Mark 4:30-35

³⁰Jesus talked some more. He said, “Do you know what God’s family is like? I will tell you another picture story to help you understand it.

³¹God’s family is like a really little seed. You know that gum tree? Its seeds are very small.

³²When one of those small seeds falls into the ground it grows and grows. Later it gets really big with lots of branches, and birds can sit down in the shade on those branches, and they can make their nests there. Well, God’s family will grow like that.”

³³Jesus taught the people this way whenever they were ready to listen.

³⁴He only used picture stories when he talked to all the people. But later, when Jesus was sitting down with only his followers, he told them what the stories really mean.

³⁵On that same day, while Jesus was teaching, the sun started to go down. He was still sitting in the boat, so he stopped teaching and told his followers to take him across the lake.