Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith arises whenever we hear the Word of God being preached, read, or shared. It begins with the hearing of the Gospel for us to respond to the love of God. Over time, faith will grow from small to great as the Word we hear becomes a conviction in our hearts.
A seed is easily stolen when lying on hardened or stony grounds, or among the thorns, because it is above the soil’s surface. This likens us listening to the preaching, teaching, and sharing of the Word but are uninterested or even skeptical. Because we are used to “seeing is believing”, we will struggle to believe by faith, and because we are affected by our senses, we will be tempted to give up easily rather put up with a fight between what we experience and what we believe by faith. Therefore, we must accept the Word into our hearts, which is the key to understanding the rest of the teaching of the Bible.
Mark 4:20 (NKJV) But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
This is why after listening to the Sunday sermon, you are encouraged to reflect on the corresponding questions throughout the week and discuss them when your cell group gathers. This way, you will have processed the Word in your hearts several times. Although you cannot see the growth of the Word in your hearts nor the faith being produced in you, just like you cannot see the seed germinate in the ground, it has grown nonetheless, and will keep growing as you continue to mediate on it. By accepting it, it will produce fruit in your lives, but without taking time to process what we have heard, the retention rate after a week could be as low as 2%.
Every aspect of our lives will change when we listen to the Word, accept it, let it grow in our hearts and bear fruit. The fruit that we bear in our lives will be dependent on the seed planted. Furthermore, our lives will affect the lives of the people around us and have a multiplication effect as we begin to live it out or share the conviction of the Word with those around us, and people will get saved when we share the Gospel with them because we are so excited to have found the treasure of having eternity with God. It will not only help us to stand firm in our faith in the face of tribulation and adversity, but also to minister to one another with the Word. It is important to sow the seed which is the Word of God, and we will reap what we sow in our midst.
Sermon Series: The Seed Can be Stolen but It Is Difficult to Uproot the Tree!
听道，领受，结实并倍增
罗马书 10:17 可见，信道是从听道来的，听道是从基督的话来的。
每当我们听到 神的话语被宣讲、阅读或分享时，信心就会兴起。信心是从听道开始，让我们回应 神的爱。当我们听到的圣言成为我们心中的信念，假以时日，信心就会由小变大。
当种子落在坚硬的土地、石头地上或荆棘里时，很容易被偷走，因为它在土壤表面之上。这就好比我们在听讲道、教导和分享 神的话语，但我们对此没有任何兴趣，甚至持怀疑 态度。因为我们习惯了“眼见为实”，所以很难凭信心去信，因为我们受 到感官的影响，我们会很容易受诱惑而放弃，宁愿忍受我们所经历的与我们凭信心所相信的之间的斗争。因此，我们必须领受圣言存记在心里，这是理解圣经其 它教导的关键。
马可福音 4:20那撒在好地上的，就是人听道，又领受，并且结实，有三十倍的，有六十倍的，有一百倍的。
这就是为什么在听了主日讲道后，我们鼓励你在接下来的一周中反思相应的问题，并在小组聚会时作讨论。这样，你就能将 神的话在心里多过个几遍。虽然你无法看到话语在你心中的成长，也无法看到信心在你 心中加增，就像你看不见种子在地里发芽一样，但它还是在成长，并且会在你继续默想 的过程中不断成长。一旦接受它，它将在你的生命中结出果子，但如果不花时间处理我们听到的内容，一周后的保留率可能会低至2%。
当我们听道、领受、让神的话在我们心中成长并结出果实，我们生命的各个方面都会发生变化。我们在生命中结出的果实将仰赖于我们心中种下的种子。因此，我们的生命将 影响身边人的生命，当我们开始活出这样的信心，或与周遭的人分享这信心 时，就会产生一种倍增效应。当我们与他们分享福音时，他们得到救恩，因为我们 发现了与神永远同在的宝藏而兴奋莫名。这不仅帮 助我 们在苦难和逆境中坚定信心，也帮助我们用 神的话来彼此服事。播撒种子—神的道–是很重要的。我们终将收获我们在其间所播种的。
讲章系列：种子会被偷走，但很难把树连根拔起！