1. “IT’S TIME TO LISTEN

2. Mark 4:23 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) 23 You people who hear me, listen!

3. HOW WELL DO YOU LISTEN?

4. HOW WELL DO YOU LISTEN? A. Different Types of Listener.
B. The Importance of Good Listening.
C. Steps to Better Listening.

5. Different Types of Listener.
Those hard of hearing.
Matthew 13:13-15  (ERV)
13 This is why I use these stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. 

6. Different Types of Listener.
Those hard of hearing.
Matthew 13:13-15  (ERV)
14 So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true:
‘You people will listen and listen,     but you will not understand. You will look and look,     but you will not really see.

7. Different Types of Listener.
Those hard of hearing.
Matthew 13:13-15  (ERV)     15 Yes, the minds of these people are now closed.     They have ears, but they don’t listen.     They have eyes, but they refuse to see…..

8. Different Types of Listener.
2. Those dull of hearing.
Hebrews 5:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

9. Different Types of Listener.
3. Those with itching ears.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 King James Version (KJV)
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

10. Different Types of Listener.
4. Those with good and noble hearts, who listen with readiness.
Luke 8:15 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
15 And what about the seed that fell on the good ground? That is like the people who hear God’s teaching with a good, honest heart. They obey it and patiently produce a good crop.

11. Different Types of Listener.
4. Those with good and noble hearts, who listen with readiness.
Acts 17:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

12. Different Types of Listener.
4. Those with good and noble hearts, who listen with readiness.
2 Timothy 4:4 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
4 People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories.

13. Importance Of Good Listening
1. To be blessed
Matthew 13:16 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
16 But God has blessed you. You understand what you see with your eyes. And you understand what you hear with your ears.

14. Importance Of Good Listening
2. To have saving faith. 
Romans 1:16 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
16 I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes—to save the Jews first, and now to save those who are not Jews.

15. Importance Of Good Listening
2. To have saving faith. 
Romans 10:14 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
14 But before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.

16. Importance Of Good Listening
3. To bear fruit
Luke 8:15 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
15 And what about the seed that fell on the good ground? That is like the people who hear God’s teaching with a good, honest heart. They obey it and patiently produce a good crop.

17. Importance Of Good Listening
4. To prevent apostasy
Hebrews 2:1 New International Version (NIV)
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

18. Importance Of Good Listening
4. To prevent apostasy
Romans 10:17 King James Version (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

19. Importance Of Good Listening
5. To escape condemnation
Jonah 3:4 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
4 Jonah went to the center of the city and began speaking to the people. He said, “After 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed!”

20. Importance Of Good Listening
5. To escape condemnation
Jonah 3:5 (ERV)
5 The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to stop eating for a time to think about their sins. They put on special clothes to show they were sorry. All the people in the city did this, from the most important to the least important. 

21. Importance Of Good Listening
5. To escape condemnation
Jonah 3:10(ERV)
10 God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people.

22. Steps To Better Listening
1. Make listening an act of worship
1 Corinthians 10:31 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
31 So if you eat, or if you drink, or if you do anything, do it for the glory of God.

23. Steps To Better Listening
Listen from first to last.
Look at the speaker.
Lean forward if necessary.
Read along in your Bible.

24. Steps To Better Listening
6. Listen with faith
Hebrews 4:2 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
2 Yes, the good news about it was told to us just as it was to them. But the message they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith.

25. Steps To Better Listening
6. With intent to act
James 1:22-24 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
22 Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. 

26. Steps To Better Listening
6. With intent to act
James 1:22-24 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
23 Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror
 24 and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked.

27. Steps To Better Listening
Make listening an act of worship
Listen from first to last
Look at the speaker
Lean forward if necessary
Read along in your Bible
Listen with faith
With intent to act

28. HOW WELL DO YOU LISTEN? Isaiah 55:3 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Listen closely to what I say.     Listen to me so that you will live.