Returning Home: A Journey of Grace Through the Parable of the Prodigal SonSample

1. The Parable of the Lost Sheet and the Parable of the Lost Coin come directly before the Parable of the Prodigal Son. How are these two parables similar to the Parable of Prodigal Son? How are they different?
2. PARENTS: Share a story of a time when you lost something. Maybe it was your car keys. Or maybe you accidentally threw away your retainer in the trash. Maybe you once left a stuffed animal at a friend’s house and had to go the night without it.
3. READ ALOUD: Whenever we lose something valuable, we’ll spend hours and hours looking for it. Between couch cushions. Underneath car seats. We’ll leave no place unsearched to find the thing we are missing. These two parables follow the same pattern. Something valuable gets lost; someone goes and looks for it. But when we talk about the Parable of the Prodigal Son, when the younger son gets lost, why doesn’t anyone go look for him? It’s possible that Jesus wanted the listeners of these stories to ask that very question! The older son should have gone to find his brother, but he didn’t. The father doesn’t go looking for his son either. It seems like there is a missing character who would have gone out and left no stone unturned to find the missing son. Do you know anyone who left everything behind to go find people who were lost? Yes! Jesus!
4. Have you ever missed your family when you were away? What did you miss?
5. What are some of the ways you know that God loves you, even when you make mistakes?

Pray This Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us no matter what. Thank You for being the true older brother who left everything and came down to save us. Help us to know that You are near even when we mess up. Thank You for the truth that nothing—absolutely nothing—can separate us from Your love.

At FamilyLife, we want to be a part of your journey. This is a companion devotional to a family-friendly audio drama, The Road to Kaeluma, produced by FamilyLife and Jesus Film. If you're interested in learning more or listening to the audio drama, visit the podcast link on our resource page.