Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn Jesus told parables to help people understand godly principles.
- Students will learn every parable has an important lesson God wants us to learn and follow.
- Students will learn we must be careful not to let other things push God out of our lives.
- Students will learn how to grow food and serve others by teaching them how to grow their own food.
Guiding Question: How can providing for the hungry quench their hunger to know more about God?
Materials: Containers, dirt, seeds
Procedure: Review the Parable of the Sower from the scriptures above. Emphasize that a parable tells an important lesson that God wants us to learn. Explain how God wants us not to push Him out of our lives but rather bring ourselves closer to Him. Ask students how they can do this. (Prayer, reading Bible, participating in Bible studies, etc). Tell students how there are some people who do not have access to healthy food or the money for healthy food. They may have a space where they can grow food but might not know how to or have the resources for it.
Introduce the service project. Have the students research how to grow food in containers and find plants that will grow food in less than ideal conditions. Take the students with you to an area that may be struggling financially and have the students teach the residents how to grow food with containers, dirt, and seeds that you bring with you. (This may be an area that your church ministers too or where someone in your church may live. Make sure to get permission from parents and the residents there before you go.) Provide the residents with the resources and a sheet that explains how to grow the food that they can keep once you leave. Use this as an opportunity to talk about how God will always provide for them and invite them to church.
Additional Questions: How can students continue partnerships with local areas of need to provide food for them?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students work with leadership at church to see if they can start a garden at the church. In this garden, they can grow food that they can bring to a local area of need.