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The Four Soils - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And when it is sown, it groweth up,
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  Speaker 1: and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches,
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  Speaker 1: so that the fowls of the air may lodge under
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  Speaker 1: the shadow of it. Mark 4.32 Those who have ears
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  Speaker 1: to hear, hear. These words are the staples in which
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  Speaker 1: I am listening to today's reading. Lord, I thank you
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  Speaker 1: that You've given me the Bible to help lead and
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  Speaker 1: guide me in the way that I should live my life. Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for being the personification of the living Word
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  Speaker 1: here on earth. As I meditate on today's truth found
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  Speaker 1: in Matthew 13 and Mark 4, 1-32, I realize that
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  Speaker 1: your Word is the seed in which all my purpose
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  Speaker 1: and destiny will blossom and come forth. Therefore, my heart
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  Speaker 1: will not be like the soil that allowed your seed
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  Speaker 1: to lay unprotected, so that other people around me can
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  Speaker 1: steal what you have deposited in me. My heart will
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  Speaker 1: not be like the shallow soil that could not allow
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  Speaker 1: the root of your word to take hold, so that
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  Speaker 1: when the trials of life come, it withers under the
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  Speaker 1: heat of pressure. I also declare that I will not
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  Speaker 1: let your word fall on the thorns of life, and
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  Speaker 1: become so focused on my trials that they choke your
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  Speaker 1: promises out of my thoughts and speech. I declare that
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  Speaker 1: my heart and my life is good soil. I declare
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  Speaker 1: that I'm healthy and ready to have your word produce
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  Speaker 1: a crop of abundance, thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with us today. Continue your time
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  Speaker 1: with God by listening to today's Bible story, brought to
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  Speaker 1: you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 3: The Four Soils In our last story, Jesus accepted a
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  Speaker 3: sinful and broken woman who had been scorned.
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  Speaker 2: By the world.
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  Speaker 3: He rebuked the Pharisees for their judgment and Now Jesus
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  Speaker 3: reveals more about the kingdom of God through the story
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  Speaker 3: of the four soils, inspired by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 2: Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's episode, Jesus was
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  Speaker 2: shown extravagant love and honor by a sinful woman who
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  Speaker 2: entered a home and wiped the Lord's feet with her
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  Speaker 2: tears and hair before bathing them in expensive perfumes. Jesus
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  Speaker 2: used this occasion to teach those gathered with him, many
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  Speaker 2: of them religious leaders who felt that they were righteous
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  Speaker 2: and justified by their good deeds, a lesson about forgiveness
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  Speaker 2: and the proper response of those who have received that grace. Today,
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  Speaker 2: we'll hear Jesus teaching about different ways in which God's
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  Speaker 2: Word is received and what happens to the seeds planted
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  Speaker 2: in different kinds of soil. It's one of the most
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  Speaker 2: famous stories Jesus ever gave. So, let's hear it now.
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  Speaker 2: from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 3: The seagulls flew gracefully across the face of the calm ocean.
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  Speaker 3: The gentle breeze rocked the anchored boats slightly as Jesus
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  Speaker 3: sat at the front of a ship. Thousands of people
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  Speaker 3: sat on the shore, listening to his words and wisdom.
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  Speaker 3: They were enraptured by him. Jesus smiled and began to
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  Speaker 3: speak of a farmer and his seed. There once was
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  Speaker 3: a farmer, and he went out to sow his seed
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  Speaker 3: among his land. Some of the seeds fell along the roadside.
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  Speaker 3: They were vulnerable and easily swept up by the birds.
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  Speaker 3: Other seeds fell on rocky soil. They sprung up quick
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  Speaker 3: with water and sun, but they died just as quickly
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  Speaker 3: because their roots could not go deep enough. Some of
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  Speaker 3: the seed fell among thorny soil. Once they grew, the
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  Speaker 3: weeds choked the life out of the plants. Jesus paused
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  Speaker 3: for a moment and looked around the crowd. He stood
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  Speaker 3: to his feet and lifted his finger, saying, But there
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  Speaker 3: were some seeds that fell on good soil. It was soft, pleasant,
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  Speaker 3: and yielded great fruit. Some of the crops increased thirtyfold
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  Speaker 3: and sixtyfold, some even a hundredfold. Whoever has an ear
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  Speaker 3: to truly hear, hear. Then the people left back to
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  Speaker 3: their homes, and Jesus was by the campfire with his disciples.
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  Speaker 3: Silence fell among the disciples as they gazed at the stars.
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  Speaker 3: The flames flew up to the skies. The sound of
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  Speaker 3: popping wood and crashing waves filled the silence. Do you
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  Speaker 3: understand the story I told them today? Jesus asked his disciples.
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  Speaker 3: They looked up at him. If they were being honest,
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  Speaker 3: none of them truly knew what he was saying. Jesus laughed.
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  Speaker 3: How will you understand if you don't ask? He said
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  Speaker 3: in jest. He picked up a stick and poked the fire.
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  Speaker 3: The soil represents the word of God, Jesus said. The
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  Speaker 3: seeds that fell on the road represent those that hear,
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  Speaker 3: but Satan swoops up the truth like the birds. The
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  Speaker 3: rocky soil represents those that receive the word with joy
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  Speaker 3: at first, but when hard times fall, their root is
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  Speaker 3: shallow and they fall away. The disciples began to nod.
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  Speaker 3: They were understanding Jesus as he explained. The thorny soil
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  Speaker 3: represents the cares and worries of the word. Some are
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  Speaker 3: so anxious that they are unable to truly receive truth.
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  Speaker 3: They are choked by the worries and cares of the world.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus grinned from cheek to cheek. Then there's the good soil.
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  Speaker 3: For those that hear the word and accept it, they
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  Speaker 3: do not toil or worry. They simply receive with gladness.
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  Speaker 3: These are those that will bear much fruit for the
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  Speaker 3: kingdom of God.
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  Speaker 2: Our reading today is an illustration of the kinds of
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  Speaker 2: hearts that receive God's truth and how the seeds of
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  Speaker 2: truth grow or wither in each kind of soil. Jesus
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  Speaker 2: is speaking to his followers, a larger crowd at first,
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  Speaker 2: and he's using an agricultural image. This is something his
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  Speaker 2: audience would have understood well. He spoke to the crowd,
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  Speaker 2: telling them of a farmer who went out to spread seed.
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  Speaker 2: Farming was much different in those days— no high-tech farming equipment,
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  Speaker 2: of course— but precise planting of seeds in neat little rows,
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  Speaker 2: this farmer was just walking across his plot of land
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  Speaker 2: scattering seeds. It almost seemed haphazard. I picture a man
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  Speaker 2: with a bag of seeds in one hand, dipping his
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  Speaker 2: other hand into the bag and pulling out a handful
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  Speaker 2: of seed that he tosses here and there, letting them
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  Speaker 2: land where they may. So, as he walks along, the
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  Speaker 2: seed falls on four different kinds of soil. Some doesn't
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  Speaker 2: even make it to the ground. It hits the path
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  Speaker 2: and birds quickly eat it up. Some falls among rocky ground,
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  Speaker 2: and though they sprouted, the seeds lacked nutrients and water,
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  Speaker 2: so the plants withered. A third bunch fell among the thorns.
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  Speaker 2: The soil was good enough for the plants to grow,
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  Speaker 2: but the environment around them was hazardous and toxic, and
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  Speaker 2: the thorns choked out the crops. But some of the
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  Speaker 2: seed fell in a good soil. It grew strong and
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  Speaker 2: healthy and produced a great crop, yielding a hundredfold. That's
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  Speaker 2: the good stuff. Jesus then said to the crowd, whoever
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  Speaker 2: has ears to hear, let him hear. The disciples asked
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  Speaker 2: why he spoke in parables, and he responded that the
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  Speaker 2: secrets of the kingdom of heaven had not been given
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  Speaker 2: to them but to the disciples. In other words, Jesus
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  Speaker 2: was going to give these men special insight into the
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  Speaker 2: things of God, into the kingdom of God, to prepare
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  Speaker 2: them for what is to come. Jesus also said he
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  Speaker 2: spoke in parables to reveal truth to those who would
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  Speaker 2: respond to it and receive it. He said in Matthew 13,
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  Speaker 2: 16 and 17, Blessed are your eyes because they see
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  Speaker 2: and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you,
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  Speaker 2: many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see,
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  Speaker 2: but did not see it, and to hear what you hear,
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  Speaker 2: but did not hear it. The disciples were hungry for understanding,
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  Speaker 2: so Jesus explained this parable to them. The seeds represented
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  Speaker 2: the word of God, and the soil represented human hearts.
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  Speaker 2: Some hear God's word, but the enemy comes and snatches
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  Speaker 2: away the word. It never takes root in the heart,
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  Speaker 2: so it never grows. The rocky ground represents the hearts
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  Speaker 2: that accept the word quickly, but without any depth. The
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  Speaker 2: root of truth doesn't establish itself, And so when troubles arise,
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  Speaker 2: those people fall away from the word. Still others, represented
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  Speaker 2: by the thorny ground, receive the word and it sprouts
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  Speaker 2: in their heart, but worldly worries choke them out and
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  Speaker 2: they never produce any fruit. The good soil represents the
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  Speaker 2: heart that receives the word and bears much fruit. This
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  Speaker 2: is the heart of the believer who understands God's word.
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  Speaker 2: The truth of the gospel grows in their heart and
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  Speaker 2: they yield fruit for the kingdom. because they believe what
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  Speaker 2: God has said. That's an important word for us here.
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  Speaker 2: As believers today, we are to be sowers of seeds.
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  Speaker 2: We are to give the gospel to the world and
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  Speaker 2: spread it to the hearts of men. The yield does
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  Speaker 2: not depend on us, and we are not to pick
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  Speaker 2: and choose where we sow the seed. We are to
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  Speaker 2: share all the gospel with all men until the whole
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  Speaker 2: world hears. Some will receive the truth and yield fruit.
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  Speaker 2: but others, for various reasons, will either never receive the
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  Speaker 2: word or will never bear fruit. Nevertheless, it is the
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  Speaker 2: calling of every one of us who name the name
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  Speaker 2: of Christ, who are followers of Jesus, to be witnesses
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  Speaker 2: of the gospel, to sow the seeds of truth, and
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  Speaker 2: to trust God for the harvest. God, we thank you
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  Speaker 2: that your word is always effective, that it always accomplishes
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  Speaker 2: your purposes. May we boldly proclaim your truth. Thank you
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  Speaker 2: that we have been called to participate in the ministry
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  Speaker 2: of the gospel by sowing seeds among men and women,
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  Speaker 2: that as many as will receive Christ can be saved
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  Speaker 2: by your grace and your love because of your cross
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  Speaker 2: and resurrection. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download
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  Speaker 2: the Pray.com app and make Bible study and prayer the
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  Speaker 2: priority of your life. And if you appreciate this podcast,
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  Speaker 2: please share it with someone else. I also want to
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  Speaker 2: encourage you to go to jackgraham.org. That's jackgraham.org for we
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  Speaker 2: have resources that are free and available for you so
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  Speaker 2: that you may know Christ and grow in Him. You
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  Speaker 2: can go to prestonwood.org for information. God bless you.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
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  Speaker 1: for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.