Parable of the Lost Son

There once lived a man who had two sons.

What is a Parable?A parable is a story that Jesus told his disciples. It can be found in the bible!

One day, the youngest son

decided to ask his Father for his

inheritance early. His Father agreed and gave it to him.

He shared it equally between

his two sons.

With his new found riches, the son decided that he would move away from his family and start a new life in a more exciting place. He wanted to spend his money the way he wanted with no one telling

him what to do. He was gone for good.

Out in the big, wide world the son lived a life of luxury. He ate fancy food, bought flash clothes and stayed in beautiful places. But this was short-lived. He spent all his money very quickly and didn’t save

any money at all. Soon he found himself poor.

He lived in a country that was poor too and he

could hardly feed himself. With little options left, the

son got a job feeding pigs. He

was so hungry he wanted to steal the pig’s food!

After thinking long and hard about what he should do, the son decided to go back to his family. He was going to tell his Father how sorry he was for sinning against him and against God. He would offer his services to his father as a worker, after all his Father’s worker’s

had better lives than he currently had!

After travelling many miles the son was finally near home. As his house was in sight the son could see someone running towards him. It was his Father. His Father cried tears of joy to see his youngest

son home at last.

The Father was so happy to have his son back, he missed him very much. He told his workers to get his

son some clothes and shoes, and ordered them to cook a big feast in celebration of his son’s return.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field working. He heard a lot of music so he came back to the house. He

saw his brother was back and grew angry. He was angry because he had never been given what his Father was giving his brother, yet he was the one who remained

loyal to his Father! His Father came up to him and told him that he should not be angry, his brother had once been lost but now he had found his way back again.

Review-What was this story about?-Why do you think the older brother reacted badly when his brother returned?-How would you react if you were the older brother?

What was Jesus trying to tell us through this Parable?

Through this Parable we learn about:-How God is forgiving. We can be forgiven for our sins if we are sorry and learn from our mistakes! God loves us all unconditionally and will forgive us. -How we must not judge others for their wrongdoings! We must realise that people make mistakes and we should accept their apologies.

Activity- In groups of 4 I want you to think about a time in your life that you have had to say sorry to someone. Share with your group.-Choose one person to read out the situation you are given. Discuss how you would react if you were the person being asked for forgiveness and what you would say if you were the person asking for forgiveness!-Share with the class