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.)