Conversation Starters

1. Read Mark 4:1–41.

2. Why did Jesus teach in parables? Why do you think he only explained the parables to his disciples?

3. From the Parable of the Sower, why do people reject Jesus? Where have you seen people reject Jesus for these reasons? Which of the bad soils do you relate to at times?

4. How do the kingdom parables in 4:21–34 relate to the Parable of the Sower? How are they meant to be an encouragement to the disciples and to us?

Title: Jesus Teaches
Reference: Mark 4:1-9
Speaker: Paul Brandes, PaulB@cckc.church

Some people have hardened their hearts and rejected me and my kingdom message. They are therefore unable to penetrate the mystery of God’s kingdom or discern its arrival in my words and my works. As a result they also cannot respond to its call for repentance. For them, everything comes in parables. They cannot see past the surface of things to their meaning. There is no point in calling for repentance when people cannot see and hear; and there is no way for people to see and hear if their hearts are hard.

Some people have hardened their hearts and rejected me and my kingdom message. They are therefore unable to penetrate the mystery of God’s kingdom or discern its arrival in my words and my works. As a result they also cannot respond to its call for repentance. For them, everything comes in parables. They cannot see past the surface of things to their meaning. There is no point in calling for repentance when people cannot see and hear; and there is no way for people to see and hear if their hearts are hard. ~ Timothy Geddert, Mark 4:11-12 paraphrase

– Hard soil.

– Rocky soil.

– Thorny soil.

The trouble with being rich is that since you can solve with your checkbook virtually all practical problems that bedevil ordinary people, you are left in your leisure with nothing but the great human problems to contend with: how to be happy, how to love and be loved, how to find meaning and purpose in your life. In desperation the rich are continually tempted to believe that they can solve these problems too with their checkbooks, which is presumably what led Jesus to remark one day that for a rich man to get to heaven is about as easy as for a Cadillac to get through a revolving door. ~ Frederick Buechner

– Good soil.

How do we welcome the Word?