These are the assignments I'm giving my family members to prepare for our study this Sunday:
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
Read Luke 8:1-3 In contrast to the rejection at Nazareth, what does Luke tell us about some of the women who followed Jesus? Why do you think they were so committed?
Why does Christ Teach in Parables? Matthew 13:10-17
Why does Christ teach in parables?
Consider the following quotes:
The Master Teacher’s parables show both the justice and mercy of God at work among those who hear them. “Two men may hear the same words,” wrote Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933). “One of them listens in indolence and indifference, the other with active mind intent on learning all that the words can possibly convey; and, having heard, the diligent man goes straightway to do the things commended to him, while the careless one neglects and forgets. The one is wise, the other foolish; the one has heard to his eternal profit, the other to his everlasting condemnation.”6 (source)
Discovering how to interpret and apply the parables of Jesus is essential to getting the most from them. To interpret a parable, one must study what it meant to them, there, then. To apply a parable, one must ponder what it means to me, here, now. “The only true interpretation is the meaning the parable conveyed, or was meant to convey, when first spoken. The application of a parable may vary in every age and circumstance” (Bible Dictionary, “Parables,” 741). (source)How can we learn from the parables Christ taught? How can we apply them to our lives?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
The Parable of the Sower, The Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Matthew 13:1-9, Matthew 13:18-30, 13:36-43, Luke 8:5-15
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed, The Parable of the Leaven, Matthew 13:31-35
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
The Parable of the Treasure in the Field, The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, Matthew 13:44-46
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
The Parable of the Net, The Parable of the Householder, Matthew 13:47-52
What do these parables teach about the kingdom of God? How can we apply them in our lives and in the modern world?
Bonus: Write your own parable, using every-day things from your life to illustrate something about the gospel. Come prepared to share it with our family.
Do Tragedies Happen Only Happen to Sinners? The Parable of the Fig Tree, Luke 13:1-9
Though we don't know much about the two events spoken of -- the Galileans being persecuted by Pilate and a tower that fell in Siloam and killed 18 people -- Christ used two recent tragedies to teach an important principle about righteousness. While many at the time thought that bad things only happened to the wicked, what does Christ teach instead? Why does Christ follow up this teaching with the parable of the fig tree? What does the parable teach about God's mercy and eventual judgment?
Consider this quote:
Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained the Savior’s teachings:
“To say that particular individuals slain in war, killed in accidents, smitten with disease, stricken by plagues, or shorn of their property by natural calamities, have been singled out from among their fellows as especially deserving of such supposed retribution is wholly unwarranted. It is not man’s prerogative to conclude in individual cases of suffering or accident that such has befallen a person as a just retribution for an ungodly course. … The Lord brings difficulties upon the most righteous of his saints to test and try them; persecution … is the heritage of the faithful.
“The real lesson to be learned from Jesus’ conclusion, ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,’ is that there was no difference in righteousness between the slain and the living, and that unless the living repent they would perish with the dead. … In a broader sense the thought is that as these have perished temporally so shall all perish spiritually unless they repent” (source)
How many will be Saved? Luke 13:22-30
What question is Christ asked in these verses and how does he respond? Who will be shut out of the kingdom of heaven? In contrast, who will sit down in the kingdom of heaven? What does it mean that the "last shall be first, and the first, last?"
Events from the Life of Christ: Rejection in Nazareth, Followed and Served by Certain Women, Matthew 13:53-58, Luke 8:1-3
Read Matthew 13:53-58. Why did the people of Nazareth reject Christ? What application does this have for us today? How do we avoid it being said of us, "he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."?Read Luke 8:1-3 In contrast to the rejection at Nazareth, what does Luke tell us about some of the women who followed Jesus? Why do you think they were so committed?
Consider these quotes from the Daughters in my Kingdom book:
Read Luke 13:10-17 What does Christ teach about the worth of souls in this story? Why do you think his enemies were ashamed at his words? How can we learn to rejoice at the good fortune of others like the crowd did?
Consider this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
While little is known about a formal organization of women in the New Testament, evidence suggests that women were vital participants in the Savior’s ministry. The New Testament includes accounts of women, named and unnamed, who exercised faith in Jesus Christ, learned and lived His teachings, and testified of His ministry, miracles, and majesty. These women became exemplary disciples and important witnesses in the work of salvation.
Women journeyed with Jesus and His Twelve Apostles. They gave of their substance to assist in His ministry. After His death and Resurrection, women continued to be faithful disciples. They met and prayed together with the Apostles. They provided their homes as gathering places for Church members. They valiantly participated in the work of saving souls, temporally and spiritually. . .
It is likely that these women provided some economic support for Jesus and His Apostles, along with service such as cooking. In addition to receiving Jesus’s ministering—the glad tidings of His gospel and the blessings of His healing power—these women ministered to Him, imparting their substance and devotion.How are women a vital part of the kingdom today?
Events from the Life of Christ: The Calming of the Storm, and the Woman Healed on the Sabbath, Luke 8:22-25, Luke 13:10-17
Read Luke 8:22-25. What can we learn from the calming of the storm? What can we do when we are in the midst of our own tempests?
Read Luke 13:10-17 What does Christ teach about the worth of souls in this story? Why do you think his enemies were ashamed at his words? How can we learn to rejoice at the good fortune of others like the crowd did?
Consider this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.
Furthermore, envy is a mistake that just keeps on giving. Obviously we suffer a little when some misfortune befalls us, but envy requires us to suffer all good fortune that befalls everyone we know! What a bright prospect that is—downing another quart of pickle juice every time anyone around you has a happy moment! To say nothing of the chagrin in the end, when we find that God really is both just and merciful, giving to all who stand with Him “all that he hath," as the scripture says. So lesson number one from the Lord’s vineyard: coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live.
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