The Parable of the Lost Sheep R.E. 24th February 2021 Do you remember what Christians did during Shrovetide? (Shrovetide was the time just before Ash Wednesday.) Talk to your grown up about what you remember. During Shrovetide, Christians would ask for God’s forgiveness by going to Mass and confessing their sins. When they wanted God’s forgiveness, for something they had done wrong, they also covered themselves with ashes. Today Christians receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. This helps us to think about why we might need forgivenes as well as how we can change to become more like Jesus. Jesus taught his disciples that God is a forgiving father. He used parables to explain what he meant. Today, we are going to learn about one of the parables Jesus used to teach about forgiveness. It is a really important parable to read during Lent. It’s called The Parable of The Lost Sheep. There once was a shepherd who had 100 sheep. He loved them all and knew them all by name. Every day he would lead them to fresh grass to feed on and to fresh water to drink. The shepherd looked after the sheep well and made sure they would not be in danger from wild animals. The sheep knew their shepherd’s voice well and trusted him completely. They were happy in his care. The sheep also knew each other as they had grown up together. One day while the sheep were being taken back home, one sheep got distracted and did not follow his shepherd. At first he wasn’t too worried. He was too busy looking around this new place. However it wasn’t long before he realised how alone he was and he got scared. “Why did I not follow my shepherd?” he thought. Meanwhile on the other side of the hill the shepherd realised one sheep was missing. He was worried. The other sheep were worried too. The shepherd made sure the 99 sheep were safe and he went to find the missing one. “I must find him” he said. “I will not stop looking until I find the lost sheep”. At last the shepherd found the lost sheep and rescued him. The shepherd was delighted to see the lost sheep again. He carried it back to the flock high on his shoulders. The lost sheep was delighted to be reunited with his When the shepherd shepherd. He felt safe arrived back to the flock again. he called out to his neighbours “Rejoice with me for the sheep that was lost has been found.” Jesus said to the people who had gathered around him to listen, God loves every one of us the way a shepherd loves his sheep. When we do something wrong, we are like the sheep who lost its way. God is very sad when we get lost from Him. But God will keep looking for us, and when we turn away from bad things and come back to God, He is full of joy! He feels like the shepherd who has found his lost sheep! What is Jesus teaching us in this parable? Jesus tells us in the Bible that He is the Good Shepherd (John. 10: 11) Jesus leads us just as the shepherd leads his sheep. We are like the sheep in the parable. The lost sheep got distracted and lost his way. He was not following the shepherd anymore.We do not follow Jesus when we make wrong choices. This parable tells us that Jesus does not give up on us. He is always there calling us and looking for us to return to follow Him again. When we tell God we are sorry for having strayed and change our ways, we will be forgiven. Just as the shepherd rejoiced when the lost sheep was found, Jesus tells that God is SO happy when just one person returns to him. Time to talk: Think about the story and talk to your grown up about it. Can you answer these questions? • What did the shepherd risk in going to find the one lost sheep? • Do you think it was easy for the shepherd to find the lost sheep? • Imagine you were the shepherd. What would you have said when you found your sheep? Your Task 1 Think about the story and how you feel when you lose something and when you find it again. Use this sheet to note down your ideas. Your Task 2: Create a story map of the key events in the story. You will need to keep your story map safe as we will use it next week to write our own version of the story from the shepherd’s point of view. Add key words to describe the shepherd’s thoughts and feelings at different points in the story. You can use your own ideas from the ‘Time to talk’ activity and task 1 to help describe the This is my story basic shepherd’s feelings. story map! .