Matthew 13:1-23
The Soil That's Choking Your Faith
God’s word opens soft, willing hearts and hardens unwilling ones, and our willingness to hear decides which. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23, Jesus tells a story without explaining it, then explains it to the disciples who come back and ask. Faith is rarely choked out by hard times; it is choked by busyness, comfort and the worries of this life.
Message notes
The water main at the school had broken that morning, so there was no Children’s Ark, and Pastor Pat jokes about running the full two and a half hours. Then he reads the parable of the sower from Matthew 13 and states the big idea: “God’s word will either open hearts or close hearts.” Our willingness to hear, receive and apply it decides which.
He admits he hears things wrongly too. That morning his wife told him she would be late because of something with the kids, and when she arrived he had no idea she had been gone. We mishear because of pride, hurry, disappointment, or because we assume we already know.
Chapter 12 ended with Jesus in open conflict with the Pharisees. Now he sits in a boat and teaches the crowd in parables, and unlike other rabbis, he doesn’t explain them. Pat says Jesus tells stories to expose the condition of the hearer. When the disciples ask why, Jesus says the secrets of the kingdom have been given to them but not to the crowd, and quotes Isaiah about people who hear but never understand. Jesus has compassion for the crowd and is honest about their hearts. “Kingdom secrets aren’t solved by clever people.” They are received as a gift by people humble enough to ask.
Verse 12 shows what Pat calls kingdom math, which compounds both ways. Feed on God’s word and you get hungrier; settle for the junk food of cultural morality and even what you know fades. He asks the room to imagine him saying “I love you” at their wedding at the Grand Wailea and never pursuing his wife again for 18 years. “If I’m standing still, I’m still moving backwards.”
Then Jesus explains the soils: the path where the evil one snatches the word, the rocky ground with no root, the thorns of worry and wealth, and the good soil that understands and bears fruit a hundred, sixty or thirtyfold. Fruit is the evidence of the seed.
Pat’s application is to assess your soil. Where has the enemy snatched the word through lies like “God doesn’t care about me” or disappointment? What thorns are choking it? Hard hearts are obvious, but “choked out faith often looks like a successful busy, I’m fine kind of life.” Then move toward Jesus: read a chapter of the New Testament, pray, come to Friday night worship, join a Life Group, try serving. None of it earns salvation. It is stepping into a gift.
From the message
God’s word will either open hearts or close hearts.
Kingdom secrets aren’t solved by clever people.
If I’m standing still, I’m still moving backwards.
Choked out faith often looks like a successful busy, I’m fine kind of life.
Life Group discussion guide
The Soil That's Choking Your Faith, Matthew 13:1-23. May 17, 2026.
Start here
When has someone told you something important and you completely missed it because you weren’t really listening?
Read Matthew 13:1-23
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In Matthew 13:3-8, where does the seed fall, and what happens to it in each place?
What do the disciples ask Jesus in verse 10, and how does he answer in verses 11-12?
In verses 19-23, what does each kind of soil represent, and what marks the good soil?
What does it mean?
Rabbis normally explained their parables. Why would Jesus tell a story and hold back the meaning from the crowd?
Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 about people who are ever hearing but never understanding. What does that reveal about the crowd’s hearts?
Verse 12 says whoever has will be given more. How does Pastor Pat’s idea of kingdom math that compounds both ways help explain it?
What do we do with it?
Which soil best describes your heart right now: the path, the rocky ground, the thorns or the good soil?
Pastor Pat named real estate stress, kids’ schedules, work pressure, cost of living and politics. Which thorns are crowding God’s word out of your week?
If your faith has been standing still, what is one step toward Jesus you will take this week, like reading a chapter of the New Testament each day, joining a Life Group or trying a serve team?
Pray
Ask God to soften any hardened or familiar places in your heart, to pull out the thorns of worry and busyness, and to make you hungry for his word so that it bears fruit in your life.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/kingdom-secrets/