All That I Need

Sunday School Lesson Directions

Travel Itinerary

One of the most basic needs of the human heart is to belong. The security of belonging in a family gives young children a foundation to explore their world as they grow and develop. As children move through early elementary and into the preteen years, their experience of belonging expands to include other groups. And kids developmentally prepare for adolescence, when they'll become more independent of their families.

Prepare your children for a healthy navigation of these transitions by helping them find their sense of belonging in God's family. Belonging to God secures us as accepted, valued, and loved people, freeing us to love God and serve others.

Ahead of time, create a pet ID tag out of card stock, thread it on a piece of ribbon, and tie it around the stuffed animal's neck as a collar.

Have kids sit in a circle, and show them the stuffed animal with its ribbon collar and ID tag. Briefly lead kids in discussing the responsibilities of caring for a pet and the purpose of pet ID tags.

ASK: • Why are pets so important to us?

• What are some ways we take good care of our pets?

SAY: • We take good care of our pets because we love them and they depend on us to keep them safe. If they get lost, we want others to know they belong to our family. We're going to learn that God loves us far more than we love our pets. We can depend on him to care for us and watch over us.

ASK: • Why is it important to belong to a family?

• What's good about belonging to your family?

• Why is it important to belong to God?

• What are some ways God takes care of us?

SAY: Let's go around the circle and each say our name and thank God that we belong to him. I'll begin: PRAY: Dear, God, my name is [your name]. I'm thankful I belong to you.

When all the children have prayed, close the prayer, thanking God that you and the children are part of his family and asking him to show you more about the blessings of belonging.

Lost and Found

Ahead of time, make two signs for the box, one "Lost and Found" and the other "Found and Saved!" Attach the Lost and Found sign to the box with tape. (Set aside the Found and Saved! sign for use in the Home Again Prayer.) Gather items for the box. Include enough items for each child to have one.

SAY: Lots of schools and churches have a lost and found box. If people find something out of place and don't know who it belongs to, they put it into a lost and found box. If people lose something, they know to check the lost and found box to see if someone else may've found it.

Take the box around the circle and have each child choose an item from the box. Then go around the circle, and have each child guess how his or her item may've been lost and how its loss might affect the owner.

ASK: • What's good about having a lost and found box?

• Why are some items never found by their owners?

• What do you think should happen to items that are unclaimed?

SAY: Sometimes owners claim the items in a lost and found box. But often, lost items just stay lost. The owner might give up looking for the lost item. Eventually, someone gives these items to a charity or throws them away. The Bible tells us that people are also lost. We want to run our own lives and think we know what's best. And that makes us get lost from God. We go our own way and become separated from God. But because God loves us so much, he doesn't give up on us or leave us in the lost and found box. He comes looking for us.

ASK: • What are some things people do that show they're going their own way instead of following God?

• What are some ways God shows us that he looks for us?

SAY: Today we'll read in the Bible about how persistent God is in looking for people who are lost from him. Because of his great love for us, God sent Jesus to find us.

Have kids return their items to the lost and found box, and set it aside for later use.

Lost Sheep

Kids will play a cotton ball activity to learn about a shepherd's love for one lost sheep and God's love for one lost person.

Gather children around a table and bring out the cotton balls.

SAY: We talked earlier about pets wearing ID tags in case they got lost. Our pets are so important to us that if they get lost, it causes a lot of worry until they're found. People work very hard to find lost pets.

Invite one or two children to briefly share their experiences with lost pets. Then have kids count the cotton balls into 10 piles of 10-for a total of 100 cotton balls. While kids are counting, place 10 paper cups upside-down on the table.

SAY: Suppose you had 100 cotton balls and lost one. Remove one cotton ball. Would you worry about it? Probably not. Return the cotton ball. Now suppose that each one of these cotton balls was a sheep. What if one of them got lost?

Place one cotton ball underneath one of the cups, and shuffle all the cups until kids lose track of which cup hides the cotton ball.

SAY: Would you do anything about it? That depends on what kind of shepherd you are. If you're just a worker who doesn't care much for the sheep, it might not seem like a big deal. One hundred sheep all in a pen look like a lot of sheep. You might not even notice one was missing. But if you're a good shepherd, each one would be important, and you'd probably spend a lot of time looking for the one that was gone.

Have kids guess how many cups they'll have to turn over until the cotton ball is found. Then invite kids, one at a time, to turn over a cup until it's found.

SAY: Jesus tells a story about being lost and found; it's in Luke's Gospel.

Open your Bible and read aloud Luke 15:3-7.

SAY: One cotton ball isn't very important, and some may think one sheep isn't very important either. But it was important to this shepherd.

ASK: What did Jesus say makes someone a good shepherd?

• What did Jesus want us to know about God?

SAY: God loves us-much more than an earthly shepherd loves his sheep. He loves us so much that he gave his own son to find us. Jesus came to earth, did many miracles, and taught people about God. But most important, he died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven and we could be brought back to God's family. Because we believe Jesus died for us, we belong to God.

Have children form pairs, and give each pair 10 cotton balls and three cups to play the hidden cotton ball game with each other. Each time kids uncover the cotton ball, have them name a person they know who's been found by Jesus.

ASK: • What does it tell you about God to know how much he wants to find all of us?

• How can God use you to find others and bring them back to God?

SAY: In the Bible, the shepherd was so happy to find his lost sheep that he called all his friends to share his good news and to celebrate. Jesus says heaven is full of joy whenever a lost person comes back to God.

Blessings of Belonging

Kids will discover that even in difficult situations they can find peace in remembering they belong to God.

SAY: Today's verse from the 23rd Psalm says, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I have all that I need" (Psalm 23:1). We've learned that because Jesus is the Good Shepherd, he searched for us when we were lost and now we belong to God. Just as sheep need to be part of a flock where they'll be safe and cared for, people also need a group where they're loved and cared for. Our families and friends do this for us, but sometimes even our families or friends may let us down or make us feel left out.

ASK: • When have you felt left out or like you didn't belong?

• How can it help to remember that we belong to God at times like that?

Then read the following vignettes, and after each one ask these questions:

• How would you feel in this situation?

• How could you help this person who feels left out or lonely?

Vignette 1: Gretchen's family moved to a new city, and today's her first day at a new school.

Vignette 2: Trevor found out that several good friends were invited to another friend's birthday party, but he wasn't.

Vignette 3: Kelsey's church is having a father-daughter dance, but Kelsey's parents are divorced and her dad lives too far away to come.

Vignette 4: Sam found out that his two best friends are on the same soccer team, but he's on a different team with kids he's never met.

ASK: • When you're feeling left out and alone, how will you remind yourself that you belong to God?

• What's one thing you can do this week to remind someone that he or she belongs to God?

SAY: No matter what age you are, no matter where you go, no matter what challenges your family faces, no matter how your friends treat you, you can always know that you belong to God. Belonging to Jesus is the most important relationship you'll ever have. When you feel alone or left out, you can know that with Jesus as your shepherd and as part of God's family, there'll always be others you can turn to for help.

Bag Tags

Kids will create a bag tag to remind them that they can find their "ID" in God.

SAY: When you go on a journey, you usually take a suitcase or bag to carry your belongings. People often have tags on their luggage to identify the owner. Today we're going to make tags that will not only tell who the bag belongs to, they'll also tell who we belong to.

Give each child a copy of the handout. Read through the tag's verse with children, and have them cut out the outlined tag. Show them where to fill in their names on both sides of the tags, and encourage them to decorate the tags with markers. As children work, circulate among them and invite children to read their tags to you with their names inserted. As kids finish, show a sample tag and how it can be placed through the strap of a bag and then stapled in place.

ASK: • How can others tell that you belong to God?

• How could this tag help someone else learn about belonging to God?

Have children fold the tags and place them in their Travel Journals.

Have kids join hands and stand in a circle. Place the empty "Lost and Found" box in the center of the circle.

SAY: Today we learned that although all people are lost in sin, God doesn't want us to stay lost. He comes to find us, just as the shepherd looked for his lost sheep. God calls us when we hear his Word in church, when we read the Bible, and when others tell us about Jesus. When we trust in Jesus, we belong to God and are part of his family. Being found by Jesus is like getting rescued out of the lost and found box (indicate the sign on the box) and moved into a new box-God's "Found and Saved!" box.

Bring out the sign reading "Found and Saved! and tape it over the "Lost and Found" sign. Show the box to the entire circle. To close in prayer, have children step into the box, one at a time, and pray, "Thank you God for finding and saving me. I belong to you." Have the children clap and cheer for each "found" member of the group.