God s Mercy The Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-32

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1 Page1 God s Mercy The Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-32 Learning Objectives 1. The children will explain the definition of a parable. 2. The children will relate the events in the Prodigal Son parable. 3. The children will be able to define mercy and forgiveness and explain how this applies to God s love for His children. Getting Started Memory Verse: your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost. --Matthew 18:14 Choose One Activity What would you do? Begin with monopoly money. Give each student $1200 and explain that they have a choice. They can take the money now and go on a shopping spree, or they can wait and have a greater reward in a few years. What would they do? Discuss with the students what kinds of things they might buy, and why it might be harder to wait. Today, we will be talking about a story with a son who did not want to wait. He took all his money and had some bad things happen to him. Continue with the lesson. Homework Review What makes you happy? Share the homework (lists of 10 things that would make them happy). Talk about the kinds of things that are on the students lists. Are they all material things? What are they? People can have so much wealth and knowledge, that they live their lives in their own control and sometimes think of themselves as superior because of their possessions. They fill their empty hearts with things but eventually realize that they are still unfulfilled. It is so easy to get caught up in the world we live in and desiring to have so many material things. The only way to have a truly rich life is to live under the guidance and love of our Lord Jesus. It is never too late to recognize what we have done or where we have strayed. If we come with remorse in our hearts, the Lord will never reject us. Today s story reminds us of this. Continue with the lesson. Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions Message: Jesus cares for the lost. Parable of the Lost Son 11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now before you die. So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding

2 Page2 Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions Continued the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17 When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. 20 So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. 22 But his father said to the servants, Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found. So the party began. 25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 Your brother is back, he was told, and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return. 28 The older brother was angry and wouldn t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, All these years I ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf! 31 His father said to him, Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found! Discussion Questions: 1. Why did the son want the money from his father? (In order to go his own way in the world, he wanted his freedom.) 2. What happened to the son when he left his father s house? (He spent all the money, finally ended up eating with the pigs.) 3. What made the son realize he had been wrong? (He was brought to the lowest point, and then he started to realize he belonged with his father.) 1. What was the father s reaction to the son coming home? (He welcomed him, did not judge him, loved him, and had a celebration for him.) 2. How does the father s reaction to his son compare to how God reacts when we stray? (God loves us like the father loved the prodigal son, He forgives us and doesn t judge us, but loves us and welcomes us to Him.) 3. How did the older son react? (He was angry, could not understand why he was not being treated better because he had done what he was supposed to do.) 4. What can we learn from the parable? (Discuss answers will vary: God s mercy, God loves all those who sin and those who did what they are supposed to; we should have such an attitude towards others, of not judging; heavenly things are more important than money/things on earth) 5. Explain what mercy means. How is this term related to God s love for us? (Mercy = Compassion.) 6. What does forgiveness mean? (Discuss make a list of responses on chart paper.)

3 Page3 Application to Real Life Look up in the Bible and read each of the following verses together: Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. After discussing these verses, pass out one black pebble or stone to each student. As they hold the pebble, they should think about things they would like to give to God, particularly what things they need God s forgiveness for. Ask them to hold that pebble as they say a silent prayer to God (children may also like to write their prayers), asking for forgiveness and the strength to not commit the same sins again. Then when they are ready, they will come up to the front of the room, and place their rock into the basket, giving that concern to Jesus. For an additional affect, play appropriate music during this reflection time. Memory Work Suggestions 5 minutes 1. Recite the memory verse. 2. Practice finding the memory verse and/or Bible text in their Bible! 3. Pick a fruit of the spirit ask the children to explain what it means and give an example. 4. Play a game to review an article of faith (toss the bean bag/stuffed animal, the person who catches it says the next word try to go faster and faster). 5. Allow a volunteer (child) to lead the class in an opening/closing prayer. Activity Ideas Choose One Activity Object Talk Masking Tape To explain the idea of sinning and needing God s mercy for forgiveness, use masking tape and a class volunteer. Start by having the student put together their hands as if praying. Wrap the tape once around the hands to show this is sin one time. Maybe you made a mistake once. It s easy to break that sin (have the student try to break off the tape). But what if we keep making that mistake? (wrap the tape around at least 10 times this time). It s a lot harder and pretty much impossible to get rid of it now (ask the student to try to break the tape). We need to recognize we are doing wrong and sinning, and then repent and we need Jesus to do this! Jesus died on the cross for us, to break these sin bonds. Only through God s compassion and mercy can we be forgiven.

4 Page4 Activity Ideas Continued Wipe the Slate Clean Show the students that God loves us no matter that we sin, just like the father welcomed back the prodigal son. Use a white board and start to list sins that we could do during a day. (Allow the children to write too.) Don t wipe it away, but now write the sins again on the board (representing two days). Keep writing the sins again and again on the board noting to the class which day of the week you are on (day 3, 4, 5, etc. all the way to day 7 or one week). The board is probably messy. Can you still see the white of the board? All that sin is there, but when we repent and say we are sorry (like the prodigal son did), our sins can be wiped away. Use the eraser to make the board new again. Explain that each time we ask the Lord for forgiveness and we come with a repentant heart to Holy Communion, we can be forgiven, and the slate wiped clean again. Game: Throw Away Your Sins Play a game called Throw away your sins. Divide the class in half and set up a table turned on its side in the middle of the class, having each team on either side of the table. Before class, have many pieces of scrap paper balled up and in two buckets, one for each team. These papers represent the sin we have in our lives. When the teacher says go, try to get rid of the sin by throwing it to the other side. Do this for a few minutes, then stop the game and comment, The sin just keeps coming back, doesn t it? We need something else to get rid of the sin. Ask what this would be. Of course, we need Jesus forgiveness, Holy Communion and our own repentance to get rid of the sin. It won t work by ourselves. We need Him. Journal Choose One What side of forgiveness do you fall on today? Do you need to forgive someone who has done wrong to you? Have you hurt someone that you need to return to and ask for mercy? What can you do to make things right? Write about it. Do think forgiveness is important? Why or why not? Write about it. Homework Ideas - Read: Luke 18:9-14 about the Pharisee and the Publican. - Learn the Memory Verse: your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost. --Matthew 18:14 - Learn the Article of Faith - Think about YOU. If you had to describe yourself in 10 words, what words would you choose? Think about how others might perceive you and your attitude (good or bad). Make a list of those 10 words that best describe you and bring them to Religious Instruction next week. Other Resources NT Support Curriculum Page 5 The Prodigal Son

5 Page5 Take Home Page: God s Mercy the Prodigal Son Today I learned Today your child was reminded that Jesus cares for the lost. The children explored the what happened in the parable of the prodigal son. They also talked about mercy and forgiveness and how both relate to God s love for His children. Help me learn my memory verse your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost. --Matthew 18:14 Ask me 1. What happened to the prodigal son? 2. What happened when the prodigal son returned home? 3. What does mercy mean? Live Your Faith Share with your child about a time when you lost (and found) something that was important or special to you, and what emotions you felt through the experience. Talk about how God feels when we come back to Him, even when we finally pray to Him after being silent for a while. Remind your child how much God loves them, and encourage them to stay close to Him, and to also remember that they can go to Him no matter how long it has been. God is waiting to listen, to love and to bless us.