The Parable of the Lost Son
Apologising and forgiving are the topics for this episode as Anna looks at The Parable of the Lost Son, or Prodigal Son, as some people call it. Saying sorry can be hard and doesn't usually feel good, but God wants us to do it and whenever we do, He will ALWAYS forgive us!
Today we are learning about forgiveness and repenting.
Repenting is saying sorry, showing remorse.
Have you ever done something to someone and needed to say sorry? It isn’t a very pleasant thing to have to do, but it is the best thing to do as acknowledging that you’ve done the wrong thing and admitting that you wished it hadn’t happened helps the other person to be your friend again.
What do you think?
What Feeling Is It? GAME
I am a feeling
When you feel this you do not feel nice
You feel this when you have done something mean/unkind to someone and you wish you hadn’t
You might feel sick in the stomach
This feeling is not feeling sadness, although often you feel sad as well.
What feeling is it? The feeling is remorse.
What is Remorse? It is a feeling of sadness and being sorry for something you have done
What Does Sorry Mean? It is a feeling sadness, sympathy, or disappointment, especially because something unpleasant has happened or been done.
Sometimes it means regret, or a wish that something didn’t happen, as in “sorry for your loss.”
Other times it means that we are at fault and have made a mistake.
That is the sorry I am talking about today - when something bad has happened and it is your fault.
This parable is Jesus way of teaching everyone how to ask for forgiveness.
We teach our kids to say sorry.
I taught my kids to repent - to say sorry.
Ted said “Orries!”
We had to break it down and say he needed a sad voice and a sad face to show that he wished he hadn’t done it. We could teach him how to act but we couldn’t change the feelings in his heart - whether he was repentant or couldn’t care less.
But do we teach others how to forgive? That comes from the heart too.
Why should we forgive, how do you forgive and why is it hard to forgive sometimes? Those are questions that will all be looked at during this episode!
Story TIme:
The story today is Jesus’ story - his parable.
Bible Passage: Luke 15:11-32
“Jesus also told them another story:
Once a man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the property.” So the father divided his property between his two sons.
Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.
He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.
Finally, he came to his senses and said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.’”
The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.
The son said, “Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son.”
But his father said to the servants, “Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate. This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found.” And they began to celebrate.
The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants over and asked, “What’s going on here?”
The servant answered, “Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf.” The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house.
His father came out and begged him to go in. But he said to his father, “For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never even given me a little goat, so that I could give a dinner for my friends. This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast.”
His father replied, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found.””
Explanation (use Swedish Method):
Whenever we say sorry to God, he will ALWAYS forgive us!
Question Time!
Share about a time you have had to apologise and it was really hard. What was it that motivated you to do it even when you didn’t want to?
Do you identify with the older or the younger son the most? Why?
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