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Learning from the teacher
(1) Think of the best teacher you’ve known. Why were they so good?
My Dad is a physics teacher and he used to explain things in a really clear way, relating them to things I knew about and could understand.
Diode - like a one-way street. The current can only go one way through it.
Read Mark 4: 1 - 20
(2) Why do you think Jesus used this particular illustration?
- Something the audience can relate to
- Drawn out in such a way as to get people to ask “What kind of soil am I?”
(3) What does each element in the parable mean?
(i) Seed = Word of God
(ii) Path = People who are hard of heart
(iii) Birds = Satan
(iv) Rocky places = Shallow response to the gospel
(v) Sun = Trouble
(vi) Thorns = Worries and desires of life
(vii) Good soil = People who repond receptively to the gospel
(4) Can you relate to any of these responses in your own life or the lives of others?
Me - seed has been planted in good soil, but often have to do battle with the thorns of worries. Fortunately, God has really good secaturs!
I’ve known people who have seemed really enthusiastic about being a Christian at first, but it was more of an emotional response and wasn’t deep-routed in knowledge of the Bible and a real understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. Or people who have been Christians, but have found the price to be too much when the going has got tough - they have allowed worldly pressures to choke them and pull them away from the faith.
I’ve known other people who have grown to Christian maturity and have gone on to plant the word of God in the lives of others.
(5) What can this parable teach us about evangelism?
- Speak to others in language they understand and use illustrations and examples taken from every day life.
- Understand the different responses to the gospel.
(6) What ‘modern day’ parables can we use to tell others about Jesus and his kingdom?
- Sat nav
- E-mail (viruses)
- Music
- Computing and technology
- Diode example again. If it’s the wrong way round in the circuit, nothing works. The current can’t pass through and the light won’t be lit. Turning it round (repentence) brings the circuit to life and lights the light.
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