The Kingdom Parables

Last week, students began discussing the Kingdom Parables.
What do we know about the Kingdom of God?

Once,  Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. Miss Elsa’s class listened to this parable and then examined tiny mustard seeds from Israel. They also took a close look at many other types of seeds and then planted some in individual containers. We will watch as these tiny seeds begin to sprout and then move them to our outdoor garden when the warm weather finally arrives. 
Some thoughts on the Parable of the Mustard Seed:

• The Mystery of the kingdom of God is the mystery of life itself, a mystery of growth and transformation, with a continuous movement from lesser to more life.
• God's great strength and power within the seed makes the tiny seed grow and change into something much bigger and so very different - a tree.
• There are so very many seeds in the world, seeds of all kinds, and each of those seeds has this same great strength of God working within it to cause such growth and change. How much of this strength, this energy, is at work in the world all around us!​
• We are like the mustard seed. We began life so very tiny, and yet we are growing and changing. This strength of life of God that is in the mustard seeds is also at work within us,  causing us to keep growing and changing until and beyond our death.

The older students read the Parable of the Leaven and pondered the comparison of yeast in bread to the Kingdom of heaven. We had a lot of fun mixing flour and yeast and watching our dough rise. Freshly baked bread straight out of the oven was a delicious way to conclude our lesson!