Week 6 - What the Law does

A man had two sons who started to grow up. The younger son was greedy, and he wanted his dad to give him his money so he could go have fun however he wanted. He didn’t want to obey his dad’s rules.

Visual 2 - Luke 15:12 “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.”

The Father divided up everything that he had. His land, his animals, his furniture, and even his money, and the son took his stuff and went and sold it all so he could have as much money as possible.

Visual 3 - Picture of the younger son and his dad

So the younger son left town and went into another place and did whatever he wanted. He spent his money on things and people and activities that were bad. He wanted to have fun, and he thought, “I don’t have to obey my dad’s silly rules anymore.” But he ran out of money, and he didn’t have any of the things that he was used to at home. He didn’t have a bed, and he didn’t get food, and he didn’t have his family. He became lonely and sad. He’d broken his dad’s rules, but the fun didn’t last. He finally found a job working for a pig farmer, but he didn’t even make enough money to eat the pig food! What do you think he should do?

Visual 4 - Luke 15:18 - “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.”

Visual 5 - Picture of the son returning to the Father

The son came back, but before he could reach the house his dad came running to meet him. The son said, “Dad, I sinned against God and you,” and the dad took his special robe and his ring and put them on his son and said, “We’re going to celebrate! My son was lost and is found again!” And that night, they had a big party with the son as the special guest. But someone was not happy.

Visual 6 - Luke 15:28 - “[The older brother] was angry, and would not go in”

The younger son had sinned on the outside. He’d taken all his dad’s money and spent it on doing bad things! But the older son sinned on the inside. He was selfish and only wanted his own way. And after everything happened, the younger one turned back and told his dad that he’d sinned. But the older son didn’t think he had sinned.

Jesus told this story to teach a really important truth. The Father was like God, and he takes care of all of us. But we all want to have things our own way. Some of us sin on the outside and do all sorts of bad things with the stuff God gives us. Some of us sin on the inside and have angry thoughts or selfish feelings. But both things are sin, and all of us need to ask God to forgive us.

Visual 7 - There’s no doubt I break God’s Law inside and out!

Maybe you need Jesus to save you. He died in your place so you don’t have to be punished for your sin. Maybe you’ve already asked Jesus to save you, but you’ve sinned against Him again and you need to ask Him to forgive you.