The Parables Of Lent. Communications. Creative. A Lenten Bible Study in Six Sessions. Sample. Leader s Guide

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1 The Parables Of Lent A Lenten Bible Study in Six Sessions Leader s Guide

2 The Parables Of Lent A Lenten Bible Study in Six Sessions Table Of Contents Introduction... 4 Tips For Using This Study Guide... 5 Session 1 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Session 2 The Sower and the Seed Session 3 The Hidden Treasure and the Priceless Pearl Session 4 The Good Samaritan Session 5 The Workers in the Vineyard Session 6 The Prodigal Son By Carol Geisler. Art and design by Lindsay Galvin by for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. 3 3

3 4 Introduction Jesus taught the crowds using parables, indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable (Matthew 13:34). Jesus parables are stories that use earthly things and situations to teach us the secrets of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:10). The stories are about ordinary people and things tax collectors, farmers, travelers and merchants, fruitful seed, a priceless pearl and a squandered inheritance. The parables use these very ordinary things to teach us about the extraordinary love of God and the astonishing secrets of his incomparable kingdom mercy, undeserved yet freely given, the saving Word recklessly scattered and bearing rich fruit, surprising compassion, an absurdly gracious Master and an eagerly waiting, forgiving Father. 4

4 Tips For Using This Study Guide 1. Always begin each session with a prayer. One is included for each session. You are encouraged to expand each of them with prayer concerns from the group. 2. Feel free to follow the format of each session as presented here or rearrange and adapt the material to meet the needs of your group. 3. You will need Bibles to look up the verses listed in each session. 4. As you work through the material in this study guide, be sure to write down in the margins any questions that come to mind or any thoughts that arise in the course of the discussion and your contemplation of each session s Scripture verses. 5. Throughout each session, think about specific ways you can apply the themes of the study to your life this Lenten season. 6. If you are using this guide in a group setting, consider assigning the Bible verses to various people in the class to read aloud at the appropriate time. This will move the session along more efficiently. Note that some of the questions ask for facts. Typically, the answers to these questions will come from the Scripture verses just read. Other questions are more subjective, asking for your opinion or an example from your own experience. Since your life experiences are different from anyone else s, answers to these questions are neither right nor wrong. A Leader s Guide that accompanies this material is available from for the Parish (Code TZL). 5 5

5 SESSION 2 The Sower and the Seed Leader s Guide For Session 2 BEFORE CLASS: Read through this session yourself. Examine the Bible readings listed and become acquainted with them. 12 RECEIVE THE WORD THE PARABLE of the SOWER and the SEED A sower went out to sow. Matthew 13:3 Opening Prayer Heavenly Father, help us by the power of your Spirit to receive with meekness the implanted Word. Bless our study of your Word so that we might bear fruit in service to our Savior and bring glory to your holy name. Amen. READ: Have someone read the Opening Prayer or read the prayer in unison. 12

6 DISCUSS: Discuss successes and failures in gardening. READ: Read aloud or have someone read aloud the Introduction. Bad Soil 1. The people of Judah acted unjustly toward others; they oppressed sojourners (people of other nations or strangers who lived among them), the fatherless and the widows. They shed innocent blood and worshiped other gods. 2. The people put their trust in the temple and not in God. They may have believed that the temple, as a symbol of God s presence, could never be destroyed. The people of Judah were clinging to the appearance of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5) instead of trusting in God himself. As Jesus says in Mark 7:6, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 3. The people of Judah needed to humble themselves before God and ask his forgiveness, as the tax collector does in the parable. Discussion Describe your successes or failures in gardening. Introduction So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose (Isaiah 55:11). Like rain that waters the earth, like seed that springs up, the Word of God goes out and will not return empty. Just as the Jesus, the Word made flesh, accomplished the saving purpose for which he was sent, so the Word of the Gospel the good news of all that Jesus did for us accomplishes the purpose for which it is sent, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:6). Bad Soil 1. Read Jeremiah 7:1-7. What kinds of things have the people of Judah done to show that they are not good soil for the Word of the Lord? 2. Why might the people have placed their trust in the deceptive (and repeated) phrase, This is the temple of the Lord? Note God s warning in verse 4 (see also Matthew 7:21 and Mark 7:6-7). 3. Read James 1:21. What lesson might the people of Judah have learned from the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? 4. Read James 1: How did the people of Judah reflect these words from the apostle James? 5. Read James 2: How was Judah s trust in the temple like the dead faith that James describes? 4. The people deceived themselves by trusting the temple to save them. They heard the Word of God through the prophets but did not follow what they heard. Their religion was not pure and undefiled because they oppressed the widows and orphans, rather than caring for them. 5. The mistreatment of the fatherless, the widows and sojourners, the shedding of innocent blood and the worship of idols were signs of a dead faith; the works, the lives, of the people of Judah did not give evidence of a living faith

7 14 Bearing Fruit 1. Read Colossians 1:3-8. The people of Judah had become bad soil. How are the Christians at Colossae different? What had been planted among them that was now bearing fruit? How had Paul heard about them? What might a messenger say to others about the reputation of your congregation? 2. Read Colossians 1:9-10. What does Paul ask in prayer on behalf of the Colossian Christians? What kinds of knowledge and behavior are included in bearing fruit? In which of these areas would you wish your congregation to grow? 3. Read Colossians 1: How are we qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints? Our task is to give thanks. What has God done for us? Note the verbs that describe the work of God! 4. Remember Daniel s plea for mercy and the tax collector s prayer from the last session. Who creates and nourishes the good soil, preparing it to receive the implanted Word (see John 16:7-8)? Bearing Fruit 1. The Colossians heard and understood the grace of God. Paul and Timothy had heard of their faith and the way in which the Gospel, which had been planted among them, was bearing fruit. Epaphras, who ministered among the Colossians, told Paul and Timothy about the love shown by the Colossian Christians. Answers will vary as to the reputation of the congregation. 2. Paul prays that the Colossians will be filled with the knowledge of God s will, that they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in good works and increase in the knowledge of God. To bear fruit, believers must know the grace of God and learn from his Word what is pleasing to him. Answers will vary as to the growth of the congregation in bearing fruit. 3. God the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints through the redeeming death and resurrection of his Son. He has delivered us from darkness, transferred us into Christ s kingdom and forgiven our sins. 4. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, creates and nourishes the good soil of hearts receiving the Word. The Spirit is the one who convinces the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. 14

8 The Sower and the Seed 1. The seed falls on a path, on rocky ground, among thorns and on good soil. The seed on the path refers to those who do not understand the Word, and Satan snatches it away. The rocky ground refers to those who hear the Word joyfully, but then trouble and persecution cause them to fall away. The thorns are the cares and riches of the world that choke the Word so that it is unfruitful in the hearer. The good soil represents those who hear and understand the Word and bear the fruit of faith in their lives. 2. Answers will vary, but all three accounts explain that the seed is the Word. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus mentions that the good soil bears fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold, while Luke only mentions the hundredfold yield. Luke s account also describes the good soil hearers as those who hold the Word fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. Luke s account also says the fruit among thorns does not mature. 3. If someone hears the Word and does not understand it, the devil snatches the Word away so that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:12). We should use appropriate language and teaching so that in our witnessing about Jesus we are readily understood by those who hear. The Sower and the Seed 1. The seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11). Read the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-8 and What are the four places in which the seed falls, and what is the meaning of each? 2. Read Jesus explanation of the parable as recorded in Mark 4:14-20 and Luke 8: Compare the three gospel accounts. What additional insights do you find? 3. What happens when someone hears the word and does not understand it? What might we learn from this concerning our teaching, preaching and witnessing? 4. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. For those not rooted in Christ, persecution and trouble may cause them to fall away. What does the apostle Paul say about persecution and weakness? 5. Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10. How are Paul s words here a warning concerning the seed that falls among thorns? 6. Read Colossians 2:6-7. How might the people of your congregation remain rooted and built up in Christ and so bear fruit in his name? 7. Read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. Who alone is responsible for the growth of the implanted Word? Psalm 92:7-8, L Though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. C But you, O Lord, are on high forever. L The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. C They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. L They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; 4. Paul is content with persecution and C He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. weakness because the power of Christ strengthens him. Christ s power is displayed in weakness, as it was on the cross. 5. Paul writes that those who are rich may be tempted to fall away, trusting in their wealth and craving more. The thorns in the parable represented the temptations of wealth and worldly cares that choked the Word so that it did not bear fruit. 6. Answers will vary, but believers remain rooted in Christ through hearing and learning his Word and receiving his body and blood in Holy Communion. They might be built up through worship, fellowship and acts of service. 7. God alone gives the growth. READ: Read responsively the words of the Psalm

9 Closing Prayer Lord of the harvest, by faith, through the nourishment of your Word and your body and blood, we remain rooted in you. Teach us by your Spirit to bear rich fruit in lives of love and service. We pray that through our witness you will scatter the seed of the Word, the good news of your redeeming love, so that others will come to know and worship you as Lord. Amen. READ: Have someone read the Closing Prayer or read the prayer in unison

10 ASSIGN: Assign the question for the next session. For Next Time Read Matthew 16: How might Jesus disciples, who had probably witnessed crucifixions, have reacted to his command to take up the cross? 17 17

11 The Parables Of Lent A Lenten Bible Study in Six Sessions This six-week Lenten Bible study follows the themes of The Parables of Lent worship series (Code TZU). Each session in this Bible study includes Bible readings, prayers, questions, an ice breaker and discussion starters related to biblical parables, interwoven with the Lenten themes of receiving justification, the Word, the Treasure, mercy, grace and forgiveness. This large-format Leader s Guide includes all the answers, helpful study notes and session directions. By Carol Geisler based on worship services by Dean Nadasdy and Tom Eggebrecht. Design by Lindsay Galvin by for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. (Student Guide code: TZS) TZL