Open class with a video
Get ready
Pour a few mustard seeds into each child's palm, or onto a sticky note so they don't scatter. Have the pot of soil and the picture ready.
Teach it
"Look closely at what's in your hand. How big is it? Could you lose it? Could you even find it if you dropped it on the carpet?"
Let kids react. Then hold up the picture of a full-grown mustard plant.
"This is what that tiny seed turns into."
Read Matthew 13:31-32:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field, which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."
Did you know?
The people listening to Jesus knew mustard well. In his day, mustard was one of the flavors people cooked with, along with dill and cumin. Farmers and cooks would all have pictured that tiny seed. Jesus taught with things his listeners had in their kitchens.
The big turn
Later, Jesus's disciples couldn't do something they had tried to do, and they asked him why. Jesus told them that even faith as small as a mustard seed could move a mountain, and that nothing would be impossible for them (Matthew 17:20).
"Jesus didn't say, 'You need GIANT faith.' He said a seed-sized faith is enough to start, because God is the one who makes it grow."
Plant the seeds in the pot together. Explain that you'll watch them grow over the next few weeks.
Talk about it
- How did the tiny seed become a big plant? Did the seed do it by trying really hard?
- What is something you're worried about or need help with right now?
- What would it look like to trust God with that, even with a little faith?
- How can we help each other's faith grow?
Pray together
"God, sometimes our faith feels tiny. Thank you that you can grow it. Help us trust you with the big things and the small things this week. Amen."
Take it further
- Preschool: Tape one mustard seed to a card and let kids draw a giant plant growing out of it.
- Elementary: Each child writes one thing they want to trust God with on a sticky note and "plants" it in a class jar.
- Preteen: Compare Matthew 13:31-32 and Matthew 17:20. One is about God's kingdom and one is about our faith. How are they connected?
Questions teachers ask
Where do I buy mustard seeds for this lesson?
Most grocery stores sell whole mustard seeds in the spice aisle. Yellow or brown seeds both work, and they will sprout in a sunny window within a week or so.
What is the main point of the mustard seed parable for kids?
Something that starts very small can grow very big when God is at work. Jesus used it to describe God's kingdom, and later he told his disciples that even faith as small as a mustard seed can do great things.
Is a mustard seed really the smallest seed?
Jesus used it as the tiniest seed his listeners planted, and it was a familiar picture to them. The point of the story is how small it starts, not a botany lesson.
