* PLAY—THE PRODIGAL SON
* PRODIGAL SON PARAPHASED: THE PARTY
Bible Memory Verse:
"…he was lost and is found." Luke 15:32
Luke 15:11-32
(11 “Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. (12 The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided the property between them.
(13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and squandered his wealth in wild living. (14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. (15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. (16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
(17 When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! (18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. (19 I am no longer worthy to called you son; make me like one of your hired men.” (20 So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
(21 The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to called your son.”
(22 But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. (23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. (24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.
(25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. (26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. (27”Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”
(28 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. (29 But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. (30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
(31 “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. (32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”’”
1. What is a parable (“a brief story used to teach some moral lesson or truth”–World Book Dictionary)? Jesus taught using parables. He would tell a story in order to teach people something they should know and about the way they should live.
2. How many sons did the father have?
3. This is called the parable of the Lost Son or Prodigal. What is a prodigal? (person who is wasteful )
4. Which son was the prodigal son? Why?
5. A severe famine takes place in the land? What is a famine? (no food–no food growing in the land so people were going hungry)
6. What did the younger son decide to do when he had wasted all his money and had to feed pigs?
7. Why do you think the older son reacted the way he did?
8. What do you think the older son lacked?
9. Why is God like the father in the parable of the prodigal son?
10. What do we have to do for God to forgive us?
* PLAY—THE PRODIGAL SON
SCRIPTURE: Luke 15:11-32
CHARACTERS: Narrator, Younger Son, Father, Older Son
Younger Son: Father, give me my share of your property.
Narrator: So the father gave him his share of the property. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there wasted all his money in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went & hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his field to feed pigs. He longed to feed his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said,
Younger Son: My father’s servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death. I will go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.
Narrator: So he went back to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son and threw his arms around him. The son said to his father.
Younger Son: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to called your son.
Narrator: But the father said to his servants…
Father: Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
Narrator: So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
Servant: Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.
Narrator: The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father,
Older Son: Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. Now my brother who has wasted all your money comes home, and you kill the fattened calf for him!
Father: My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we have to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.
Narrator: The angels rejoice with God when a sinner asks for forgiveness of his sin and gives his life to Jesus. God, our Heavenly Father, will forgive and accept us any time we ask Him.
Jesus is saying that God is so happy when one sinner repents (turns from his sin) that He rejoices AND treats him as a son.
* PRODIGAL SON PARAPHASED: THE PARTY
Once there was a father with two sons. One day the younger son said to his dad, “Listen old man. I’m sick and tired of hanging around here waiting for you to keel over from a heart attack or whatever. Gimme my inheritance now while I’m still young enough to enjoy it.”
So, the father handed the young man his money and the boy set off on a long trip to The Big City (probably Toronto or Vancouver or something). When he got there, he was a party animal—staying up late, throwing his money around, and purposely doing all the stuff his father had warned him never to do. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.
Finally, the money was gone and the boy had nowhere to go. So he got the only job he could—working in a homeless shelter cleaning up the bathrooms where people threw up and passed out on the floor.
He was really hungry, not even making enough money to buy food. Even these homeless people have more to eat than I do, he thought. You know what I oughtta do?I oughtta go back home. Every year my dad hires migrant workers to work in the fields. I bet if I told him I was sorry he’s hire me and I’d at least have something to eat!
So he got up and headed home. All along the way he rehearsed what he was gonna say to his dad. But when he got close to home, his dad was watching out the window for him. And he ran out to greet the boy without even changing out of his pajamas! And he stood there in the middle of the road, hugging his son.
“Dad, I’m sorry I messed up…” the son began. But he couldn’t even get his apology out for all the hugging his dad was giving him.
“Welcome home, Son!”
“But, Dad…”
“Welcome home!”
His dad turned to a friend and said, “Order an extra large pizza with lots of cheese. Break out the nachos and root beer. Tonight, we’ll celebrate!”
Pretty soon, the boy’s older brother came home from work. He smelled the pizza, he heard the music, he saw people playing Twister on the back porch and he knew what was going on. They were having a party!
He refused to go in. Finally, his dad came out to invite him in, but he said, “What’s the deal? I work for you twenty four/seven and I can’t even invite a few friends over to play video games! And then this son of yours goes and wastes all his money and you throw him a big homecoming party!”
And his dad said, “You live with me all the time and you can have anything you ask for. But your brother was lost and hopeless, and now he’s home. He was as good as dead, but now he’s got a second chance at life. Don’t you get it? I had to throw a party. I had to! Come on in—the pizza is hot and the root beer is cold and the party is just getting started.