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

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 Come on everybody if you're ready for God to grow you challenge you push you forward today Let's put our hands together and thank God for what he's gonna do today. Y'all ready, man I know I am 1st Samuel chapter 1 if you have your Bibles 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse number I'll pick one. I think it's 6 See if I can find this 1st Samuel chapter 1 Verse number I think it might be 6 yes 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse number 6 it reads If you bring your Bible gonna put the verses on the screen so you can follow along With us 1st 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 passive scripture last week as well Now 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 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? Sometimes it comes from our family It does and sometimes it comes from a co-worker 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 I could not get away from The idea that it was words that were being used to attack and hurt Hannah those words So here's the 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 Can we go? We'll go sciencey for a second. Okay, Bill Nye the science guy and we like him We'll go science for just a second For just a second 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 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 gonna reproduce life. Now when Jesus is talking about this, he's talking about the type of death. He's gonna die on the cross. He's gonna 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 gonna 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 in the church. You're called to be the church in the world. You've got to 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 stay on the science thing for just a second longer. Y'all still with me? Flowers. Okay. I gave some to my wife the other day, and I like to send her flowers from Michael B. Jordan periodically. I say, hey, you know, girl, you look good. You're so beautiful. And then I sign it, you know, MBJ. And she laughs, and she knows that's me. And that's why I work out so hard because I'm trying to look like Michael B. Jordan. It's not working. But 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 as 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 the couple walked into the room, you'd go, wow, look at that couple. I mean, beautiful, strong, I mean, fantastic couple. And they're really honoring God in their relationship.

It's beautiful to see the choices that they are making. They're like, hey, you know, we've been in that, how the world has done things. 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 would 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 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 that 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 I said, 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. Honestly, 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 seed. Is this a commentary to tell you you can't listen to any music other than worship music? No, 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 to my ears? Why is it 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 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 want to slow down too much. But if you're sitting there at the table, 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 just be mean about it. Hopefully you're respectful and kind, especially if you're wearing some Shoreline City merch, okay, you better be respectful, and you better tip, okay? And don't do any 5% either, don't do that, okay? 20% is the minimum. If you're gonna put on there, 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. Okay, remember a couple weeks ago, we were looking at the idols, 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, that our patterns kept putting back in place the things that God was knocking over. So as we look at the things that God knocks down, and then we put back up, I share like a metaphor

of a married couple who, you know, something gets knocked down, and their marriage is not beginning to flourish, but 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 wanna 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 Hey, 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 may be 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 plenty of guys to 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 could do that but she goes now I'm going to Dell I She's going to Dell She puts on this song I'm not singing 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 Guess 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 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 a harvest So now this is what you're listening to and all of a sudden you text your girlfriends. 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 a connect group. I won't be a connect group this week. 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 know I've been serving for a minute, but I'm gonna stop I'm gonna stop serving I'd see me some more. I need some more me time. So I may be able 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 go Linda 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 did 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 words and it's 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 i'm gonna keep on going because we in it now i can't change it now mark chapter four mark chapter four 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 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 seeds sown on good soil hear the word accept it and produce a crop some 30 some 60 some 100 times what was sown skip with me to verse number 24 consider carefully what you hear with the measure you use what you hear it will be measured to you and even more okay family meeting so on the word so on the word so on the word everybody's hearing the same word hearing the same word hearing the same word they're hearing the same word hearing the same word the word comes and for some people for some people it is received with joy but trouble and persecution come and they quickly fall away like this it was not a problem with the word something here the soil of our hearts that 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 comes 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 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 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, let me dig into this a little bit more. I'll say 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, self, Savior. Here are the four sources of seed.

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. Yeah, yeah. 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 about people from this country. Think about this, think this about people from that country. More, 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. This is who 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've said it a thousand times, we are lifting up the name of Jesus above all, the words of Jesus above all, and 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? 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 the Lord, 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's who 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 seeds Go go with go with me 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 Oh, do I have verse number two on there only verse number four And I got keys behind me. This is like showtime at the apollo telling me my time is up Genesis chapter three Um, 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 oh 1 and 2 verse 1 talks about how we turn aggression and sins and maybe 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. 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 souls satan So everything it's not everything but so many things in our world that we're just willing to digest Have in them The 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 i'm done with that fight Sure moving I I was um wrestling with this 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 do this on your own, because if you don't, it ain't going to happen. It'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. I know, love God, I got all these beautiful people in this church family. I have so many friends. That's the truth. But my self tells me this lie. Many times I'll sit there, 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 going to be stuck here. You'll be just like your father. You'll be just like your mother. Oh, this is going to 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. Nope, nope, nope. I ask 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 eating that. Send it back. I'm not eating. They'll keep bringing the same order over and over.

Nope, 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 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 I'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 heads 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 and 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 going to 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.