The Parable of Lost Things (Luke 15)

In this lesson, we are going to look at part one of Jesus’ parables of lost things, focusing on the lost sheep and the lost coin. In part 2, we will explore the parable of the lost son. All three parables are found in Luke 15.

Some of the main points are:

• You are precious to God.
• God seeks out all who are lost.
• There is great rejoicing when the lost are found.
• God never gives up.

Lesson Guide – The Parable of Lost Things

Begin the lesson by looking at a search and find book with your child. There are also many free pages to print online.

Ask your child if they remember what a parable is? Remind them that the parable is an everyday story with a spiritual meaning. Read Luke 15:1-10 from your children’s Bible.

Ask your child what they would do if they lost a series of different objects. For example, a sweet, a piece of paper, a phone or favourite toy. Speak about how we lose something of little value it doesn’t really bother us that much. If we lose something as precious, we get very upset and we search for it with all our strength.

Speak about a time where you lost something dear to you. Share how it made you feel. Share what steps you took to try and find the object.

Point out that Jesus made it clear that the sheep and the coin were very precious to their owners. It didn’t matter that they still had most left, the one was very precious to them. Remind your child that they’re very precious not only to you but also to God.

Read Isaiah 53:6 – “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” Share how God wants us to be close to Him, safe and loved, but often we become distracted by things. Give the example of how you ask your child to stay close to you while out shopping, but sometimes they become distracted by toys, sweets, or something happening. Just as you watch out for your child because they are precious to you, God watches over them because they are precious to Him.

Ask your child to hold out their fingers. Have them count to the number 10. Share how the lady lost one coin. Show them on their hands that she still had 9 but that one was precious to her. You could hide one coin in the room and ask your child to find it. Try not to give them any clues. At some point they will become frustrated and want to give up. Remind your child that this coin was very precious to the woman. She kept looking for it, until she found it and then there was great rejoicing.

Remind your child that people are precious to God. Read Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save the lost.”

Help your child understand that God doesn’t only love people in general, He loves them individually. He cares for the one and rejoices when they are found.

Thank God that you are precious to Him. Ask Him to help you remain close to Him at all time.

Free Printable Bible Story

Games and Activities

Coin rubbing

Coin rubbing is a quick and easy activity that children love. All you need is some coins, paper and pencils or crayons. To be more educational, you can hide the coin under the paper and ask your child to tell you which coin it is after the rubbing. Or place several coins under the paper and ask them to count the rubbed coins and check if it’s the same.

Balloon herding

Pump up at least five balloons. Create a sheep pen and ask your child to herd all the balloons into the enclosure. Make it more challenging by asking them to fan the balloons into the pen. Or have different colour balloons for different teams and make it a race. Speak about how some of the balloon tries to wander off.

Where is the sheep

Print the cards page in the lesson. Place the cards face up on a table and hide the sheep under one of the cards. Take it in turns to guess where the sheep is hiding. The first player to find the sheep gets to hide it for the next game.

Worksheets

Free Bible Coloring Pages – Lost things parable

Lost things story wheel Bible Craft

What you need:

• Template pages
• Fastener (split) pin
• Colouring pencils
• Scissors

What to do:

1. Colour the template pages
2. Cut around the circles
3. Fix together with a Fastener pin.

Download the lessons for FREE

Translations