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Note to the parent or teacher: Here is a 45- to 60-minute lesson plan to supplement “The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son.” (It can also be broken into two or more smaller sessions.) It goes with the lesson objectives:

• “Study more of the parables that Jesus taught and their meaning” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: Jesus, God’s Son-2b);
• “Be able to describe the importance and benefits of friendships; identify the variety of relationships that are present in life, and how each friendship affects one’s life” (Character Building: Social Skills: Friendship-2a);
• “Learn how to recognize the difference between acting in pride and in humility, and how to work toward making one’s reactions humble” (Character Building: Values and Virtues: Humility-2f).

Read “The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son.”

Read Luke 15:1–2.

Discuss why the Pharisees complained about Jesus spending time with the tax collectors and sinners. Explain that the tax collectors were looked down upon because they collected taxes for the Roman Empire that was governing their land. The tax collectors also often collected more taxes than they were meant to and pocketed the excess, so it’s understandable that the tax collectors were disliked.
     Perhaps the Pharisees felt that if Jesus was to be a good religious example that He should only spend time with good people. They might have felt that if He spent time with tax collectors and immoral people, that would poorly reflect on His character as well, and they didn’t want it to appear that a teacher of the Scriptures was an immoral person.

Discuss making friends with “sinners” as Jesus did and how that differs from being friends with them and taking part in their activities. For example, Jesus ate, drank, talked, and probably also laughed with them. He honored them with His friendship, and He used those opportunities to teach them about the love of God and the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus wasn’t taking part in things they might have been doing that were wrong, such as getting drunk or belittling someone or gossiping or stealing or anything that was hurtful to another. He won disciples through building these friendships. Ask your child if they can relate that to friendships they have made or could make.

Read “Jamie’s Friends.”

Discuss how the story “Jamie’s Friends” relates to the example Jesus set by being friendly to the tax collectors and sinners of His day. Bring out how Jamie didn’t have to join in doing the same things the other children did, just the same as Jesus didn’t need to be a swindler or immoral like the tax collectors and sinners He befriended in order to be their friend.

Ask the child how they could portray an example of what Jesus showed us to do in befriending these people.

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A tip for this second half of the class: Since this second half is largely discussion points, you might consider breaking it up into two classes or with a pause in the middle for time to color the coloring page that goes with this class and/or assembling the 3D picture.

Read Luke 15:11–32. (If you wish, you could also view “Superbook – The Prodigal Son.”)

Examine the different aspects of the story from the point of view of the prodigal son.

• The prodigal son wanted his inheritance to spend on enjoying himself.     
• He proudly felt his father owed the inheritance to him, instead of humbly acknowledging that it was the product of his father’s hard work. It was a gift. 
• By the time the prodigal son arrived home, he no longer felt worthy of being called a son and was willing to take the low seat of a servant.
• The prodigal son arrived home knowing he had sinned against his father and sought forgiveness.       

Examine the different aspects of the story from the point of view of the older brother who had stayed on to work with his father.

• The older brother worked hard for his father, and he might have felt his workload increased due to his younger brother’s departure.
• He might have at times wished he could be off enjoying himself like his younger brother.       
• He felt he was better than the younger brother because he had continued helping his father.
• He was proud of his obedience to his father and resentful of the younger brother.
• He was also guilty of sin. His was the sin of pride, which was manifested in how he lacked the humility to forgive his brother and be happy for his return.

Watch the “Video: The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son.”

Examine the different aspects of the story from the point of view of the father.

• He worked hard in order to care for his family, resulting in him having an inheritance to give his sons to help them in their lives.    
• He was disappointed that his youngest son just wanted to waste the inheritance on having fun.
• Maybe he knew that the youngest son needed to learn the hard way and that giving him his inheritance earlier might help him learn and mature through the hard things he would experience. 
• He had to teach his older son about humility and forgiveness.

Explore with the child ways they can apply aspects of either of the sons’ lives to their own life.

Listen to the audio, “Forgive and Forget” (song #12).

Read the following Bible verses that relate to humility and pride, and talk about how they relate to the parable Jesus told about the two sons.

• Proverbs 16:18 The younger son arrogantly felt the inheritance was his right that he could use as he wished, even if it was to waste it, and that didn’t work out well for him.
• Philippians 2:3 Selfishness and pride played into the younger son’s poor choice to waste his inheritance as he did. Neither brother truly honored his father as he should have. The younger one dishonored his father by wasting his inheritance. The older son dishonored his father by being upset that his father forgave the younger son.
• Matthew 23:12. The younger son exalted himself by asking for the inheritance while his dad was still alive. The older son exalted himself by being upset that the father welcomed the younger son back with a celebratory meal held in his brother’s honor. The older son felt that it was unfair to celebrate the younger one’s return when there had never been a celebration for the older one’s diligence in staying by his father and doing the work.
• Philippians 2:3. If each brother had considered others better than themselves, neither would have fallen in their pride and arrogance. The younger brother would have been more considerate of his father and older brother, and he wouldn’t have selfishly asked for his inheritance to be given to him early. The older brother would have been happy for the return of his brother and not jealous.

Celebrate the inheritance that our heavenly Father has given you through Jesus: love, compassion, forgiveness, eternal life, and more. Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for all God has done for each of you! And if applicable, you can include praying to be able to forgive someone who you felt has wronged you.

Additional Material:

• Audio “Prodigal Son”

Note to parent or teacher: This 30- to 45-minute lesson plan is the conclusion of this series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Conclusion.”

Listen to “Audio: ‘Love Thy Neighbor.’”

Read “The Old Maple and the Fir.”

Listen to “The Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13” and follow this up by reading, “1 Corinthians for You Today!”

Read “The Love Game.”

Prepare the 18 cards of “Love Memory Joggers, Part 1” and “Love Memory Joggers, Part 2.” Set the cards in a box or envelope and draw one to review each morning or evening.

Read “Check Your Love Meter, Part 1” and “Check Your Love Meter, Part 2,” stopping after reading a page to reflect on the question presented. (Tip: Since there are 14 questions, you could consider spreading these out over the next week or two, addressing one or two questions a day.

Read “The Ways of Love.” (You might wish to follow this up by doing the activity on pages 7 through 9.)

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: Slave for a Day.”

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the fifth part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 8: Give, Don’t Steal.”

Ask your child if she has experienced a time when she wanted to take something that didn’t belong to her but decided against it. Talk about how it turned out. It’s quite possible she wasn’t given something similar as happened in this story. Talk about the other good things that could have resulted from having made the right decision, such as a sense of well-being or other positive results.

Read “Encourage Others—Be Courteous.”

Discuss the benefits of being generous in doing things for others.

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: Out at Sea.” Then read Acts 27 and 28:1–10.

List, with your child’s participation, what Paul gained by his generosity, such as his life was spared, he was respected, he won others over to the message of God’s love through Jesus, etc.

Read “God’s Law of Love.”

Read “Life of Friends: Greedy Kitties.”

Ask your child if he remembers a time when he was greedy, and nearly lost (or did lose) the privilege of having something he wanted due to not being willing to share it with others. For example, he had been told he could only have a privilege if he shared with another, or a toy broke during a struggle over who got to play with it.

Then talk about a time he shared something, and yet in the end, he was still able to fully enjoy the thing he had wanted. You might have a story you can share about your own experiences along these lines.

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 9: Speak Well of Others.”

Discuss how this story could have turned out if the boy hadn’t spoken up on behalf of Asher.

Read “Life of Friends: Our Words.”

Read “Jury and Judge for a Day.”

Talk about (if applicable) a time your child has spoken well of others and ways that might have helped the person. Also, if applicable, talk about damage done if your child knows of a time when she took part in talking about others in a hurtful manner.

Listen to “Audio: James 3.” Or read James 3 here.

Additional reading:

• “Every Feather”

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 10: Be Happy for the Good Fortune of Others.”

Read “Life of Friends: Have Friends or Gloat.”

Examine together with your child if he has missed out on any friendships due to being jealous over another’s good fortune that he would like to have himself.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Contentment.”

Discuss how when we focus on what we don’t have, we often miss noticing what we do have. Ask your child to think if she has made this error in any aspect of life, and if so, take time to look at that situation from the standpoint of gratitude and contentment.

Read “The Life of Friends: Honor Our Differences.”

Examine together with your child his friends and acquaintances to see if there is anyone who might be feeling left out and in need of appreciation for their own set of talents.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Be a Good Listener.”

Discuss how listening to another person’s tale of good fortune is important. Ask your child to think of times she has enjoyed talking about something good that has happened to her and how she would have felt if no one had listened.

Additional reading:

• “But to Understand”

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the fourth part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 6: Help One Another, Don’t Hurt Others.”

Read “The Life of Friends: Admirable Strengths” for more on the importance of not putting others in danger.

Read “Tales of Farm Friends: Star: Spirited but Gentle.”

Read “How God Blessed Joseph.”

Talk about how even though God made good out of the difficulties Joseph faced, it was very wrong of his brothers to sell him into slavery.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Lifting Others Up.” Explain how saying unkind words, though they may not put someone in danger, can still hurt the other person’s feelings.

Read “The Life of Friends: Respect Wins.”

Read “Turning Mistakes into Something Good” for other examples of God making something good out of something that is wrong, including the hurt of unkind words.

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: The Old Man and the Sailing Vessel” and the full story of Noah and the ark in Genesis 6-8.

Talk about how God is very concerned about the state of the world He’s given us to live in, and He wants us to care for it and each other. In the days of Noah, people had become very bad and were doing things that hurt themselves and others, but the Flood gave the world a new beginning. God asked Noah and his family to help by preserving the various species of animals.

Additional reading:

• “Love Never Fails to Love”
• “Every Feather”

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 7: Faithfully Care for One Another.”

Discuss the importance of your family unit and each person doing their best to be helpful and care for each other.

Read “A Lovely Nest.”

Read “The Life of Friends: Guarding Friendship.”

Discuss how at times there will be misunderstandings in families and amongst friends, but it’s important to guard our relationships and do our best to overcome misunderstandings. Talk about how we need each other.

Read “Standing on God’s Will: Don’t Argue, Have Fun.”

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Considering Others.”

Read “Celebrating Birthdays” and “Standing on God’s Word: Happy Birthday.”

Discuss how birthdays are a good opportunity to keep family and friendship relationships strong by showing one another appreciation.

Note to parent or teacher: Here is a 30- to 40-minute 0–5 lesson plan on everyday blessings (e.g., God’s love, friendship, family) that fill up one’s day, and how to appreciate and be grateful for those gifts.

Read “Everyday Gifts.”

Write a list of some of the everyday gifts, like those listed in the article, which you might experience. Discuss how even though those gifts might seem ordinary, they can bring joy to your day. Put this list up somewhere you can see it to remind you of some of the gifts that you are blessed with.

Read “The Blessing of Family and Friends.”

Ask each child to name something special about a person in their family, and how that special something makes you or others happy. For example, “My sister Alice is fun to play with. She makes our games exciting,” or “Grandma is caring and thoughtful. She makes me feel loved.”

Read “Building Friendships” and “One Kind Deed at a Time: Build a Better Friendship.”

Discuss how friendship is another everyday gift that can be given and received. Talk about some of the things that make a friendship special, and how to give the gift of friendship to someone.

Read “Jesus Is with You!” and “Jesus, Friend of Little Children.”

Talk about how the best gift you can have is Jesus. Jesus will always be there to guide, love, help, and be your friend, no matter what.

Color one or more of the following coloring pages, and listen to the audio “Me and You.”

• “Coloring Page: Building Friendships”
• “Coloring Page: Character ABC: B Is for Be a Friend”
• “Coloring Page: Jesus, Friend of Little Children”
• “Coloring page: Me and You”

Additional material:

• “Time Spent with Jesus”
• “The Secret to Making Friends”
• “Character ABC: Be a Friend, Benton”

Here is a 20- to 30-minute lesson plan that highlights the following lesson objectives: “Be able to describe the importance and benefits of friendships; identify the variety of relationships that are present in life, and how each friendship affects one’s life,” and “learn how we are responsible to look out for the welfare of one’s friends, and allow them to look out for one’s welfare as well.” (Character Building: Social Skills: Friendship-2a,b)

Watch “Friendship Soup Lesson.”

Talk about the question asked at the end of this clip: “What ingredients have you been putting in your friendship soup?” Also talk about any other ingredients that your child would want to include in their friendship soup and discuss any to leave out or remove that may not be contributing to a strong friendship (such as teasing, hurting someone’s feelings, being dishonest, etc.).

Read “The Wounds of a Friend.”

Discuss how sometimes a part of being a friend means speaking the truth to your friend and being open to hearing them speak the truth to you. Sometimes the truth may make them or you feel uncomfortable, or may even hurt a little, but that type of honesty makes a friendship stronger. Discuss how the aim of that type of honesty is to help a friendship; it should not be used to point out the things you don’t like about your friend.

Read “Humility Helps Friendships.”

Talk about the need for humility in friendship and how honesty and trust can’t work well unless both people are willing to take the lower seat when needed. Try to come up with real examples with your child that help to confirm how humility can help a relationship (even if the relationship wasn’t among their circle of friends).

Read and discuss these Bible verses on “how to treat friends”: Luke 6:31; Romans 12:10; Ephesians 4:29-32; Colossians 3:12-14.

End with discussing one or two “ingredients” your child wants to try putting into action in their friendships in the coming weeks.

Additional reading:

• Watch “How Can You Be a Good Friend?”