Adaptable Meeting Guide: The Parable of the Sower

For a free pdf download of this resource click here

PREPARATION

Before the session, read and think over the passage a few times. Look at the accounts of this story in Matthew 13 and Luke 8 to see which bits Mark’s account draws particular attention to. You will need: some A4 paper and pens, a Bible each, a large piece of paper (A2 or bigger).

GETTING YOUR HEAD ROUND IT

20 mins 

Ask someone to read the passage as the rest follow along in their Bibles. At this stage ask if your young people have any questions about the passage; make a note of these questions but don’t answer them. It might be worth checking that your young people understand how plants grow from seeds. Give every young person a piece of A4 paper and some coloured pens. Get them to fold the paper into thirds lengthways then fold those thirds into four sections, so when you unfold it and hold it landscape you should have four boxes at the top, four in the middle, and four at the bottom. In the top four boxes, get them to look at verses four to eight on their own and then draw or write what happens to the seeds on each different type of ground in the parable. For example, in the first box they’d draw a picture of the seed falling on the path and birds eating it.

Then get them to look at Jesus’ words in verses 13-20. Read it aloud again and ask what the seed represents in the story. Then ask them to write or draw in the middle boxes below what each soil in the story represents. Get everyone to look at the fourth seed. Remind them that the seed represents God’s word. Tell them that God’s kingdom grows when people go out and tell God’s word. It’s by spreading his word that people become Christians and God’s kingdom grows.

THE PARABLE VIDEO

5 mins 

Use the video at this point in the session as a way of introducing the parable and creating an opportunity for discussion and conversation around it. The video is available at premieryouthwork.com/parablevideos

WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN?

15 mins 

Look at the other three seeds and soil. Split your group up into three and get each group to look at a different one of the first three soils (if you have a small group, just keep everyone together and do them one at a time). Ask them to come up with a couple of examples of what those might look like in real life. So in the second soil with the rocky ground, an example might be of someone who hears about Jesus and is excited, but then her parents tell her she can’t be a Christian and still live at home and so she walks away. Get the group to present back to the others on each parable. Your group might enjoy acting out each one. The young people can add these examples to the last box.

WHO’S FAULT?

5 mins

Ask the group: should the sower have done anything differently? Is it the sower’s fault that some of the seed fell on poor ground? Jesus doesn’t blame the sower in the story for sowing badly; in fact, it seems good that the sower is so generous with God’s word. It’s not our fault what ground it lands on. Now is a good time to think back to the young people’s questions at the start and ask them if they still have those questions.

DISCUSSION

10 mins 

Ask: Is it easy to tell our friends about Jesus? If not, what stops us? Get the young people to write different reasons why we don’t tell people about Jesus on a large sheet of paper. Some reasons might be that it’s scary telling other people, or we don’t think it’ll work.

Ask: What encouragement does this passage give us? Does telling people about Jesus work? Should we not do it because people ignore it sometimes, or listen for a bit then walk away?

RESPONSE

10 mins 

Get everyone to think of a couple of people they could share the gospel with over the next few weeks. In groups pray for those people, remembering to ask that God would send his Spirit and open their hearts to see how good and true Jesus is. You might want to do this silently if your group is especially cautious.

BONUS SECTION

5 mins 

The middle section where Jesus quotes Isaiah is a challenging section. For young people who want to dig deeper and if you have the time, get them to look at what Jesus says in verses 9-12. Ask them: what explanation does Jesus give for speaking in parables so often? Get them to look up Isaiah 6:8-10 where the verse comes from and, if you have time, Acts 28:17-28 and Romans 11:7-10 where Paul quotes it to see if that helps you understand what’s going on.

Parables are pictures to illustrate the truth, but Jesus says that to understand that truth you need to have been given ears to hear. Some people hear the parables and yet can’t grasp what Jesus is saying. We need the Holy Spirit to be able to understand what he is saying. Ask how this fits in with the parable of the sower. Let this encourage the young people to pray for their friends, so that God will open their ears to hear his word.