AdAgrA 2020: A Living Parable

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AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

Plenary

Scott Ritsema

Grow Grow Grow: A Living Parable

Philip Samaan

The Seed and the Wayside Soil

Chantee Fisher

Luke Fisher

Restoration Farming

The Seed and the Stony Soil

Gabriel McClover

Vonnella McClover

“Unity” in Living Parables

The Seed and the Good Soil

Natasha Dysinger

Paul Dysinger

Sabbath School

The Seed and the Thorny Soil

Agriculture as Outreach

Loving Father, thank you for being with us all these evenings and now we come to the last 1.

I'm beginning to like these people and feel comfortable with them and now I'm going to miss them.

As we think about nature and gardening and farming, we know in heaven we'll be tilling the soil like Adam.

When Eden lost will be restored in Jesus name.

Well because I don't have much time tonight because we have other things planned I just want to tie loose ends and finish my sermon today.

And I want you to know farming at home, following the example of my parents, was such a good example to help me in my ministry, in my life.

For example, farming taught me integrity, authenticity, honesty.

I'm writing a book, How to Revive Vanishing Values.

Such old-fashioned honesty and courtesy and respect.

Well, the Bible says when you sell a measure of wheat, it must be shaken well and pressed down.

He showed me by example the virtue of integrity.

If you work with wheat, You could fill the container with wheat and it's all the way to the top.

But when you shake it well and press it down, it comes down a few inches.

It fills the spaces between the grains of wheat.

And my dad would never sell wheat unless he presses it hard and he shakes it.

And then the other example from farming, When my dad would sell fruit, be they figs, pomegranates, apples, oranges, he never put the best fruit on the front to attract the customer and then in the middle it wasn't as good quality.

I want people to know what they're buying, what they're paying for.

So he put good food on top, good food in the middle, good food at the bottom.

I learned that from him to apply to my life and ministry.

Then also, In working with thick trees and pomegranates and olives, he used to do a lot of grafting, a very interesting science to graft.

And after a few weeks, we'd go back to check on what happened with our grafting.

And they all be sprouting with new leaves.

Dad, how come all of them are alive except this 1 is dry?

So we take the piece of cloth from around this branch, graft it in the tree, and there'll be a separation between the branch and the tree.

When we are separate from Christ, the true vine, will dry up.

And remember, Philip, this text, when Jesus said, without me you can do nothing, I'm the vine and you're the branches.

Unless you're connected with me, you're going to dry up and die because without me you can do nothing.

We do things in the garden farm together and he will always teach me lessons.

And the question becomes, am I grafted into Jesus?

Is my branch totally dependent on the vine.

That's the lesson I learned from helping my dad with his fruit trees.

Now, even watching my dad do the farming helped me in my preaching, in my calling to preach.

Because my dad told me, you believe that God is calling you to preach the gospel?

I believe that from the time I was a child.

He said, okay, look at this, look at this olive tree, look at this apple tree, look at that.

Whenever I prepare for a sermon, I think about that.

First of all, your ideas have to be rooted in the earth, solid, rooted, roots.

You know some preachers wander here and there and you don't know how to follow them no, you got to have 1 main idea 1 trunk and notice the trunk has branches These are secondary supportive ideas, the branches.

Also don't forget about the, don't forget about the leaves.

Flowers promise we're going to have fruit.

And the flowers represent stories and illustrations to brighten up the sermon, to open some windows for fresh air.

That's why Jesus told many stories and parables.

People tell me, you tell a lot of stories.

Because my dad taught me to tell stories and parables and experiences.

And then, finally, you got to have some fruit in your lectures, in your sermons, fruit.

And the fruit means we have results that people draw closer to God and feel they want to follow Jesus.

And by the way, you know that Satan makes appeals all the time to us.

The world makes appeals for us to follow the ways of Satan.

Isn't that high time for us to make appeals for people to follow Jesus and be saved?

There was a conference, a Seventh-day Adventist conference.

I won't say, I don't want to be specific.

And they invited me to speak at the camp meeting.

Saman, we hear some Rumors that you like to make appeals for Jesus.

But you know, our people don't want appeals.

So can You just preach interesting sermons, but don't make appeals.

Our people do not want appeals to accept Jesus.

I said, well, I'm sorry you feel this way, but you see this is a part of my ministry.

I want the fruit trees to have some fruit.

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Series

Plenary

The Seed and the Good Soil

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

ASI Southern Union 2013 Plenary Sessions

When Men Have Labor Pains

44m

Alpha: Anything But God

1h 37m

The No Limit Christian

25m

Encounters With Jesus

Jesus’ Encounter with the Disciples in the Storm

43m

The Tides of Change Part 1

53m

Plenary

Final Charge

26m

Are You a Wise or a Foolish Virgin?

51m

Surety in the Last Days

1h 11m

Fully Charged

47m

Our Message Has a Name

44m

The Anchor Holds

52m

Plenary

When Missionaries Leave

46m

Sound Doctrine