jesus tells the parable of the lost son -...

18 KidsOwn Worship • Spring Quarter

Jesus Tells the Parable of the Lost Son Luke 15:11-32

Worship Theme: God is loving and forgiving.

Weaving Faith Into Life:

Children will praise God for his loving and forgiving nature.

Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies

Let’s Praise God!

(up to 25 minutes)

Sing

• “Everybody Ought to Know” • “If We Confess” • Let your light shine • Oh, How I love Jesus

Classroom Supplies: CD player, 2 magnets, rock, box, aluminum foil, poster board, marker


Let’s Learn the Point!

(up to 25 minutes)

* Forgiveness Boat Learn that God’s love and forgiveness keep us from sinking.

Classroom Supplies: Dishpan, water, rocks, packing peanuts, plastic boat

Up, Up, and Away Discover that when God forgives us, he doesn’t remember the wrong things we did.

Classroom Supplies: Bubble solution, bubble wand

Warm Fuzzies Hear the Bible story and make warm fuzzies to remind them of God’s love.

Classroom Supplies: 1 cotton ball per child, construction paper, hole punch, glue

19 Session 2 • KidsOwn Worship

* Starred activities can be used successfully with preschool and elementary children together. Customize your session to fit your needs. You can separate preschoolers and elementary children for Section 2. Or, if you keep the children all together for the entire worship session, we suggest you choose from the starred activities.


Let’s Pray! (up to 10 minutes)

The Offering Ask God’s forgiveness and offer their gifts to God.

Classroom Supplies: Offering bowls, 1 index card per child, pencils

Penny Prayers Receive God’s forgiveness and a reminder of God’s forgiveness.

Classroom Supplies: Basket of pennies from“ Refined by Forgiveness”

Biblical Dress Up Dress in biblical character traits.

Classroom Supplies: Bible



(up to 25 minutes)

* Refined by Forgiveness Do an experiment to learn that God’s forgiveness purifies us.

Classroom Supplies: 1 jar with lid, ¼ cup coarse salt, and ½ cup lemon juice per 5 kids; paper towels; 1 old penny per child; basket

“Prodigal Teacher” Watch a DVD that tells the story of the prodigal son.

KidsOwn Worship Kit: Lesson Videos DVD: “Prodigal Teacher”

Classroom Supplies: TV, DVD player

* Party! Party! Celebrate God’s love and forgiveness by making “fattened calves” and eating them.

KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver

Classroom Supplies: CD player; bowls; 3 marshmallows, 9 mini-marshmallows, and 6 pretzel sticks per child; napkins


Bible Background for Leaders


Though this is often called the parable of the prodigal

son or the lost son, it is really the story of two lost sons. The older, hardworking son is a symbol of a person who tries to obtain righteousness without inner faith. The younger son is a symbol of a person who turns away from God to sin but returns in repentance.

The younger son’s request for his share of the inheritance shows that his heart was no longer with his father, but on all that freedom had to offer. In Jewish law, the oldest son received two-thirds of the inheritance, and the rest was divided among the other children. Since it appears that there were only two sons, the younger would have been entitled to one-third of the father’s holdings. However, Jewish law did not allow a person to sell his father’s land inheritance because it had been given by God. So in asking his father to give him the land early, the younger son was maneuvering against the law. Any Jew would have seen what the son was doing and would have refused to buy the land. It was also against the law to sell such land to a Gentile. Since that must have been what the younger son did, the Jews listening to this story would have been appalled.

The next part of the story isn’t hard to predict. The younger son foolishly spent his inheritance and was left with nothing. At that point, he realized how wrong he had been and decided to return to his father, hoping only that the father would accept him back as a hired hand. He was convinced that he had sacrificed his right to be his father’s son. He now decided to do what he knew was right.

Because a family would not normally forgive a son for such a sin, Jesus’ listeners would have been extremely surprised and angry to hear that the man ran out to meet his returning son. The son’s actions were so bad that the neighbors would have considered it their duty to kill him

if he returned. In fact, by meeting the boy first, his father may have saved him from execution. In addition, wealthy landowners did not go out to meet anyone; servants did that. And a man of stature would not have run anywhere because to do so he would have to lift the bottom of his long robe, improperly exposing his ankles. What Jesus described was a father intent on getting to his son before the neighbors did. And the father’s kisses symbolized the forgiveness he offered his son even before the son uttered his confession.

Even though the son had turned away, sinned willfully, and disgraced the family name, the father was waiting to forgive his son and save him from the death he deserved. What a wonderful picture of our God, who watchfully waits, ready to forgive us when we return to him in repentance!

Devotion for Leaders It probably was no coincidence that the father spotted the son from a distance. More than likely, he was waiting and watching daily for his boy to return. Picture a God anxious to meet you even when you feel ashamed. Know his love for you, and cherish the relationship you have with Jesus.

Weaving Faith Into Your Life: Who in your life doesn’t “deserve” mercy?“They are just out of options.”“They’ve made their bed…” “This change of heart won’t last.” Reach out to these people in kindness and joy.


Let’s Praise God!

Why We Worship for Leaders Christianity offers something that no other religion offers—the complete cleansing that comes from the forgiveness of sin and the removal of guilt. Because of God’s love and this inner cleansing, we can boldly approach God and enter into an intimate relationship with him that is more satisfying than anything the world offers us.

Even the youngest child in your children’s church has experienced the estrangement that is the natural outcome of sin. Wrong actions fill us with shame and guilt. Sin drives wedges between God and us and between other people and us. But God’s perfect love and forgiveness removes the division and brings us close again. The story of the prodigal son shows us what forgiving love is; it’s a picture of God’s love for his children. Just as the father forgave his son for his foolishness, God is ready to forgive us for anything. All we need to do is humbly ask for forgiveness and turn from our sin. What an awesome God we serve! Let’s worship him!

Easy Prep for Leaders Let’s Praise God!—Collect two magnets, a fist-sized rock, and a small box covered with aluminum foil. Write these words from Nehemiah 9:17 on poster board and include the reference: “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Nehemiah 9:17b). Post this where the children will see it.

Refined by Forgiveness—You’ll need paper towels, one small jar with a lid for every five children, and one tarnished penny per child. Combine a quarter-cup of coarse salt and half a cup of lemon juice in each jar. Have a small basket handy.

“Prodigal Teacher”—Set up a TV and a DVD player. Cue the Lesson Videos DVD to the segment titled “Prodigal Teacher.” You’ll want to watch the segment at least once before the worship session.

Party! Party!—Use mini-marshmallows, marshmallows, and pretzel sticks to make a “fattened calf.” (See the illustration in the margin.)

Preschool Activities—Refer to the preschool pages for preparations.

Play Songs From FaithWeaver as children arrive. Ask a few children to act as

greeters. Have them stand near the entrance to the worship area, greet each child by name, and say, “Hi! God loves us and forgives us!”

Welcome to children’s church, everyone! We’re worshipping God today because he is loving and forgiving. Let’s stand and sing “Everybody ought to know”.

SING EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW. Track 21

For additional worship songs each week, check out the Sing & Praise DVD

included with your KidsOwn Worship Kit.


Great singing, everyone! I can see you enjoy worshipping God with your voices. We can praise God because he loves us so much and forgives us for the wrong and mean things we do. The Bible tells us that everyone has done wrong and mean things. Those actions are called sin. Let’s see how sin hurts our friendship with God and others and how forgiveness helps our friendships.

Put two magnets on a table to show children how they repel each other.

Have you ever played with magnets? Magnets are kind of like friends—they’re supposed to stick together. But when you put two magnets together the wrong way, they push against each other. That’s what happens to our friendships when we do wrong things.

We can’t get close to God or to each other when the wrong things we do get in the way and push us apart. Think of a time you felt guilty about something you did. (Pause.) Now think about how you felt—did you feel close to people or were you crabby? (Pause.)

Let’s pretend we’re magnets that have been put together the wrong way. I’ll give you one minute to quietly act like these magnets. Move towards each other, then move quickly away before you touch. Think about the wrong things that get in the way of friendships with others. When I clap my hands, stand still and focus your attention on me. Ready? Go.

Have the children move around like repelling magnets. After a minute, clap your hands. Wait until you’ve regained everyone’s attention.

When we don’t forgive others, we feel distant from them. Turn the magnets around and inch them forward until they stick together. But when we forgive each other, we feel drawn like magnets that stick. Think about a time you felt forgiven. (Pause.) Now think about how that made you feel toward others. (Pause.) Did you feel closer to people or did you want to push people away? (Pause.)

Now let’s move around like magnets that stick. See how many people you can safely hug in one minute. To each person you hug, say, “God is loving and forgiving!”

Give children a minute to hug each other, and then clap your hands to regain their attention.

Worship

Leader Tip You may need more than one table and set of magnets if you have a large group of children. Enlist one or more helpers to demonstrate the magnet movements as you describe them.

Warning This activity uses magnets. Swallowed magnets can attract each other through opposing intestine walls, causing serious infection or even death. Seek immediate medical attention if magnets are swallowed or inhaled.


God is a great God! He is loving and forgiving. The Bible often uses word pictures to help us understand important concepts, including love and forgiveness. The word picture the Bible uses to help us understand forgiveness is the refiner’s fire.

Show the rock and the box wrapped in foil.

Precious metals—gold and silver, for example—have to be refined before they look shiny and pretty like this. Hold up the foil-covered box. Miners dig deep in the earth to find rocks that contain precious metals. Hold up the rock. Then the rocks are heated in the refiner’s fire. The fire is so hot the rocks turn to liquid. The impurities—the things that aren’t the precious metal—are burned away or skimmed off, and what’s left is pure.

The Bible says that God purifies us with forgiveness. If we confess, God’s forgiveness gets rid of our impure thoughts and actions. Let’s sing about that.

Sing“If We Confess” (1 John 1:9).

Lyrics are in the back of this book.

No matter what we’ve done, God is ready to forgive us. Listen to what Nehemiah 9:17 says. Read the verse aloud that you posted earlier. Repeat the verse as a group.

Have the children form three groups. Have the first group read the first phrase (to the first comma); have the second group read the second phrase; and have the third group read the third phrase. Then have all the children read the reference together. Have the children say the verse in this manner several times. The first time, have them whisper the verse. Then have them get louder each time they recite the verse until they’re calling out the verse in loud voices.

God’s love for us “abounds”! That means there’s lots and lots of it. Whenever we need anything, he’s the one who’s got the answer, whether we need love or forgiveness or a friend! God is good! That reminds me that we need to always let our light shine!

Sing Let your light Shine

Ask two or three children to share briefly how they’ve experienced forgiveness.

• Why is forgiveness such a wonderful thing? (Because it’s a gift; because it shows us how much God loves us.)

Track 17

Track 4


• What would life be like if people didn’t forgive each other? (Lonely, because people might stay mad at each other; hard.)

• What would life be like if God didn’t forgive us? (Scary; sad.) Let’s continue to worship God and thank him for being loving and forgiving.

Sing “Oh, How I love Jesus.

God, we praise and worship you today because “you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” We know that no matter what we do wrong and no matter how bad our sins are, you love us and are ready to forgive us. Thank you for being loving and forgiving. Thank you for always restoring our relationship with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

(continued on page 27)

Preschool Activities, pages 25-26 At this time, have the preschool leader invite the preschoolers to go to

their own room for this section of activities. Tear out the Preschool Activities page, and give it to the preschool leader. Have the preschool leader bring the preschoolers back to participate in Let’s Pray! with the older children. If you prefer to keep all the children together, do the starred (*) activities. They work well with both elementary and preschool children.


Track 5


Preschool Activities


Worship Theme:

God is loving and forgiving.

Easy Prep for Leaders

Forgiveness Boat—You’ll need a dishpan of water, several small rocks, plastic-foam packing peanuts, and an empty plastic boat or dish.

Warm Fuzzies—Use a paper punch to punch out two construction- paper circles per child. Have at least one cotton ball for each child. For extra fun, use colored cotton balls.

Using Theo Consider using Theophilus the FaithRetriever puppet today in these ways:

• Have Theo lead the preschoolers from the main worship area to the preschool room.

• Have Theo “help” blow bubbles for “Up, Up, and Away.”

• See the KidsOwn Worship Kit for a puppet skit written for today’s worship session.

* Forgiveness Boat Hello, preschoolers! We’re going to have lots of fun learning about God’s love and forgiveness today. This boat is going to show us what happens when we’re forgiven. Put the boat on the water. Let’s pretend that we’re like this boat that floats. These rocks are like the wrong things we do.

• What are some wrong things you do sometimes?

For each thing children mention, add a rock to the boat. If they need prompting, ask them questions such as, “Have you ever hit your brother when you’re mad?” or “Do you always obey?” Add rocks until the boat sinks.

Oh, look what happened to our boat! It got filled up with wrong things and sank. How sad! But we don’t have to stay sad, because Jesus

loves us. He wants to take away all the wrong things we’ve done. God wants to hear us say, “I’m sorry.”

Lead children in saying, “We’re sorry, God.” Then remove the boat from the water, and take out the rocks. Set the boat afloat again.

When we tell God we’re sorry, he forgives us and fills our hearts with good things. Fill the boat with packing peanuts. Look. When I put good things in our boat, it doesn’t sink! God’s love and forgiveness are like that. They keep us from sinking. Let’s thank God for being loving and forgiving.

Offer a short prayer of thanksgiving.

Up, Up, and Away God is loving and forgiving. Tell me some ways that God loves you.

Give children time to answer. If they need help, prompt them with ideas such as “He gave me my family,”“He sent Jesus to us,” or “He made animals for us to enjoy.”

I’m going to blow some bubbles. Let’s pop them and thank God for loving us.

Blow bubbles, and encourage children to pop them, saying, “Thank you, Jesus,” as each one breaks. After blowing a few batches of bubbles, have everyone stop and sit in a circle.

God loves us, and he forgives us when we’re sorry for wrong things we do. The wrong things we do disappear when God forgives us, just like the bubbles disappear when they pop.

Ask the children to mention some of the wrong things they do, such as disobeying their parents or taking toys from children who are playing with them. Then blow more bubbles, and encourage children to pop them.


Preschool Activities

Up, Up, and Away (continued) When God forgives your wrongs, they disappear, just like our bubbles popped and disappeared. God doesn’t remember them anymore. Let’s thank God for forgiving the wrong things we do.

Allow each child to take a turn blowing bubbles. After each child blows bubbles, lead the group in saying, “Thank you, God, for being loving and forgiving.”

Warm Fuzzies Let’s hear a Bible story about love and forgiveness. There was a dad who had two sons. The dad had lots of money to give his sons when they grew up. But the youngest son didn’t want to wait. He said, “Dad, give me the money now.” The dad was sad that his son wouldn’t wait, but he gave him the money anyway.

• What do you think the son did with the money?

He spent all the money on fun things. He spent it on parties and food and his friends— anything that was fun. Pretty soon all his money was gone. He couldn’t pay for food or a house to live in. He was sorry about wasting his dad’s money. He wanted to go home.

• What do you think the father did when the son came home?

The dad wasn’t mad. He was happy to see his son! He knew the boy was sorry, and he forgave his son. The dad gave his son a great big party to celebrate and invited all his friends.

This is how God feels about you and me. When we do wrong things and we’re sorry, he loves us and forgives us.

• Tell us about a time you were forgiven.

• How did you feel inside when you were forgiven?

It feels good to be forgiven. Sometimes we call that feeling a warm fuzzy because we feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Let’s make some warm fuzzies to remind us how God’s forgiveness makes us feel.

Hand each child a cotton ball. Help children glue paper eyes to the cotton balls to make little creatures called warm fuzzies. Remind the children that God’s love and forgiveness are like a warm fuzzy; they make us feel good and warm inside. When each child has made one or two warm fuzzies, have the children form a circle. Let them take turns around the circle tossing one of their fuzzies in the air. As children catch their fuzzies, encourage them to say, “God’s forgiveness is like a warm fuzzy.”


(continued from page 24)

Elementary Activities * Refined by Forgiveness

Set the jars of salt and lemon juice on chairs or tables or on the floor around the perimeter of the room.

Earlier we talked about what it means to be refined or purified. Let’s talk about that some more. Hold up a tarnished penny.

• How is this tarnished penny like our lives when we do and say wrong things? (We get unclean, too; we don’t shine like we’re supposed to.)

• What are things that make us tarnished like this penny is? (Being mean to people; using bad words; throwing a temper tantrum.)

Sometimes we get trapped in sin, and that makes us tarnished. It’s as if our lives are dirty and unclean. We need someone to polish us and make us new. Let’s see what the Bible says about being made new. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 5:17.

• Who’s the only one who can forgive us and make us new? (Jesus; God the Father.)

• How does Jesus make us new? (By dying for our sins; by taking our punishment on himself.)

Jesus is the only one who can make us clean and pure. He’s our refiner. Let’s refine our pennies and make them clean to remind us how Jesus’ love and forgiveness change us. I’ve placed refining solution in jars around the room. When I say “Go,” find one of the jars and stand by it—but don’t touch it until I tell you. Up to five people can stand at each jar.

Have children gather around the jars in groups of five or fewer. Give each child a penny. Have the children drop the pennies into the jars and screw on the lids. Then have each group pass the jar around so each person can shake the jar vigorously for several seconds. While the children are shaking, have them think about the sins they’d like to be forgiven for.

When all the children have shaken the jar, have them remove the pennies and wipe them dry with paper towels.

• What happened to your pennies? (They cleaned up; they got shiny.)

• How is that like God’s love and forgiveness in our lives? (Knowing Jesus makes us shiny; being forgiven makes us clean.)

Just as these pennies became new and shiny, God’s love and forgiveness make us clean and new. Let’s put all the pennies in this basket right now. We’ll use them again before we go home.

Worship

Leader Tip It’s helpful in this activity to have one adult or teenage helper for every 10 to 15 children. Have your helpers work with two or three small groups to help them get organized and stay on task.

Worship

Leader Tip Have children who don’t have cuts on their hands remove the pennies from the jars. The solution will sting cut hands!


Let’s Pray!

“Prodigal Teacher” Show the Lesson Videos DVD segment titled “Prodigal Teacher.” The DVD tells the story of the prodigal son.

• Why was Sheila so angry about a teacher playing on the playground? (He left his classroom to her; he was acting foolish when he should have been doing his job.)

• How did the teacher’s actions affect others? (His students couldn’t count on him; Sheila had to do his work for him.)

• Why was the principal so ready to accept the teacher after he came in? (Because he was loving; he cared about his staff.)

• What does this story teach you about God? (That God is loving and forgiving; that we can go to God for help when we need it.)

God loves us no matter what we do. He wants to forgive us when we do wrong. He is loving and forgiving, and that’s something to celebrate! Let’s have a party.

* Party! Party! In our Bible story, the father made a feast for his son when he returned home. Let’s celebrate the love and forgiveness God gives us by making a feast, too.

Set out bowls of large marshmallows, mini-marshmallows, pretzel sticks, and napkins. If you have more than 20 children in your worship group, set up at least two snack stations.

Have each child take three large marshmallows, nine mini-marshmallows, and a small handful of pretzel sticks. Have them use their marshmallows and pretzels to make fattened calves. Set your marshmallow calf next to the snacks so kids can see how to make one. While the children are making their snacks, play music from Songs From FaithWeaver.

When the snacks are made, let the children eat them. While the children are eating, encourage them to share examples of God’s goodness with each other.

The Offering God’s love is great. He forgives us and wants us to love and forgive others.

Distribute one index card and a pencil or marker to each child. Ask the children to write on their index cards things they’d like to ask God’s forgiveness for. Beginning writers can either write one word or draw a picture to remind them of their prayer request. Then have a minute of silence, and encourage the children to pray about the prayer requests on their index cards.

After the prayer, have volunteers pass the offering bowls. Ask the children to put in their index cards and any other offering they brought.

ALLERGY ALERT

Worship

Leader Tip If you have more than 20 children in your group, consider having the children answer these questions in small groups of two or three children.

Be aware that some children have food allergies that can be dangerous. Know your children, and consult with parents about allergies their children may have. Also be sure to read food labels carefully as hidden ingredients can cause allergy-related problems.


Penny Prayers Set the basket of pennies from “Refined by Forgiveness” near you. Add pennies for the preschool children, if necessary.

When we refined our pennies earlier and when we wrote on the index cards, you were asked to think of things you needed forgiveness for. Let’s close our eyes and take a minute to receive God’s forgiveness for those things right now. Give children a few moments to pray silently.

Thank you, Lord, for your love and forgiveness. You heard each thing that was confessed today. We receive your forgiveness now in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Take a penny from the basket, and hand it to the person next to you. Say, “God is loving and forgiving.” Then have that person take a penny from the basket to give to the next person until everyone has a penny and has been told, “God is loving and forgiving.”

Put this penny in your pocket, and take it home with you. Let it remind you that God is loving and forgiving.

Biblical Dress Up Listen to these words from the Bible. These verses talk about putting on special character traits just as you would put on clothes. As I mention the character traits, pretend to put them on as if they were clothes.

Read Colossians 3:12-14 aloud from an easy-to-read version of the Bible. Then, with the children, pretend to put on the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

• What are some things you can do this week to show that you’ve “dressed up” in these character traits? (I can be nice to my mom; I can be patient with my baby brother.)

Now take a minute to think of some ways to show a loving and forgiving spirit this week. Tell the people sitting on both sides of you what you’ll do this week.

Give the children a moment to think of ideas and share them with their neighbors. Then sound an attention-getting signal, and wait until children have stopped talking.

God, we thank you and praise you for loving us and forgiving us for the wrong things we do. You are a great God, and we love you. Help us follow your example this week by showing others the same kind of love and forgiveness you show us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Worship

Leader Tip If you’re looking for an easy- to-read version of the Bible, try Group’s Hands-On Bible®. The Hands-On Bible uses the same experience-based learning to communicate God’s Word in an active, understandable way.

jesus tells the parable of the lost son -...

Documents