The Sower and the Seed
I. Why do you SPEAK in PARABLES? (v.10-17)
A. Different TYPES of POWER. (Mk. 8:31-33; Lk. 19:44)
B. Our PREFERENCE for RIGHT-HANDED power. (Jn 6:15)
C. A STORY uses LEFT-HANDED power. (v.10-11; Mt. 13:24)
Everyone knows that Jesus taught with parables. The question is why? Why leave so many things unsaid? Why speak so cryptically? Why not just be direct and to the point so that everyone heard and understood?
1. Kid’s Question: What is your favourite story and why?
2. How would you explain the difference between right and left handed power? What are some examples? Which is better?
II. The PARABLE and its MEANING. (v.3-9, 18-23)
A. The SEED is the WORD. (v.19; Mark 4:14)
B. Different SOILS allow for different IMPACT. (v.19-23)
C. BEWARE of your ASSUMPTIONS. (Mk. 4:24)
D. WHO is the SOWER? (v.3)
We’ve heard this parable multiple times. And some of the things seem pretty clear. It wasn’t clear to the disciples. And believe it or not, we may not have the full understanding either. There are some basics, but there is one question that we often don’t think through fully.
3. What have you typically thought to be the message(s) of the parable of the sower? What does it call you to do or be?
4. How does the story change if God is the sower instead of you?
III. What if it’s NOT all about YOU? (v.18)
A. Sower: EXTRAVAGANT, RECKLESS, PERVASIVE, PRIOR. (Eph. 1:11)
B. Seed: SMALL, HIDDEN, POWERFUL, ACTIVE. (Jn 12:24)
C. Our RESPONSE to the SOWN word. (v.23)
1. To be RECEPTIVE to what is GIVEN. (Jn 1:11-12)
2. To SEEK to COMPREHEND. (Prov. 2:1-5)
3. To WITNESS to the already present WORD. (Acts 1:8)
What if this parable is about God and His kingdom more than it is about how we respond to and share the truth of the Kingdom? What does the sower and the seed show us, in a left-handed way about who God is and how He likes to get things done? And how do we respond to it?
- Which of the aspects of “God the sower” stand out to the most and why? What is that saying to you personally?
- Which of the aspects of “Jesus the seed” stand out to the most and why? What is that saying to you personally?
- How can you gauge your own receptivity to Jesus? How can we know when our “soil” is not receptive?
- What does it mean to witness to the WORD that has already been sown all about you? How is God showing up in your world in ways that you might not have expected?