Jesus Tells Three Parables-Sunday September 13, 2020

Sunday September 1 3, 2020 (Vol 9, Unit 25, Session 2)

Hi-there parents! Welcome back! Or if you're new here, welcome! The following blog is here to be a tool for you to help your kids grow in their faith while Children's Church is not meeting. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20).  

 Parent Devotional: This week’s lesson is found in Luke 15. 

In Luke 19, Jesus went after Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector. Zacchaeus was not well liked, but his interaction with Jesus led him to repent of his wrongdoing. Jesus said to him, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

Who are “the lost”? What does it mean to be lost? In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables to the crowd of tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, and scribes. Jesus’ teaching brought gospel truth to the tax collectors and sinners—those whose unrighteousness separated them from God—and to the Pharisees and scribes—those whose relied on their own righteous efforts for salvation.

The first two parables are similar. In one, a man loses a sheep. He leaves his flock to find the missing sheep, and he rejoices when it is found. In the second, a woman loses a silver coin. The woman carefully searches until she finds it. Then she calls her neighbors and friends to celebrate with her. Heaven rejoices when even one sinner repents. Finally, Jesus told a parable about two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance, wasted his money on immoral living, and decided to return to his father. Rather than rejecting his wayward son, the father embraced him. The older son, who had always been obedient to his father, reacted with anger.

 As you read Luke 15, think about the crowd Jesus was speaking to. The focus is often placed on the younger son—the one with whom the tax collectors and sinners could identify—but Jesus also made a point about the older son. The older son was like the Pharisees and scribes, focused on his own morality and feeling entitled to his father’s favor.

Jesus taught what God is like. He seeks sinners who have wandered far from Him, and He seeks sinners who try to earn salvation by their good works. As you teach, help kids understand that being lost means not knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. God loves us, and He actively seeks to bring sinners to Himself.

As we begin to explore this week’s lesson, take a moment to remember the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:9 says: "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Maybe you don't have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or maybe your children are to young to sit for that long. Take the key points and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day to day. Be blessed this week my friends!  

Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, memory verses and possibly a craft or 2. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson so you can read directly from it or change it up to suit your children. Take a few moments to print the activity pages as well as the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) and review the lesson so you can make adjustments as needed. I have included the Bible and Discussion questions along with a breakdown of the Gospel in the Older Kids Activities pages and loads of activities and crafts on the Preschool Extra Activity Pages. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you'd like or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the course of the week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. I'd love to hear from you! 

So, let's get started. I like to begin each week with Blessings and Bummers. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest bummers? 

Parents share your blessings and bummers and encourage the kids to do the same. 

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we don't deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for our friends as well as our families. Help us to appreciate all you do for us and to look to you in all that we do. In Jesus name, Amen. (please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)

Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers! 

Prompt kids to tell about a time they lost or misplaced something that was very important to them. Did they ever find it? Where was it?

 Say - It can feel very scary or frustrating to lose or misplace items that are important to us. But the joy we feel if we finally find it again is very special. Today we will learn about three stories Jesus told about people finding what they had lost. These stories will help us understand God’s love for people.

Today we will learn about three stories Jesus told about people finding what they lost. One person was a shepherd who lost a sheep. This shepherd went to great lengths to find his sheep. What would you do to find a lost sheep?

Optional Session Starter Activity Pick one of two options, or do both, this is your party. These are found in the activity pages attached below 

As we get to the story, let’s take a look at our new big picture question. 

How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over His creation according to His perfect plan. We will see that clearly in Jesus’ parables. When things go wrong in creation, God is there to comfort us. His plan was never to leave us alone in sin. Instead, God’s plan was to send Jesus and restore the world from all the damage sin causes. That includes His saving us through Jesus!

When Jesus was on earth, He traveled all over Israel performing miracles and teaching people about God. Jesus spent a lot of time teaching people about God’s kingdom. God’s growing kingdom is more valuable than anything. Jesus also spent time explaining what God is like and how He loves. Jesus used parables—stories with deeper meaning—to help explain how God feels toward those who do not know Him. Our story is called “Three Parables.”

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The lost are any people who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. It is important for us to know that God loves the lost, because it helps us understand God’s incredible love. Because God is perfect and holy, He would be just to leave us alone in sin. Instead, He sent Jesus to save us. 

How did you feel about the older brother in Jesus’ parable about the lost son? When I was young, I sometimes read the story and thought the older brother was right. It seemed unfair to me that the younger brother would get a party after the mistakes he had made. 

It can be tempting to believe that if we behave in the right ways, we deserve better treatment or more love from God. That’s what the religious leaders in Jesus’ day thought! Thankfully, God’s love for us does not depend on how we behave. That’s a good thing because it means that God also doesn’t love us less when we misbehave and make sinful choices.

The religious leaders complained that Jesus welcomed sinners. Jesus told these parables to teach about God’s forgiveness. God sent Jesus so sinners can be forgiven. As Savior, Jesus seeks sinners. He paid the ultimate price—His own life—to save people from sin.

Bible Time! 

Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help kids find Luke 15. Ask the kids how many total chapters are in Luke. (24) Ask the kids how they can find Luke if they don’t know where it is in their Bibles. (Use the table of contents.) Then ask how chapters and verses within a book are marked. (The large numbers mark chapters; the small mark verses in a chapter.)

Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:

What did the Pharisees and scribes complain about? (Jesus’ welcoming sinners, Luke 15:2)

How did the three characters from the parables react when what they lost was found? (by rejoicing and celebrating; Luke 15:6,9,32)

Why was the older brother angry at the end of that parable? (He felt his father was treating him unfairly, Luke 15:29-30)

Do you ever feel like running away from God to live your own way? Guide kids to think about the choices they make. Help them think through times when it may feel like obeying God is a burden, such as when a seeing popular movie or playing a popular video game dishonors Him. Encourage kids to speak openly about when it is hard to obey God.

Do you ever feel like it’s unfair for God to love people who disobey Him? Help kids see that all people are sinners. We often try to rank our sin or compare it to other people’s sin to justify why we chose to sin. Help kids understand that all sin deserves death.

How should we react to a person becoming a believer in Jesus? Direct kids to remember how God reacts to sinners’ repenting. Discuss the fact that God welcomes sinners and loves them. Help them see that we should respond like God does, with joy and celebration, not with doubt or skepticism.

Say • Jesus came to seek and save the lost. God loves when sinners turn from sin toward Jesus. We can rejoice in God’s goodness to sinners—including ourselves—and celebrate when people come to faith. God’s love is endless.

 Let's read Colossians 1:13-14 together. 

As soon as we have faith in Jesus, we are rescued from darkness. We immediately become citizens of God’s perfect kingdom. In God’s kingdom, Jesus is our perfect King. He loves us and helps us to glorify God with our lives. When we tell others about Jesus and God’s kingdom, we are part of Jesus’ mission to save the lost.

Before the session, write out the key passage, omitting a single word. Write that word on a sticky note and hide it somewhere in the room. During the session, challenge the kids to identify the word that is missing. Then instruct them to find the word somewhere in the room. When the kids find the sticky note, place it on the board to fill in the blank. Read the key passage a few times together.

Say • When it comes to spiritual things, there are two kingdoms. We are all born as slaves to sin in the kingdom of darkness. Only Jesus can rescue us and bring us into His perfect kingdom. Once Jesus finds us and rescues us, we can be part of His mission—telling others about Him so they can be saved, too.

That's it for this week!
Let's pray: Father, thank You for sending Your Son to rescue us. We know that we cannot find Jesus on our own by our good works. Instead, Jesus seeks us out to draw us near. Help us be a part of Your mission in the world. Amen.

 Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!

 Thank you to Lifeway's Gospel Project for providing this material and allowing us to publish it.

Additional Activities and Information