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The Lost Sheep

Reference: Luke 15:1-7

Big Idea: Jesus loves us so much that He will never stop searching for us when we are lost.

Teacher Quick Reference

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Lesson: The Lost Sheep
Scripture: Luke 15:1-7
Big Idea: Jesus loves us so much that He will never stop searching for us when we are lost.
Three Main Points:
  1. The religious leaders complained that Jesus was eating with sinners.
  2. Jesus told a story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep, but one got lost.
  3. The shepherd left the 99 safe sheep to go look for the 1 lost sheep.
  4. When he found it, he joyfully put it on his shoulders and carried it home.
  5. Jesus said heaven throws a massive party when one sinner repents.
Activity: Hide and Sheep (Active Hide-and-Seek Game)
Memory Verse: John 10:14
Take-Home Truth:
"I am incredibly valuable to God, and He rejoices when I follow Him."

Teacher Preparation

Before class:

  • Read Luke 15:1-7 (BSB). Note that this parable is grouped with two others (The Lost Coin, The Prodigal Son) which all share the exact same theme: God passionately seeks the lost and rejoices when they are found.
  • Think about the nature of sheep: they don’t usually run away out of rebellion; they just get distracted by a patch of grass and wander off. This is a great picture of how sin often distracts us.
  • Write the memory verse on the board.
  • Decide which age adaptation will work best for your classroom.

Opening Activity: The Missing Piece

Before the children arrive, take a brand new 100-piece puzzle (or a box of 100 crayons) and remove exactly one piece. Hide it somewhere in the room.

Show the children the box. Tell them: “I have 99 beautiful puzzle pieces right here in the box! But I’m missing one. Should I just throw the puzzle together with 99 pieces, or should we go look for the missing one?”

Let the children search the room until someone finds the missing piece.

Explain: “A puzzle isn’t complete if it is missing a piece. Even if I have 99 perfectly good pieces, I still want the one that is lost! Today, Jesus is going to tell a story about a shepherd who felt the exact same way about his flock.”

The Bible Story

1. The Grumbling Crowd

Jesus was incredibly popular, but not with everyone. The people who loved Him the most were the outcasts—the tax collectors, the poor, and the “sinners.” But the Pharisees (the strict religious leaders) were very angry about this.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2, BSB)

The Pharisees thought that if you were a holy teacher, you should only hang out with other holy people. To explain why He loved spending time with messy, broken people, Jesus told them a story.

2. The 99 and the 1

Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.” (Luke 15:4, BSB).

A hundred sheep is a big flock! If a shepherd had 100 sheep and lost one, he still had 99 left. Some people might say, “Well, 99 is a passing grade! Who cares about the one that wandered off? It’s the sheep’s own fault for getting lost.”

But a good shepherd doesn’t think like that. A good shepherd knows every single sheep in his flock. He knows that the one lost sheep is out in the wilderness, scared, hungry, and in danger of being eaten by wolves.

Jesus said the shepherd would leave the 99 sheep in the open country (where they were safe together) and go after the lost sheep until he found it.

The shepherd didn’t just stand on a hill and blow a whistle, hoping the sheep would figure out how to get home. He actively searched. He climbed over rocks, pushed through thornbushes, and walked for miles. He didn’t stop until he found the one that was lost.

4. The Joyful Return

What do you think the shepherd did when he finally found the sheep? Did he hit it with his staff? Did he yell at it for wandering away and making him work so hard?

No! Jesus said:

“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” (Luke 15:5-6, BSB)

The shepherd was so happy! He didn’t even make the tired sheep walk back. He picked the heavy animal up, put it on his own shoulders, and carried it all the way home. Then he called his friends and neighbors together and said, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep!”

5. The Party in Heaven

Jesus looked at the grumpy Pharisees and explained what the story meant:

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7, BSB)

We are the sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. When we wander away from God, Jesus doesn’t get angry and abandon us. He comes searching for us. And when we repent (turn around and let Him carry us home), all of heaven throws a massive party!

The Deeper Meaning

Sheep are not very smart animals. They don’t have sharp teeth or claws to defend themselves. When they get lost, it usually isn’t because they decided to be rebellious; it’s because they put their head down to eat some grass, took a few steps, ate some more grass, and suddenly realized they were completely alone.

Sin is often like that. We don’t always wake up and decide to ruin our lives. We just get distracted by something that looks fun, we take a few steps away from God, and suddenly we realize we are lost. But the beautiful truth of the Gospel is that Jesus doesn’t require us to find our own way back. On the cross, Jesus climbed into the “thornbushes” of sin and death to find us, and He carried us home on His shoulders.

Three Things to Remember

1. You Are Immensely Valuable

To the shepherd, the 1 lost sheep was just as important as the 99 safe sheep. God doesn’t just love “humanity” as a big group; He loves YOU specifically. Teacher Question: How does it make you feel to know that God would search the whole universe just to find you?

2. We Can’t Save Ourselves

A lost sheep usually can’t find its own way home. It needs the shepherd to rescue it. When we sin, we can’t save ourselves just by trying to be a “good person.” We need Jesus to rescue us. Teacher Question: Why is it comforting that the shepherd carried the sheep home on his shoulders?

3. Heaven Celebrates Repentance

The Pharisees were grumpy when sinners came to Jesus, but heaven was throwing a party! God isn’t grumpy when we admit we messed up; He is overjoyed. Teacher Question: Why do you think God is so happy when we say we are sorry and come back to Him?

Age Adaptations

Preschool (Ages 3-5)

Younger Children

For younger children (ages 5–7), focus on the safety of the shepherd and the joy of being found.

Simplified concepts:

  • A shepherd had 100 fluffy sheep. One of them wandered away and got lost!
  • The shepherd didn’t say, “Oh well.” He loved that sheep too much!
  • He looked everywhere. Under the bushes, behind the rocks.
  • When he found the sheep, he was so happy! He carried it home on his shoulders.
  • We are like the sheep, and Jesus is our Good Shepherd who loves us and keeps us safe.

Developmentally appropriate questions:

  • What noise does a sheep make? (Baa!).
  • Was the shepherd mad at the sheep when he found it? (No, he was happy!).
  • Does Jesus love you just like the shepherd loved his sheep? (Yes!).
Upper Elementary (Grades 4-6)

Older Children

For older children (ages 8–11), focus on the context of the story (Jesus responding to the Pharisees’ self-righteousness).

Deeper discussion: Pre-teens can understand the social dynamics of Luke 15. The Pharisees thought they were the “99 righteous persons” who didn’t need to repent. They thought they were perfect.

Discussion Scenarios:

  • Scenario 1: Imagine a kid at school who is always in trouble in the principal’s office. One day, he decides to go to church. If you act like the Pharisees, how would you treat him? (You would complain that he doesn’t belong there). If you act like the angels in heaven, how would you treat him? (You would throw a party that he came!).
  • Concept: Read Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray.” The truth is, there are no “perfect” sheep. We all wander away sometimes. We all need the Good Shepherd.

Discussion Questions

Understanding

  1. Why were the Pharisees complaining about Jesus at the beginning of the story?
  2. How many sheep did the shepherd have in total?
  3. What did the shepherd do with the 99 sheep while he looked for the lost one?
  4. How did the shepherd get the lost sheep back home?
  5. What did the shepherd tell his friends and neighbors to do when he got home?

Thinking

  1. Why do you think Jesus used a sheep in this story instead of a smarter animal like a dog or a horse?
  2. How does someone “wander away” from God in real life?
  3. What does this story teach us about God’s personality?

Personal Application

  1. Have you ever felt “lost” or far away from God because of something you did?
  2. Did you know that heaven throws a party when you repent? Does that make it easier to say “I’m sorry” to God?
  3. How can you be a good friend to someone who has wandered away from church or from doing the right thing?

Activity Time

Activity Resource: Hide and Sheep View Standalone →

Type: Active Hide-and-Seek Game
Time: 10 minutes
Group Size: 5+
Materials:

  • None.

Purpose

To playfully demonstrate how a shepherd actively searches for lost sheep, and to reinforce the joy of being “found.”

Setup

Choose one child to be the “Shepherd.” The rest of the children are the “Sheep.”

Exact Instructions

  1. Tell the Shepherd to close their eyes and count to 20.
  2. While the Shepherd is counting, all the Sheep must go find a hiding spot in the room (or designated area).
  3. When the Shepherd finishes counting, they must announce: “I am the Good Shepherd, and I am looking for my sheep!”
  4. The Shepherd begins searching.
  5. The Twist: The Sheep cannot stay perfectly silent. Every 10 seconds, all the hiding Sheep must make a soft “Baa” noise to give the Shepherd a clue.
  6. When the Shepherd finds a Sheep, they gently tap them on the shoulder and say, “I found you!” That Sheep then joins the Shepherd to help look for the rest of the flock.
  7. Play continues until every single Sheep has been found.

Discussion

Ask: “Shepherds have to work really hard to find their sheep. Have you ever lost something important to you? How hard did you look for it?” “How did it feel when the Shepherd finally found you in your hiding spot?”

Connection Back to the Bible Story

Explain: “In our game, you gave the Shepherd a clue by making a noise. But in real life, when we wander away from God, we usually can’t save ourselves. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to find our own way back. He is the Good Shepherd, and He comes searching for us because He loves us too much to leave us lost.”

Craft Time

Activity Resource: Fluffy Lost Sheep Craft View Standalone →

Materials:

  • White cardstock or paper plates
  • Black construction paper
  • Cotton balls
  • Liquid glue
  • Googly eyes (optional)

Templates:

📄 Sheep Body Template

Purpose

To give children a cute, tactile craft that helps them remember how precious and valuable they are to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Setup

Finished Fluffy Sheep

  1. Cut the white cardstock into an oval shape for the sheep’s body.
  2. Cut the black construction paper into small rectangles for the sheep’s 4 legs, and an oval for the sheep’s face.

Instructions

  1. The Body: Give each child a white oval and let them cover it with liquid glue.
  2. Have them stick cotton balls all over the glue until the sheep’s body is entirely covered and fluffy!
  3. The Legs: Glue the four black rectangles to the bottom of the body.
  4. The Face: Glue the black oval to the front of the body. Let them stick on googly eyes (or use white crayons to draw eyes).
  5. The Name: Have the teacher or the older children write their own name on the back of the sheep.

Discussion While Crafting

  • “How many sheep did the shepherd have in the story?” (100).
  • “When one ran away, did the shepherd say, ‘Oh well, I still have 99 left’?” (No! He left the 99 to search for the one).
  • “Who is the Good Shepherd?” (Jesus!).
  • “Who are the sheep?” (We are!).
  • “Jesus knows your name, just like you wrote your name on the back of this sheep. If you ever feel lost, He will come searching for you!”

Memory Verse

John 10:14 (BSB)
“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me.”

Practical Way to Teach:

  • “I am the good shepherd.” (Hold an imaginary shepherd’s staff).
  • “I know My sheep” (Point to the children).
  • “and My sheep know Me.” (Point to yourself).

Knowledge Check

Knowledge Check

Question 1 of 5

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Application

You might make mistakes this week. You might say something mean, or disobey your parents, and feel like you have wandered far away from God. Don’t hide! When you are lost, just call out to the Good Shepherd. Tell Him you are sorry (repent), and let Him joyfully carry you back home.

Take-Home Challenge

Take a cotton ball and put it in your pocket or somewhere in your room. Every time you see it, let it remind you of a little sheep, and remember: “Jesus will never stop loving me, and He will never stop searching for me.”

Closing Thought

The Pharisees thought God only loved people who were perfectly clean and always obeyed the rules. But Jesus showed us that God’s heart beats for the lost. You never have to worry that you have wandered too far for God to find you. The Good Shepherd’s love is stronger than your biggest mistake, and heaven is waiting to celebrate every time you turn back to Him.

Closing Prayer

“Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be our Good Shepherd. Thank You that You never stop searching for us when we wander away. Forgive us for the times when we get distracted by sin and walk away from You. When we are lost, please find us, and carry us home on Your shoulders. We love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

One-Minute Teacher Quick Reference

THE LOST SHEEP
Luke 15:1-7

Big Idea

Jesus loves us so much that He will never stop searching for us when we are lost.

Memory Verse

“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me.” — John 10:14 (BSB)

Three Points

  1. You Are Immensely Valuable
  2. We Can’t Save Ourselves
  3. Heaven Celebrates Repentance

Opening

The Missing Piece (Discussion using a 100-piece puzzle with one missing piece).

Activity

Hide and Sheep (Active hide-and-seek game demonstrating the shepherd’s search).

Take-Home Truth

I am incredibly valuable to God, and He rejoices when I follow Him.

Closing

Pray, thanking God for being a Good Shepherd who actively seeks and saves the lost.