Tech Que: “Picture This” Title Graphic

When we spend all of our time coveting more stuff, we want that stuff, we love that stuff, and we give our hearts to that stuff! But when we spend our time following Jesus, we give our hearts to Him. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have some new clothes or a cool bike, but sometimes, like the rich fool, we want more stuff than we really need. And sometimes that stuff becomes more important to us than following Jesus. So instead of working so hard to get the newest and coolest stuff, work on loving and following Jesus more and more every single day. The reward for doing that lasts forever!

Before we get started with today’s parable, I want to ask you a question. Has anyone here ever lost something that was really important to you? How did it feel? (Call on a few kids and have them tell about what they lost and how it felt. Don’t ask yet if they ever found it.) Today we get to hear not just one, but two parables about people who know exactly what it feels like to lose something important. Let’s look at those parables together.

Tech Que: “Big Bible Story” Graphic (Pick up Bible and open to Luke 15 Tech Que: “Big Bible Story” Graphic (Pick up Bible and open to Luke 15.) We’ve been talking about how Jesus was going around traveling and teaching about God. Lots of people loved Jesus, but not everyone. Especially not the Pharisees! The Pharisees thought they were better than everyone else. For the rest of the story, whenever I say “Pharisees,” I want for us to make a shudder noise. (Illustrate “shudder” noise for kids.)

The Pharisees (shudder) tried to follow God’s rules perfectly The Pharisees (shudder) tried to follow God’s rules perfectly. More than that, the Pharisees (shudder) made up a whole bunch of other rules for people to follow. The Pharisees (shudder) thought that God loved them more than everyone else because they followed all of the rules. Worst of all, the Pharisees (shudder) didn’t even want to get close to people (leap away from the kids as if horrified) who sinned and didn’t want to have anything to do with people who didn’t follow God. You see—the Pharisees (shudder) behaved really well on the outside, but their hearts were rotten! One day the Pharisees (shudder) saw Jesus doing something they couldn’t believe. Check this out!

Read Luke 15:1–2. It says, “The tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees (shudder) and the teachers of the law were whispering among themselves. They said, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”

They felt like Jesus shouldn’t be hanging out with those sinners They felt like Jesus shouldn’t be hanging out with those sinners! Those people weren’t following God or obeying His rules! When Jesus heard their grumbling, He decided it was time for a couple parables—the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin. Let’s play “Picture This” to find out what the parables are all about.

Choose a kid to come to the teaching area Choose a kid to come to the teaching area. Show him the “Parable Picture” card with the picture that needs to be drawn. For younger kids, you may need to whisper the word to them. Have the kid quickly and silently draw his picture on the paper pad until the rest of the kids can guess what it is. Next, tear the paper off and have the artist stand with it to the side. Choose another kid to draw the next picture and repeat the above instructions.

In the end, there should be six kids standing across the teaching area holding the following pictures in this order: sheep, binoculars, balloons, coins, house, and party hat. See the “Drawing Challenge Options” in the Set-Up Instructions for more details.

Nice drawings. And best of all—they tell our parables for today Nice drawings! And best of all—they tell our parables for today. Check it out! In the “Lost Sheep” parable, there was a shepherd who had 99 sheep (point to sheep drawing), but one goes missing. Bummer! Instead of giving up on the one missing sheep, though, the shepherd goes out and searches (point to binoculars picture) until he finds it.

Then, he calls up all of his friends and neighbors and they celebrate (point to balloons picture) together. In the “Lost Coin” parable, a woman has 10 coins, (point to coins picture) but one goes missing. She searches every nook and cranny of her house (point to house picture) until she finds it. Then, just like with the shepherd, she calls up her friends and neighbors, tells them the good news, and they all celebrate (point to party hat picture).

When He was finished telling the parables, Jesus looked straight at the Pharisees (shudder) and said, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin.” Tech Que: “Big Bible Story Questions” Graphic

At the end of the Bible story have the kids turn briefly to their small groups and discuss the following questions: For Younger Kids: What do you think Jesus was trying to tell people through this parable? Why did the shepherd leave the other 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep?

Earlier today, I asked if you’ve ever lost something really important to you. I have another question, though. Did any of you ever find what you lost? (Kids respond.) What did it feel like to finally find it? (Take answers from kids.) Depending on how important that thing was, you probably wanted to throw a party—didn’t you! Let me show you what that’s like.

(Choose 2 volunteers to find hidden objects (Choose 2 volunteers to find hidden objects.) I hid 5 cutout people in this room earlier today. Your job is to find all 5 people and bring them up to the stage. As soon as you find one person, bring that cutout up to me. Then, keep looking for the others! For the rest of you, be looking around from your seats and let our two volunteers know if you see something. And one other thing—every time a person is found and brought to the stage, there’s going to be a party! When the last person is found, we’ll have something extra special! Are you all ready? On your mark, get set, FIND THOSE PEOPLE!

Tech Que: Find Those People Tech Que: Find Those People! When the volunteers find a person, prompt kids to cheer and create a celebration atmosphere. As the volunteers find the people cutouts, tape or hang them somewhere in the teaching area. When the last person is found, have the biggest celebration yet. You could spray silly string, squirt water guns, toss out candy, throw confetti, etc.

Tech Que: “Picture This “ Title Graphic That was so fun Tech Que: “Picture This “ Title Graphic That was so fun! Nice job searching for all of those people! Did you notice something, though? If the story was about a lost sheep and a lost coin, why were we looking for people in this game? (Take responses from kids) Great thoughts! Remember, the things in a parable often represent something else. Jesus wasn’t really telling a story about sheep and coins. The lost sheep and coins represent people—lost people.

When Jesus talks about someone being lost, He doesn’t mean they got separated from their parents and can’t find their way home. When Jesus says the person is “lost,” He means they don’t know who God is and they don’t live the way God wants them to live. The Pharisees in our story avoided people like that, but Jesus didn’t!

He hung out with lost people and wanted to be their friends even if they didn’t know God and weren’t living His way. In fact, Jesus is like the shepherd in the parable, seeking out the lost people and helping them to know and love God. I’m incredibly thankful that Jesus loves lost people! Do you know why? I was lost once, but Jesus looked for me.

This would be an excellent place for you to briefly share your testimony in an age-appropriate way with the kids. Jesus looked for me (Write your name on one of the people cut outs from the game). And now, I have a friendship with Jesus. That’s not all! Jesus looked for ________, (write the name of another leader or kid in the room) and now he/she has a friendship with Jesus too!

(Repeat until all of the paper people have names on them (Repeat until all of the paper people have names on them.) And every time Jesus saves a lost person, all of heaven celebrates. That’s exactly what our Bible verse for today says. Let’s look at it together! (Encourage kids to open their Bibles to Luke 15:10. Be prepared to give younger kids more time and assistance in finding the verse. When ready, choose a kid to read it aloud or read it aloud yourself while the kids follow along.)

Tech Que: “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin.” Luke 15:10 That’s how much Jesus loves when lost people start following Him. Not only does Jesus rejoice, but all of heaven rejoices with Him! And guess what? Jesus isn’t finished! He’s still looking for people who don’t know God and don’t live His way because Jesus cares about all lost people. And if Jesus cares about lost people, we should too!

Tech Que: “Picture This” Title Graphic