Parable of the Sower

Newsroom Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Create, videotape and watch commercials selling products or services that help us learn God’s Word. Lots of credit goes to Neil MacQueen as this lesson is based on one of one of his lessons (see resources). [Note: 4th – 6th graders visited this workshop.]

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)
• Videotaping equipment: digital camera or video recorder, tripod, cords to hook camera or recorder to TV, TV
• Easel with paper
• Other props: pillows in room, cereal boxes covered with white paper and markers

Before Start of Class:

• Set up the video taping equipment.
• Write “Parable of the Sower” on the top of the easel paper.

Presentation

Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the WFUMC Newsroom. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: This is the newsroom of WFUMC. In the past in the newsroom we have videotaped news reports from the Bible. Today we will be making commercials. Before we get started, let’s begin 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. As this season finds us busy with so many activities, help us remember to find time to worship you. You love us so much. Your love surrounds us, and guides us in all we do. Help us to receive your love, planting it in our hearts. Amen.”

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:
Say: In our Bible story for today Jesus is teaching a crowd of people. He tells a story we call the parable of the sower.

Ask:

• First of all, what is a “sower”? [Contrast with word “sewer”.](someone who plants)
• 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, but there is also a hidden meaning to this parable.

Ask:

• Why do you suppose Jesus would want to tell a story that had a hidden meaning? [Share what you have learned from the overview material.]

Say: We know this is an important story because at the end Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear let him hear.” [Refer to key verse poster.]

Ask:

• If you said that to your friends – “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” – how would they react? Do you suppose they would pay attention to you? 

Say: Jesus was telling a story that was important. But because it was a parable with a hidden meaning – the people needed to listen carefully and think about what the story meant. Let’s hear the story. See if you can figure out the hidden meaning.

Ask:

• Where is the Bible would we read about Jesus?

Distribute Bibles. Have everyone find Mark 4:1-9 in his/her Bible. 

If this is a week early in the Rotation, read the scripture together.
If this is a week towards the end of the Rotation, ask the students if they can tell you the story. Have them check their Bibles for accuracy.

Ask:

• What were the different soils that were mentioned in the story?
• What happened to the seed that fell on each type of soil?

As each “soil” is mentioned, write it on the easel paper – path, rocky, thorny (or weedy),
and good soil.

Ask:

• I mentioned before that this story seems to be about farming – a sower is sowing seed, but what about the hidden meaning in this parable? (accept all answers)

Say: Picture in your mind a sower spreading the message of God’s love. Think of the seed in this parable as God’s word, the message of God’s love for us. God’s love is being spread to people – the four soils represent different ways we receive and respond to God’s word.

Refer to the easel paper and ask about what sort of situation might be going on in people’s lives that makes them like the following. [Make notes on the easel paper.]

A hard path?
Rocky soil?
Thorn (weed-choked) soil?
Good soil?

Ask:

• What do we have to do to have “good” soil, being open to receive God’s word into our hearts? (come to Sunday’s Cool, worship, pray, read the Bible, talk about faith questions, serve God, etc.)

Say: All of these things help us connect with God. They are situations that help us be open to God’s word. We are going to make commercials for products or services that help us have that “good soil” so that we hear and learn God’s Word.

Ask:

• What sort of products would help us have “good soil”? [You might need to give an example to get their thought process going.]

Assign suggestions (below) or allow them to come up with their own products based on the problems they stated that could keep someone from receiving the word of God and letting it grow in them.

• Word of God Soil Conditioner
•  Bird BEGONE
•  Blast-o-matic Rock Rejecter
•  Weed Whacker for the Word
•  Saturday In Bed by Eleven Snoozo-matic Pillow
•  Sunday morning Bed Launcher

Say: In a moment the Shepherd will break you into groups of 2 or 3. Each group will come up with a commercial that lasts 15 to 30 seconds. Your group will act out a faith problem as we discussed, and tell how the item you are advertising solves the problem. You may use any props in the room. [Point out the cereal boxes.]

Separate into groups:
Ask the Shepherd to help you break the students into groups – preferably groups with 2 or 3 students.

Say: Each group will create a commercial. You have about 5 minutes to prepare your ad; then we’ll videotape it.

You and the Shepherd should mingle with the groups helping them stay on task.

Watch the clock; give a two-minute warning.

In Case Students need help getting started:
Note: There is no script provided. The basic idea is to have the kids come up with their own words. That forces them to listen and look again at the scripture and work with each other. Of course, you and shepherd are right there in the process. One of the keys is to get kids to include “the point” and not just goofy-ness.

Example: State the problem facing their faith. “Staying up too late? Need to feel bright and ready for God’s word? Then get the “Saturday In Bed by Eleven Snoozo-matic Pillow….”

Video the Ads/View the Ads:
When the time is up, gather everyone together.
Videotape the ads.
When done, hook digital camera or video recorder with proper cord to TV and watch. Finish by having each person identify a problem holding back his/her faith growth.

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.

Resources:

• MacQueen, Neil. “Parable of the Sower Lesson Set from Writing Forum: Drama Lesson - WHPC-TV.” 2001.
  
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Parable of the Sower
Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Explore the story of the parable of the sower while watching the scripture come to life in The Visual Bible: Matthew. Explore the meaning of the different soils.
Note: Lots of credit goes to Neil MacQueen as this lesson closely follows one posted by him (see resources) but, in Carol’s typical style, includes wordy detail.

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.
• Prepare an opening prayer.
• Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place.
• Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

• Bibles (for 3rd grade and up)
• The DVD listed above – Disc 1 (The TV/DVD will have been reserved for your workshop.)
• Snack items
• Story Bible for younger students – The Praise Bible
• Four heart-shaped containers with: hard-packed clay, rocks, “thorns”, and good soil (one soil type per container)
• Cover to “hide” heart-shaped containers
• Numerous seed-shaped pieces of paper that have written on them: “God’s love”

Before Start of Class:

• Prepare snack.
• Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD.
• Insert disc 1 into the player. Cue the DVD to the MAIN MENU. From MAIN MENU, choose SEARCH BY EVENT. Choose “31-36”.
• Put the heart-shaped containers on the center table, covering them until ready to use.

Presentation

Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: Let’s begin 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.

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:
Ask the students to stand up. Point out the edge of the rug, asking them to imagine that there is a line across the room that runs along the edge of the rug.
Tell the students you will be asking questions that have no right or wrong answers. Students will answer the questions by standing along the “line”.

First “line continuum question”: How do you feel right now?
Announce that one end of the “line” is “feeling great”, middle of line is feeling ok, and the other end is feeling bad. Allow students to get into position based on their answer. [Students may be grouped in certain spots along the line.]
After kids line up, interview some of them about their answers. [Remind them that one student should be talking at any one time.] Example: how are you feeling? Why do you suppose you feel that way? (hungry, tired, etc.) Accept all answers.

Next “line continuum question”: When you woke up and thought about going to church, how did you feel about coming?
One end of line is “couldn’t wait to get here” and other end is “didn’t want to come.” Allow students to reposition themselves on the line.
Interview them about their choices: why didn’t they want to come? (too much homework, don’t like getting up early) What excited them about coming to church? (love Jesus, video is favorite workshop, etc.)

Next “line continuum question”: We come to church on Sunday mornings to learn about God and worship him. How much effort do you put in to connecting with God on other days of the week?
One end of line is “I spend a lot of effort” and other end is “no effort”.
Interview them about their choices: what sort of activities do they do to connect with God? What keeps them from finding time to connect with God? Accept all answers! [Make sure no one feels bad for his/her answers; praise honesty.]
Make sure to place yourself on the line continuum, explaining your answer.

Have everyone sit down.

Say: We are going to see a video today on the Parable of the Sower.

Ask:

• First of all, what is a parable? (a story that teaches a special lesson)
• What's a sower? (a farmer, someone who plants seeds)

Say: Jesus often taught using parables. Our Bible story today is a parable about a sower who is planting seeds, but there is a special lesson about his planting. His seeds end up being planted in four different places. We could actually say that this story seems to be about dirt! See if you can figure out the special lesson in this parable.

For 3rd grade and up:
Ask:

• Where is the Bible would we read about Jesus? (NT)

Distribute Bibles. Have everyone find Mark 4:1-9 in his/her Bible.
If this is a week early in the Rotation, read the scripture together. Towards the end of the Rotation, ask the students if they can tell you the story. Have them check their Bibles for accuracy.

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Ask:

• If we want to read something that Jesus said, where would we find it – in the Old Testament or the New Testament of the Bible? (new)

Say: We find our story in the New Testament of the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark.
Read pages 292-297 in The Praise Bible, showing the pictures as you read.

For all students:
Have the Shepherd distribute the snack.

Ask:

• What were the four types of soil? [If they need help remembering, uncover the heart-shaped containers.] 

Ask:

• In this parable, do you suppose Jesus was trying to tell how to plant seeds? (no) 

Say: Let’s watch our video. It is short, but it gives us another chance to hear Jesus tell the parable of the sower. As you watch the video, think about Jesus planting seeds that are a God’s message of love.

Scatter the seed-shaped pieces of paper on the students and on the soils. Allow them to see that the papers are “seeds” and that they say: “God’s love”.

Show the Video:
Assuming the DVD was previously cued … Choose “The Parable of the Sower”
POINT OUT (with out stopping), Jesus.
VIEW this scene (about 1.5 minutes).
PAUSE at the billowing sail, after Jesus says, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Discussion:
[Leader Note: As much as possible without explaining it, let the students come to the realization of the meaning of this parable. Younger students at the beginning of the Rotation will have more difficulty with this. At any time, RESHOW the video if you think it will help. Recall their answers to the line continuum and use them in the discussion questions - alter the part in italics to fit their situations gleaned from their line continuum answers.]

Pick up a seed-shaped paper and referring to the appropriate heart-shaped tray…

Ask: 

• What sort of soil would you find on a pathway? (hard-packed)
• What happened to the seed that fell on the path? (couldn’t break in to hard soil; eaten by birds) Jesus plants seeds, telling us of God’s love.
• What happens if that message of God’s love falls on a person who is like a path; maybe they are sleepy or they didn’t want to come to church?
• What if someone teased them about coming to church? (birds?)
• What happened to the seed that fell on rocky places (sprouted, but scorched by sun)
• What happens if the message about God’s love falls on a person who is like a rocky place; maybe they get busy and forget about God’s message?
• What happened to the seed that fell among thorns? (choked out)
• What happens when the message about God’s love is crowded out by worry about money or homework, or spending too much time with TV, or friends who say church isn’t cool?
• What happened when the seed fell on good soil? (produced a big crop)
• What can help us have good soil - a receptive, nourishing environment for the word of God? (read Bible, talk to others about God, come to church, pray, encouraging others) 

Closing:
Say: The seeds of God’s love are sown or planted for us in many ways: when we attend worship, pray, or discuss Bible stories. We can think about these four trays of soil as representing us. How will our hearts receive God’s word? If we are like the good soil, then the growing can happen in us. As we grow we come to understand about God’s great gift of Jesus and the many things he has done for us. It is ok for this growing to take a long time. Even adults are still growing as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Don’t answer out loud, but think about which of these four trays represents you.
[Pause – count to 10 in your head.]

Say: Some days we will feel like a hard path or maybe worries will choke us. It takes work to be like good soil. We need to remember to do the things that make us ready for God's word in our heart.

Resources:

• MacQueen, Neil. “Parable of the Sower Lesson Set from Writing Forum: Video Lesson.” 2001.
• Thomas, Mack. The Praise Bible. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 1998.
• 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 
If you have found these workshops useful it would make my day if you let me know about it. Thanks!

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