Children’s Story for September 12th, 2004

By Miriam Rempel, Home Street Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, MB

Bible passages

• Luke 15: 1-10
• 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Themes

• Luke - story of lost coin and sheep; God celebrates whenever one of God’s children is found
• 1 Timothy – Paul’s gratitude for God’s mercy in receiving a second chance so others might learn of God’s goodness through him

To tell the Story

• Start by greeting the children
• Ask them if any of them have ever been lost
• Ask how they think that might feel

Story: Lost and Found

Today I want to tell you about a good friend of mine, Isaac, who lost his parents in the park. Isaac’s family and friends decided to have a picnic in the park. They drove for about twenty minutes to get to the park. After they finished the picnic, Isaac ran off to a play structure on the other side of the hill from the picnic site, but he forgot to tell anyone that he was going to the playground. After he finished playing, Isaac went back to the picnic area. His family was gone. He walked to the parking lot and looked for his parents’ car. It was gone, too. He looked for his parents’ friends’ car. They were gone, too. Isaac had lost his parents. He did not know where they were.

At first Isaac got very angry with his parents, because they had left without him. Then he got scared; what was he going to do now? It was too far to walk home, and he was not even sure which direction to go to get home. He decided to go back to the picnic area and think about what to do. On the way, Isaac passed a pay phone, so he thought he would call their cell number and tell them to come and get him. By now he was sad and missing his family. A kind stranger gave Isaac a quarter and offered to sit with him until his parents arrived. Together, they walked back to the picnic area to wait for Isaac’s parents who were on their way back to the park. They had noticed Isaac was missing as soon as everyone had gotten out of the cars and they had turned right around to look for Isaac in the park.

Isaac started to worry that he would be in trouble. He had left the picnic without telling any one. His parents were probably very mad right now. When Isaac’s parents arrived fifteen minutes later, they both ran up to him and gave him hugs and kisses. They were so happy that Isaac was safe with them again. When Isaac got home, his parents even called their friends and threw a party to celebrate finding Isaac safe and sound.

The scriptures today talk about how much God celebrates when people find their way to God. Just like in the story all we need to do, if we lose our way, is call God and God will come and find us and set us back on the right path.