THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
CRAFT: Have them make popsicle stick keep sake boxes.
SNACK: I want some sort of little cakes or biscuits, with a cherry and a nut hidden inside.
LESSON PLAN: Take a suitcase and put in clothing and traveling items. Hide a tooth brush and a comb (or something.) Quickly relate to the children that you are going to be going right after church and want to make sure you have everything. Be really disappointed that you can't find the hidden items. Let the children look and rejoice when they are found. Relate this to the lost son who is found, then tie it to the rejoicing when God receives us in Jesus.
MEMORY WORK: 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
We will learn that we separated ourselves from God by exercising our free will.
We will understand that God our strong wise Father restored our relationship through His Son.
We will thank God through Jesus that we were led to repent and be baptized into Faith (were lost and have been found.)
Preliminary considerations: The overall theme for today is repentance and forgiveness. We were lost to sin, God found us through His Son, we are led to repent and God forgives us and makes us His. The Introit shows both the patience and the safety of living in the Lord. The Collect reminds us that we do not deserve God's mercy because of our sin. The Old Testament Lesson is Isaiah reminding the chosen people that they are acting like the lost, but they can still be found by God through repentance. The Gradual our hope that we too will sit down with God in Heaven. The Epistle Lesson shows us that God is not recognized by us. We are lost in the world. The Gospel Lesson is the story of the prodigal son, told by Jesus to show that though we might be lost, He had come into the world to find us and return us to God.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Isaiah 12:1-6
The chosen people are called a rebellious son. Although God was angry with them, He did not turn away. When the chosen people repent, they will find God waiting for them. God is angry with them for their continual rebellion and unbelief, but it is His anger that will turn away. The result of their repentance will be joy and celebration.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
There has always been the temptation, both inside and outside the church, to trivialize the word of the cross and to make over the crud of temptation to something not so bad. The focal point of this text is the Word of the cross. Without the cross there would be no salvation. Just as foolish to both Jew and Gentile was the implication that the human situation was so wretchedly bad that nothing short of blood and death could make things right again. Today many try to design their own quest for wisdom, which only leads to their loss in hell. God stands with the Word of the cross, to show us the Way (which is Christ) that leads to salvation.
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
There appear to be two stories going on in the parable of the Prodigal Son. First the story of the dissolute younger son, and the story of the older brother. There are not two stories but one. Both of the sons have erred. The two sons in a similar way were not happy, or grateful for what their father had given them. Instead of showing gratitude they each grumble in their own way. Neither believes their father has their best interest at heart. The father shows how patient and loving he truly is. His compassion is for the younger son, who was lost and found, and his compassion is on the older son, who seems to have lost all joy in being with his father. In our life we will be both of the sons. Sometimes we run away from God and sometimes we are simply discouraged with God. In either case God is always ready to assist our repentance and to receive us back as a son worthy of living in His kingdom and under His care forever.
STUDY SHEET
My youngest sister and I grew up with the same parents, but you wouldn't know it by talking to us. My two oldest sisters were born when my parents were struggling to make ends meet. They are 7 and 8 years older than I am. My youngest sister is only a year older. My father had secured the job he retired from, and was being paid a pretty fair salary. My parents didn't have a day of want after my younger sister was born.
Still, she remembers struggles that didn't happen, and grouchy people who were angry with her. My youngest sister didn't like her parents because they were strict. On the other hand, I loved my parents because they were strict, but very fair. They treated each of their children as individuals, never holding what one did over the other, but they were strict. We had absolute curfews and rules. Some of the rules were hard to understand, but they were all about safety and love.
My youngest sister still blames her parents for the troubles in her life. Her parents cut the apron strings at a certain point and let her work out her own problems. She has always expected they would bail her out, and often they don't. My parents cut the apron strings and allowed me to work out my own problems. They didn't leave, they still love me, it was just time to grow up.
1. What was the younger son looking for?
2. What was the older son looking for?
3. What are we looking for from God?
4. What does God give us each and every day?
5. What does the younger son demand?
6. What does the older son demand?
7. What do we demand from God?
8. What does it mean that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom etc.?
9. What is the Law with the younger son?
10. What is the Law for the older son?
11. What is the Gospel for all in all three texts?