The Power of a Seed | Adam Weber

of a seed, it extends into our own individual lives as well. Like you plant a seed of encouragement into a child's life and then it multiplies. Or with your marriage, each day you plant a seed. And then that seed it multiplies and you find yourself with a flourishing marriage. And as Paul tells us, the one who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. And friends, I don't know about you, but I want this generous crop. What is up, Embrace? It's so good to see you. I pray you're doing well. My name is Adam. I'm one of the pastors here. We are overjoyed and honored that you are with us here today. Today we are in a series called Into the Fields. And we've been looking at this passage from Jesus where Jesus says that the harvest is great. And what Jesus is saying is there are so many people who need to hear about God. There are so many people who are waiting to be reached in this harvest. But as we all know, you can't have a harvest without a seed. And so this week, I reached out to a guy in our church, a great guy named Zach. And Zach knows everything and more that you could possibly know about seeds, corn, and harvesting. He's literally on TV where he talks about crops for a living. And so I DMed Zach. And at first, Zach was trying to tell me about PSIs and GDUs. And I have never been more confused in my life. Lord did not make me a farmer, okay? So I was like, Zach, help me out just a little bit more that just none of that made sense. And then Zach shared, he said it's estimated that each kernel of corn grows a plant that's 2,000 times its weight. My first thought as a dude, ladies, can you imagine giving birth to a child? That's 2,000 times the size of you. Not a good thought. But then Zach also shared it's estimated that every year of corn has roughly 600 kernels on it. That's 600 seeds. And so taking these 600 kernels, if you were to plant them into the ground, just by itself, it would produce 360,000 kernels of corn. That's one year of corn producing 360,000 seeds, which is crazy to think about. But here's what I want us to hear. There is so much power in a seed, so much power in one seed. Today, if you have your guidebook, I want to invite you to open it up to page 41. There's a section where you can take notes there. Again, page 41. And once again, at one point, Jesus were told, "looks out over a crowd." And Jesus says that the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who's in charge of the harvest, ask Him to send out more workers into the fields. Friends, for all of us, if we want to see a harvest, if we want to see people come to know Jesus. As we know, it all starts with a seed. I love these words from the Apostle Paul. Paul says, "The farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants

generously will get a generous crop." All throughout strips or seeds and planting seeds comes up, and with a seed, there's a pattern or an image. With a seed, you plant something into the ground, and it multiplies. Like seriously, you plant one seed into the ground, and a crop it shows up. Just for a second, think about this, because we take this for granted. You put one seed into the ground, and it multiplies. The truth is, though, this pattern or image of a seed, it extends into our own individual lives as well. Like you plant a seed of encouragement into a child's life, and then it multiplies. It multiplies their confidence, their purpose, and their future. Or with your marriage, each day you plant a seed by deciding to serve your wife. You plant a seed by deciding to build up your husband, and then that seed it multiplies, and you find yourself with a flourishing marriage. Or even to think about your thought life. You plant seeds of God's truth. and then it multiplies into a life of joy and wholeness. We've seen the opposite of this as well. When you plant seeds that aren't good, those seeds they multiply into things that aren't good. Once again, though, you plant a seed into the ground and then it multiplies. And as Paul tells us, the one who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. And friends, I don't know about you, but I want this generous crop. For me, I want the great harvest. If you haven't been with us the last few weeks, I'd encourage you to go online to fields.imembrace.com and catch the entire vision video that we have there. Right now, as a church, we're pursuing a brand new campus on the east side of town, a campus that will sit more than 1,400 people. And we already have a purchase agreement on the land.

It's 30 acres at the southeast corner of Madison and Veterans Parkway. And this area is absolutely booming. It's one of the fastest growing areas, not just in our city or in our region. One of the fastest growing areas in our entire state, but friends, ultimately, this is not about a building or a campus. The last few weeks, I've started driving out to the land. I was out there again on Friday. I took this picture. It feels like it's been raining the last two weeks. So I hopped out, took the picture and jumped back in. But as I go out to this land, I just stand there and I pray over it. And I still don't know how to explain this, but when I do and I look at all the fields, I feel like I can literally see crowds of people just waiting to hear about Jesus. And as I'm standing there, I feel like I can literally see people who are just hungry. They may not even know it, but they're hungry for the hope and joy and love found in Christ. Truly though, we're projecting that within months, this campus will reach hundreds and hundreds of people for Christ. Guys, the harvest is so great. But once again, in order to have a harvest, you first need a plant to seed. And so what are the seeds?

Like if we wanna harvest to take place, what are the seeds that we need to plant? Well, the first seed is this. If we wanna harvest to take place, we need to pray. Again, if you and I wanna see a great harvest take place, we first need to plant the seed, which is prayer. Friends, when we pray, we speak to God and God speaks to us. It's not a one-way speech, it's a two-way conversation. It's through prayer that God shows us His will. It's through prayer. God reveals His plan for us. It's how He shows us the steps that He wants you and I to take. 20-some years ago, my pastor, Roger, up in Watertown, South Dakota, was reading through the book, Experiencing God. And as he was reading through this book 20-some years ago, it's when God would nudge His heart to try and pursue starting a new church in Sioux Falls, which would lead Him to reach out to me, which would lead to this church called Embrace starting. And so, all along, I had known that Roger had read this book, but finally, this last August, I decided to read it 20-some years later myself. And I just gotta say it lit a fire inside my soul. I've been buying copies of this for all kinds of different, different friends. I strongly encourage that you go through it as well, but there's one specific chapter on prayer. And I just wanna read a few of the lines.

Blackabees says, "Our prayers tend to request far less than what God wants to give us." So God often has to raise our thoughts to a higher level. When the God of the universe tells you something, it is important enough to write it down. Immediately record what it says before you forget. When God reveals a truth to me, I know He's alerting me to what He's doing around me. It's His invitation for me to adjust my life and to respond in obedience to what He has shown me. I wanna read that last line again. It's His God's invitation for me to adjust my life and to respond in obedience to what He has shown me. Friends, I truly can't imagine what would happen if all of us began to pray. If even for the remaining people, if we prayed and asked God to help us think and see on a higher level, if we prayed and asked God to move in and through our church in ways that you and I can't comprehend, if we prayed and we asked God to help us see somehow all the faces of all the people all around us who are just waiting to know the hope, truth, joy found in Christ, if we prayed and just asked God, Lord, what are the steps that you want me to take? This past week I felt so burdened to pray and also just to be honest, so in need of prayer myself that last Monday morning I emailed three of my brothers and I just asked them if they'd want to meet at 7.30 this morning to pray before the first service today

and so this morning my friend Tyler was leading the group and they started before I was in the room and I walked in expecting to see maybe three or four guys, I walked in and there was nine or 10 of them and it wasn't kind of the typical prayer warriors and my brain it was, no, it was normal dudes just like me who were just there, I walked in, I saw a couple of my buddies and I was just like, I'm so glad but these guys, none of you knew they were doing it but they were praying for all of you, they were praying for this church called Embrace, they were praying for that we'd take bold steps of faith that God would multiply our efforts and as I walked in that room I just pictured them just planting all of these different seeds, seeds that you guys didn't even know were being planted, they were being planted all morning long before the first service even began. My favorite part, they were supposed to pray for 30 minutes, they ended up praying during the entire first service. Once again, if we want to harvest to take place, the first seed that we need to plant is we need to pray and that's not just lip service friends. That's the most important part, pray, pray for our church, pray for families going through hard things. In this room yesterday was a funeral for our young father, pray for his family, I can't imagine trying to take the next step. All the people who don't know the hope and joy in Christ pray, pray for boldness, pray. Secondly, if we want to harvest to take place,

what are the seeds that we need to plant, the next seed is we need to own it. If we want to harvest to take place, if we want to see God move in ways that only he can, we need to own the harvest. When I think about owning it, it's getting to the place where you decide to be all in. Instead of like I'm interested in that deciding, I'm all in when it comes to reaching people. Instead of just being interested in Jesus or a fan of his, I'm interested in being used by God, I'm all in. My senior year of college, I started talking with a gal named Becky Spar and I was most definitely interested in Becky Spar, okay? She was up north at the University of North Dakota and I was that Augustana and I'll never forget our very first phone conversation. I didn't have a cell phone and so the actual phone started ringing in the basement of my house. Gosh, I feel ancient right now. But I started ringing and I answered it was Becky Spar and early on in the conversation, she said, so are you seeing anyone else? Oh, it's true. I was so caught off guard that I just said back, well, there are a couple of other girls that I might be interested in. Friends, don't hate the player, hate the game, okay? It's the game's fault.

It's not the player's fault. Becky Spar didn't hesitate, okay? And she was like, oh, yeah, well, if that's the case, I'm probably out. Ladies, Becky Spar, she didn't mess around. I got her name and man, I heard, I think I heard a yeah girl from someone online right there, just whatever. Translation though, I needed to make a decision. Was I interested or all in? Me, this is saved by the power of the Holy Spirit. It took me roughly 30 seconds for me to come to my senses and make a decision, and I called her back. Truly though, for all of us, you and I at some point, you have to decide, are you just interested in Jesus, interested in the harvest, or are you all in? Specifically, when it comes to this harvest, we need to decide, am I going to do it? Other day I had a guy in our church, I'm gonna guess 10, 15 years older than me, a guy named Pete, came up to me at a coffee shop. And he said, Adam, I have to be honest, when I heard about this new campus, I was a little unsure and I had some questions. You know, I just was a little bit skeptical and I had some doubts. But he said, Adam, last Sunday, when I heard the heart behind it and I heard about the need and reaching people, I'm all in.

I'm all in and so is my entire family. So what this looks like for Pete and for me and for all of us, it's making the decision as a follower of Jesus, I want my heart to break for what breaks his. And as a result, it's making the decision, the church actually, it's actually not all about me, instead it's all about those who are yet to know him. And it's deciding, instead of being a spectator Christian, like, you know, I love Jesus, but I'm kind of a spectator. Instead of being a spectator, no, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and I'm going to get my hands dirty because I'm a harvester. It's deciding, instead of embraced, just kind of being a church that I attend, like, yeah, I guess it's where I go, no, no, this is my church. More specifically, it's deciding to be all in and what we're pursuing. And so it's talking about this campus, it's putting your whole heart in it. And it's inviting others to be a part of it. This week, two of my favorite conversations, I had two different couples, reach out and just say, hey, Adam, without being nudged or encouraged. Hey, Adam, we want to invite my parents and my in-laws to be a part of making this new campus possible as well.

And so can you get me more information? 'Cause we want to share with our entire family, and we're going to say it's the most we've ever done and we want our parents and in-laws to do the same. I'm just like, what? Truly, this week, I started thinking about it. If all of us were all in as a church, with God's strength, there is literally nothing that we can't do. Can you imagine if instead of just 5,000 people showing up at a braced church each week, what if 5,000 people showed up and they were all in? This isn't just a church, no, this is my church friends. One person who's all in, it's like one kernel being dropped into the soil and it multiplies and you can't even fathom this 'cause it doesn't make sense, but 360,000 seeds appear. One person, all in multiplies. Lastly, if we want the harvest to take place, we need to pray. And we need to own it and the next seed is this, we need to give, we need to give towards the harvest. I wanna read these words from Paul one more time. Paul says, "A farmer who plants only a few seeds "will get a small crop, "but the one who plants generously will get "a generous crop." This entire chapter here in 2 Corinthians, it is all very specifically about giving financially.

Paul's encouraging the church in Corinth to be radically generous, not just to kind of sort of give. Instead, he's telling them no, to give generously, to give abundantly so that a generous crop, so that a great harvest can take place. And so Paul says this and then in the very next line, he goes on to say, "Each of you must decide "what to give, each of you must give "what you have decided in your heart. "Not reluctantly or under compulsion "for God loves a cheerful giver." Let me highlight this. When Paul says that each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, he's not saying to give what you randomly think is best or to just give what you feel is right. Instead, Paul's saying after processing it with God in your heart, which is a symbol of the very center of your spiritual life, after processing it with God in your heart to give what you feel deeply led by God to give. Not a random gift, not a compulsive gift. Instead, a gift that God has led you to. The last few weeks, I've been encouraging all of us to be praying the simple yet powerful prayer, Lord, what gift would be pleasing and honoring to you? I've actually had numerous people tell me, Adam, I'm so surprised that you haven't wanted people to actually give yet.

I've literally had people walk up to me with their children. And I've said back, actually, if you're OK with it, don't do that yet. Because I just want to encourage you to continue asking God that question. And we're doing this because we want all of us, myself included, to do what Paul tells us to do, to process it with God in your heart, the center of your spiritual life, and see what he, God, leads you to give. Speaking of that, I want to share the story of a couple that attends our tea campus, a couple that I love so much, Tom and Julie. Watch this. We ended up at Embrace because we were friends with Adam. And we were meeting once a month. You know, it was 20, 25 people. I just think the people and atmosphere that Embrace had early on was just what kept us coming back. And we could see that it was something that we wanted to be a part of. Our kids enjoyed going to church as well. And we wanted to raise a family that trusted Jesus. What do you like about children's church? How proud is Jesus? When hard things have happened in our lives, the people that surrounded us were our small group, the people of the church. In those early days, Julie was invited to go to Haiti. And when she came back from that, it changed her life.

And it changed how she interacted with our family. And you could see Christ come into her life. And then I got to baptize her. I think what gave me a passionate art for Haiti was just definitely the people. I think the joy that they have with the very little amount of resources they have is just eye opening. When we came home, it was like, OK, how can we live a life that's less materialistic? When you put faith in it, it's easier to live on 90%. Then it is 100%. You could see how much a little bit can go. So then if you're like, oh, a little bit can go that way. Like, how much more can we do with a little bit more? It is 10% enough. Like, is God calling me to be brave and say, OK, what is that number that makes you uncomfortable? Your faithfulness is what he wants, not your money. I think generosity really matters because people were first generous to us. Embrace wouldn't be where it is if people weren't generous first. Just thinking about the people who helps when the church first started. And I think about the tea campus specifically, how many new faces have shown up that didn't help pay for that building, but are now attending it. So I think that if we just keep passing that generosity on, that it'll just keep reaching more people. You know, there's a lot of people

that gave money to help us build a church and tea. And I think for us, the excitement is now we can give back. Why not? We got to where we are because of generosity. What's one life changed worth to you? I think why wouldn't you want someone's life changed by Jesus? And I think this gives us the opportunity to have the space to have people come and see Jesus and meet Jesus. And hopefully they bring it back home and they bring it to their family. And you change generations one person at a time. Can we put it up for Tom and Julie? Yeah. [APPLAUSE] The one line that struck me from Tom is that question. What is one life changed worth to you? Truly, what is one person finding Jesus worth to you? Because friend, this is what all of this is about. Once again, when I drive out to that land and I stand there on that 30 acres, I don't know how, I just somehow see the faces, the crowd of faces of people who don't know Jesus. And my heart it breaks for what breaks, breaks gods. There's so many people in our city, in our region. And so again, throughout the series, I've just been asking us and inviting us to be praying and asking God this question. If you have a commitment card, the questions right on the inside Lord, what gift will be pleasing and honoring to you?

Just wrestling with Lord over the next three years, it's a three-year commitment. What gift will be pleasing to you? And when you're wrestling with this question, just like Beck and I have been doing, don't just think about your bank account, but think about and pray over your stored resources as well, whether stocks or properties or land. On the commitment card, there's also a giving chart. We've literally had this out on our kitchen counters since March, because we wanted to lead the way. And so be praying over this as well. Like God, what does this look like? This charts in your guidebook as well. And really just again, when you're wrestling with that question, be praying over this. As we said last week, it will not be equal sized gifts, dollars and cents wise, but we're praying to be equal sized sacrifice. We've already had many people tell us their number, their commitment number. If you have an awesome, my prayer and challenge, continue wrestling with it. Just being honest over the last several months, Becky and I's number has continued to grow. And we're still praying over it. Something that's so important, I can't say this strongly enough, this as your pastor, as we just read from Paul, don't give because you feel guilty or because you feel pressure to do.

So that's the opposite of God's heart. Instead, my main goal as your pastor is simply that you would truly pray about this, that you'd wrestle with God about this and that he would lead you to give the gift, even if it's really uncomfortable, he would be the one who would lead you. And so again, daily be asking this question and then coming up next Sunday evening, October 4th at 6.30 p.m. we're having our advanced commitment night at the Washington Pavilion. If you called Embrace Home, all of our campuses are gonna come together and that night we're gonna bring our commitments forward individually. If you cannot make it that night, ideally you'd come into both of these events, but if you cannot make it that night, the following Sunday morning, October 11th is commitment Sunday, where we're having our entire church bring these commitments forward and I truly believe these next two weeks, God is gonna do something we can't explain through our church, but also I truly believe in our own individual lives as well. I wanna bring this full circle to close. Once again, there is so much power in a seed. And when you plant a seed into the earth,

a seed into the soil, it multiplies. And here's the true church we may never fully know what comes from the seeds that you and I are planting in the season. We may never never know about the family who's changed from the inside out, the teenager who's transformed. We may never know about the story of the person walking through grief, grief that feels like it's pulling them under and yet they found comfort in Christ. We may never hear about the marriage that gets restored, the person who walks through our doors five years from now, but friends. So we haven't seen the harvest, but we can plant the seed. And so at this time, I wanna pray, but I don't just wanna pray for us, I wanna pray with you. And so at all campuses, let's pray. Father, today, first off, we pray, not just to me, we pray. And we ask, what do you want us to do? That question, Lord, what gift, if we're embracing our own, what gift would be pleasing and honoring to you? I pray that even right now, that you would prepare our hearts, that you would open us up. We pray even right now that you would speak,

that you would tell us what gifts, what seed you want us to plant. God, I pray out of love, you would stretch us. I pray that you would build our faith as Tom shared, even if it makes us uncomfortable. And then secondly, God, in advance, I pray already for the harvest that's gonna come. I pray for those individuals, those couples, those kids, those students. We're gonna come to Christ through this step that we're taken. Those people who will not be the same person, you'll pull them out of a pit and you'll put them on a new path. God, we pray in advance, we haven't seen the harvest yet, but we're gonna start praying for it. And so please move in through us, Lord. Move in and through us individually and together as a church, and Lord, thank you for inviting us to roll up our sleeves, to get our hands dirty, and to be a part of this harvest with you. Lord, we love you, we thank you. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus. - Hey friends, it's Adam from Embrace. If today's message encouraged you, be sure to hit the subscribe button to our YouTube channel to see all new messages as they drop. Also, feel free to click here and check out more of our videos. Thanks so much for watching. [BLANK_AUDIO]