READING 7

  1. Read the headings in Mark 4:1-20.

  2. Highlight verses 9 and 11 of chapter 4.

  3. Read Mark 4:1-20

  4. Consider the following questions.

A) Some seed fell on the ______; _____ came and ate it. (4:4)  These are those who hear the word, but ______ immediately comes and takes it away.  (4:15)
B) Some seed fell on ________ ground; it sprang up, but when the ____ rose, it was _______ because it had no root.  (4:5-6)  These hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root, so when ______________ arise, they fall away. (4:16-17)
C) Some seed fell among _________; but it was ________ and yielded no grain. (4:7) These hear the word, but _______ of the world and the lures of ________ and ________ for other things choke the word.  (4:18-19)
D) Some seed fell into _____ soil; it brought forth _______ thirty-, sixty-, and one hundred-fold.  (4:8)  These hear the word, ________ it, and bear _______. (4:20)


Read 4:11-12 again.  Does Jesus really tell parables in order that people might not understand what he is talking about?


What is Jesus trying to say with this parable?

  • you ought to be more careful in how you plant the seed

  • if you're not 'bearing fruit,' blame the seed? blame the sower? blame the situation?

  • despite all the seed that might get lost, still, amazingly, a single seed can produce as much as a hundred-fold!


As a "sower of the seed" of the Gospel, how might the following facts apply to your mission efforts?

  • spring wheat is planted in the fall

  • a seed can grow even after being stored for a very long time

  • a single seed can yield up to one hundred times its weight

  • there are many factors--some that you can control, others that you can't--which determine a crop's yield