DiscipleshipCurriculum RaisingDisciples - Flipbook - Page 29
WEEK 4
Studying God’s Word
Say, “What you have all just shared are examples of incremental learning. You have
mastered a skill or a task over time. Some of those tasks may have taken just a few days or
weeks to learn (or a really good YouTube video to follow). Other skills have taken you years,
and you are continuing to perfect them. Learning the Word of God is not something that is
learned in just a few days or weeks. We can spend our whole lives studying the Word of
God and continue to learn things as we grow and mature in our faith. Our responsibility with
the children in our sphere of influence is to help lay a foundation of knowledge and help
them learn the elementary skills of understanding God’s Word upon which they can continue
to learn and grow.”
TIME OF PRAYER
Thank God for His Word, which teaches us about His character, His love for us, and His
will for our lives.
Pray for the participants in the book study.
Pray for the children represented by the participants in the room.
Ask for wisdom as you enter into the study of God’s Word.
Study God’s Word
Say, “In Chapter 3, the author suggests the use of a pattern to study a Bible story: the ‘Five
W’s and an H’ (who, what, when, where, why, and how). We will use that pattern to study a
parable that Jesus told about the importance of God’s Word.”
BACKGROUND TO THE BIBLICAL TEXT
A parable is a story told to provide insight into the Kingdom of God, using situations
common to the people in the first century. Jesus often used parables to confront someone
so that they might respond to the Word of God and believe in the Kingdom of God. Because
Jesus explains the meaning of this parable to the disciples, we can also learn how to
interpret other parables that he tells throughout his ministry.
The scene of a farmer throwing seeds into rows during planting season—and some of that
seed falling elsewhere—would have been commonplace. Throughout that region, there
would have been hardened soil paths formed by people walking (or armies marching)
through the area.
That area does not have rich soil; instead a layer of rock lies underneath a thin layer of soil.
Weeds that steal nutrients from the soil would grow up to six feet tall, choking out other
plants.
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