BIG POINT
God wants me to have His heart for the harvest.
GOD’S WORD
The Story of the Lost Son Luke 15:11-24 (NIRV)
He told them, “The harvest is huge, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field
Luke 10:2 (NIRV)
| PRAISE | TBC |
| WORSHIP | Lord I Give You My Heart – Hillsong Worship |
| HEART PREP | Goodness of God – Bethel Music |
TEACHING
The best way to learn about God is straight from His book. Let’s go to the book of Luke for our lesson today.
When Jesus taught the people in their time, He often used stories that people could relate with, so that they would understand the lessons better. These stories were called parables.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is often told from the perspective of warning against the son’s bad ways. He was disrespectful of his father, he wasted their money and resources, and he acted recklessly or thoughtlessly, not caring much about how his actions would affect the rest of the family.
But today we call it the Story of the Lost Son, and see it from the side of him that repented after realising that what he did was bad. When he had lost it all — the money, the fake friends, the lavish lifestyle — he knew that he had nothing left, and so he went back to his father’s house.
And when he went back, his father welcomed him with open arms, more than eager to celebrate his return.
Now the world would tell us, that the father shouldn’t have received the bad son. The world would say, well, where’s the accountability? Where’s the replacement for everything that he took? What’s his punishment? He should pay right?
Fortunately, as children of Christ, we are held to a higher standard. We adhere to a supernatural calling, a spiritual reasoning.
A HEART FOR THE LOST
Today, we want to be like the father in the story. Like our loving God, the father in the story has such a big, forgiving heart, that he saw past the transgressions of the lost son. He saw past the terrible things the son did. And when the son asked for help, the father opened up his heart and led him back home.
Like the father, we want to have hearts that are open to those who are lost. Maybe they are lost in their hearts, lonely and scared. Maybe they are lost in their lives, wandering in the dark with no direction. Maybe they are lost and don’t have a home, either physically or spiritually, and they need to find a way to our heavenly Father.
18 Then Jesus came to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 So you must go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end.”
Matthew 28:18-21 NIRV
When we have this kind of heart, we are obeying what Jesus said, the most important command of all, which is to love Him and to love one another. We are following the great commission, which is to go forth and to make disciples of all nations, according to how Jesus taught us how to do.
Having this kind of heart makes us obedient workers in the Kingdom of God. Think of the place that you live in as your field. It can be your home, your school, your club or your group of friends. It can even be your town or barangay in the Philippines, or your extended family.
Now think of the people there who don’t know Jesus, who don’t go to church or have a relationship with him. These are your seeds. These are all those lives that you want to also live and grow and flourish in the Kingdom of God.
A HEART FOR THE HARVEST
That’s why we call it a harvest. Because when we sow all those seeds, when we take the time to plant them, and take care of them, they will grow big and strong, and they will flourish and bear fruit. And then we harvest — the goodness, the good works, good lives of the people who have come to know Christ, and the good things that naturally and supernaturally come out of good people.
Right now we’re going to sing a song that most of you may know. And this is the chorus:
Lord I give You my heart, I give you my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake
Lord have Your way in me
Before we sing it, let’s read it out loud first, because I want you to really focus your heart and your mind on the prayer that we’re about to do.
(Sing the song starting from the chorus, a capella, then with just piano/guitar plucking. Teacher will signal when the song will go into the verse.)
Teaching slides here.
LG DISCUSSION
Prepare a basket of goodies (can be pastries, chocolates, candy, etc.) and take it out as you start the LG. Start eating the contents and show extreme enjoyment of eating each one as you put it into your mouth, without offering anything to anyone else; ensure no one takes from the basket. While you (or your teaching partner) continue to enjoy eating, ask each one to share what they love about the Gospel. Once everyone finishes, explain that as members of God’s church, we are privileged and blessed to partake of the fruits that only God can give. There are many others who do not have this privilege. They see the way we live, what we say and do, and they often recognise that we really love Jesus. And often without knowing it, they long to have same love and happiness in their lives. This is the way we should be with other people who don’t know God.
Then give out the goodies to the children.
QUESTIONS
Interpret these questions and make it appropriate for your kids’ age group.
1. Identify your sowing field. God will often lead you to places where there are people who need His love. Oftentimes, you are already in that place, you just have to be sensitive to His leading.
2. Identify your most immediate harvest. Who are the people in your life who are in most need of God’s world right now? Try to think of at least three people.
3. Write down your own story, your own testimony, of how you came to know Jesus. Do you remember what happened? If you know your story well, it will be easier for you to share it with others. (This can be a good extended activity for another day, when we give them templates similar to the one we learned in the conferences, where you should be able to tell your story in just 5 minutes.)
