Here’s an idea for a kids talk on Luke 15:11-24…
God loves to save lost people. We need to ask God to forgive us and trust in Jesus to take the punishment we deserve for our sins.
Focus
Have you ever had a big argument with one of your best friends?
After you had this argument did one of you say something like ‘I’m not going to talk you ever again!’ or ‘I don’t want to see you anymore!’ or ‘We’re no longer best friends!’?
How did you feel after you had this argument?
What needed to happen for you to become friends again?
How did you feel once you made up and became best friends again?
Jesus once told a story (or a parable) about someone who said ‘I don’t want to see you anymore!’, ‘I’m not going to talk to you ever again!’ In fact what this person said was worse; he said ‘I wish you were dead!’ The person he said this too wasn’t his best friend but his father.
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This father, Jesus tells us has two sons. One day the younger son said to his father, ‘I’ve had enough of living at home; in fact, I’ve had enough of living with you! I want my inheritance!’
Can anyone tell me what he meant when he said ‘I want my inheritance’?
The younger son was saying to his father that he wanted the money he was going to get when his father died – now! He’s saying to his father, ‘I wish you were dead!’
So the father gave his son the money and the son left home.
The son then spent the next year or two spending that money. He spent his money on wild parties, the fastest camels, eating at the Italian restaurants, designer clothes. He had a whale of a time. He was popular and the guy everyone wanted to be around.
But then the cash ran out. The people who hung around him now wanted nothing to do with him. He had to get a job, and the only one available was feeding pigs.
The younger son feels utterly alone. He thinks that even the pigs are better off than him. He’s down and desperate.
Jesus wants us to understand that we are like the younger son. We have all sinned, and said to God, ‘I don’t want you telling me what to do, I want to live my life the way I think is best’. This leaves us in a desperate situation, because God will punish everyone who has sinned in hell.
Back to the story…the younger son realises that he’s been an idiot; that he was stupid to treat his father this way and decides to do something about it.
What do you think the younger son needs to do?
The younger son sets off home to say sorry to his father, and to ask for his forgiveness.
Did you know that God loves us so much and desperately wants to forgive us of all our sins and to save us from the punishment of hell that we deserve? We know this because he sent Jesus to die on the cross to take this punishment that we deserve. God promises to forgive everyone who repents, who says sorry and asks Jesus to take their sins and remove their punishment.
The younger son’s father is looking of his window one day when he sees his son coming home. He is so excited that he jumps up, runs out the front door and throws his arms around his son. He is so happy to see him again. As the son says sorry to his father, the father calls one of the servants to get him ring and put a cloak on him, and kill the fattened calf because that night there is going to be a big party because this lost son is now found.
The Bible tells us that if we repent, we ask God to forgive, and believe that God will because Jesus has taken the punishment we deserve; when we die we will go to God’s party in heaven, which is the best party ever!
Wrap up
Do you want to be like the younger son who was forgiven by his father and be forgiven by God?
If you, you will need to…(adapted from ‘Why did Jesus die’ tract published by The Good Book Company)
Admit your sin – that you disobey God by what you say and do. You need to ask God to forgive you and to help you to change.
Believe that Jesus died for you – to take the punishment you deserve for your sin and that he came back to life and is alive today.
Consider what it means to live God’s way with Him in charge – it won’t be easy and you’ll need His help.
Do something about it! Decide that you are going to live God’s way with His help from now on.
