Showing posts with label Parables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parables. Show all posts

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Parable of the Prodigal Son


We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
the Parable of the Two Sons,
the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and the Parable of the Rich Fool.
Another Parable Jesus told his followers was called the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Jesus told a story about a rich man who had two sons.
One son came up and said that he wanted his father to let him have his part of the family farm.
So the father split up the farm and gave the son what was his.

The son sold everything his father gave him and then ran off to live in another place where he wasted his money until he had nothing left.
He was poor after that and had to get a job feeding pigs. He was so hungry he even wanted to eat the food the pigs were eating!
He thought to himself that maybe he could just go home to his father and say sorry, and work as a servant there and at least get good food.

He went home, and when his father saw him coming he ran out to see him and gave him a big hug.
The son said that he was very sorry, and was not even good enough to be called the man's son anymore.
But the father was so happy to see that his son was alive that he threw a big party and welcomed him home.

The man's other son that did not leave was upset because he had stayed at home and worked while the other son was out wasting all of his money.
He didn't think it was fair that they would throw a big party for the son who left.

The father told him that he should not be sad because the father was always with him every day.
He was just so happy that his son came back because he thought he had lost his son forever.

Jesus didn't mean we should go run off with all of our money and it's still ok to come home!
He was trying to tell people that it didn't matter what they had done wrong in the world, he would always forgive them and be happy to welcome them into heaven.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the prodigal son)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus Tested

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Parable of the Rich Fool


We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
the Parable of the Two Sons,
and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Another parable Jesus told his followers was about a rich man whose farm grew so well that at harvest time he had so much grain from his crops that he didn't have enough room to store it all.

He decided to build himself bigger barns to store all of his extra grain so he could just relax and be rich for the rest of his life.
God was angry with the rich man and said he was being very foolish, because that night the man was going to die!
Since he kept all the grain and money to himself, all the things he had stored up for himself would not help him.

Jesus was telling his followers that we need to build up our treasures in heaven instead of on earth.
When we die we can't take all of our things with us, but if we have used the things he gave us to help other people then we are building up treasures in heaven for after we die.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the rich fool)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus as a young boy

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Parable of the Good Samaritan


We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
and the Parable of the Two Sons.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus' told his followers that it is very important to love your neighbor.
Some of his followers asked what he meant by neighbor, so Jesus told a story about a man going on a trip.

In the story he told them that a man was traveling along a dangerous road, and robbers came and attacked him and beat him up.
He was laying in the road hurt very badly.

As he was laying there, a priest of the church came by and saw the Samaritan hurt in the road.
He did not help the hurt man, he kept walking.

Next came another person from the church, called a Levite.
He saw the hurt man and walked by too without helping.

Next came a man who was from the town of Samaria, called a Samaritan.
In Jesus' time his followers did not like the Samaritans, and the Samaritans did not like the people that were Jesus' followers.
They fought, argued and did everything they could to stay away from each other.

The Samaritan saw the man lying hurt in the road, a man that he normally would not like and may even have a fight with.
He went over to the hurt man and put bandages and medicine on him to help him heal.
Then he put the man on his donkey for the long journey to the next town and brought him to an inn.
At the inn he gave some of his own money to the person who owned the inn and asked him to please watch over the hurt man until he got better.
He even said that if the innkeeper had to spend money to help the hurt man, he would pay the innkeeper back.

Jesus said that even though the Samaritan was normally an enemy to the hurt man, he was his neighbor.

His people were very surprised that Jesus was telling them they had to be nice to people they didn't like!

His message for people was that we have to treat everyone in the world like our neighbor and love them and take care of them, even if we don't like the person or if they are our enemies.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the good samaritan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: After Jesus' Birth

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Parable of the Two Sons


We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, and the Parable of the Bags of Gold.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Two Sons.

A father had two sons.
He asked them both to go work in the vineyard.

One son said no he would not go, but then later changed his mind and did go to work.
The other son said yes he would go, but never did go to work.

What Jesus meant by this is that it is very important to do God's work.
It is more important whether or not you do the work, than whether or not you say you will do it.

(from: wikipedia - parable of the two sons)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Birth

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Parable of the Bags of Gold


We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Bags of Gold.

Jesus told his followers a story of a man who was going away from his land for a long time.
While he was gone, he asked three of his servants to come and see him.

He gave the first servant five bags of gold, the second servant two bags of gold, and the third servant one bag of gold.

The first servant with the five bags went out and used that money to try to earn more money, and he earned five more bags.
The second servant with the two bags went out and used that money to try to earn more money, and he earned two more bags.
The third servant with the one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground, and buried his bag of gold to hide it.

When the master came back he asked to see the servants to see how they did with his money.

The first servant showed him that he earned five more bags of gold.
His master was very happy and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.

The second servant showed him that he earned two more bags of gold.
His master was very happy with him also and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.

The third servant told him that he was afraid of someone stealing the gold bag, so he hid it in the ground to keep it safe.
His master not happy!
He was very angry with the servant for being lazy and not using the bag of gold that he was given to try and make more.
The second servant showed him that he earned two more bags of gold.
His master was very happy with him also and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.
So he took the bag of gold away and gave it to the first servant.

Jesus wasn't talking about real servants and having bags of gold.
He was telling us about the gifts God gives us, and the gift of his love.
We need to use the gifts he gave us to help other people and to share God's love with others, not hide it away because we are afraid.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the talents or minas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: John the Baptist

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Parable of the Wedding Banquet


We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl, the Parable of the Wandering Sheep, and the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.

He told the story of a king whose son was getting married so he was going to throw a big party.

The king sent his servants off to go invite people to the party, but when they did no one would come to the party.
So he sent more servants with news about how great the party was going to be.
Some of the people ignored the servants saying they were too busy, and others actually killed his servants!

The king was very mad, so he sent his army off to go destroy the bad people.

After that he told the servants to go invite anyone and everyone they could find.
When they did that the party was a great success.

Jesus wasn't telling people that they have to go to wedding parties.
He was telling his followers that he was inviting them to the big party in heaven.
Many people that were invited said they were just too busy for Jesus, and some people mistreated him.

He invited everyone, and the people that believe in him get to come to the big party in heaven.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the wedding feast)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: John

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant



We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl and the Parable of the Wandering Sheep.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

He told his followers about a king who had servants who owed him money, and he wanted them all to pay back the money they owed.

One man owed him ten thousand bags of gold!
The king ordered that this man and his wife and children would be sold to be slaves because they owed so much.

The servant begged the king to please just give him time and he would pay back all the gold he owed.
The king felt sorry for the servant, so he told him that he didn't have to pay back any of the ten thousand bags of gold!

After the servant left the king, he found one of his own servants who owed him only a hundred silver coins, which is worth a lot less than ten thousand bags of gold.
He grabbed his own servant, choked him and yelled at him to pay back the money he owed.
The other servant begged to give him time and he would pay it all back.
But the first servant said no and had his own servant thrown in jail!

The king found out what the first servant did, and was very mad at him.
The king had let the first servant go and said he didn't have to pay back the ten thousand bags of gold,
but the first servant threw the second servant in jail for only one hundred silver coins.
So he had the first servant thrown into jail because he did not treat his other servant the same way he was treated.

Jesus told this story because he wanted us to understand that we need to forgive other people when they do something wrong,
just like he forgives us when we do something wrong.

One of Jesus' followers asked him if he should forgive someone who did something wrong to them seven times.
Jesus said not just seven times but seventy-seven times!

He didn't mean count up to seventy-seven and then that's it, he was trying to say that you should always forgive other people because God always forgives you.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the unforgiving servant)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Luke

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Parable of the Wandering Sheep


We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds and the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

Another parable Jesus told was the Parable of the Wandering Sheep.

Jesus told his followers about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep.
Even though he had a hundred sheep, if just one of them wanders off he goes off to find it.
And when he finds the sheep he is very happy that day that he found it.

He told his followers that we are like the sheep and Jesus is the shepherd.
He cares for every single one of us, even though there are many people on the earth.

parable of the wandering sheep
(from: wikipedia - parable of the lost sheep)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mark

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl


We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds

Another two parables Jesus told were called the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

Jesus told his followers that the kingdom of heaven was like a treasure someone found in a field.
When they found it, they wanted the treasure so badly that they sold everything he had just so that they could have that treasure.

He said the kingdom of heaven is like someone who is looking for beautiful pearls. When they found one pearl it was so beautiful and valuable that they sold everything they had just to buy that pearl.

Jesus isn't telling us to go buy fields and pearls or to hunt for hidden treasure.
He is telling us that following his teachings and wanting to get to heaven should be so important to us that we want it more than anything else in the world.
parable of the hidden treasure
(from: wikipedia - parable of the hidden treasure)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Matthew

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Parable of the Weeds


We just learned about one of Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower

Another parable Jesus told was called the Parable of the Weeds.

He said that God's kingdom is like a field where the farmer planted wheat seeds, but when he was sleeping a bad person came and planted weeds right next to his wheat seeds.

The farmer's helpers asked if they should pull the weeds out, but the farmer said they couldn't because that would uproot the wheat too.

He said to wait until the wheat is grown. Then go pull the weeds out to be burned up and bring the wheat to the barn.

Jesus was really talking about people, and saying that the bad people of the world would not go to Heaven, they would be thrown out like the weeds. But the good people of the earth would be brought to Heaven to live with him forever.
parable of the tares
(from: wikipedia - parable of the tares)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: New Testament

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Parable of the Sower


We just learned about the wise man who built his house on the rock.

Sometimes when Jesus talked to his followers, he would try to explain things by telling stories called parables. They are stories that help teach lessons.

Once when Jesus was talking to some farmers he told a parable about someone who was planting seeds. This is sometimes called sowing, so we call it the parable of the sower.

He said that as a farmer was throwing seeds to the ground, some of it fell along the hard flat path. When that happened the birds came along and ate the seed right up!

Some of the seeds fell into some rocks, where it didn't have very good dirt to grow in. It grew quickly because the dirt was not deep, but because they couldn't put down deep roots they burned up in the sun.

Some seeds fell near some thorns, and when the plants grew they were choked by the thorns.

The last bunch of seeds fell into good soil, grew very well and made very good food.

Jesus explained what his parable meant:

The seeds are like the word of God and the message of his kingdom in heaven.

The seed on the path is when someone bad stops us from believing.

The seed on the rocks is someone who believes the word for a little while, but stops believing later.

The seed in the thorns is someone who worries too much about life and about money and things they want, and can't live for God.

The seed in the good dirt is someone who believes the word, understands it and spreads the word on to other people.

parable of the sower
(from: wikipedia - parable of the sower)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Other Prophets