27:09 minutes (12.43 MB)
Sermon text: Luke 8:4-15
Last week I introduced you to the starting point for this series of sermons on our vision for Riverside. I shared that I believe that visions that we set and decisions that we make must come out of our relation to revelation, the biblical story. We say that we are a biblical church. Our denominational history started with a bunch of people asking repeatedly, “where is it written” in the Bible before making choices. So last week I shared that my jumping off point for us was taking our name Riverside and the rich agricultural language of the Bible and asking what does it teach us about what kind of church and people God has called us to be. Our conclusion last week is that the discussion must begin with God. That God grows things. That God not only grows our personal faiths, but He grows our fellowship, and our impact on our community. We cannot manufacture these things, but will be successful or faithful to the extent that we let God be God. To the extent that we participate, or become co-workers in what He wants to do.