Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 7 Parable Series: Unmerciful servant and two debtors

Scripture: for teacher background:  Matthew 18:23-35     and    Luke 7:36-50

 Making contact:

Do foot washing or play a game or do something that introduces the idea of debt, so that the children understand what debt is.

 Exploration:  

This parable works very well as a play. Get the teachers or the children to act it out. You could build it up as you narrate and tell the actors what to do as you go through the story.

There was once a king who had an official who got into terrible debt. Now in those days, if you got into debt, all your possessions were taken, but if that didn’t cover it then they could make you and your wife and your children become slaves. They sold you on the slave market and got money for people!

You can imagine how this man felt. 

He fell flat on his face before the king and begged and begged him to be patient with him and he would repay him the debt as soon as he could. 

The reply was amazing. He let him off the whole debt, just like that – cancelled everything. Imagine his joy and relief!

You won’t believe what he did next. A junior colleague owed him a few rand. 

He got his hands around his throat and demanded this fellow pay him.

 He begged for mercy, but none came.

 The big “debtor” had the little “debtor thrown in jail!

Well, the king came to hear of this and was furious!

 He said he should have let the man off like he was let off all those millions!

 He had him thrown in jail to be tortured until he could pay his debt in full.

Jesus told this story to show us how God will treat us if we don’t forgive people when He has forgiven us all our sins.

Jesus told the other parable about debtors at a party. 

This party was at Simon the Pharisee’s house. It was all very smart and expensive. 

All the customs are followed and servants scurry about washing people’s feet. 

All the guests are welcomed with a big hug, but not Jesus. Simon waves the servant away and instead of the greeting, he is cold and aloof. Jesus has been rebuffed. 

Simon was trying to demean Jesus – insult Him.

 At the meal, a woman slipped in and started crying at Jesus' feet. 

She then poured a whole bottle of perfume over His feet and she dried His feet with her long hair. All the guests gasped in disgust. 

She was a fallen woman, a sinner. Jesus looked up and smiled at Simon and the other proud guests. 

He told this parable.

There were 2 people who got into debt – one owed 500 silver coins and the other 50. Neither could pay this money and all the debt was cancelled. 

Jesus asked who would love more? 

Simon replied, the one who had been forgiven 500. 

Jesus then went on to explain that Simon hadn’t given Jesus the proper welcome and foot washing, but that this woman had showed a huge amount of love because she wanted to show her huge gratitude at the big amount Jesus had forgiven in her life.

The one, who is forgiven little, loves little, but the one forgiven much, loves much.

Application

Are we truly grateful for what God has done for us? 

This will show in how much we love God and how we treat others. 

If we truly feel that God loves us and has forgiven all our sins, then we will be overjoyed to thank Him and worship Him, and sing praise songs and coming to church and reading His love letter (the Bible) to us. 

It will all be built on gratitude and love. Our attitude to others will also be gracious. 

We should be as forgiving to others as God has been to us. If people wrong us, we need to forgive, because God forgave us.

This parable is really about how much God loves us and forgives us and that we need to forgive, but it is also a reminder about not getting into debt.

 In our country, many people get into debt and it isn’t the Christian thing to do. The Bible warns against it.

(Borrow money and you are the lender’s slave.”  Proverbs 22:7)

It is far better not to have accounts, but to only buy what you can pay for.

 Challenge to Mission

It is very important to forgive anyone that we hold a grudge against. 

If we don’t God cannot forgive us. 

So pray and ask Jesus to help you to forgive the person who has wronged you and if possible go to the person and tell them you have forgiven them.

Our country also needs to forgive the past. We can’t go on blaming other people. Let’s forgive and move forward. Grudges are like cancer – they eat away at us!

Consolidation

The worksheet has the parable in picture form to be coloured in.

 Memory Verse

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.”  Matthew 6:12

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 6. Parable Series: The Pharisee and the Tax collector praying

Scripture: for teacher background:  Luke 18:9-14

Making contact:

Stand against a wall and explain to the children that you are measuring by marking on the wall how good people are.

 Ask them where they would make a mark (like measuring how tall people are) to show how good someone like Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela etc. is or was. 

Then ask where they would rate themselves and you the teacher. Use examples they know. Ask them where the mark would be for a thief or a murderer.

Now imagine that the mark for God is at the ceiling.

He is perfect and never ever sins. So neither Mother Theresa nor the murderer is anywhere near as good as God.

Mother Theresa might be better than a murderer, but she falls very far short of God and she needs God’s forgiveness and cleansing just as much as the murderer does.

In today’s parable, Jesus teaches us these things.

Another way you could introduce this is to tell the children that a swimming pool is empty and need to be filled. 

Which person is better the one using a teaspoon or the one using a cup? 

Both are hugely inadequate.

 That’s how we are with God. The one using a cup should not laugh at the one using a teaspoon. They both need a hosepipe!

At some stage you might need to explain what tax is and what kind of people tax collectors were in Jesus day. Remind the children of Zachaeus.

 Exploration:

Jesus told a parable of how 2 very different people prayed at the temple one day. 

He said that a very religious, holy looking Pharisee swaggered up the temple steps and proudly told God how holy and wonderful he was.

 He listed all the good things he did and then he turned around and scornfully looked down his nose at a man crouching at the back, beating himself and crying. 

He said loudly and arrogantly: “AND I THANK YOU OH GOD, THAT I AM NOT LIKE THAT MAN OVER THERE!” 

He probably even wished that people like him weren’t allowed at the temple – after all, it was a place for clean and special, holy men like he. 

I bet he was the kind of person that told children to get lost.

The other man was the opposite. He stood far away, not even daring to go anywhere near.

He was a rotter and he knew it.

 He didn’t even look up to pray. All he could pray was “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Listen to this little rhyme someone wrote about this parable:

Two men went to pray

O rather say

One went to brag

The other went to pray.

Which man REALLY prayed?

Jesus said that the sinner,- the tax collector went home with his relationship right with God. He had made peace with God. 

He had humbled himself and confessed his sin. 

The Pharisee who was bragging was not right with God and his prayer achieved NOTHING!

It certainly didn’t please God. He wasn’t even really praying. He was showing off. God does not listen to prayers like that.

Application

Loving God and being a Christian can lead us to thinking that we are better than others – a kind of “I am so much holier than you.”  

We mustn’t be so sure of our own goodness that we think other people are terrible and we are so special and wonderful. 

We need to be careful that our faith and our religion don’t make us like the Pharisee. Jesus often spoke against this kind of attitude. He called them HYPOCRITES.

Jesus warned that people who make themselves great would be humbled. 

If you are too sure of your own goodness – watch out!

 We must be careful of being super religious and unloving people. We are sinners who need God to forgive us and help us through each day.

Saying to ourselves before a contest or something: “I am okay! I am great! Nothing is too hard for me to conquer if I believe in myself. Everyone will see how good I am! “…Is not the right way!

 We need to be HONEST and say: “God is great and He is with me and will help me. May He be glorified in my life.”

Another thing is that we think God only loves us if we are good. 

That’s why the Pharisee thought he was so wonderful and the tax collector thought he was so terrible. 

But they were both wrong in how they thought God viewed them. 

The Pharisee thought God adored him and the tax collector thought God hated him. God loves us unconditionally. He doesn’t love or like our sin. He hates it, but He loves US.

For the smaller children, you need to press this point – that God loves them even when they are naughty, although He doesn’t like what they do. 

Even tiny children have the idea that their parents love them only when they are good. It’s a point we need to repeat week after week. 

God loves us all the time, even when we are bad like that tax collector. But He doesn’t like what we do and we need to say sorry like the tax collector did.

Challenge to Mission

If we know anyone who is feeling a failure and feeling terrible, we should tell them this parable and tell them that God prefers honesty and hates hypocrisy.

 Let’s encourage people and tell them that God really loves them and they can come to Him as they are and find forgiveness and help. Let’s be humble and honest people.

 Extra

Suggest the older teens watch the movie: “Emperor’s Club” which is a thought-provoking movie on this theme.

Consolidation

A worksheet – The children must write correct sentences underneath the wrong ones. The pictures need to be coloured in. Use arrogant colours for the Pharisee and humble colours for the tax collector.

 Memory Verse

“For all who make themselves great will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be made great.” Luke 18:14

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 5. Parable Series: The Prodigal Son (Can tie in with Valentine's Day)

Scripture: for teacher background:  Luke 15:11-32

 Making contact:

Ask a volunteer to demonstrate what they do when they see their mommy or daddy or grandparents for the first time after a week or even a longer time. Hopefully they run and hug them!

If you want to tie this lesson in with Valentine's Day then discuss how people make their loved one feel special - cards, flowers, hearts etc.

You can also give the background to Valentine's Day.

St. Valentine was imprisoned beheaded & buried on 14 Feb 269 AD for helping persecuted Christians & marrying Christian couples! While in prison he prayed for his jailer’s daughter & her blindness was healed. On the day of his execution he left her a note signed, ‘Your Valentine.’

 Exploration: 

Tell this story either using puppets – made from wooden spoons or paper packets, or get some children to act it out.

Today’s parable is probably the most famous parable. It explains so well just how much God loves us. It is God’s Valentine story.

It tells of a father who had 2 sons. The younger one wanted to leave home and asked for his share of the inheritance. He wanted to get away from authority and live just as he pleased. 

His father let him go. He went far away and wasted all his money in reckless living. Then there was a famine and his money was finished. 

The only thing he could do was to work on a farm looking after pigs. Now this story was probably about a Jewish boy and you can imagine what the people listening to the story felt about that! 

Pigs! No one gave him anything to eat and he wished he could fill his tummy with the bean pods that the pigs were eating.

He came to his senses and realized that at least at home he would get food. He decided to ask his dad if he could just be a farm worker and tell him that he realized he had made a big mistake and therefore couldn’t be his son anymore.

So he started the journey home. 

Back there his father had been watching out for him everyday and when he was still a long way off he saw him coming and he ran to meet him. 

He gave the speech he had practiced but his dad didn’t even let him finish. 

He called the servants to bring the best robe and a ring and sandals and to prepare a feast. He tells them to kill the prize calf and cook it. He said his son was as good as dead and is alive again – lost but now found.

Meantime there was another brother – a good boy, working hard at home. 

When he heard all the news he asked the servants what was going on and they told him that his brother had returned and there was going to be a big party.

 He was furious. His father came outside and begged him to come in. He told him he had worked so hard and never disobeyed and had never had even a little party, but now his brother, who was terrible, was getting all the attention. 

The father said that everything was his anyway, but that his brother was as good as dead and is alive again.

Application

This parable really shows us how God loves us. He is like that father of the 2 boys.

 He is very sad when we turn our backs on Him, like the younger brother did. 

The older brother was at home but not close to his dad and really rather miserable and self righteous-so near yet so far- rather like some religious people are who aren’t happy when God loves a real stinking sinner.

If we rebel and go off and waste our lives and things, God actually lets us go.

He doesn’t chase after us, but waits, because this isn’t the same kind of “lost ness” as last week’s stories. This kind needs waiting for because it is rebellion. When we realize how stupid we are and we come running back to God, He forgives us and makes us His family, not just servants. The ring is a symbol of that family belonging.

God’s love is extravagant like the father – a feast for when we return- the same as the party the angels had in last week’s story. I hope you can feel how much God loves you, even if you don’t deserve it.

(Note: The prize calf that was killed was for the meal at the party. It was not a sacrifice. We believe that Jesus was our sacrifice and that now we don’t need to sacrifice animals like they did in the Old Testament. Now an animal being cooked is just a braai!)

Challenge to Mission

Let’s be careful that we aren’t like the older brother and look down on “lost” people who discover that God loves them. 

Let’s join in the happiness.

 Maybe you need to show that kind of love to someone who you thought didn’t deserve God’s love.

We can also use this story to tell other people and help them realize how much they are loved. 

You may have a friend who is rebelling or who did and now is sitting feeling in a dirty place like a pigsty because what they have done is too bad to be forgiven. 

Tell them that their heavenly Father is waiting for them to confess like the prodigal did and show them the way home to God and forgiveness.

God is brooding over them and longing for them to return, but won’t force His way to them.

 Consolidation

There is a work sheet. The children must number the pictures to put them in the correct order to tell the story.

There is an extra activity – making of a pig. See pattern and instructions. Try and get pink paper. If this is done at the beginning of the lesson or the week before, the little pigs can be used in the play when the story is acted out.

Memory Verse

“We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead but now is alive; he was lost, but now has been found.” Luke 15:32

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 4. Parable Series: The lost sheep and the lost coin

Scripture: for teacher background:  Luke 15:1-10

Making contact:

1. Play the hot/cold game. Send one child out of the room. Hide something like a sheep puppet or ball of wall, or a coin. Everyone else knows where it is hidden. Call the child back in and as they begin looking, you tell them if they are hot or cold. Cold is far away from the hidden thing and getting warmer is when they are getting closer. Very hot is when they are so close the article will burn them.
2. You can play the same game using a song. You all sing softly when they are far away and very loudly when they are close by.

 Exploration:

The Pharisees and teachers of the law were grumbling about Jesus that He welcomed outcasts and even shared meals with them. They hated that He was kind to people that they thought were beyond God’s love. They felt there were people just not worth caring for.

 So He told them these 2 parables. The meaning is the same – like a pair of shoes – this is a pair of parables.

Suppose one of them had a hundred sheep and he lost one of them. What would he do? He would leave the 99 and go and look for the lost one. 

When he finds it, he is so happy and he puts it on his shoulder and carries it home. 

Then he calls his friends and neighbours and says: “I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!”

 In the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over

99 respectable people who do not need to repent.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel said that God searches for His sheep Himself and looks after them. “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so I will look after my sheep.

 I will rescue them form all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays."(Ezekiel 34:11,12,16)

The other parable is about a humble housewife who loses a coin that was probably part of her wedding necklace.

 At once she lights a lamp and sweeps every little corner. She looks carefully everywhere. 

She is so excited when she finds it that she calls her friends and neighbours together and they have a party to celebrate.

 In the same way, the angels celebrate and rejoice over one sinner who repents.

Application

We can be lost in life just like that one sheep or the one coin and God is looking and longing for us to be found. 

He is like that anxious shepherd searching and searching for us and there is huge jubilation and celebration when we are found. 

God is very concerned about people who have lost their way in life. He doesn’t just write them off and say “Oh they are too bad or too useless to worry about.”

 There is no one too lost or too bad to go and look for. God loves sinners and no sinner is too bad for God to love and search for. 

The Pharisees thought they were very good people, they didn’t need to repent, or so they thought. We must also be careful of thinking we are too good for God. All of us need Him.

Jesus knew what made God happy and He also knew what great celebration goes on in Heaven over one sinner who repents.

Imagine if that person was you and Jesus finds you and you repent and say sorry and He washes your sins all away. 

Well, the angels are celebrating and having an enormous party for you because they are so happy that Jesus found you.

Does God look for us and search for us with so much effort, or does He sit in Heaven shaking His head at our sin and wait for us to pull ourselves together?

 He went to a lot of trouble to come and search for us. He became a baby, born in a manger, grew up to teach us His way and then they killed Him, but He knew that His death would be the way how we could be found and made new people.

 Let’s not waste all that He has done for us. Let’s cause a party in Heaven. Let’s repent and be found.

Challenge to Mission

A man was left to die on a pavement in Johannesburg because the paramedics thought he was too dirty for their ambulance. 

This got in the papers and everyone made a big fuss about how terrible these paramedics were. But how often do we also leave people because they are too “far gone”, or too dirty or too poor? 

The shepherd went to search for one lost sheep just like this man. Mother Theresa searched for others in Calcutta, also dying on the streets.

 Maybe we can’t do that, but we can look for one lonely child crying on the playground because he doesn’t have a friend. 

This week, why don’t you help Jesus look for a lost sheep, or a lost silver coin who is a person who really needs some love?

Consolidation

There is a worksheet with a word search.

Memory Verse

“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine people who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 3. Parable Series: The vineyard

Scripture: for teacher background:  Matthew 20:1-15

Making contact:

1. Discuss the grape juice in Holy Communion. Where does it come from and how is it made? Show pictures of a vineyard and have some grapes, raisins and grape juice on display. If possible have a branch of a vine.
2. Play a game where all the contestants get the same reward not based on achievement. E.g. a running race, or throwing a ball or straw. See who did the best and give everyone the same size prize or the same number of points. Discuss if they felt annoyed that everyone got the same.
3. Hand out points or sweets for jobs done at Sunday school. Again everyone receives the same whether they arrive early and do most of the work or merely pick up one paper or do some tiny job.

 Exploration:

This is a parable about a vineyard. When the grapes are ripe they all have to be picked very quickly, so the more hands to work, the better.
Quite often a farmer would hire a whole team of people just for a few days. In Jesus’ story the man went to hire some workers early in the morning.
 He agreed to pay them one silver coin for the whole day’s work. They were very happy with this and they got to work.

- At 9 O Clock he went and got some more workers and promised them a fair pay.

- At 12 and

- 3 O Clock he got more workers.

- Even at 5 O Clock he found some more workers.

 When evening came the workers gathered around to receive their pay.
He paid the ones he hired last first. He gave them a silver coin.
When the men who had been hired early in the morning also got a silver coin, they grumbled.
“We worked in the hot sun all day and you paid us the same as those who only worked an hour”, they complained.
He said he hadn’t cheated them. He paid them what they had agreed upon in the morning and didn’t he have the right to pay others the same even if they worked much less.
He asked if they were jealous because he was generous.
He then said: “So those who are last will be first and those who are first will be last.”

Application

This story has an unusual message. The farmer was so generous to the workers employed last! What does this story mean?

-          There are people who love and serve God who think they are better and deserve more love and reward than other people who come in late. There are sinners who come to know God late in life, after messing up all their life long and they get the same reward as those who have been good all their lives. These people get mad at God and think He isn’t fair. They are jealous.

-           It isn’t a very nice quality and it actually proves they don’t understand God’s love. God loves every sinner – whether they repent early in life or late.

-           It’s not up to us to judge each other and decide that some people deserve less than others. God does not have favourites as some religious people think. Some are not better than others. We are all equal in God’s eyes and He wants to bless us all equally.

-           We should be happy that people come into God’s kingdom at all, even late like the thief on the cross.

-           It doesn’t always have to be fair. God isn’t fair when He dishes out love. He is GENEROUS!

Challenge to Mission

Just as the wine farmer was generous to everyone, even if they didn’t deserve it, who can you be kind and generous to this week? We don’t only give to people who can give back, but we can be kind to everyone.

Make a card and give it to someone who doesn’t really deserve it, but you are being kind and generous. This kind of work actually makes you feel blessed. Jesus said don’t only be kind to your friends, even non Christians can do that, but in His strength show grace and kindness to those who don’t deserve it.

Consolidation

Worksheet – the children must first draw in the clock faces to show what time the workers began and then they can draw arrows to the appropriate little faces from the clocks – whether it is showing an angry face like the early workers or a smiley face because they got full pay for only a half of quarter day work.

Memory Verse

“I pray that you may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep is Christ’s love.” Ephesians 3:18

(You could put the memory verse in a picture of a bunch of grapes.)

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 2. Parable series: The parables of the seeds growing secretly, the mustard seed and the weeds.

Scripture: for teacher background:  Mark 4:26-29 Luke 13:18-21 Mark 4:30,31 and Matthew 13:24-30

Making contact:

Bring as many varieties of seeds and if possible find mustard seeds. If not, have some plain silver pins and show the children that the smallest seed is called the mustard seed and is as big as a pinhead or a full stop.

Take a jar of full grain mustard to show the children – you can see the size of the seeds in the mustard. Try and find out what a mustard tree looks like. 

 Exploration:

Last week we learnt about the parable of the sower and the different kinds of soil.

Jesus told other short parables about these seeds growing in the ground. He said that after the man has scattered the seed he goes to bed and sleeps. 

Day after day he carries on with his life and while life goes by the seeds are very busy sprouting and growing in secret.

He doesn’t know how it happens and at first he can’t see anything.

-          The soil just makes the plants grow.

-          The first thing the man sees is a little shoot coming out of the ground, then the rest of the plant appears and then the plant has mealies/corn/wheat on it.

-           Then the man can come and cut all the plants down because it is harvest time.

-          All he needs to start again is one little seed for each new plant.

What does this parable mean? 

There is work for us to do to sow the Word of God, but the rest is up to God. 

There is hidden power at work, making the message grow and we can’t force it.  

It is the mysterious and miraculous process of growth and it happens in nature, in the plants and it happens in people too. 

Only God can make a seed and only God can make it grow. We humans think we are very clever and important, but we can’t even make a seed. Let’s trust God more and let Him do His wonderful work.

  

Another short parable Jesus told was when He said that God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed. It starts off so small – the mustard seed is tiny, like a speck, but it grows into a huge tree – the biggest tree.

 More than 2 000 years ago Jesus planted the Christian seed – small like a mustard seed in one of the smallest countries in the world – Israel, and yet today there are millions and millions of Christians all over the world – like a great giant tree. This tree is still growing.

You might be able to plant a tiny, Gospel seed in someone’s life and, who knows, but one day that person may be a giant Christian for God who also spreads the Gospel seeds.

There was a truck driver who asked a boy called Billy if he wanted to go to a tent meeting to hear about Jesus. Billy went and the seed was planted. 

He grew into a world evangelist – Billy Graham and he has sowed millions of seeds for God.

(I went on a Christian camp when I was 13 and these people told me about Jesus. The seed was sown and now years later I am writing Sunday school lessons to help you to hear about Jesus. Another tree for God!)

NOTE TO TEACHER:  Share your testimony with the children of how you came to believe in Jesus or ask someone else to share briefly of how God’s seed was sown in their lives.

Another parable about planting and growing things was one that Jesus told about a man who sowed good seed in his field. 

One night when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the good seed. 

When the plants grew, there were the weeds among the good plants. 

So the servants came and asked what was going on and if they should pull the weeds out. The man said “No-, because when you pull out the weeds you might damage the good plants. Let them grow together and at the harvest we’ll burn the weeds.”

There are bad people among us, but it is not our job to send them to hell. We might end up condemning good people. 

God is the judge and not us and He will deal with these bad people at the right time.

 Application

In all these 3 parables today, we learn about God’s power as His work grows on earth. 

It starts from small things, so never think you are too small to work for God, and it also grows secretly and quietly. 

Don’t blow a trumpet every time you do something for God. Also, we don’t have to worry about judging the bad people. God will and we mustn’t do His job.

Challenge to Mission

Is there a small job you can do for God to help His kingdom grow? 

Why not invite a friend to Sunday school. 

You never know what seed might get planted in their lives. Remember, the tiniest seed grows into a big, big tree. 

You only need faith the size of a mustard seed and you can move mountains for Jesus.

Remember that you won’t always see the results of your work – you must let those seeds grow in secret. 

God will look after them.

Consolidation

Worksheet. On the pictures of seeds the children can write or draw ideas of how they can help people and plant seeds for God.

Memory Verse

"If you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, “Go from here to there and it will go.” Matthew 17:20

(I got a jar of mustard where you can see the little seeds and I wrote the memory very on a gold ribbon and wrapped it around the jar.)

Year C. 1st Term. Lesson 1. Parable Series: The parable of the sower

Scripture: for teacher background:  Matthew 13:1-23

Making contact:

Play the game: “Broken telephone” to show how a message doesn’t always get through. Try and see how far the correct message got.

Here is a play that could be used in connection with this story. You might like to use it to present to the congregation in a family service. It needs 2 narrators. You could have the children acting out the parts of the birds and the thorn bushes.

1. Once upon a time…

2.  A long time ago

1.  Old Mac Donald had a farm

2. E I E I O

1. And on that farm he planted some wheat
2. With a scatter scatter here

1. And a scatter scatter there
2. The seed was planted everywhere

1. Now some of the seed fell on the path
2. Uh-oh! Bad news!

1. That’s true!
2.  Because on that farm there lived some birds,

1. With a flap flap here
2.  And a tweet tweet there

1. The seed was gobbled up fair and square
2.  So the seed didn’t grow

1. And the poor farmer, you know
2.  Couldn’t have his Wheatbix for breakfast – Oh No!

1. Jesus said that the Word of God is rather like that seed
2.  Just as the seed was scattered on the ground

1. So God’s Word is spread around

2.   For some of it goes in one ear and out the other

1. What a shame! They just don’t bother!

1        Once upon a time…

2.  A long time ago

1.  Old Mac Donald had a farm

2  .E I E I O

1.  And on that farm he planted some wheat

2.  With a scatter scatter here

1. And a scatter scatter there
2. The seed was planted everywhere

1. Now some of the seed fell on rocky ground
2.  With big rocks and stones all around

1. Here’s a rock
2.  There’s a stone

1. Another problem, another block!
2.  Every one of those baby shoots

1. Withered without soil and water for its roots
2.  Jesus said the Word of God is rather like that seed

1. It’s starts off well but there’s no depth for it to feed
2. The message just does not sink in

1   When the going gets tough they just give in

1.Once upon a time…

2.  A long time ago

1.  Old Mac Donald had a farm

2  .E I E I O

1.  And on that farm he planted some wheat

2.  With a scatter scatter here

1.   And a scatter scatter there

2.   The seed was planted everywhere

1. Now some of the seed fell among the thorn bushes
2. With a thistle, thistle here

1. And a khakiebos there
2. Thorns and branches everywhere

1. Every baby seed that grew
2. Was strangled by a weed and couldn’t get through

1. Jesus said God’s Word is rather like that seed
2. People listen a little but other things they need

1. Like work and hobbies, sport and T. V.
2. Music and fashion, lots of parties and money

1. There’s just no time to think about God’s Word
2. It gets pushed to the back of the darkest cupboard

1.  Once upon a time…

2.  A long time ago

1.  Old Mac Donald had a farm

2  .E I E I O

1.  And on that farm he planted some wheat

2.  With a scatter scatter here

1   And a scatter scatter there

2.  The seed was planted everywhere

1. Now some of the seed fell on good soil
2. Well dug and fertilized with extra toil

1. The seeds grew long roots
2.  And sent up huge shoots

1. Strong and eager
2. Nothing pathetic or meager

1. Growing tall towards the light
2. A huge crop, a wonderful sight

1   Jesus said that God’s Word is rather like that seed

2.   There are many people who know its Jesus they need

1   They grow and grow

2.   And fruit they show

1. They love the Lord with all their heart
2. And grow the Kingdom as they do their part.

 Exploration:

One day Jesus was teaching at the lakeside and the crowd was so big He got in a boat and spoke to the people from this floating pulpit. He wanted to tell the people about God and how to live as God’s child. He told stories that had meanings. These are called parables.

As Jesus was teaching, He just knew that some people weren’t even listening, others would be hearing a little but it wouldn’t last, but others would grab what He was saying and their lives would be changed forever. He told this story to show how this happens still today.

The story is called the parable of the sower. In those days, before machines and tractors were invented, the farmer walked through his ploughed land carrying a bag of seed, which he tossed, on to the land.

1. Now some of it didn’t land in the nice, ploughed land, but it fell to the side on the path. The birds flew down and gobbled it up.
2.  Some of the land was still rocky and the soil was very shallow there. The seed that fell there started to grow, but the roots were very shallow and when the sun came up, the plants got burnt because their roots were so shallow.
3. Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes and when these little plants started to grow, the thorn bushes choked them and they died.
4. Most of the seed, however, fell on the good, ploughed land and these seeds grew and produced a wonderful crop.

Application

Now this parable has a meaning for us. What does it mean? Jesus explained it like this. He said that the farmer who sowed the seeds is like the person teaching about God.

1. There are people who hear this message but don’t understand it at all. Their minds are totally closed and Satan snatches away those message seeds just like those hungry birds. Closed minds are just not interested in God at all.

2. The rocky ground is like people who start off well – they hear the message gladly but the minute trouble comes along they give up. Their minds are shallow and their faith is shallow. Shallow minds. These people pretend to be interested in God, but soon fall away.

3. The thorn bushes are other things in people’s lives that choke God’s message. It doesn’t work when people love material things and lots of other pleasures more than God. Or they let worry choke them instead of trusting in God. All these things choke the message from God. They are double minded. You can’t love God and money. Some people love sin too much and they won’t give it up for God.  Double minds.  These people just find everything else much more important than God.

4. The good ground is where people accept the message and grow and become wonderful, fruitful Christians who even become messengers for God themselves. They have fruitful minds and they spread the Gospel. Fertile minds. These people put God first and love Him with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength.

What kind of ground do you think you are? Do you listen to the message from the Bible and remember it and do what it says? If you do then you are growing and bearing fruit.

 If you tell other people the message then you are sowing seed for God.

 Sometimes people will listen to you and other times they won’t.

 Then you’ll see how it’s like the seed falling along the path and birds eat it up before it can grow.

 Sometimes a friend will listen and maybe come to church with you, but they soon lose interest. Maybe there are too many parties to go to and too much shopping to do to bother with God. The things of the world distract them.
That is like the thorn bushes choking God’s message.

Maybe they get teased and mocked for believing in God – a kind of persecution like the hot sun on the shallow roots and the message just dies – they can’t handle the heat! Or maybe problems in their life hit them and they blame God for them.

What is so special about this story is that most of the seed grew and produced a huge crop – thirty, sixty and even a hundred times more than the seeds planted. God’s message is powerful and is spreading throughout the world.

What started as a little band of Jesus’ friends has now grown across the world over more than 2 000 years. It is huge and is still growing.

Let’s let it grow in our lives and let’s help it spread more and more. Let’s get excited and let’s grow.

Challenge to Mission

How can you sow seeds for God? Can you help spread the message further?

Consolidation

There is a worksheet that needs labels written in and there is a separate crossword and answer sheet.

Memory Verse

“They listened to the message with great eagerness and every day they studied the Scriptures.” Acts 17:11