The Lost Sheep ~ Gentleness Matthew 18:10-14

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1 Winter 2017 ~ Beginners Lesson #4 Learning Objectives The Lost Sheep ~ Gentleness Matthew 18: The children will explore the story of the Lost Sheep, and how being gentle with others is pleasing to God. 2. The children will recognize gentleness as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Memory Verse: I seek you with all my heart. --Psalm 119:10 Getting Started Choose One Activity Count the Sheep Activity See the attached sheet with LOTS of sheep. You will need to print out one copy for each child. Ask them to come in to the class and try and count all of the sheep on the page. Tell them there should be 100 on there, but you were not sure if there were any missing. Remind the children to be extra careful as they count. After they have all counted and come up with their guesses, tell them that there are actually 99 sheep on the page, not 100. Just like in today s story, one of the sheep is missing. (Continue with the story.) Coloring the Sheep Activity (NOTE: This could be used during the activity portion of the lesson as well.) (See attached for the activity sheet.) You will need to print one sheep picture for each child. Have the children add the blue sky and green grass and flowers too to their pictures. Then glue cotton balls (popcorn or crinkled white tissue paper will work too) onto the sheep. Add the Memory Verse on the bottom. While you are working, ask the children if they have ever seen or been around a sheep. Have them tell you what kind of animal they are. Be sure to discuss the gentle nature of a sheep. When the pictures are all finished, continue with the story. Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions Message: Be gentle with others. Storytelling Tips: Before class hide a stuffed sheep toy somewhere in the class where the children won't find it until lesson time. If you can go outside for this lesson, hide the sheep outside. (If you don't have a good place to hide the sheep in the room until story time, just have someone hide him in a purse or bag until the children start looking for him.) Give them a little time to look and then pull out the sheep and pretend that you have found him. OR 1

2 Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions - Continued Hide the sheep, as detailed above. Then have a volunteer (or you) come into the room dressed like a shepherd. The shepherd should yell, "Woolie, where are you?" and start looking around the room. Then he should look down and notice the children. He can say something like, "Oh, Hi, I'm a shepherd. I have 100 sheep in my flock but today when I counted them I only could find 99. I realized that my little sheep, Woolie, is missing. I love all my little sheep very much and I could not stand it if I lost any of them. I have been looking for my little Woolie all morning and can't seem to find him. He must be really hungry and scared by now. Do you kids think maybe you could help me find him?" The shepherd and other teachers should start looking for the sheep around the room. The children will follow. The shepherd and other teachers should start calling for the sheep saying, "Woolie, come out, come out, wherever you are!" and "Woolie, I miss you." and "Woolie, Where are you?" When the sheep has been found, the shepherd should act very happy and hug the little sheep. He should say something like, "I'm so glad I found you, Woolie! I will always love you!" Then the shepherd should have all the children sit down in a circle and say, "This reminds me of a story I read in the Bible. Do you want to hear it?" Lesson in story form: One day Jesus told this story to a group of people who were following him. He told them that a shepherd had 100 sheep. He would count them every night. One night the shepherd only counted 99 so he left the 99 sheep and went looking for his little lost sheep. He looked everywhere and he didn't give up until he found it. He was so happy when he found his little lost sheep that he invited all his friends to his house to have a party to celebrate finding his little sheep. Jesus told the people this story because he wanted them to know how much God loved them and cared for them. He was telling them that God is a lot like the shepherd in this story. When you do bad things you become lost from God it makes him very sad. But God keeps gently calling you back until you find your way. When you ask God to forgive you for the things you do that aren t good, he is so happy because he can be near you again. The Story of the Lost Sheep "See that you don't look down on one of these little ones. Here is what I tell you. They have angels in heaven who are always with My Father who is in heaven. "Suppose a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away. Won't he leave the 99 sheep on the hills? Won't he go and look for the one that wandered off? What I'm about to tell you is true. If he finds that sheep, he is happier about the one than about the 99 that didn't wander off. It is the same with your Father in heaven. He does not want any of these little ones to be lost. Discussion Questions: 1. What kind of animal was lost in today s story? (A sheep.) 2. Ask the children to describe a sheep to you, using all of their senses. (Sight what it looks like, Sound what sound it makes, Touch - what it feels like, Smell what they think it smells like. Also help the children describe the nature of a sheep i.e. calm and gentle.) 3. Is there a fruit of the spirit that describes the sheep? (Gentleness.) 4. How many sheep were lost? (One.) 5. What did the shepherd do when he found out that one of his sheep was missing? (He went to find the sheep.) 6. Who is our Good Shepherd? (Jesus He is sad when we are not close to Him, and He is so happy when we find our way back to Him again, just like the shepherd in the story.) 2

3 Application to Real Life You will need to bring in some cut up pieces of tomatoes and let the children taste them. You may also want to bring in some sugar and let the children dip their piece of tomato in the sugar. Talk about tomatoes, how soft they are and how you have to be very gentle and careful handling tomatoes because they bruise easily. You can bring in some apples, pears and other firmer fruits and compare them to the tomatoes. The idea is to show the children that they have take more care when they are handling the tomatoes. They have to be GENTLE. God wants us to be gentle too. Gentleness is one of the Fruit of the Spirit. Being gentle means we don't hurt anyone with our bodies or with our mouth. We don't push and shove or hit. We don't say unkind things or call people names, or say things that may hurt their feelings, or yell at them when we are mad. We want to be gentle with others. (Refer to Message Statement.) You may also like to enjoy a snack of popcorn or some miniature marshmallows (both of these look fluffy and white like sheep s wool). Remember to keep the conversation going. Memory Work Suggestions 5 minutes 1. Practice naming the two parts of the Bible. (Old Testament and New Testament) 2. Is Matthew in the Old or New Testament? (Give the children a clue.) 3. Lead the class in a short prayer thanking Him for being our gentle Shepherd. 4. Practice repeating the memory verse. 5. Review the commandment from last week: Love your neighbor as yourself. Activity Ideas Lost Sheep Game See: preschool games Lost Sheep You will need to clear the area of obstacles and ask for a volunteer to be "it". Explain that the child that is "it" will be the shepherd and the rest of the class will be sheep. You will need a blindfold to place over the shepherd's eyes, while the rest of the children quietly spread out around the playing area and find their place. Please see the above website for detailed instructions. If time permits, play until everyone has a chance to be the shepherd. (NOTE: You may need extra volunteers for this game, depending on how many children you have in your class. Find some willing youth to help you out. Have fun!) Song: How I Wonder Where You Are See: Preschool Songs How I Wonder Where You Are (Sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star ) Please see the above website for the words and further instructions. Homework Ideas - Read at home with a grown up the lesson titled: Feeding the 5,000 ~ Faith (John 6:1-14). - Learn the memory verse for next week: Nothing is impossible with God. --Luke 1:37 (NIRV) - Work on memorizing commandment #. - Color the Feeding the 5,000 ~ Faith handout (teachers print one for each child). Return the coloring page for a sticker. 3

4 Other Resources Resource Room Search lost sheep New Testament Lesson 243 and 246 4

5 How Many Sheep? Make a guess. Then count them. 5

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