Gardening Bible Study: The parable of the Wheat & the Weeds: Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43

Matthew 13: 24-30 & 36-43

1.             What does this tell us about Jesus (the sower)?

-                He’s wise/prudent

         Isaiah 11:1-5                                                        

                  -          He’s patient

-                He is aware of the challenges/circumstances we face.

       Hebrews   2:17-18 & 4:14-16                                  

-          He has our best interests in mind

        John 10:10-11  

                                        

-                He expects us to bear fruit.

               Matthew 25:14-30

2.             What does this tell us about the devil (The enemy)?

-                He’s into destruction/harm, not good/gain.

-                He works in the dark

-                He’s patient too

-                He can be frustrated/beaten

1 John 4:4                                       

3.             What does this tell us about the fruits of the devil (the weeds)?

-                They often look a lot like good things

         2 Corinthians 11:13-15            

-                It often takes a while before their badness becomes apparent.

-          They can become intertwined into our lives once we let them get    a foothold.

-                They can be overcome, but only with divine help & patience.

4.             What does this tell us about the wheat  (us, presumably)?

-          It must co-exist, put up with evil

          John 16:33                                                 

It will ultimately be delivered from evil, but only with Jesus’ help

-                It is expected to bear fruit.

         John 15:8                                                    

-                It can only bear fruit if it surrenders to Jesus

         John 12:24                                                 

5.        How do we deal with the Tares?

                                    Psalm 37:1-11                                                    

Gardening at Christmas: prayers for friends in the southern hemisphere

We can’t grow much food for the hungry this time of year (although we still have kale in the ground), but we can help others who are doing that right now—through prayer.

The North Ringwood Uniting Church in Melbourne, Australia, has a garden ministry with the same mission as ours—growing produce for the hungry. Its summer down there now, and they are in the midst of gardening  season. They have asked for prayer about the following:

“For a continued good harvest  (the next few months are busy picking time from our spring planting)

For rain during the hot summer months  (we have a huge tank and irrigation system but on really hot days extra hand watering is needed).

For workers time and energy to attend to the garden during the holiday season and heat of summer.

That our vegetables are well received by our clients at North Ringwood Card and taken home, prepared and eaten.  (Some of our clients and not educated well into the importance of consuming fresh vegetables.)

That our clients feel the love of God through our volunteers at North Ringwood Uniting Church, when they come for their food assistance.

For our intellectually disabled young men who attend the Welcome Garden Centre.   That their work in the garden will be helpful to them and that they will grow to know the nurture and love of God through us."  

Let's lift them up every day!

Pretty much final harvest number for the year: 17,323.3 Lbs.

We have harvested everything that really counts, and came up with 17,323.3 Lbs for the 2012 growing season.  There are odds & ends still in the ground, but they probably won't add up to more than 100 or 200 Lbs., and we won't know for another month.

That brings us to a total of 39,323.3  Lbs. since Kelly Hern stepped out in faith to start the garden.

At the risk of being repetitive, the same thought keeps coming to me:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" Ephesians 3:20-21 

Here are  the charts , for the visually oriented:

VOTE!

GOD IS GOOD: We've Passed Our Goal & Are Still Going Strong!

Our goal this year was to produce 12,000 Lbs. of fresh veggies, and God has given us more than that. As of today we're at 14,142.3 Lbs. We still have a lot of beets, turnips, and mustard greens in the ground; more green tomatoes to harvest; and have just planted kale in hopes of one more crop before the ground freezes (and maybe one that overwinters into next spring!). 

Please join us in thanking God for His incredible generosity.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" Ephesians 3:20-21 

A little off topic, but worth checking out

As you might of noticed, there's an election coming up. Here's an interesting piece on what scripture says about good leaders. It doesn't suggest a particular candidate, just sets out scriptural standards to measure candidates against. Its at:

What scripture says about who to vote for

This past week's harvest...

..totaled 626.12 Lbs.  That brings us to 2,069.7 Lbs. so far this month and 10,874.6 Lbs. so far this year. Here are the details: