The Parable of the Sower - Part 2

Matthew 13:22-23 - The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

We finished our study of this great parable tonight by talking about the last two soils. We discussed the thorny soils and what those thorns represent (cares, deceitfulness of riches, desire for other things, pleasures of life). We talked about how these thorns can literally choke the Word for new hearers of it. We looked at Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, and Matthew 19:16-22 and asked the question, "What is all you really had was Jesus?" This was a hard reality for the kids to imagine, but we talked about what that would look like and mean for each of them.

Next we talked about the good soil and how those hearers of the Word understand what they hear. They accept it and hold it fast in an honest and good heart. It bears fruit in their lives, which can represent souls they help lead to Christ through evangelism, the fruit found in Galatians 5:22-23, or even character. We looked at Colossians1:3-6 and John 15:1-8 and talked about how God prunes us through trials and tribulations, but that pruning helps us to grow in Christ and bear even more fruit, unlike the trials and tribulations the rocky soil hearers face that cause them to turn from Christ altogether.

We also discussed how it was a good season for the crops back in Bible times if a harvest produced 10 fold. Yet Jesus says good soil hearers will produce 30, 60, and even 100 fold harvests. That would have been considered miraculous and in some cases even impossible. But we know that with God, ALL things are possible!

We also finished our parable cubes tonight and assembled them. So parents, quiz your kids with their cubes! Ask them to tell you the Parable of the Sower, its elements, and what each soil represents. They know it!

We also replenished the bubble gum on the drama club's bulletin board in the hallway and loaded some food for a family in need into Mrs. Kim's van. Just because we had no brown bags to fill tonight because we still have some left over from the big lot we did at Christmas, didn't mean God couldn't use us for a few missions.