 2026
The Sower, the Seed, and the Soil
In Matthew 13, Jesus sits beside a lake, a crowd gathers, and he tells them a story about a farmer scattering seed. The same seed, the same sower — but four very different soils. And in the difference, the state of every human heart is laid bare.
Off Balance, But Still Faithful
It was good to be back. Rev Andrew opened this morning's sermon with a personal note — waking from a general anaesthetic to find hearing on one side had gone, leaving a disorienting new normal where balance and perception feel different. The disciples, he reflected, know something of that feeling as they stand in the crowd watching Jesus preach at the height of his popularity. He is teaching truth — but in a way that is hard to hear and harder to understand. Why? Because the kingdom of God advances not through clever strategies or popular speech, but through the Word of God and the power of the Spirit. That is both the challenge and the comfort of this parable.
The Same Seed Goes Out
"A farmer went out to sow his seed."
The emphasis of this parable is not on farming technique, strategy, or method. It is on faithfulness. The farmer scatters widely and indiscriminately — and that is the point. The seed is the word of the kingdom. It is the same good news wherever it goes. Our calling is not to manage or control where it lands, or to measure its success by the outcomes we can see. Our calling is to keep scattering it — in Sunday worship, in Sunday school, on a Thursday visit, in a conversation with a neighbour, in a prayer for a friend. When we move in the Spirit we are bringing the seed of life into places that desperately need it.
The seed is consistent: the same good news of God, wherever it falls and however it is received.
The sower is faithful: not measuring by metrics the world uses, but scattering because God has called us to scatter.
Soil One
The Hard Heart
The path — trodden, compacted, impenetrable. They hear but do not listen. Satan has already done his work. The word never lands.
Soil Two
The Shallow Heart
Rocky ground — quick enthusiasm, real joy, but no depth. When difficulty or persecution comes, the plant has no roots. It withers and fades.
Soil Three
The Choked Heart
Thorny ground — the seed takes root and grows, but competing loves crowd in alongside it. The worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth. Jesus plus anything equals nothing.
Soil Four
The Receptive Heart
Good soil — someone who has seen with their eyes, heard with their ears, understood with their heart, and turned. True hearing produces perseverance. True understanding produces fruit.
The Heart of the Sermon
The Harvest Is Certain
Thirty times would be an excellent harvest. Sixty would be extraordinary. One hundred would be astonishing. And Jesus says: that is the harvest that will come. It is not a maybe. It is certain. Our apparent failures have never once threatened the reality of God's work in the world. God is building his church. He is advancing his cause. He is bringing people to salvation in this city.
We cannot control the soil. We cannot manufacture growth. We cannot soften hearts. But God can. So our call is to extraordinary, ordinary faithfulness — not in our own strength, but in the Spirit who goes with us and before us. Keep sowing. Keep praying. Keep trusting. The Lord of the harvest is still at work.
The Question the Parable Asks Us
The parable does not first ask what soil those around us are. It asks what soil we are. If the seed were to fall on us today, how would it be received? Is our heart hardened to the gospel by the wear of the world? Is it shallow — enthusiastic but without roots to endure? Is there something choking out the life of faith — competing loves, anxieties, the deceitfulness of wealth?
Or has the seed taken root and is it growing? And if so — will we keep sowing? Because the confidence of mission has never rested on the reception of the people God sends us to. It rests on the power of the King, the truth of the cross, and the certainty that Christ will build his church.
Listen to the Sermon
The full sermon is available to listen to now. We hope it encourages you to keep scattering the seed faithfully, and to trust the Lord of the harvest with the rest.
Join Us
You Would Be Very Welcome
St Paul's & St Barnabas is an Anglican evangelical parish in the heart of North Belfast, seeking to make Christ known and to love our city in his name. Week after week we open the Word, preach Christ crucified, and scatter seed — trusting the Lord of the harvest to do what only he can do.
Join us in person on Sundays at 208 York Street, Belfast.
Keep Sowing
The fields are plentiful. The workers are few. But the harvest is certain — because it belongs not to us but to the Lord of the harvest, who is still at work in our city, in our streets, and in the hearts of ordinary people around us. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
0 Comments