St Mary Church – Ottawa Grade: 2

Preparation date / Jan 31st and Feb 3rd / Service date / February 6th
Lesson’s title / The Lost Sheep
General purpose / ( ) Love / ( ) Faith / ( ) Hope
Specific purpose / God never gives up on us, and will always search for us when we’re lost.
Verses of the lesson / “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may answer him who reproaches me”. Proverbs 27:11.
“My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed” Proverbs 23:15
“My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands” Proverbs 3:1
References / 1)  The Holy Bible.
2)  Websites
Illustration tool / Video, toys, maze (finding the lost sheep)
Psalm of the week
Personal meditation / Sometimes we chose not to follow Jesus, or walk in the right path, we chose to go our way, which is not the right, safest way for us. We get carried away; we get very occupied with earthly things, just because it looks nicer or “fun”. According to us it’s the best for us but sooner or later we figure out that it’s not the best way, so we try to go back and sometimes we don’t even try to come back. Jesus doesn’t give up on us, even though we hurt him, when we rely on our personal thinking and perceptions. He looks for us, and hopes to go back with him, and when we do the whole heaven celebrates the return of the lost sheep.
Even though there are millions of believers, who love Jesus and are on the right path, Jesus always looks for the missing ones, because we’re all his children, he can’t be happy knowing that one of his children is lost and in trouble.
Introduction / -  Has anyone seen the Disney movie, the little mermaid before?
She was a mermaid, a princess, the daughter of the merking Triton, she had everything, servants, wonderful friends and everything anyone dreamed of, her father was always around her protecting her and was very caring, however she always tried getting out of the see, because she thought she would have more freedom on the land, and she also wanted to try something new, so what did she do? she went to the very bad witch “Ursula” and she signed a contract with her, in that contract it was clearly stated that she would have to give up her voice in order to get legs, so the little mermaid signed it anyways.
What did her father do when he realized his daughter was missing, did he just forget about her and thought to himself ‘ oh I have other kids I shouldn’t worry about that one, or did he tell every person in the sea to go look for his missing daughter everywhere and that no one shall sleep until she’s found? And indeed he found her, even though he asked her so many times not go to the surface and stay away from humans but she totally disobeyed him, once he found her, he forgot everything about it, and celebrated that joyful event with all the merpeople.
I THOUGHT ABOUT ANOTHER INTRODUCTION:
-  A bag full of small toys. Ahead of time I will hide one of the toys.
-  I have a very nice collection of stuffed toys. They come in all shapes and sizes. Animals are my favorites. Today I brought some of them to show to you. (Show the children the stuffed toys, commenting on each as you show it to them.)
Oh no! I seem to have lost one of my stuffed toys. I know I had it when I got here this morning. Would you help me look for it? (Lead the children in a search for the lost toy. When it is found, continue the lesson.) Thank you so much for helping me find the lost toy. Even though I have a very large collection, every one of them is very important to me and I would be very upset if one of them was lost.
Lesson / That reminds me of a lesson that Jesus taught to a group of people. Some of those people were very upset that Jesus was often seen associating with sinners. He was even sometimes seen eating with them. People didn't like that at all and were very critical of Jesus. Jesus told them a story to help them to understand.
"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and you lost one of them," Jesus said. "Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine who were safe, and go and search for the lost sheep? And when you found the lost sheep, wouldn't you joyfully put it on your shoulders and carry it back home? Wouldn't you be so happy that you would tell all of your friends about finding the lost sheep?" I imagine that all of the people had to agree that they would do just as Jesus had suggested. Then Jesus said to them,” In the same way, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
At the end of the story about the lost sheep I can ask the kids to think about what would have happened if the shepherd offered to take the sheep back but the sheep said no. But why would that sheep do that?
1. He liked running around outside the sheepfold. – But night is coming and he won’t like it anymore when a wolf finds him. Just like some people think they’re happy now without Christ, doing what they want. But that only lasts a season.
2. He thinks He can find his own way back. – That sheep can’t find the fold, or else he wouldn’t have been lost in the first place. Just like people that think they can get to Heaven on their own.
3. He thinks he’s been a bad sheep for wandering off and doesn’t deserve to go back. – If the shepherd thought he was too bad to take back, why would he have gone out after him? He wants the sheep back, because he still loves him. Just like some people that think that because of the bad things they have done they don’t deserve to be saved. But if that were true, why did Christ die to save us? He still loves us and wants to forgive us.
4. He’s not sure what to expect when he’s back with the other sheep. – He has nothing to be afraid of. The other sheep will be glad to see him, and he’ll be a lot better off than he is now. Just like people that aren’t sure of accepting Christ because they’ve never lived a Christian life before, and they don’t know what to expect. But there’s nothing to be afraid of, and it’s much better than a life without Christ.
Now I have a question for you, why do you think Jesus chose a sheep, why not a lion or a bear?
Because a sheep is helpless, looksinnocent(might be easilydeceived) , is not strong , can'tdefend himself , loves hisshepherd although the sheep might goastraybecause his limited way of thinking , orhis interesttowards playing and fun.....etc , plus the sheep is pure same we are pure by Jesus' blood throughbaptism
Conclusion / The Bible teaches us that we are like sheep and sometimes stray away from God. That makes God very sad, but he never gives up on us. He keeps searching for us and calling to us. He wants to draw us back into his arms. He even sent Jesus, his Son, to save those who are lost. Aren't you glad that God doesn't give up on his lost sheep? I am, because "I once was lost, but now I'm found!"
Lesson application / -  It’s never too late to repent and return back to God, confess.
-  Fast
-  Grow in Jesus
-  How to use the SNB
Homework / ______
______
______
Weekly report / # of kids : / Atten. : / Commun.
Personal notes / Confes. Date : / Commun. ( ) / # of visited kids :
Bible ( ) / Spiritual book :
Notes of servant’s servant / ______
______
______
______