For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Parables of the Lost Sheep and Coin) (104) Enjoy (110) (105)

Transcription

1 May 22, 2016 God Is Love DATE PONDER POINT Luke 15:1-10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Parables of the Lost Sheep and Coin) Psalm 57:10 THE BIG GOD STORY REMEMBER VERSE Rotation 9:10-9:23 9:25-9:38 9:40-9:53 Butterflies Enjoy Discover Connect (Room #) (110) (105) (104) Caterpillars Discover Connect Enjoy (Room #) (105) (104) (110) Fireflies Connect Enjoy Discover (Room #) (104) (110) (105) There will be mini marshmallows and pretzel sticks this week for snacks. The marshmallows will be our little sheep. Pretzels sticks will be the shepherd staffs Goal: To create space for children to engage in hands-on activities as they begin their time of worship. Explore Station: Lost coin and lost sheep coloring pages. Supplies: Lost sheep coloring page Lost coin coloring page Crayons 1

2 Goal: Children participate in discovering God s Word through storytelling, worship, and interactive experiences and respond to God in worship through games and other hands-on elements. Upon entering the room, have each child choose a story spot and place it where they want to sit and then sit down. At the close of your time together in The Big God Story, encourage children to return their Story Spots to their original location. Hi, kids! Welcome! I am so excited to be here with you today. Let s all celebrate God by singing and dancing together! Welcome & Story Jacket (Play the TruBlessings Theme Song and lead kids in dance and celebration.) Wow! That was great! Now everyone, take a seat it s time to hear part of The Big God Story! Let me put on my storytelling jacket and see if we can find a clue to our Big God Story in one of my pockets. Start checking pockets and pull out this week s clue. I wonder what we are going to find in the story pocket today? Let s find out together: (show the kids the picture or object from the story pocket.) Story Pocket Treasure Box (with sheep and coin) ASK: What do you keep inside a treasure box? What would you consider to be treasure? Children will answer; interact with their responses. Hmmm I wonder, how do you think a treasure box fits into today s part of The Big God Story? Children will answer. I think it s time we found out. Do you know what time it is? Let s all stand up and sing our Bible Song together. Bible Song (sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb ) Bible Song Now it s time to hear God s Word Hear God s Word Hear God s Word Now it s time to hear God s Word So let s look in the Bible (As the song ends, have the children return to their Story Spots) 2

3 Point out that what kids are about to hear is true and is recorded in the Bible. Open your Bible to the passage and leave it open and visible throughout The Big God Story. Invite kids to open their Bibles and follow along as you storytell. Children respond to what the Holy Spirit is teaching them as they reflect on the day s portion of The Big God Story. The Prayer of Release allows children and leaders to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet their hearts and minds. Before you pray, you might ask the kids to hold out their hands, palms up, in a spirit of releasing their worries and distractions in order to better receive what the Holy Spirit might have for them today. Then encourage the kids to quiet their voices, take a seat, and pray with you. The Big God Story: cotton balls sheep coin Storyteller Script Welcome children. Friends, have you ever lost something special to you? Children answer. How did you feel? Interact with kids and their answers. I ve brought something to share with you today. A treasure chest! Guess what? Retrieve the treasure chest from the wardrobe. I put my very special things inside this box because I didn t want them to get lost! Would you like to see what s inside? Open box and show children the coin and the sheep. Today in The Big God Story, we are going to be learning about these special treasures in short stories Jesus called Parables. Jesus used these stories to teach the people that God is love. Remember how Jesus showed love to some lepers in last week s part of The Big God Story? God cares for us. But before we go any further, let s ask God to teach us more about Himself today. Lead the children in a Prayer of Release. One day Jesus was meeting with all the people of the town. Tax collectors, and people who did not attend or worship at the temple. The leaders of the temple, the Pharisees, and teachers of the law, did not like Jesus talking to the sinners they called them. They complained and grumbled and wondered why would Jesus spend time with those people who did not care about God or His word. Jesus saw that the leaders of the temple, and Jewish law, had no love in their hearts for people. And because they did not love others, they were missing the biggest part of God s law. So Jesus told this parable to get the Pharisees and teachers of the law to think about how much God loves people. All people. In the Big God Story, the Bible, in Luke 15, Jesus starts his story like this: there was a man who owned 100 sheep. Scatter cotton balls on floor. Act as 3

4 a shepherd while storytelling. Pretend to count and notice one sheep missing. While the sheep were grazing in the fields, the man noticed that one of his sheep was missing. He left the other 99 sheep safe in the pasture and set out to find his lost sheep. When the man found the one that was lost, he was so happy. He placed the sheep on his shoulders and carried it home. Then, the man called his friends and neighbors together and said, Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. The man was so excited he held a huge party and invited all of his neighbors! Jesus went on and told the Pharisees and teachers of the law that in heaven there is great rejoicing when a lost person repents. It s good to have 99 people who love God and follow Him, but there is Great celebration and rejoicing when a lost person repents and joins the 99 to follow God. Then to explain again why He was eating and visiting with the tax collectors and sinners, he told this story: There once was a woman who had 10 coins. Friends, how many coins did she have? Children answer. Ten, that s right. Let s count to 10 together. Use fingers and count to 10 with children. She realized she had lost one of her coins. She lit a lamp and searched all over her house. She swept all of the floors as she looked for her coin. While storytelling, walk around room looking behind, around, and next to each of the children, trying to find hidden coin. Move to location where coin is hidden and find coin. Make way back to front of room. She looked under rugs and behind all her furniture until finally she found it! How do you think she felt? Children answer. Right! She was so happy! She called to her friends and neighbors and said, Rejoice with me, I ve found my lost coin! Sheep and coins were important in the time Jesus told these stories. They were valuable, and of course if one these things got lost, you would stop whatever you were doing and go look for them. Do you want to know something the teachers of the law and Pharisees did not know or understand? We Are God s Treasure. God loves you, and me, and all the people of the world. We are His treasures. And when we are lost, or far away from Him, He desires for us to be found. He loves us so much. He wants to take care of us as a shepherd cares for his sheep. He is our shepherd and we are His sheep. He cares and treasures us even more than silver and gold. That is pretty awesome isn t it? You are God s treasure, and He loves you! 4

5 GOAL: Kids respond in small groups to what they heard in the Big God Story. Connect: The Lost Sheep Supplies: Lost sheep coloring page (one per child), Cotton balls, glue sticks, crayons Have kids put their name on their coloring page. Have kids color the grass, the legs of the sheep, the face of the sheep and the butterfly. Show the kids how they can glue cotton balls onto the sheep and the clouds. I wonder Which of Jesus stories explained God s love best to me? I wonder How did I feel when I heard that God loves me? When have I heard that before? I wonder Do I know anyone who might not know God loves him? I wonder How can we help each other remember God is love? I wonder How do I feel about God right now? 5

6 Goal: Enjoy building relationships with the kids during this time intended for a snack break, restrooms and free play or video clip. Ensure that each child: Receives a small snack/drink Uses the restroom Has a little time to play and build friendships with you and other children Give the kids mini marshmallows (as sheep) and pretzel sticks (as shepherd s staff) Review the Remember Verse: For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 57:10 Just like we heard today in The Big God Story, we re like the lost sheep and coin. But God loves us so much that He will always find us! May the love of God fill up your hearts. May you share that love with everyone you see this week. 6

7 Growing up in the church, I always knew God loved me. I understood He would always take care of me and wanted the best for me. But at the same time, I harbored mistaken ideas about God being a taskmaster and a killjoy. I often saw God s love in a very legalistic way. I don t think I truly understood God s love until I had children of my own. When I held my firstborn child in my arms, a flood of emotion came over me. This was my child. All the hopes and dreams I had stored in my heart over the years feelings of joy and sadness, pride and pain, fear, expectation, and the wonder of fatherhood were wrapped up in this one little eightpound bundle. I looked at my child and wanted to weep. I wanted so many good things for her. Later on, I wanted to take away all of her pain. When she broke her arm, I ached inside. When she was bullied at school, I felt enraged and helpless. The day she got her first big part in the school play, I could not contain myself. I began to understand how the love I felt for my daughter reflected the love my heavenly Father has for me. My perspective changed; I changed. God showed me how His love is far greater and even deeper than the love I could ever have for my children. He is my Father. He is love and I am a loved child of God. Jeff Carter Director of HaDavar Ministries, Irvine CA God s love for His people is compelling. It reaches through time, space, and this physical world to draw His children back to Him. In Luke chapter 15, the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son illustrate God s love for His children and the joy He experiences when those who are lost return to Him. When reading parables, we can sometimes miss the forest for the trees. It s helpful to first look for the main point, then be careful not to look for meaning in all the details, and finally, be aware of the context. As we look at these three stories together, the passage is introduced by saying the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. It says, Then Jesus told them this parable (verse 3). They re grumbling, so Jesus tells some parables. All three of these stories need to be understood in the context of that initial grumbling. What ties all three stories together is the theme that God rejoices when the lost are found; the stories point us to this one simple truth. Jesus then drives that point home to the Pharisees by pointing out that the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son didn t share that same attitude. Jesus seems to be reminding us that we, like the Pharisees, need to examine our own hearts to ensure we re in line with God s heart for the lost. God rejoices when the lost are found and so should we. What can we learn from these parables about God s heart for us? Whether the son or the brother, the coin or the sheep, we ve all been lost and are now found in Christ. He loves us and we belong to Him. After each of the three parables in Luke 15, Jesus calls us to rejoice and celebrate. The owner of the sheep rejoiced that the lost sheep was found. The woman rejoiced that her valuable coin was found. And the father of the lost son rejoiced that his son returned. We too need to rejoice that though we were lost, we re now found. We re a part of God s family. That s our identity and is something to celebrate. Oftentimes, we forget to celebrate God s blessings. One of the classic spiritual disciplines is celebration. This discipline encourages us to actively celebrate one or more aspects of our faith. We need to celebrate God s love for us. For it s in His love that our identity is found. His love compelled Him to come to earth. His love made an eternal sacrifice so we can be reconciled to God. There is great importance in celebrating all God has done. It s so important in fact, that the Lord actually commands that we celebrate (the Passover, the feasts, etc.). Celebration is a mindset. It s a commitment to break out of the routines of life and take time to rejoice. Look for opportunities this week to remember and celebrate God s love for you. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. 1807) Amazing Grace, John Newton (1725 7