· What breaks your heart when you look around your context?
· What role do you see the church invited to play in this issue or situation?
· “Unless we care for the soil that is our hearts, we will not be able to sustain our faith”. What picture, thought, feeling or phrase does this stir in you?
· Read Luke 8:4-7. What makes up the soil of your heart?
· Can you think of a time or place, in retrospect, when Christ sowed seed and it was trampled and stolen by birds? What might be strongholds in your community that may keep us from receiving seed from Christ?
· When have you been overwhelmed or busy by circumstances and unable to tend to the soil of your life?
· What are the weeds in your soil that choke out the seed that Christ sows in your life?
· How would you describe your soil today?
· What do you do to prepare the soil to receive and nurture the seed that is sownon Sunday?
· In what other contexts is Christ sowing seed in your life? What do youdo to prepare the soil of your heart to receive them?
· What role can this small group play in the cultivating work you must do in your own heart?