Lesso 2 15 Jesus Tells the Parable of the Lost So Luke 15:11-32 By the time kids are i the third or fourth grade, they have a pretty good uderstadig of what it meas to feel guilty. For the most part, they feel remorse whe they do wrog thigs. They may eve start woderig whether God ca still love them after they ve sied. They may woder whether God will really forgive them just because they ask him to. Use this lesso to reiforce the fact that God does love them ad that he is a forgivig, compassioate God who they ca trust. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep 1 Gettig Started Kot Me! (about 10 mi.) Form a huma kot, ad the receive help to utagle. Bible Bible Poit God will forgive us whe we si. Key Verse But you are a forgivig God, gracious ad compassioate, slow to ager ad aboudig i love (Nehemiah 9:17). Story Corer 1: The Father s Masio (about 10 mi.) Begi the Bible story at the father s house, ad the make cois to squader. Bible, scissors, 1 copy per child of the Iheritace Cois hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Desigate a corer of your room as the father s masio. Simply set four chairs i a square to represet the walls of the father s house. Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will ask God for forgiveess. 2 Bible Exploratio Story Corer 2: Squader City (about 7 mi.) Waste the wealth they had; the become poor like the lost so. Story Corer 3: A Stay i the Sty (about 10 mi.) Experiece life i a pigsty, ad the decide whether to ask for forgiveess. Bible, Bible Truth Sleuth, cois from Story Corer 1, trash ca Bible, CD player, ewspaper Teacher Pack: CD, The Prodigal So poster Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Story Corer 4: Home at Last (about 10 mi.) Retur home to receive the father s forgiveess. Bible, CD player Teacher Pack: CD, Home at Last poster Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
16 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Forgiveess Bracelets (about 10 mi.) Make bracelets to remid them of God s love. Let s Celebrate! (about 10 mi.) Have a party to celebrate God s forgiveess. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, scissors, tape, markers, pes CD player, simple sack, copies of the lyrics (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Sprig Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
17 Jesus Tells the Parable of the Lost So Luke 15:11-32 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders The Youger So Demads His Iheritace I Jewish law, the oldest so received two-thirds of the iheritace, ad the rest was divided amog the other childre. Sice it appears that there were oly two sos, the youger would have bee etitled to oethird of the father s holdigs. However, Jewish law did ot allow a perso to sell his father s lad iheritace because it had bee give by God. So i askig his father to give him the lad early, the youger so was maeuverig agaist the law. Ay Jew would have see what the so was doig ad would have refused to buy the lad. It was also agaist the law to sell such lad to a Getile. Sice that must have bee what the youger so did, the Jews listeig to this story would have bee appalled. so ad save him from the death he deserved. What a woderful picture of our God, who watchfully waits, ready to forgive us whe we retur to him i repetace! The Jesus Coectio Picture a God axious to meet you eve whe you feel ashamed. Kow his love for you, ad cherish the relatioship you have with Jesus. Who i your life does t deserve mercy? They are just out of optios. They ve made their bed This chage of heart wo t last. Reach out to these people i kidess ad joy. Pray for them right ow. You ca write your prayer here. The So Squaders His Iheritace The ext part of the story is t hard to predict. The youger so foolishly spet his iheritace ad was left with othig. At that poit, he realized how wrog he had bee ad decided to retur to his father, hopig oly that the father would accept him back as a hired had. He was coviced that he had sacrificed his right to be his father s so. He ow decided to do what he kew was right. The Humiliated Father Forgives the So Because a family would ot ormally forgive a so for such a si, Jesus listeers would have bee extremely surprised ad agry to hear that the ma ra out to meet his returig so. What Jesus described was a father itet o gettig to his so before the eighbors did. Eve though the so had tured away, sied willfully, ad disgraced the family ame, the father was waitig to forgive his Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
18 gettig started Kot Me! Bible Kot Me! Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Choose a voluteer to be the helper i this activity. Have the helper stad with his or her back to the rest of the group. Have the other childre form a circle ad joi hads. Istruct kids to quietly tur their circle ito a tagled kot by steppig over arms, crawlig uder legs, ad twistig ad turig, all without lettig go of oe aother s hads. Whe kids are all tagled together, say: Wow! What a tagled mess! It looks like you eed help. Have the kids preted to call out for help, ad the have the helper tur aroud ad face the circle. As kids cotiue to hold oe aother s hads, let the helper assist them i utaglig the huma kot. Whe the helper has succeeded, or after two miutes, have childre drop hads ad sit i a circle. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to be all tagled up? Did you thik [ame of helper] could help you utagle? Explai. What kids of wrog thigs do we do that tagle us up i real life ad get us ito trouble? How do we get out of those kots or problems caused by the wrog thigs we do? Say: I real life, the wrog thigs we do are called sis. Our huma kot was just part of a game, but i real life, si get us all tagled up! What does God do whe we si? Say: God will forgive us whe we si. God s forgiveess is the oly way to become utagled from si. Our Key Verse tells us that God is the best helper of all! Liste. Read aloud the Key Verse from Nehemiah 9:17: You are a forgivig God, gracious ad compassioate, slow to ager ad aboudig i love. Sprig Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
19 Say: You became pretty tagled up i our activity, but today we ll hear about someoe i the Bible whose life really became tagled up! 2 Bible Exploratio Story Corer 1: The Father s Masio Say: Jesus kew that some thigs about God would be hard for us to uderstad. Ad he kew that we d get ito some sticky, siful situatios. So he told us stories (or parables) to show us just how much God loves us. This is oe of those stories. Ivite kids to get comfortable, ad the have a voluteer read aloud Luke 15:11-12. Say: You kow, i Bible times, it was almost uheard of for a so to ask his father for his share of the iheritace. I fact, it was almost the same as wishig that his father were dead! This so s request probably hurt his father very much. The youger so i this story was etitled to oe third of everythig his father had. Ad sice we lear i the story that the father was pretty rich, the so probably received quite a bit of moey. Let s make our ow moey right ow! Give each child a sheet of Iheritace Cois, ad have kids cut out the cois. As kids work, ask them what they would do if they received a lot of moey. After kids have fiished cuttig out the cois, tell them it s time to see what the so did with all of his moey. Ivite kids to move o to Squader City. Story Corer 2: Squader City Desigate aother corer of your room as Squader City. If you choose, hag a simple costructio paper sig i that corer. Distribute the Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the Quick Riches sectio. Have kids form pairs, ad give parters a few momets to discuss which items they d like to buy. Story Corer 1: The Father s Masio Bible scissors 1 copy per child of the Iheritace Cois hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Story Corer 1: The Father s Masio Easy Prep Desigate a corer of your room as the father s masio. Simply set four chairs i a square to represet the walls of the father s house. Story Corer 2: Squader City Bible Bible Truth Sleuth cois from Story Corer 1 trash ca Story Corer 2: Squader City Easy Prep Which items would you most like to ow? Why? What would you do if you had lots ad lots of moey? Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
20 Say: The so i our story suddely had lots ad lots of moey. Let s see what he did with it. Ask a voluteer to read aloud Luke 15:13. Explai to kids that to squader meas to waste. The, to illustrate how the so wasted all of his moey, have kids toss their Iheritace Cois ito a trash ca as they tell ways people might waste moey today. Whe they ve used up all their cois, have aother voluteer read Luke 15:14. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a famie? What does it mea to be i eed? What kids of thigs are ecessary for you to actually live? What would it be like to be without food or a place to live? After kids braistorm thigs they eed to live such as food, water, clothig, ad shelter lead them i discussig what their lives would be like without those thigs. The have kids take off their shoes to remid them of how poor ad destitute the so had become. Kids will remai without shoes as you lead them to the pigsty. Story Corer 3: A Stay i the Sty Bible CD player ewspaper Teacher Pack CD: Pigsty (track 3), The Prodigal So (track 4) The Prodigal So poster Story Corer 3: A Stay i the Sty Easy Prep Decorate the pigsty by strewig crumpled ewspaper o the floor. Story Corer 3: A Stay i the Sty As kids eter, have them sit dow i the sty. What s the messiest place you ve ever see? What s the messiest aimal you could ever imagie? Who kows what a pig s pe is called? Say: The place where a pig lives is called a sty. That s where the so i our story eded up, ad that s where you ve eded up, too! Welcome to our very ow pigsty! Cue your CD to the Pigsty segmet (track 3), ad play it i the backgroud as you cotiue. Show childre the Prodigal So poster from your Teacher Pack. Say: Well, here he is the so who wasted all of his moey ad woud up here, right i the middle of a pigsty! I ll bet he really stiks! He eve wished he could eat the pigs leftovers! People sometimes hold their oses whe they smell somethig bad. Hold your ose as you aswer this questio. Have kids hold their oses as they call out aswers to the followig questio: Sprig Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
21 What s a really smelly place you ve bee to? Say: Yuck! Those sure are smelly places! I bet the pigsty i our story smelled just as bad! Have a voluteer read aloud Luke 15:15-16. Ask kids to describe how they thik the so must have felt as he teded the pigs. Say: Let s see what the so has to say for himself. Play The Prodigal So segmet from the CD (track 4). Toward the ed of the segmet, the so will ask three questios. Stop the CD after each questio, ad ecourage kids to describe what advice they d give to the so. After kids discuss each questio asked o the CD, have childre form pairs. Talk With Kids Have kids discuss the followig questios with their parters. After each questio, ask pairs to report their aswers to the rest of the group. Tell about a time you messed up, or did somethig wrog, like the so i our story. How did you feel? Whe have you eeded forgiveess from someoe? What was that like? How did it make you feel whe you were forgive for the wrog thig you did? Say: The so i our story sure eeds his father s forgiveess, just as we eed God s forgiveess whe we do wrog thigs. What does God do whe we si? Say: God is forgivig ad aboudig i love. You kow, that s exactly what our Key Verse is all about. Let s say the verse together. Lead kids i repeatig the Key Verse, Nehemiah 9:17: You are a forgivig God, gracious ad compassioate, slow to ager ad aboudig i love. Say: This verse says that God is full of love. Ad because God loves us, God will forgive us whe we si. Now let s go back to the father s masio ad see what happeed to the father ad so i our story. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
22 Story Corer 4: Home at Last Story Corer 4: Home at Last Bible CD player Teacher Pack CD: The So Returs (track 5) Home at Last poster Lead childre back to the corer i your room set up as the father s masio, ad have them sit together. Say: The so i the story did decide to go back to his father s house. Ask kids to each discuss with a parter what they thik happeed whe the so arrived home. Cue your CD to The So Returs segmet (track 5). This segmet will give kids a idea of the father s perspective. The have a child read aloud Luke 15:20-22. Show kids the Home at Last poster from your Teacher Pack. Say: The father i this picture looks awfully happy! Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why do you thik the father is so happy? Why would the father be happy to see his so agai after how badly the so had behaved? Say: The father loved his so so much that he forgave his so for all the bad thigs he had doe. Eve though the so was bad, the father was glad! He was so glad, i fact, that he actually ra to meet his so o the road. Ruig like that is somethig that importat me i Bible times ever did! Have you ever forgive someoe just because you loved him or her? Tell about it. How are we like the so i the story? How is the father i the story like God? Say: The father i the story loved his so so much that he was willig to forgive him, eve after all the bad thigs the so had doe. Ad that s just how God is! God is forgivig ad aboudig i love. I fact, God loves us so much that whe we re sorry for bad thigs we ve doe ad we ask him to forgive us, he does! Every time! I our story, the father gave his so jewelry as a symbol of his love ad forgiveess. He gave his so a rig. A rig is just oe form of jewelry; bracelets are aother kid of jewelry. Because rigs might be too hard for us to make, let s make forgiveess bracelets to remid us that God will forgive us whe we si. Sprig Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
23 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Forgiveess Bracelets First, have kids tur to the Forgiveess Bracelets activity o the back of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids cut out the forgiveess bracelets alog the dotted lies. The show kids how to fold the strips i half the log way. O the iside of the folded strips, have kids each write somethig they ve recetly doe wrog for which they eeded forgiveess. Next, have kids write the Key Verse oto the outside of their strips, ad the let them decorate the strips with markers. Forgiveess Bracelets Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth scissors tape markers pes Have kids form pairs. Have parters help each other wrap the folded strips aroud their wrists to measure where to tape the eds together to form bracelets. Be ready to offer help as kids measure ad tape their bracelets. As kids work, challege them to repeat the Key Verse to each other. Whe kids have fiished, have them put o their bracelets ad sit i a circle. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What does God do whe we si? What does it take for you to get God s forgiveess? Say: God is forgivig ad aboudig i love. He gives his love ad forgiveess as precious gifts, just as the father i our story gave the so jewelry ad shoes. Ad just as the Key Verse you wrote covered the sis o the iside of your bracelets, God s love ad forgiveess cover all the wrog thigs we re sorry for. I the ext part of our story, the father held a big party to celebrate his so s retur. Let s have a party, too! Have kids put o their shoes ad get ready for a fu class party! Let s Celebrate! Have a child read aloud Luke 15:22-32. Say: Because music is usually a fu part of may celebratios, let s lear a sog to sig at our party. It s a celebratio sog to remid us of how the father celebrated whe his so came home. Let s Celebrate! CD player simple sack copies of the lyrics (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: A New Creatio (2 Corithias 5:17) (track 12)! allergy alert Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
24 Pass out copies of the lyrics, ad play A New Creatio (2 Corithias 5:17) (track 12) through oce or twice to itroduce your kids to the sog. Practice the sog with your kids a few times. If ayoe (if ayoe) Is i Christ (is i Christ), He is a ew creatio (a ew creatio); The old has goe (the old has goe), The ew has come! (The ew has come!) He is a ew creatio (a ew creatio); We have bee made ew! (Repeat from the begiig.) We have bee made ew! A New Creatio (2 Corithias 5:17) by Carol Smith. 2003 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. After the sog, let kids ejoy a class celebratio to remid them of how the father ad so celebrated. The celebratio ca be as simple or as elaborate as you choose. For a ready-to-go party, just provide juice or water ad a simple sack, such as doughut holes or cookies ad crackers. For extra impact, cosider lettig kids create the sack themselves. After the party, have kids form a circle. Talk With Kids Say: God is forgivig ad aboudig i love. Let s say our Key Verse together agai: You are a forgivig God, gracious ad compassioate, slow to ager ad aboudig i love (Nehemiah 9:17). Now look at your forgiveess bracelets. Your bracelets are circles, ad just as circles ever ed, there is o ed to the love ad forgiveess that God offers to us. Lead kids i this discussio. What do you thik Jesus wats us to lear from this story about the prodigal so? How does it make you feel to kow that God is lovig ad forgivig? Say: Because God is lovig ad forgivig, we ca be lovig ad forgivig, too. Sprig Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
25 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges Say: Let s each choose a Daily Challege for the week to help us remember that God will forgive us whe we si. Daily Challeges Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o the Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Thik of a way you disobeyed this week, ad ask God to forgive you. Tell a fried about God s forgiveess, ad ask if he or she would like to pray with you. lead your family i sigig a sog of praise to God for his forgiveess whe we si. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: God will forgive us whe we si. Let s seek forgiveess by followig through o our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about forgiveess. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids form two groups, ad have groups stad at opposite eds of the room. Tell kids they ll ed with a special group hug. Have groups ru toward each other i slow motio, just as the father ra toward the so i the story. After the group hug, have kids form a circle. Close with a prayer, thakig God for his love ad forgiveess. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter
! ok to copy Iheritace Cois
27 Lyrics A New Creatio (2 Corithias 5:17) If ayoe (if ayoe) Is i Christ (is i Christ), He is a ew creatio (a ew creatio); The old has goe (the old has goe), The ew has come! (The ew has come!) He is a ew creatio (a ew creatio); We have bee made ew! (Repeat from the begiig.) We have bee made ew! A New Creatio (2 Corithias 5:17) by Carol Smith. 2003 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! ok to copy Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Sprig Quarter