Theme: Jesus Used Parables to Teach—The Parable of the Sower
Prayer: Pray before you begin the lesson.
Find it: Matthew 13:1-23, (have everyone find this in their own Bible)
Bible Story:
Once you get in your room, you can reinforce what they learned during Praise Park with the following ideas:
Display 4 cups of different soil in a place where all the children can see them and tell them what kind of soil resides in each one. (The cups of soil will already be on a table in your room.)
Read (and Recap) Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23. As each soil is discussed, pick up that cup and use the sun, birds, twigs, or fake flowers (provided in your Ziploc bag of materials) to show what happened to the soil and seed as it began to sprout. When giving Jesus’ explanation, lift that cup again with the object that caused the problems for the seed to take root.
- Wayside Soil (like the packed down dirt on a pathway) – the birds ate it [represents those who hear the Word but don’t understand and the wicked one snatches it away vs. 19]
- Rocky Soil – sprang up quickly, but with no deep roots, it withered when the sun came out [hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy, but has no root and when trouble comes, he stumbles vs. 20-21]
- Thorny Soil – choked out the plants [hears the Word, but the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful vs. 22]
- Good Soil – grew and multiplied [hears the Word and understands it and bears fruit]
Reinforce the lesson by asking questions. After each presentation of soil ask the children “What happened to the seed when it tried to take root?” (The birds ate the seed, the rocks got in the way and sun burned it, thorns choked the seed, the seed multiplied over and over again.) What did Jesus say the seed represented? (The seed represented the giving of the salvation message, the Word of truth.) It is at this time a salvation message should be given.
Lesson Evaluation: Give a list of possible lessons and ask the children to stand up if the statement is true from the teaching in the passage.
- Birds eat seeds when they are planted in the ground. False.
- Thorns cause seeds not to grow. True.
- The sun always scorches a plant growing in soil. False.
- The seed in good soil usually grows. True.
- It doesn’t matter what soil you use when you plant a seed. False.
- Rocky soil makes it hard for seeds to take root. True.
Memory Verse:
Matthew 13:24, “…The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”
Pass an artificial flower and have children each say one word of the Bible Verse when the flower is passed to them. Repeat several times and then have each child recite the entire verse with reference when the flower is passed to them.
Activity:
Plant seeds:
Have children put some good planting soil in a cup and show them how deeply to plant the seed in the dirt. Put a small amount of water in each and encourage the children to care for their seed and watch it grow. Encourage them to replant it outside in the spring to watch it multiply.
I got a lot of these ideas from http://ministry-to-children.com/parable-of-the-soils-lesson/. I LOVE this site and it is one of the first I turn to when I am preparing a lesson.