Scott Palmer - A Matter of the Heart

A Matter of the Heart

Mark: Getting to Know Jesus-Part 12

March 23, 2025

Mark 4:1-20

 

“Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?”

Mark 4:13 (NLT)

 

A Picture of Four Hearts

1.   The _____________________________. (4, 15)

“As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.” Mark 4:4 (CSB)

 

“For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear,

and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to Me and let Me heal them.’” Matthew 13:15 (NLT)

 

2.   The _____________________________. (5-6, 16-17)

“Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.” Mark 4:5-6 (CSB)

 

“These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.” I John 2: 19 (NLT)

 

3.   The _____________________________. (7, 18-19)

“Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.” Mark 4:7 (CSB)

 

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 (CSB)

 

4.   The ______________________________. (8, 20)

“Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” Mark 4:8 (CSB)

 

“It is the same with My word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”  Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)