This lesson plan is copyrighted and belongs to the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian,
Cary North Carolina. It may be used for non-profit uses only.
Scripture: Luke 15: 11-32
Key Verse for this lesson: "Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other” -- I John 4:11
Concepts:
1. God loves us even when we do wrong things.
2. When we are truly sorry God forgives us.
3. Making bad choices can hurt yourself and others.
Objectives:
1. Children will view the video “Prodigal Son” and learn the story.
2. The children will learn that God wants to forgive us when we do wrong and are sorry.
3. The children will ask God to forgive them for something they have done wrong.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. Make sure the children are wearing name-tags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week who may not know you.
2. Distribute the popcorn with help from the Shepherds or volunteer children. (Popcorn should already be made) OR you may need to start the video immediately and then pass popcorn.
3. Tell the children that today they will be watching a video about the story of the Prodigal Son. The word “prodigal” means wasteful, reckless. Today we might use this word to describe someone who lived a bad life, doing bad things being reckless and wasteful but then decided to change these bad ways and live better as God would want that person to do better. The father in the story is like God. God doesn’t stop us from making bad decisions, but God is joyful when we return to better ways.
The story is told by Jesus. Jesus uses the story to tell us something about God. As you watch the story, look for ways that the father is like God.
Bible Story:
Show the video. It’s about 30 minutes long. Cue the video past the credits to the beginning of the story.
Application:
Discussion: recap the main events of the story with the children. Younger children: Help them to get the sequence of the story. Ask what happened first, then what happened, then what? Ask if they ever do things that they know is wrong? How does it feel when we do bad things? How did the son feel when he wasted all his money? Is God happy with us when we do bad things? Who else gets hurt when we do bad things? Relate God to the father in the video. What does God want us to do? (ask for forgiveness and to do better) Talk about praying to God for forgiveness and saying “I’m sorry” to those you hurt. Does it make you feel better to say I’m sorry? How does it make the other person feel when you say you are sorry? How did the father feel when the son came home and gave up his wasteful living? How do you think God feels when we admit our mistakes and plan to do better?
Older Children: Ask the children if they have every done something bad and then realized it was wrong. Talk about what pressures the children have to do bad things. What tempts them? What do they do that they know is wrong? Who else gets hurt by the bad things they do? How did the father feel when his son decided to go away? How do you think God feels when we do bad things we shouldn’t?
Talk about asking for forgiveness. How do we ask for forgiveness? (we pray to God for forgiveness and help in doing better. We say “I’m sorry” to others who are hurt. We explain why it won’t happen again. We try to correct our mistakes.) How is God like the father in the video? Will God forgive us? Why will God forgive us? Refer to the key verse for this lesson. Have the children recite it.
Reflection Time:
1. Ask the shepherds to pass out the journals and pencils/markers. Ask younger children to draw a picture of someone praying to God for forgiveness. They could trace their own hands in prayer. Older children: What can you do better? Write down something you would like God’s help in doing better or something you did that you want to ask God to forgive. Suggestions might be to stop fighting with a sibling, to not lie, to help with chores. Finish the sentence “I am sorry for ____________”. Remind the children that God loves us and wants to forgive us if we ask. Tell the children you are going to pray in the closing prayer about what they have asked God for help in doing.
2. Ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly for prayer.
Prayer: Suggestion: Thank you Jesus for giving us the story about the prodigal son who did bad things but was forgiven by his father and by God. Please God, forgive us for the things (we wrote in our journals) that we have done wrong. (You might pause for a silent moment and let the children silently give up their request.) Help us to do better. Thank you God for loving us so much you will always forgive us if we are truly sorry, just as the prodigal son was forgiven.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help clean up popcorn as they wait for their parents to arrive.
Optional: distribute activity sheets to the children to take
home or take to worship. Use the Activity and Resource Book that accompanies
the video. Offer a couple of choices.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study
2. Prepare a closing prayer or use the suggested one given in this lesson plan.
3. Write your key scripture verse on the white board.
4. Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
5. Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place
6. Photocopy a couple of activity sheets from the Activity and Resource book from Nest Entertainment. This book has two levels of difficulty for younger and older children. Some children might enjoy coloring a picture, others might prefer a word search/quiz sheet. Provide a couple of choices.
7. PRACTICE OPERATING THE POPCORN MACHINE. Visit the current workshop leader for instructions before your rotation begins. Be sure you have plenty of popcorn popped BEFORE the children arrive. You will need to have your attention on the children at that point. Ask the shepherds or child volunteers to help distribute it to children who are sitting quietly.
References
Nest Entertainment Prodigal Son, distributed by Nest Family Entertainment Series
Nest Entertainment Prodigal Son, Activity and
Resource Book, distributed by Nest Family Entertainment Series