Parable of the Sower

Planting Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Examine seeds and soils while learning about the parable of the sower. Plant flowers to be given away. [Note: 1st- 4th graders visited this workshop. It is best to do this workshop in April, May or June when transplants are easily obtained at the garden center.]

For scripture, objectives, and background - see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

• Bibles (for 3rd grade and up)
• White board and appropriate marker and eraser
• Different types of seeds to examine, and containers to hold seed
• Egg cartons, cut into sections of 4 cups – enough for 1 per student in largest class
• Separate containers of the following: hard clay soil; rocky soil; representation of weedy soil; and good soil (enough for each child to have small amount in class)
• Plastic table covering
• Potting soil for planting project
• Pots for plants – one per student
• Transplants (such as wax begonias) – one per student
• Plastic spoons
• Wet-wipes
• Paper towels

Before Start of Class:

• Write the key Bible verse on the white board in large letters.
• Cover table with plastic table cover.
• Set out supplies.

Presentation

Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Have everyone sit on the floor around the low table. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Gardening Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

[Note: The Shepherd will be quietly taking care of attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: Let’s begin our time together with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God; we thank you for your love. Help us to receive your word, planting it in our hearts. Help these seeds of your love to grow in us and spill over into the lives of others. Amen.”

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:
Examine the different types of seeds. Have the students guess what type of plants produced these seeds.

Ask:

• Do you have a garden?
• What do you grow in your garden?
• What has to happen in order for seeds to grow? (allow all answers)

Say: There is another word that means to plant seeds – the word is “sow”.
[Discuss the spelling of the word “sow” vs. the word “sew”]

Say: A person who plants seeds is called a “sower”. In our Bible story Jesus is telling a story about a sower planting seeds. His seeds end up being planted in four different soils. We know this is an important story because at one point Jesus says, (refer to the verse on the board) “He who has ears to hear let him hear.” It is like Jesus was saying, “Hey, if you can understand – if you have ears that will hear and understand – then listen up!”

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Ask:

• Where in the Bible would we read about Jesus teaching, in the Old Testament or the New Testament?

Say: The Bible is divided into two main sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Stories about Jesus are in the New Testament section of the Bible. We find our story in the Gospel of Mark.

For 3rd grade:
Ask:

• Where in the Bible would we read about Jesus teaching?
• What are the first four books of the New Testament?
• What do we call those first four books? (the Gospels)

Distribute Bibles. (Encourage everyone to bring his/her Bible each week.)
Have everyone find the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, verse 1.
Remind them of the quick way to find the New Testament: dividing the Bible in half gets them near Psalms in the OT. Dividing the back half in half again gets them near the beginning of the New Testament.
Say: This is where our story begins.
Have them find Mark 4:9. Have one person read this verse.
Say: That’s the verse we talked about earlier! This is also where our story ends. So we have a short Bible story. Rather than reading this story, let’s tell the story using different kinds of soils.
Have everyone close his/her Bible, and place them aside.

For all students:
Say: I need you to help me tell this story.
Give each child an egg carton section. As you tell the story below , at the appropriate time, place into a section of their egg carton the different types of “soil”. Encourage them to touch and study the soils.

Say: Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. Jesus taught them many things by parables.

Ask:

• What is a parable?

Say: A parable is a story that teaches a special lesson. Often a parable will seem to have two meanings; one is obvious and the other is hidden. The parable of the sower seems to be about farming or sowing seeds. Yet there is also a hidden meaning. Keep listening.

Say: Jesus told the parable of the sower: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

Give everyone a piece of the hardened clay soil. Talk about why some of the seed would have ended up on the path. Talk about farming in the time of Jesus. Talk about why the path was hard compacted soil.

Ask:

• Do you suppose seed sown on this type of soil could grow? What would happen to the seed?

Say: Jesus says that some of the seed fell on rocky places where a thin layer of soil covered rocks.

Give them some rocky soil. Talk about what would happen to seed planted in this type of soil. [Can’t develop deep enough roots.]

Ask:

• Why do plants need roots? (to get water)
• What do you suppose happens to plants in this soil when the hot sun comes out?

Say: Jesus goes on with his parable and says that other seed fell where thorns grew.

Give them the “thorny” soil.

Ask:

• What type of plant is a thorn? (a weed)
• What do you know about trying to grow a garden that has a lot of weeds?

Say: Jesus said that the seed grew into plants but then were choked out by the thorns. There was one more type of soil where the seeds fell in our parable – they fell on good soil.

Give them some good soil.

Ask:

• How do you suppose a seed would do growing in this soil?

Say: Jesus said it grew and produced a crop, providing a yield that was thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what had been sown. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Discussion
Ask:

• Recall that a parable is a story with a hidden meaning. This story seems to be about farming but what else did Jesus want us to learn?

Say: In this parable the sower is Jesus. The seed in this parable represents God’s word, the message of God’s love spread about like the seed in the parable. The four soils represent different ways we receive and respond to God’s word.

Refer to the four soils in the egg cartons.

Ask:

• If someone is like packed soil, what will happen to the message of God’s love?
  (doesn’t get through; this sort of person does not open themselves to hear God’s word)
  [Ask older students what the birds might represent.]
  
  
• If someone is like rocky soil, what will happen to the message of God’s love?
  (message heard, person believes but then temptation comes or bad times, and person’s faith “withers” – dries up; it helps to have deep roots – an understanding of who God is – this comes from studying God’s word, worship and prayer)
  
  
• If someone is like weedy soil, what will happen to the message of God’s love?
  (message heard, person believes but then the distractions of life – TV, computers, money, work – take over and become more important than God’s word)
• If someone is like good soil, what will happen to the message of God’s love? (it grows in their heart; this growing takes effort)

Say: You don’t need to answer out loud, but think about which of these four soils represents how you would receive God’s word? [Pause, allowing quiet thought.]

Ask:

• What can we do to nourish God’s word in us, to grow our faith? (many answers: read the Bible, come to Sunday’s Cool, go to worship, discuss Bible stories with others, keep a spiritual journal, pray, help others)

Closing:
Say: Jesus loves us and wants the message of God’s love to reach us. An amazing thing happens when we fully accept God’s love. Life can still be hard, but we change inside. God’s word and love grow in our hearts. We are more loving, forgiving and better able to cope with life.

Planting:
Plant flowers into pots (one pot per student). Explain that flowers will be given away.

Clean up:
Ask students to help clean up. Make a trip to wash hands.
Collect the contents of the egg cartons for use in the next class.

Resources:

• Seeders, Lisa. ““NAD Children’s Ministries: Planting Seeds.” 1999. nadadventist.org/cm/SS/helps/k1106_99.txt - LINK DEAD (Idea of way to tell story – with soils.)
• Warvel, Carolyn. “The Resource Room of Danielle's Place of Crafts and Activities: A Garden in My Heart.” 2000.
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright 2005 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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