Have you ever wondered why God allows evil and brokenness to grow right alongside the good in our world, our churches, and even our families? In this powerful message, “Pull ’em Up?”, Reverend Ron McDougald unpacks Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds and shows us why rushing to judge or “pull up” the bad can actually harm the good God is still growing.
Drawing from Matthew 13, Pastor Ron explores the story of the enemy sowing weeds among the wheat and the surprising instruction to let both grow together until the harvest. Using personal stories of marriage, gardening with his wife Lynette (a trained horticulturist), and everyday life, he reveals how the “bearded darnel” of Jesus’ day looked nearly identical to wheat until the very end. The spiritual lesson is clear: when we try to decide who’s a weed and who’s wheat, we risk uprooting what God is still nurturing. Instead of becoming a church of “weed-pullers,” we are called to be people of limitless grace—patiently waiting on God’s perfect timing, praying for transformation, and trusting that the harvest belongs to Him alone. This sermon invites us to stop premature judgment and open our hearts to the radical grace of the Kingdom that is already here, yet not fully complete.
Scripture References:
Isaiah 44:6-8
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Key Takeaways:
- Leave the judging and weeding to God—He alone knows the difference between wheat and weeds.
- Premature judgment can damage the good God is still growing in people around us.
- Practice limitless grace instead of limiting it; err on the side of mercy.
- Believe that God is not finished with others—or with you—yet.
- Replace “pulling up weeds” with prayer that God will transform lives.
- Wait patiently for the harvest; the Kingdom is here, but not fully realized until the end of the age.
