A. Those who WELCOME truth and act upon it RECEIVE more. Those who REJECT truth will eventually LOSE the bit they have.

B. You can only be faithful in what you have TODAY, not what you hope to have LATER.

Permitted “given” - to give; to supply, furnish; to give what is due or obligatory, to pay: wages or reward; to follow him as a leader and a master; to give someone to someone for his interests

A. In the Kingdom no one is punished for what they are INCAPABLE of understanding. But all are held RESPONSIBLE for what they did with the amount they were given.

B. The ability to follow God’s word is not in a TECHNIQUE but in our ATTITUDE.

A. Jesus taught the way He did not to DECEIVE us, but to PATIENTLY guide us.

B. We cannot imagine God how we would want. Our image of Him must be TEMPERED by His word and our community.

C. Parables capture the IMAGINATION because left up to ourselves we would imagine a God who is like US.

D. We’re not in charge of the revelation God GIVES, we’re in charge of our RESPONSE.

Weekly Review Read through Mark 4:1-34 while thinking about the obstacles you have personally faced to allow God’s word to take root in your life. What obstacles would they be?

What’s Next? Our next Re-Charge lesson will be from Mark 3:31-35 entitled: God's Forever Family. Feel free to read and study the text and consider this question before attending: When it comes to serving the Lord and seeking Him, do you have family members who sometimes misunderstand what you're endeavoring to do? If so, how do you try to navigate this with them?