CALVARY CHAPEL MERIDIAN

The Parable of the Sower

Through the Gospels- We Need to Prepare Our Hearts to Receive God's Word

This week in Calvary Kids, we got to look at one of Jesus' many parables. Jesus used parables to reveal the truth to those who wanted to know it and to conceal the truth from those who were indifferent. Jesus talks about four different types of soil in this parable. Those different soils represent our hearts and how we receive the His Word.

Read Luke 8:4-15

In this passage, Jesus wanted to speak to the people with a parable about farming. Back in this time, this parable would have had a lot of meaning to those who farmed because it was a normal part of the culture and made sense to those who truly wanted to understand based off of what they learned in their own experiences with farming their lands.

In this parable, the seed is God's word and the four different types of soil represent our hearts as people. The four types of soil were the wayside, the rocky soil, the soil that has thorns and weeds, and the good soil.

The seeds that fell by the wayside were trampled down and the birds of the air devoured them. Those that fell on rock, soon sprang up, but then immediately died because they had no moisture. Those that fell in the thorn, sprang up but then were completely choked up by the thorns. Lastly, those that fell on good soil, sprang up and yielded a crop a hundredfold.

Not even the disciples fully knew what Jesus was talking about, but they were willing to be humble and ask Him what it all meant. When we seek answers from Christ, He wants to reveal truth; as He did to the disciples. Jesus goes on to explain what each soil meant.

The Wayside: It is the person who hears it, but then the devil takes it away
Rocky Soil: A person who hears the truth with joy but has no roots, so when temptation and persecution come along, they fall away.
Soil with Thorns: A person who hears the truth, but then gets choked out by the cares of the world and everything in it.
Good Ground: This is the person that keeps the truth and bears fruit because he has received it fully.

We need to think about HOW we are listening and receiving God's word. Are we allowing it to just come in one ear and out the other, or really taking it in and letting it transform our hearts and lives?

We want our hearts to be like the seed in the good soil! We need to prepare ourselves to hear God's word and receive it so that we can bear fruit and help bring others to the knowing of Christ.

Family Discussion:
1. What soil do you want to be?
2. How can you prepare your heart to receive God's word?
3. What does the seed represent in the parable?
4. What are some things in this world that can choke out or distract us from God's word?
5. Who can you talk to this week about Jesus?

Memory Verse:
"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God... But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." Luke 8:11, 15

 

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