Passage to Study: Luke 8:4-15; Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20.
Read with the class: Luke 8:4-15.
Memorization Text: Younger children - 2 Timothy 3:15
Older children - 1 Peter 1:23.
OBJECTIVES: To teach:
1. That the Word of God is more than just a collection of stories. It has power to change
lives.
2. That there are enemies and powers that do not want the Word of God to have an effect on
the children.
3. The kind of fruit God looks for in people: love, obedience, honesty, etc.
4. To help the children to think about what kind of heart each one has.
5. The importance of this parable, since it is one of only two that are repeated in three
of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
SCENE No. 1. VISUAL AIDS: Figure of the Sower in the act of sowing the seed.
Figures of (1) the hard ground with seeds on the surface and birds that come to
snatch away the seed; (2) Stony ground and a burning sun; (3) thorny ground with weeds
choking out the good seed; (4) good ground and some sheaves of grain.
DEVELOPMENT:
- By using the case of the sower, the Lord Jesus was using an example of something
familiar with which everyone was acquainted in His day, as are many of the students today.
Sug. Ask the students if they have planted seeds or if they have observed that there are
places, such as the hard ground, where nothing grows.
- The Sower is a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The four kinds of ground represent the conditions of heart of those who hear His word.
- The seed is the Word of God. It is always good seed.
- The heart of every single person in the world is represented in these four kinds of
ground.
- The problem presented by the hard ground is that it does not permit the seed to ENTER
into the heart.
- The problem presented by the stony ground has to do with the SURFACE of the heart, not
allowing the seed to take root.
- The ground that is full of stones keeps the seed from sending its roots down and the sun
burns the sprout.
- The problem with the thorny ground is in what the heart allows to grow BESIDES the good
seed.
- Alongside the roads, thorns and weeds take over the ground and do not allow growth of
useful plants.
- There is no problem with the good ground, since the seed finds conditions which allows
it to penetrate, germinate and grow. The earth is RECEPTIVE to the seed.
- Only the good ground produces fruit or flowers.
- When there is a good environment in the heart, the Word enters, and fruit is produced.
SCENE No. 2. VISUAL AIDS: To the figures of the first scene, the following are added
(1) Birds that take the seed from the hard ground. Also, the figure of a
heart and a smaller figure of a Bible that does not any place to enter. There is hardness
there. (2) Figures of two children, one with Bible in hand, eager to learn the
truth. He becomes the object of mockery from the other child and loses interest.
(3) Figures of some pleasures or ambitions, such as articles used in sports, a
large house, a car and money. (4) Figures of three sheaves of different sizes with
the numbers 100, 60 and 30 written on them.
DEVELOPMENT:
Apl. The hard ground does not allow the seed to enter. The hardness is caused by
unbelief which does not allow the good seed of the Word to have any effect.
Cns. The hard heart makes the devil's task easier as he takes away the seed and does not
allow it to have any effect.
Cns. Lack of interest in spiritual matters has a hardening effect. Ask the students
how many times during the week they think about God, about the Lord Jesus, about
salvation, about heaven, etc.
Apl. In the case of the stony ground, persecution does not always come from companions but
at times it can come even from parents or other family members who might make fun of them.
- Even when some interest can be found, mockery discourages the hearer who is then
stumbled, and decides that it is not worth following Christ.
- The thorns represent the things that choke interest in the Word.
Apl. The pleasures of this world, the desire to acquire riches, the worries and concerns
of daily life, and also excessive dedication to sports all choke interest in the Word.
Sug. The teacher should think of some cases in which students or friends who showed
interest were turned aside and ended with no fruit in their lives.
- The different sheaves show different amounts of growth.
- The fruit is for use by the Sower. It is for God.
Cmt. When someone has believed in Christ and is saved, that person produces the fruit of
love for others, a desire to be generous, and worship towards God as well as sharing in
work being carried out for God.
Exm. When people feel a desire in their hearts to share some of their goods with another,
and fulfill their desire, God gathers fruit from that life and enriches the life of
another.
Sug. The teacher should explain that the fruit God wants is as varied as the fruit to be
found for sale in stores and supermarkets.
- The Divine Sower, Christ, wants to bless the lives of others through the fruit which His
Word produces in every person that believes.
Apl. The seed fulfills its purpose when it germinates and grows in the good ground.
SCENE No. 3. VISUAL AIDS. The Word of God and four hearts showing different
attitudes. (CEF has very useful figures for this). These represent different
attitudes shown to the Word by different people throughout the world. The four
hearts are as follows:
(1) The Hard Heart which does not want to listen to the Word. (Fingers plugging the ears).
(2) The Worried Heart preoccupied with the mockery being directed at him and letting it be
more important than the good effect the seed could produce. Also a sun, with the
word "Persecution" written on it.
(3) The Good-Time Heart, looking for fun and good times, ambitious to become rich, all of
which chokes the good seed.
(4) The Good Heart, receptive to the Word of God.
DEVELOPMENT:
Sug. To end the lesson, ask the students what kind of heart they have.
Apl. Only those that are saved can show evidence of the effect of the Good Seed.
Cmt. The lesson has a second application for those who are Christians and who, for the
same reasons depicted in the first three types of ground, are not producing good fruit.
- Strong desires to become rich are thorns which choke the seed.
- The Seed is the Word of God. There is nothing defective in it. The problem
is found in the ground.
- The fruit is seen in the person whose character is being molded to that of Christ, and
who then shows the "fruit of the Spirit". (Galatians 5:22,23)
Apl. If the Seed falls on good ground, those of "an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience". (Luke 8:15)
- The people whose heart bringa forth fruit are those who "hear the Word of God, and
do it", and who have the closest relationship to Christ, so much so that He called
them His mother and His brethren. (Luke 8:21).
Apl. Ask what kind of heart different people had, for example, Pharaoh, the spies, the
rich young ruler, Demas, Moses, Matthew, etc. |
