Initiate

A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.

Interact

After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others. 

What are some things you use every day that come from seeds?

Make a list of things we use every day that come from seeds.

After cultivating a list, check it against the following ideas, and try to add even more:

• Hundreds of seeds are eaten as food, including producing nuts, fruit, grains, cereals, and spices.  
• Many cooking oils are made from seeds.
• What about medicine? Did you know that a willow tree bark makes aspirin?
• Clothing—there are textiles that come from seed plants.

Seeds are not just limited to food. They also play a crucial role in the production of textiles, paper, and wood products, which are used in a multitude of everyday items.  Did you know corn is turned into fuel for cars?

While seeds are amazing, they require soil to grow. As we explore the parable of the Sower, the seed, and the soil, consider your own soil—your heart.

Insight

The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.

Then participants are to ask:

1. What is going on in this passage of Scripture?
2. What are the key words and phrases? Highlight them.
3. Why do you think this passage is included in the Bible?
4. What does it contribute to our “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ”?

Read Matthew 13:3-9:

3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Download Matthew 13:3-9

This parable introduces the Sower (representing God) and the seed, symbolizing the truth, the gospel, and the message of salvation for the world. Scattering the seed illustrates the abundance and generosity of God's grace as He spreads His message widely, regardless of where it may fall.

Read Matthew 13:18-23 and share the explanation of what the different soils stand for.

Reflect and discuss what soil types are the most prominent in today's culture. On the path, the rocky, thorny, or good soil? Can we see the different soil types at various points of our lives, and others at other seasons?

Some will see this parable as a general picture of how the world will respond to the gospel, and the harvest at the end will reveal those who will receive the gospel. However, it's important to remember that this parable is also a personal challenge. It calls us to examine our own hearts and our own lives to see the nature of our soil, and to engage with the message in a deeply personal way.