This week in chapel, Chaplain Bowditch spoke on the wheat and weeds parable found in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Throughout the parable, Jesus utilizes several comparisons to help demonstrate the basic truths of how God sees things and informs our Christian worldview. God is the sower; the world is His field, and Christ followers are the good seed or the kingdom of God who are to spread the Good News. The weeds are exemplifying the people of the evil one, and the devil is seen as the enemy who is sowing these weeds. The harvest will occur at the end of the age, and those who have done evil will be thrown into the blazing furnace. The righteous ones will shine in God’s kingdom and will experience heaven.
At the end of the message, Chaplain Bowditch highlighted three main truths to remember from the wheat and the weeds. First, Jesus is God who has come back to reclaim what is his. Second, we are to be alert, there is an enemy at work, and thirdly, there is a final harvest. We, the church, are tasked to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and to save others by snatching them from the fire (Jude 1:23). Listen to the whole sermon below.
https://soundcloud.com/grand-rapids-theological-seminary/sept-26-chaplain-bowditch
MEET THE SPEAKER
Chaplain Bowditch has been in ministry since 1990. He served in Thailand from 1990-97, and then he was a Bible teacher and youth pastor in Hawaii from 1997-2005. In addition, during that period, he became a United States Air Force Chaplain. He officially was commissioned in the USAF in 1998. He has a Master of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Chaplain Bowditch continues to serve in the United States Air Force as a reserve chaplain, and he works to ensure the free exercise of religion and to encourage spiritual, ethical and moral health. He and his wife Barb of 32 years have four children together.
