It's More Than a Sound. It's a Seed. | Pastor Earl McClellan

Sound is a SEED that wants to take root in your heart and reap a harvest… so what are you listening to? “Whoever has your ear has your FUTURE.” This word will reshape and reframe how you take in media, voices, music and messages. Share with a friend and find more messages like this on our YouTube channel!

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Transcript

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1 Samuel chapter 1, if you have your Bibles, 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse number, I'll pick one. I think it's 6. See if I can find this. 1 Samuel chapter 1. Verse number, I think it might be 6, yes. 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse number 6. It reads, if you didn't bring your Bible, we're going to put the verses on the screen so you can follow along with us. 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse number 6. Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, those of you who are with us last week, you'll remember we were looking at this passage of scripture last week as well. Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This is what some of your baby siblings used to do to you growing up, right? Just irritate you, provoke you. But this is even worse. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. The amount of irritation, uh, animosity, aggravation, irritation that Hannah is experiencing. It's real. I like that piece in the scripture that says, as Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, she's trying to go up to the house of the Lord, and then you have her rival trying to tear her down. And this is what happens whenever you are trying to move forward in any area of your life. You can expect some type of opposition to be coming your way. Can I get an amen on that one? Uh sometimes it comes from our family, it does. And sometimes it comes from a coworker, and sometimes it comes from some troll on Instagram, but it can come from a bunch of different locations. You're trying to move forward, you're trying to go up, and somebody else or something else is trying to pull you down. But what jumped off the page at me, and this is where I really feel God was wanting us to focus today, is Hannah, as she's experiencing all of this psychological warfare, this abuse, this verbal abuse, this trauma that she's walking through, um, I could not get away from the idea that it was words that were being used to attack and hurt Hannah. It was words. So here's the phrase that dropped into my heart that I want us to process through and work through today. What you and I hear is not just a sound, it's a seed. And every seed wants a harvest. What you hear is not just a sound, it's a seed. And every seed wants a harvest. I'm hoping I can make sense of all of this. Um can we go um, we'll go science-y for a second, okay? Bill and I the science guy. Anybody like him? Uh we'll go science for just a second. Uh, an actual physical seed, it is designed to reproduce and multiply. That's the purpose of it. A seed is not designed just to stay a seed. Preservation is not the goal, is not the purpose of a seed. The purpose and the goal of a seed is to reproduce and multiply. It actually is supposed to die. And as the seed dies, it brings other things to life. It grows larger by actually dying. Go with me to uh John chapter 12, real fast. John chapter 12. Jesus talks about this. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John chapter 12. Look at this in verse number 23. John chapter 12, verse 23. Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Now, Jesus here is talking about himself. He's saying, I am this seed that is going to die, and I'm going to bring about many seeds. I'm going to reproduce life. Now, when Jesus is talking about this, he's talking about the type of death he's going to die on the cross, he's going to go into the grave, he's going to reconcile all of humanity back to God. That is what Jesus is talking about here. And then he's going to produce other seeds. So you and I are not designed just to sit and do nothing like big bumps on a log. We are designed to actually reproduce and multiply as well, to actually make more followers of Jesus. So that's why we like to say you're not called to be the church of the church, you're called to be the church in the world. You gotta be Jesus and walk like Jesus, talk like Jesus outside of the confines of the four walls of the church. That's the spiritual significance of this. But the very practical piece is Jesus is saying, and everybody understood in his day, like we understand today. If you have a seed, in order for that seed to become something else, the seed goes into the ground or wherever dies, and then it reproduces and becomes many more things. This is the agenda of a seed. It is the purpose of a seed, it is the will of the seed, it is the drive of the seed. The seed is not trying to stay where it is, it is trying to multiply, reproduce, and grow even larger. Let me um stay on the science thing for just a second longer. Y'all still with me? Flowers. Okay. I gave something to my wife the other day, uh, and I like to send her flowers from Michael B. Jordan uh periodically. I say, hey, you know, girl, you look good, you're so beautiful, and and then I sign it, you know, MBJ. And uh she laughs and she knows that's me. Um and that's why I work out so hard because I'm trying to look like Michael B. Jordan. It's not working. Um but but you you you get flowers, and when you see a flower and it's beautiful, I want you to understand it's beautiful not just to be beautiful. It actually has an agenda. The flower is trying to invite other carriers to it. Come here, hang out with me for a second. I've got something I want to give you. And the flower is trying to put its seed in on different birds, insects to get this seed to reproduce other places. So look at TV, marketing, text, billboards, reels, all of this, they're flowers. Hey, come here, hang out here. Flowers have certain fragrance, have a certain nectar, have a certain flow. Come here. Eat, hang out here, and after being here, take what I give you and go reproduce that out into the world. This is what seeds are designed to do. And I'm letting us know that what you and I are hearing are not just sounds, they're seeds, and many of us have no idea the things that we are letting into our ears that are seeping into our heart, that are beginning to produce a harvest that we don't even want because we see it just a sound, but it's not sound, it's actually seed, and it's trying to take over your life. Sat with a couple, I didn't ask if I can get permission for this. I'm not saying their names, but wonderful couple, strong couple. If you the couple walked into the room, you'd go, Wow, look at that couple. I mean, beautiful, strong, I mean, fantastic couple. And uh, and they're really honoring God in their relationship. It's beautiful to see the choices that they are making. They're like, hey, uh, you know, we've been in that the how the world has done things. We're not doing, we're not gonna sleep together, we're gonna honor God. I mean, they're going down the line. I'm like, what, what, what? Because there's a couple you look at and you would go, man, they're crazy. In that they just would live life how everybody else would live life, in that um, you you just you would not think that they're going to take a step to live for righteousness and godliness because no one would put them in that box. But I see them, I'm I was inspired, I'm so blown away. And then they said to me, and we're gonna stop listening to rap music. I was like, What? Y'all getting quiet. And uh, we're gonna stop, we're gonna stop listening to rap music. Like, but Drake's coming out with that new album, so we're trying to figure out what we're gonna do with that one. But we decided we're gonna stop. We don't want this in our ears. I uh honestly, I'm I was a little bit dumbfounded. This couple understands something that a lot of us don't understand. That the words that they're letting into their lives, it's not just sound. It's heat. Is this a commentary to tell you you can't listen to any worship any music other than worship music? No, I I don't want to put that standard on you. But I would like us to begin to assess a little bit more. What am I letting in into my ears? Why is it that I have virtually no standards for what I let into my ears? Why is it that whatever somebody says or whatever they want to write, I take those words, I digest them as if they have no impact at all. I want to elevate our understanding to say, don't look at it just as sound. It's seed, and every single seed wants to grow. It wants a harvest. If um you go to a restaurant, okay? You go to a restaurant, you sit down at the table. I almost had a table here, but I didn't want to. I got a lot of notes to get through, so I don't wanna slow down uh too much. If you're you're sitting there at the table and and somebody comes in, the waiter comes in and gives you something that you did not order. You asked for chicken and they brought you fish. Some of us go, I'll just eat it. It's fine, it's fine, I'll just eat it. And some of you are like, no, I ain't doing that. I came here, I'm paying my money. You better take that back, you better give me what I asked for. No, you don't have to be mean about it. Hopefully, you're respectful and kind, especially if you're wearing some Shoreline City merch, okay? You better be respectful kind. And you better tip, okay? And don't do any 5% either. Don't do that, okay? 20%'s the minimum. Okay. If you're gonna put on their come to church, you better not put on there some 5% tip, okay? That's another talk for another time. You're sitting there, you're sitting there, they bring you something you don't want. Some of us just eat it, and I'm saying this is the way. Some of us are living our lives. Things are being brought to our table, and we are just eating it, and we think it's fine, it doesn't impact me. And I'm saying it's not just sound, it's seed, and every seed wants a harvest. Uh okay, remember a couple weeks ago, we were looking at uh the the idols, the the patterns, like God would knock something down and we would pick it back up. Something would be knocked down and then we would pick it back up back up. That our patterns kept putting back in place the things that God was knocking over. Uh so uh as we as we look at the things that God knocks down and then we put back up, I I used, I share like a metaphor of a married couple who uh you know they get something gets knocked down and their marriage is not beginning to flourish, but the the patterns of their words begin to tear each other down, so they put that thing back in place. So instead of using a married couple example, I want to use a single person example, okay? All right. So this single person example is a picture with me for a second, a single woman, okay, she's single, and it's Friday night, and she's home alone. Okay? She's home alone, and she starts thinking about I wish I was not home alone. Then she starts thinking about a boyfriend from a couple of years earlier, that if she had done some things differently, or he had done some things differently, that maybe on this particular Friday night, she would not be alone. And she'd have somebody to talk with, connect with, watch a movie with, hold hands with, and she's sitting there, and she's just sad. Man, okay, sorry, y'all. Wow. Y'all are feeling it. This is this is of course, I could use a guy as well, okay? There's plenty of plenty of guys too like living in this, you know, this tension here. So she's she's sitting there and she's already sad and she goes, I want to play some music. Now, she can put on some Shoreline City worship, elevation worship, she can do that, but she goes, No, I'm going to Dell. She's going to Dell. She puts on this song. I'm not singing it, I'm just gonna read it. I heard, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna do that to Adele. I heard that you settled down, that you found a girl, and you're married now. I heard that your dreams came true. Yes, she gave you things I didn't give to you. She goes on to sing, I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited, but I couldn't stay away. I couldn't fight it. I had hoped that you'd see my you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over. Never mind. I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too. Don't forget me, I beg. I remember you said sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead. I got sad reading this. I was I was working on my sermon, and this came to me, and I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know if I could do this. I started getting emotional. So imagine it's the Friday night. You put this on. This is now what gets into your ear. It's not just sound, it's seed. And every seed wants to harvest. So now this is what you're listening to. And all of a sudden you text your girlfriends, um, I won't be at church on Sunday. I'm just I'm just going through a lot. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna be at Connect group. I won't be a connect group this week. Uh I just I'm not I'm not really feeling connected to anybody. I don't think I'm gonna serve anymore. I think I'm gonna step away. I I know I've been serving for a minute, but I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna stop serving. I just need me some more, I need some more me time. So I maybe have to start serving every other month. And these decisions begin to be made that to you it sounds like this makes sense, but actually what's growing is a seed that you allowed into your heart, and now you're operating out of that seed that was put in your heart, and you're thinking everybody else is the problem. They're not the problem, and I'll say you're not the problem. I'll say the problem is the seed that you let you continue to allow to get into your ears day after day after day, that is actually working against the prayers that you're praying. You're praying for one thing, but you are sowing into your life something totally different. I'm praying for a man of God, but what I'm listening to is Sabrina Carpenter. God bless her. I don't know her, I don't know her. God bless her, okay? Maybe she got saved yesterday, I don't know. Maybe she didn't. I'm praying for you, Sabrina. I don't know, but I do know that we keep on listening to this stuff and singing and dancing and yeah, and then we just think it's worth, and it just sounds it's not. There's something being deposited into you, and this might be some of the reasons some of us aren't moving forward that we want to move forward. Go with me to Mark. Go with me to Mark. Is this too much? Because I wasn't sure. I actually wasn't sure about this message, but uh I'm gonna keep on going because we're in it now. I can't change it now. Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, look at this. Oh man, this parable. I wish I had the time to go through the whole thing. I could do we could do a six-month series just on this parable. Mark chapter 4, verse number 13. Then Jesus said to them, Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? If you don't get this one, you're not gonna get any of them. Verse 14. The farmer sows the word. Some people, everybody say some people, some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seeds sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. This is some of us in our church. You receive with joy. I'm gonna clap. Joy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that's good. That's good. Preach. Oh, that's good. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And receive it with joy, verse 17. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, verse 18. Like seed sown among thorns, hear the word. But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown. Okay, skip with me to verse number twenty-four. Consider carefully what you hear. But the measure you use what you hear, it will be measured to you. And even more. Okay. Family meeting. So in the word, so in the word, so in the word. Everybody's hearing the same word, hearing the same word, hearing the same word, they're hearing the same word, they're hearing the same word. The word comes, and for some people, for some people, it is received with joy. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to work on and deal with so that you and I can stand even when trouble and persecution come. We will not be followers of Jesus that fall away because God doesn't answer our prayer the way we want Him to answer our prayer in the timeline we want Him to answer our prayer. That will not be our testimony. That will not be our legacy. You will not be a follower of Jesus for a good 18 months and then go, I'm all done with this. No, that is not going to be your legacy. You're going to change the course of your entire family and push the vision to make it on earth as it is in heaven by God's will and God's purpose for the rest of your life. That is who you are. I do not want you rootless. I do not want you falling away quickly. We have prayed too much for you, and too many other people have prayed too much for you. As a matter of fact, Jesus died a brutal death and rose again on a glorious Sunday morning because he loves you so much. And it is not for you just to play games in your walk with Jesus Christ, to hear it with joy, and then to fall away quickly. Others of us, the problem is not the trouble and temptation and the persecution that comes for others of us, and this is a lot of us. It is Jesus listed it as the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things. Are there any of those categories? Do you fit any of them? I know I do. I wish I didn't. I wish I could tell you, oh no, I have no worries in this life. I do. And there have been times I have let the worries of this life choke the word of God in my life. And I want it's easier to blame Onika or my kids or the church or somebody else for me not stewarding my heart correctly and for me to look at everybody else instead of looking at me and saying, you know what, Earl, you have elevated your worries above your worship. You have elevated the struggle that you are in above your Savior and Earl. You better knock down that idol in the name of Jesus Christ so that you can see clearly, because right now you're producing a harvest. That is, uh let me dig into this a little bit more. I'll say there's there's four different places, four different sources of seed in our life. Four different ones. And these are the four, they all start with S to help us. To help me. Society. Satan. Savior. You're the four sources. You're gonna get seed from one of these four sources. Maybe there's others, but for right now, here's what we're gonna look at. Society. Culture is trying to give you seed. Over and over and over and over and over. Think this about God. Think this about church. Think this about working hard. Think this about men. Think this about women. Think this about black people. Think this about white people. Think this about Latinos. Think this this about people from this country. Think about this. Think think this about people from that country. I want think think this about people who are tall. Think this about people who are short. They're trying to tell you this is what you think, this is what you think, this is what you think, this is what you think, this is what you think. And here we are. Give me more, give me more, give me more, give me more. Never taking this word of God and saying, Lord, this is the final word in my life. Society does not have the final word in my life. What my Savior says has the final word in my life. The scriptures have the final word in my life. You know where I saw this played out big time? COVID. Okay? Let me see if I can make our church smaller real quick. Okay, real quick. Give me a second. Give me a second. Okay? Because during COVID, I discovered I thought I was people's pastor. Then I found out I wasn't. I found out CNN was their pastor. I found out Fox News was their pastor. I found out MSNBC was their pastor. I thought, yeah, don't get too quiet on me here. I found out that people were coming to me with all the sounds that they were hearing from all these different pundits, telling me and telling the church what the church was supposed to be in this time of difficulty. And I didn't hear a lot of people coming to me with this word right here. I'm telling you right now, here at Shoreline City, and I said it a thousand times, we are lifting up the name of Jesus above all, the words of Jesus above all, and then we're not going to allow the narrative of culture to tell us the truth that is in God's word. God's word is the final word. Now, some of y'all are trying to figure out okay, can I trust him? Because how did he vote? Because he's black, but he's a Christian. Dang, I don't know. He got me. I ain't telling you. And number one, it doesn't matter. How I vote is not the most important thing about me. Am I on my knees? Am I listening to God? Am I trying to live my life to please people or to please Jesus? Are we preaching the incorruptible word of God? Or are we trying to do something else to try to get a like or a click? I am telling you right now, we are about Jesus and Jesus Christ, and I want you to vote. You better get out there and do that, yes indeed. But we are not Republican and we are not Democrat. We are Jesus. We are kingdom. We are lifting up the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And when Republican and Democrat and Independent fall by the wayside, Jesus will still be high and lift it up, and that too we will be exalting all the way to the day that we die. We don't have another agenda. Jesus is our agenda. The gospel is our agenda. His word is our agenda. God's coming to new life in Christ is our agenda. Well, who are you listening to? It's all seed. Go with me to uh Genesis. Go with me to Genesis. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Genesis. Oh, let's pick a chapter. Let's go three. Let's go chapter three. Look at Genesis chapter three. Do I have verse number two on there or only verse number four? And I got keys behind me. This is like the showtime at the Apollo telling me my time is up. Genesis chapter three. What verse do I have? Four. Okay. Oh, okay. The serpent is talking to the woman. You will not certainly die. The serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. I had a friend of mine say it like this, and I loved it. He said, Whoever has your ear has your future. I like that. That's a bar. Whoever has your ear has your future. And here they are in the garden. They should have kicked that serpent out of the garden. They should have not been entertaining a conversation with that serpent. But because they're entertaining a conversation with that serpent, they heard something that ended up impacting all of humanity. Sin entered into the world, and you and I are living now in the results of that brokenness. Thank God for Jesus who came in to reconcile us back to Himself. And there will be a day that every tear will be wiped away and every wrong will be made right. But right now we are living in the struggle and in the bondage and in the brokenness of sin. But Jesus is still high and lifted up. But it all came because they were willing to listen to something that was not just sound, it was seed. And now there's a harvest as a result. So if you got society, you got Satan. We're not going to turn to this verse right now, but look at Ephesians chapter 2 later this week. Ephesians chapter 2. I think it's 1 and 2. Verse 1 talks about how we transgression sins. It might be verse 3 and 4. You look at this, it talks about how the there's a prince in the power of the air. There is, there is something. There's a spirit of this age, rather. There's a spirit of this age. And the spirit of this age has been tainted with the voice and the way of the enemy of our soul, Satan. So everything, not everything, but so many things in our world that we're just willing to digest have in them the smear and the brokenness of the serpent that's trying to deceive, trying to steal, kill, and destroy. I'm not a fatalist, I'm not an escapist. I don't think Christians need to run away and go hide and just live in some Christian bubble. We can't do that. We're called to be light in the world. Okay? So don't take this and just hide out someplace. How will the world know if you and I aren't willing to enter into it and share the message of Jesus? With that being said, why do you and I keep letting so many things sit at our table that should not be sitting at our table? Why are we taking what the enemy brings and says, Oh, you're gonna eat this? And we go, Okay. If you had a dinner party at your house, and someone came to your house and they started messing with your house, would you just let them stay in your house and just do whatever they want to do? No, you would say, You gotta leave. This is my house. And I'm saying, you have a house. Why are you and I just letting so many things in and not fighting at all? Not contending. Or if we do, we get a little bit tired and we go, uh, I'm done with that fight. Sure. Move in. I was um wrestling with this message and even thinking about myself, because self is another source of these seeds that we talk to ourselves, right? Not in like a weird, I'm crazy kind of way, but just in like a you know, life kind of way. And I tell myself so many things that are not true. I tell myself things like Earl, you're alone. You better you better do this on your own, because if you don't, it ain't gonna happen. That's a lie. I know I'm not. I got my sexy piece of dark chocolate right next to me, my beautiful wife. Got some kids. Uh I know love God. I got all these beautiful people in this church family. I so many friends. That's I that's the truth. But my self tells me this lie. Many times I'll sit there and just eat it. Just eat it. Just eat it. Sure. And then I'm wondering why am I thinking and acting the way I'm thinking and acting? You got your own lies that you hear that you deal with, that you're navigating. You'll be alone forever. Nobody loves you, nobody likes you. You're gonna be stuck here. You'll be just like your father, you'll be just like your mother. Oh, this is gonna end terribly, just like the last thing ended terribly. You can't start that, you can't run that company. Oh no, not you. You can't live there, you can't. There's all these lies that we are telling ourselves. There's some meals we need to send back. Oh, nope, nope, nope. I asked for well done for that steak. Take it back. Just kidding. Don't do that to your steaks. It's not right, okay? Don't do it. Send it back. Send it back. Send it back. No, I'm not I'm not eating that. Send it back. I'm not eating. It they'll keep bringing the same order over and over. No, nope, send it back. It's not right, send it back, it's not right, send it back, it's not right, send it back, it's not it's not in alignment with God's word. Send it back, it's not right, send it back, it's not right. And sometimes it's through tears and through us being on our knees and deep worship that we get to the place we go, God, I just need you to carry me. Because I know I can't carry myself, and it'll be kind and gracious to sustain you. Later on this week, I want you to read Ezekiel chapter 37. It's the valley of dry bones. And he says, Dry bones. Hear the word of the Lord, and that's what I want for every one of us. Hearing the word of the Lord. Bow your head if you wouldn't mind at every location, at every service, every person. I ask you to bow your heads just so you can focus for just a second. If you're under the sound of my voice and you have never given your heart in your life to Christ, you've never made him first, you've never made him number one. But today you're saying, I don't want to go my own way, I want to go the way of Jesus. I don't want to be first in my life, I want Jesus Christ to be first. Whether you're online or in this room or balcony, floor, old, young, married, single, all that's irrelevant. I want to know have you given your heart and your life to Jesus? Have you made him number one? If you haven't, this is the moment to do it. On the count of three, I just want you to throw your hand in the air and say, Yes, that's me. If you want to give your heart to Christ for the first time, or you want to rededicate your life to serving Jesus. Ready? One, two, three. Just lift your hand up. You're saying, Yeah, that's me. This is beautiful. We got friends all over. They're lifting their hands right now. They're saying, Yeah, that's me. I don't want to go my own way. I want to go the way of Jesus. This is my moment of salvation. This is my moment of turning. This is my moment of not going my own way, but going his way. Who else wants to get in on this prayer? You're saying, Yeah, that's me. I want to give my heart and my life to Jesus. I'm gonna ask everyone to do me a favor, put your hand over your heart if you would not mind. And I want everyone to repeat this prayer out loud after me. Say, dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I admit I've made mistakes. And today, I give you my heart, I give you my life. Give me the power to live for you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Can we lift our heads up? Clap our hands. Come on, church family. Celebrate this moment. Man, come on, clap your hands. I I love this moment right here. This is somebody going from lost to found. Man, thank you, God.