VERSES: Luke 8:4-15 MEMORY VERSE: Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God." BOOK TO REMEMBER: 1 Peter. Write "1 Peter" on small slips of paper for the students to take home and memorize. PRAYER: Pray that we treat and think about everyone just the same. SPECIAL SONG: Jesus Taught By Parable And Miracle (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.) VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below). LESSON POINTS: The people came out of their cities and gathered together to hear what Jesus had to say. Jesus told them a parable or a story with a spiritual lesson. Jesus told them that a sower or farmer went out into the field and sowed seed. They did not have tractors or trucks or 'planting' machines back then because they had not been invented yet. So a man would go out into his field with a sack over his shoulder and, putting a little of the seed in his hand, would spread the seed on the ground. This was called 'sowing' or planting. Let's try it ourselves right now. Let's pretend we have our sack on our shoulder and then we spread the seed over the ground with our hand out like this. (Demonstrate). But there was a small problem: Not all of the seed went where it was supposed to go which was in the good, rich soil. When the sower spread his seed out on the ground, some of the seed fell by the wayside where it was walked on and the birds came and ate it. Some of the seed fell on top of the rocks where there was just a little bit of dirt. The seed grew very quickly, but because there was not enough moisture or water, the seed withered and died. Some of the seed fell in the thorns and bushes. The thorns grew quickly and choked out the good seed. But there was good seed that fell on the good ground. It grew up and produced fruit one hundred times over what the sower had planted! This was the good ground, the place where the sower or farmer wanted his seed to grow. Jesus told the people, "He that has ears, let him hear." Who didn't have ears to hear Jesus' parable? Everyone had ears! Jesus meant that the people should listen to the story, but His disciples were confused. They asked Him, "What does this parable mean?" Jesus then explained patiently. He said that, when He spoke in parables, that His disciples would know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but other people would not understand what he was talking about except telling the people stories. Then, Jesus said that the 'seed' in the parable was the Word of God. The seed that fell by the wayside were the people who heard the Word, but then the devil came and took the Word out of their hearts, so that the people did not believe and were not saved. The seed that was on the rock were the ones that heard the Word of God, received the Word with joy and enthusiasm, but they did not have any roots and when temptations came, they fell away. The seed that fell among the thorns were those who heard the Word of God, and went out into the world, but were choked out by the cares, riches and pleasures of life, and did not produce any perfect fruit. But, Jesus said, that the seed that fell on the good ground or on the good and honest heart, heard the word, kept it, and, with patience, produced much fruit. Jesus taught the people by parables, by miracles, by command, and by many other ways. He even teaches us today every time we read the Bible! We need to read the Bible every day. We can read it in the morning, or when we come home from school, or before we go to bed or all of those times. It doesn't matter when we read. We only need to make sure that we are reading! "Older Student" Tips: Every time we read this parable, we need to remember that the 'seed' is the Word of God and the parable will make sense to us just like it did to Jesus' disciples. There will always be seed to sow, and there will always be soils that will receive the seed, but sometimes it just doesn't seem like there are very many sowers or farmers to sow the seed. If we tell others what we know about God and Bible, we will be planting the seed, too, then there will be more sowers planting the God's Word in the hearts of others. God will be pleased. ACTIVITY: The Parable Of The Sower Materials needed: small lunch sack, 2" x 6" light brown strip, 5" x 5" dark brown square, light brown scrap paper, 3" x 5" dark brown rectangle, scrap light green paper, 3" x 5 light brown construction paper, .5" x 4" dark brown scrap paper, 2" x 3" dark green paper, 2" x 2" dark green paper, Bible sticker, marker, scissors, tape, glue. Hand out small lunch sack. This is the sower's sack. Draw dark lines on small sack (see picture). Write "Parable of the Sower" and "Luke 8:9-15" on the bottom of the lunch sack. Cut on lines of sack. Open sack. Tape top to make handle. Hand out 2" x 6" light brown strip. This is the wayside. Write "Wayside" on the light brown strip. Draw little seeds on the wayside. Hand out 5" x 5" dark brown square. This is the bird. Draw and cut out a small circle (for the head), an oval (for the body), feathers, and legs) Assemble bird. Glue bird. Hand out 3" x 5" dark brown rectangle. This is the rock. Round edges of rectangle. Draw top of rock. Write "Rock" on the rock. Hand out light green scrap. Cut like grass. Glue pale grass on top of rock. This is the withered seed. Hand out 3" x 5" light brown paper. This is the 'thorns.' Fold paper in half. Fold in half again. Unfold once. Draw zig-zagged line on the top of the folded paper. Cut zig-zag out, but do not cut the folds on each end. This is what keeps the thorns together. Fold like a triangle and secure with tape. Write "Thorns" on the inside bottom of the thorns. Glue leftover light green triangles from the Rock's grass to the bottom of the thorns. This is the withered seed. Hand out .5" x 4" dark brown paper. This is the good soil. Cut a small wiggle at the top of the dark brown paper to resemble a furrow. Hand out 2" x 3" dark green paper. This is the good seed that produced much fruit. Fold dark green paper in half. Cut dark green paper like grass. Glue to top of good soil. Write "Good Soil" on dark brown paper. Hand out 2" x 2" dark green paper. Cut into a circle. This is the good seed. Apply Bible sticker to the bottom of the green seed. Write "The seed is the" on the green seed. Place all soils inside the sower's sack to take home.