For families with little ones (preschool age), this could be a 3-5 minute talk! It doesn’t have to be much. For older children, you can opt in for more of these options to extend your study time together. I recommend doing this with (especially little) children over a meal – whichever meal is the least chaotic in your home (for my family right now, that’s lunch), or saving the questions for while you’re on a walk or playing outside together. Have fun!
1. Read the scripture together: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. The important thing is that you’re reading scripture together! If you’re looking for different ways to engage your children while reading, here are some fun ways to read scripture as a family
Every Reader takes a verse
Ask each child to pick two words they don’t understand to talk about after you read it. (For longer scriptures and younger children, you may need to split up the reading in order to do this.)
Draw a picture of what you read
Act it out as a family (And please send documentation of this to children.sjumc@gmail.com because we could all use a laugh right now!)
Sing it!
Use Legos or dolls to tell the story
2. Tell your kids this scripture is sometimes called “The Parable of the Weeds.” In this story, I like to think of God as a gardener and us people as beautiful flowers (or vegetables)! God loves each and every one of us, and sees us all as the beautiful creations we are, that God created with love!
3. Discussion Questions (as always, pick and choose which questions you’d like to discuss!):
Have you ever gardened? What did you grow?
If you could be any vegetable, what would you be?
Do you like dandelions? Have you ever built a crown of dandelions or picked a bouquet of them? (Did you know dandelions are weeds?!)
How do you feel when you see something you’ve planted, grow? I think God looks at us like we are all beautiful in our own ways, since God created us.
Does every flower or vegetable or plant you see look the same?
Sometimes weeds are in our garden, and sometimes that’s OK. Sometimes we want to or need to weed the garden. If we are the garden, this doesn’t mean that any of us are weeds. It might mean you might need God the gardener’s help to keep growing in the way you were created! That might look different than how your parents or your siblings or your friends grow, and that’s OK! How does God help you grow into who you are?
Do you ever water the garden? Does every plant need the same amount of water? What are some gifts from God that help you grow? (Family members, friends, church, playing, music, anything!)
4. Close in Prayer: God, thank you for creating us with Love and helping us all grow in our unique ways. Help us follow You, so that we can grow into the beautiful flowers or radishes or tomatoes or people You made us to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
~ Erynne DeVore, director of Children’s Ministry