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PREPARATION
Pray for every member of your group specifically and write down what you think God might be saying to them. If appropriate you can share these thoughts with each person at the end of the session.
KEY POINT 1
This is not the first time we find the metaphor of lost sheep in the Bible. God calls the Israelites lost sheep and when the prophets talked about the promised saviour they said that person will gather the lost sheep. Jesus was clearly casting himself in the role of the shepherd as he used this metaphor to reveal to his listeners that he had come to seek and find and restore them.
HIDE AND SEEK
20 mins
Play hide and seek in your building, church or town in a way that works for your group, e.g. for younger ages work in groups with an adult leader. However you do it make sure they are searching for a person. The winning team / seeker is the one who finds the hidden person / people. ‘Selfie’-style photos could act as proof of the time of discovery.
Reflect together: what did it feel like to search for someone? What thoughts went through your head as you sought them out? What did it feel like to be hidden and to wait for someone to find you? What thoughts went through your head as you hid and waited?
BIBLE STUDY
5 mins
Read Luke 15:3-7. Read it aloud with voices and improvised acting. Consider using melodrama to highlight the emotions in the passage. What do you love or hate about this story? Which emotions stand out to you?
THE PARABLE VIDEO
5 mins
Use the video at this point in the session as a way of introducing the parable and creating an opportunity for discussion and conversation around it. The video is available at premieryouthwork.com/parablevideos
FIND YOURSELF IN THE STORY
20 mins
Display the below descriptions around the room and explain that there is an opportunity to reflect on different characters in this parable and the times in our lives when we are like each of them. This is a chance to remember we are human – capable of good and evil. By humbling ourselves and honestly considering the times we have made these same mistakes in attitude and action we can invite the forgiveness and healing of God who is perfectly loving, merciful and good. Play some worship music in the background and pray before group members spend time at each of these stations.
TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS
These social outcasts were gathering around to hear Jesus. Betrayers of God’s holy law, they were imperfect, rejected, unfaithful and broken. Can you relate to these people? They have come to hear Jesus. Have you? Ask Jesus when you have been like the tax collectors and sinners in his parable. Know that you are loved and welcomed by Jesus, listen to what he says, say sorry for your sins and welcome his healing for your brokenness.
KEY POINT 2
The Bible reveals a God who loves and longs for relationship with every single one us. In the Old Testament we see people choosing to live life their own way through small and great choices that distance them from God. But despite it all God pursues us, always seeking us out and creating ever improving ways for us to be restored to a deep and wonderful relationship with him. In the New Testament we meet Jesus, God’s son who has come to seek and save those who are lost. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection create a path for us to follow into life in all its fullness where we join in the harmony within the perfect community of the trinity and celebrate with the whole body of Christ – just as the friends and neighbours do in the story – as a witness to a broken world in need of restoration.
PHARISEES AND TEACHERS OF THE LAW
The well-educated, ‘Holy Joes’ of the day were looking down on those who gathered to hear Jesus. Judging the crowd and Jesus, their scathing words condemned Christ’s welcome of sinners. Devoted to following the letter of the law, they missed the spirit of the law, and missed the saviour who came to fulfil the law and the prophets and rescue them from their own sin. Self-righteous, wise in their own eyes, exclusive and blind: can you relate to these people? They are competing with Jesus to achieve their own salvation. Are you?
SHEEP
This is the wayward one; wandering off, walking away from the shepherd, going their own way. Thinking you know best for yourself, asserting your right to choose a different path, blinded by arrogance, and then realising you are lost and were wrong about the way forward. Experiencing that awkward moment of humiliation, and then choosing whether to humble yourself and reach out for help. Independent, foolish, arrogant and proud: can you relate to this sheep? Where are you on this path right now? Wandering off? Feeling lost? Reaching out for help? Humbling yourself?
SHEPHERD
The dirty, crazy, passionate shepherd. Considered scum in the society of the day, Jesus casts God the father in this starring role. To this shepherd every sheep matters. Every single sheep is worth seeking and finding and throwing a welcome home party for. Passionate, joyful, devoted and faithful: can you relate to this shepherd? He came in the person of Jesus Christ to seek and save every person who is lost. Have you let him find you?
CELEBRATE
10 mins
Watch Rend Collective Experiment’s short film ‘The Art of Celebration’ from the Link section. This community celebrates with sparklers, food and music. Plan your own party to celebrate the fact that you were lost but now you’re found by Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Who will you invite? What will you bring to share?
