Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13 "Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear" (March 20-26)
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Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13 "Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear" (March 18-24) is the week we are diving into some of the parables Christ taught. You may want to focus on only one parable to show how we can keep learning more and more as we are willing. However, you want to teach, keep scrolling to find study ideas, videos to watch, images to use, and of course, my free handouts and ideas!
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Looking for the free printables? KEEP SCROLLING! These posts are packed with information so be sure you scroll all the way down to the Teaching Ideas section and look for the coral buttons to print!
Study Suggestions
Matthew 13:1-23; Matthew 13:24-58; Luke 8-9; Luke 13-14 from the New Testament Seminary Teacher Manual
Matthew 13-15; Luke 4-8; Luke 9-14 from the New Testament Institute Teacher Manual
“Eyes to See and Ears to Hear” by Elder Kim B. Clark
“Parables of Jesus: The Priceless Parables” by Frank F. Judd Jr. (Ensign article)
“The Truth of God Shall Go Forth” by President M. Russell Ballard
“What Will a Man Give?” by Elder Mark E. Petersen
The Mustard Seed- Fun facts from the New Era
“Parables of Jesus: Prophecy for Our Day” by Elder Carl B. Pratt (Ensign article)
“Precious Gifts from God” by President M." Russell Ballard
“‘Becometh As a Child’” by Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“The Parable of the Sower” by President Dallin H. Oaks
“Certain Women” by Linda K. Burton
Videos
Watch a video and discuss it after dinner, recap a part of the lesson before Church on Sunday, share a video in a group and discuss it together, or pause and discuss a video as part of your main lesson.
The Power of Scripture (about 16 minutes)- Talk from Elder Richard G. Scott
Jesus Declares the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (about 1 1/2 minutes)- Bible video
Jesus Declares the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Mustard Seed, and Leaven (about 2 1/2 minutes)- Bible video
The Kingdom of Heaven (about 2 minutes)- Bible video
Parable of the Sower (about 4 1/2 minutes)- Bible video
Images
Hang one on the fridge, mail it to a friend, cut it into a puzzle, and more! Bright Idea posters come from the Friend, Mormonads are from The New Era, and others are images found throughout LDS.org
Parables of the Master- Great to keep around for the future as we go through these other parables too. You could make a quick quiet book for younger children.
How Do You Punctuate the Gospel- Mormonad (tie it into the parable of the sower)
Which Side Are You On?- Mormonad (use it with the parable of the wheat and the tares)
Missionary Work Mormonads go well with the parable of the net.
Testimony Snowball- Bright Idea
Increase Your Faith- Bright Idea
Scriptures are Packets of Light- Bright Idea
Missionary Fun- Bright Idea
The Future is as Bright as Your Faith- Bright Idea
Courage- Doing the Right Thing When Afraid- Bright Idea
The Sower by George Soper (same as manual)
Burning the Tares- Bible video image
Jesus Teaches Parables- Bible video image
He that Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear- Bible video image
A Mote- says you can use it to show how big a mustard seed is
Jesus Declares Parables to His Disciples- Bible video image
Questions to Ponder
Use these questions to help you ponder as you do your personal studies, encourage journaling for your kids, text them to a friend or child to get the conversation going, or take them with you in the car and randomly draw from a bag as you carpool to school or your next practice. These go beyond the questions in the manual.
How can you make sure you are sowing yourself in good ground? Which type of ground do you feel you are currently sown in? How can you make changes when necessary?
How have you prepared your heart to receive the word of God?
In what ways have parables taught you different things over and over as your spirituality has grown?
How are you seeking the kingdom of heaven? In Matthew 13 there are multiple parables demonstrating people seeking items like they should seek the kingdom of heaven. What can you do to make sure your sights are always on the kingdom of heaven?
When have you heard the word of God and done what the word said? How did that increase your faith and testimony?
How can you go forth and show the good things that have been given to you because of Jesus Christ and his gospel?
How can your faith help you overcome your fears?
Has Christ tried to gather you as a hen under her wings and you would not be gathered? Why did you fight against being gathered to Christ?
What are some modern-day parables you have heard? How did it help you understand a gospel principle better?
What are some things you are doing to be sure you are a wheat instead of a tare? What helps you stay strong?
What does it mean to be a “certain” woman or man? Are you certain? How can you become so if you aren’t yet now?
What can you do to train your ears to be more in tune to spiritual sounds, our eyes to see spiritually, and our hearts to be touched?
What kind of treasure would you compare the gospel to? Why?
What can you do to help relieve the burdens (physical and spiritual) of others near you? How can you recognize those needing your help?
Teaching Ideas
These are my ideas. My hope is that my thoughts may be a springboard to your own great ideas that are right for you and your family. Some ideas are for families with young children while others might be for widows meeting together as a group. Read through and find what’s right for your situation.
Matthew 13
Discuss the parables listed in Matthew 13 with my Parable Poster. There are three sizes for you to choose from. One as an 8x10, two to a page, and as a 4 page poster so your whole family or group can see it. Write or draw the meanings behind the parables on the poster. You can have each person in your family share one specific parable or do it all together. If you are struggling with any of their meanings, be sure to check out my Study Suggestions section above for more insights.
If you have younger children and need a simple visual while you discuss these different parables try creating a book like the one on Mormon.org (or ComeuntoChrist.org)- it’s the second flipbook, “The Parables of Jesus”. Each page has a photo and quick summary of some parables (Note: The one on Mormon.org doesn’t include the parables for this lesson. However, use the images included in the resources above and create your own version to use for this week).
Talk about the definition of the kingdom of heaven with my Kingdom profile card. Discuss what it means and how we can enter the kingdom of heaven today.
Play the Parable Game! Put objects or my parable object cards into a bag. The challenge is to use the object to explain some of the truths of the kingdom of heaven. If you want, add the topic cards into another bag. Each person picks one from each and tries to make their own parable to relate their topic. It’s a great way to stretch the mind and start seeing things in a new light. Then dive into some of the meanings of the parables Christ gave.
Draw a parable object card and see if you can use that object in place of the things that Christ used in his parable. Then glue it onto the Parable Poster.
Play a matching game! Using the parable objects and topics, see if you can get a match. It’s a match if you can think of a way to tie them together. If not, turn them back over and try again next turn.
Matthew 13:3-23; Luke 8:4-15
Grab a sponge and some fast growing grass seed! Cut your sponge into hearts and discuss having good ground in our hearts. You can also do this version of a house. It’s lots of fun and keeps the conversation going longer as you watch it grow!
Do a science experiment! Plant seeds in four different containers and see how they grow with the different soils. For the hard ground you could mix in clay with your soil, for the thorny ground, add lots of weeds, etc. Pick a seed that will grow quickly like a bean or grass so you can discuss it this month. Then see what type of soil each of us might have in our hearts as well as what our soil might be as a family. How do we keep our soil good? What does that mean for us as we study the New Testament this year and continue using the Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families?
Add a fun dessert one night and review the parable again! You can make a flower pot dirt dessert (chocolate pudding, crushed chocolate cookies, and gummy warms). I love the addition of these flower spoons from Stuff Amy Made.
Use A Lively Hope’s printable sower seed handout to discuss and understand the sower parable better.
Matthew 13:13-16
There are some free coloring pages on this verse over on The Memoirs of a Reluctant Hostess. One is about parables in general. The other quotes Matthew 13:9 “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” with the images of the parable of the sower.
Go on a Listening Walk! As you discuss having hears to hear and learning to be in tune with God’s messages, practice by hearing sounds around your neighborhood. Creative Family Fun has a checklist you can use on your walk.
- Make some Listening Ears and do some audio only activities like reading the scriptures out loud with all the lights out, listening to music with your eyes closed, or my favorite, stomping on bubble wrap! You can throw in a secret word for people to listen to as they do these other activities as well. Did they hear it? Why? If not, why might they have missed it? How can we train our ears to listen better to spiritual things? Then do the same thing with eyes.
Certain Women
Discuss some of the certain women in the scriptures as well as those in your life. Spend time making your own profile cards of A Certain Woman. Draw their picture as well as what helps you know they are certain. There are two versions of this card- single sided or one with extra blank card on the back for more room to draw and write your notes.
- Dive more into the stories of the women in the New Testament. I recommend "Women in the New Testament" by Camille Fronk Olson (it's also on Deseret Bookshelf PLUS) and "Walking with the Women of the New Testament" by Heather Farrell.
- Bring out the Legos and make a heart. You can tie it in with preparing your heart and the sower parable as well as helping others. Thanks to Scripture Stackers for the design!
Luke 13:11-17
Help relieve someone’s bondage. You might not be able to take it all away but maybe you can lift it for a moment. Here’s a great way to give someone a break. Plus use my search bar to find more easy ways to serve. How else can we help free someone?
- Looking for more activities? Check out Teach Me Messages lesson kit. This week's includes a Cake Walk game, treasure chest fun, and more! You can also subscribe monthly. Be sure to tell them I sent you.
Activity Pages
In the interest of focusing my time better, I will no longer be providing the specific links back to the activity pages. LDS.org already has a topic page now so I feel it’s redundant for me to do it as well. Definitely check out the latest addition of the Friend and New Era as well though. I have years of those links by topic on this site too. You can search by keyword using my handy dandy search bar (be sure you have flash enabled though or you won’t get any results).
