Religious+Beliefs+&+Sacred+Stories

**__Religious Beliefs__**
====Religions have a very complex system of beliefs about higher beings, about very important or sacred people (heroes) from the past, about human nature and the natural world, about 'salvation' and how human beings get in tune with whatever they see as the center of their belief system, about how the whole universe is organized. //Examples:// The Ten Commandments, the Christian Creed, the Holy Trinity, etc...====

Religious beliefs are often contained within sacred stories. //Examples: Myths, legends, parables etc...//
__Parable of the Mustard Seed - Mathew 13:31 - 3____2__


Later that same day, Jesus left the house and went down to the shore, where an immense crowd soon gathered. He got into a boat, where he sat and taught as the people listened on the shore. He told many stories such as this one: "A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly, but they soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. Other seeds fell among thorn s that shot up and choked out the tender blades. But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!" His disciple s came and asked him, "Why do you always tell stories when you talk to the people?" Then he explained to them, "You have been permitted to understand the secret s of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not. To those who are open to my teaching , more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge . But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them. That is why I tell these stories, because people see what I do, but they don't really see. They hear what I say, but they don't really hear, and they don't understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah , which says: `You will hear my words , but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning.1 For the heart s of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes-- so their eyes cannot see, an d their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'*2 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I assure you, many prophets and godly people have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not. "Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer sowing grain: The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their heart s. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word. The thorn y ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth , so no crop is produced. The good soil represents the heart s of those who truly accept God's message and produce a huge harvest --thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted." Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as everyone slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer's servant s came and told him, `Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds!' " `An enemy has done it!' the farmer exclaimed. " `Shall we pull out the weeds?' they asked. "He replied, `No, you'll hurt the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest . Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds and burn them and to put the wheat in the barn.' " Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branch es."