Theme: My family
Bible Story: The lost son finds his way
Value: Make good choices
The lost son finds his way
When Jesus, the Son of God, was on earth, He told stories to help people understand important things. Once He told a story about a man with two sons.
The younger son said, “Father, please give me my share of your money.” The father gave it to him. The son packed his things, left home and spent all his money on silly things.
Soon, he had nothing left. He had no home and got a job feeding pigs, but he was still very hungry. He felt sorry about the bad choices he had made and decided to go and apologise to his father.
As the son started walking closer to his home, his father ran to him and hugged and kissed him. The son cried and said, “Father, I am so sorry. I don’t deserve to be your son.” But the father was so happy to see him! He said, “Bring him the best clothes and sandals! Let’s have a big party! My son was lost, but now he is found.”
Through this story, Jesus teaches us that no matter what bad choices we make, God will always welcome us back to Him and forgive us when we apologise.
(Luke 15:11-32)
- Opening
Have you ever gotten into trouble for something you did wrong?
It can happen to anyone of us, and it happened to someone in a story that Jesus told. Let’s read the Bible story.
- Discovery
Can you remember the story that you heard yesterday?
Yes, we talked about the lost son who found his way back home. Let’s read the story again.
What is your favourite part of the story?
What surprised you in the story?
Who do you see in the picture?
- Retell
Can you tell me what happened in our story yesterday? (Ask leading questions and guide the child using the picture and story).
What bad choice did the son make?
What good choice did he make?
Can you tell me about a time when you made a bad choice?
What happened then?
How did the son feel when his father hugged him?
- Value
This week we’ve been talking about the lost son who made bad choices. Even though you sometimes do bad things, God will always love you and forgive you. When you make a mistake, you can always make a good choice by apologising to God and others and making things right.
Is there something that you feel bad about and need to say sorry for? Let’s pray and ask God to forgive you.
- Activity
In our Bible story this week, we learned that it’s important for us to make the right choices every day. Today you are going to help me decide what are good choices and bad choices.
(Call out examples of good choices and bad choices. Let the children give a thumbs up and cheer if it’s a good choice and a thumbs down if it’s a bad choice. For example: throwing your trash in the bin, pushing a friend or listening to the teacher.)