LESSON 2
STARTING AGAIN
Teacher Preparation + Resources
Read Luke 15:11-24 and pray through the Upward-Inward-Outward framework before class. Reflect on the ways God has shown you mercy so you can lead your students with empathy. Review each activity, prep your materials, and invite the Holy Spirit to lead your conversations.
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Lesson Summary
This lesson invites students to reflect on repentance and God’s mercy using Jesus’ parable of the lost son. Through guided activities and discussion, the class will examine preconceived beliefs about God’s character and compare them to the forgiving Father Jesus described. Students will practice posturing their hearts toward God by praying through the Upward-Inward-Outward framework.
Main Point
Jesus taught that God is a loving Father whose mercy welcomes us into a life of repentance.
Lesson Objectives
- Students will reflect on what Jesus’ parable of the lost son teaches about repentance and God’s mercy.
- Students will compare their preconceived notions of God with the image of God Jesus presented in this parable.
Teaching Tips
Continue fostering connections to create trust between yourself and your students so they feel comfortable engaging with authenticity and vulnerability.
When discussing heavier topics (such as the impact of sin), lead with empathy and humility—not condemnation. Your students will be affected by not just what you say but how you say it.
Materials Needed
Phone, clock, or timer
Extra papers & pens
Notecards
Getting Started 15 minutes
Slide 2
Welcome Activity
Before class, write a different role on each notecard (teacher, mayor, parent, etc.). On one notecard, write “God” and keep it for yourself. Make sure you have a timer ready.
Have students form small groups of 4–5 and distribute the cards.
Say
We are going to play a game called Who Am I? Each of you will receive a card with a role on it. No peeking! When it is your turn, hold your card on your forehead so your group can see it. Ask “yes/no” questions until you can guess the word on your card. Your turn lasts one minute—be fast!
Cycle through turns for five minutes, prompting students to switch after each minute. After the game, hold up the “God” card and lead rapid-fire “yes/no” questions such as: “Am I disappointed in you?”, “Am I merciful?”, “Am I distant?”, “Am I loving?” Highlight common misconceptions students hold or hear about God.
Slide 3
Introduction
Say
People have all kinds of ideas about who God is and how he relates to us. Often, those ideas reflect our own experiences and expectations more than they reflect God’s true character.
Icebreaker Question
Ask
How do you hear people talk about God, and what do you think that says about them? Consider what you notice on TV, on social media, from celebrities, and among your family and friends.
If students need help, share examples such as: judgmental people may imagine a judgmental God; someone with an absent father may imagine a distant God; someone who always gets their way may imagine a God who never asks anything of them.
Digging In 30 minutes
Slide 4
Say
In Jesus’ time—like today—people had lots of ideas about who God is. The story we are about to read is one Jesus told to show God’s character and the relationship he longs to have with us.
Slide 10
Observe
Ask
What does the younger son do while he is in the distant land, and what happens to him?
Ask
Reread the line the son practices before returning home. What does he assume about how his father will receive him?
Answers may include: He assumes he messed up too badly to be welcomed back as a son, so he plans to earn a place as a servant.
Ask
How does the father respond when his son returns?
After students answer, explain that the father’s response would have shocked the original listeners because the son’s actions brought public shame, yet the father took that shame upon himself to welcome his child home.
Slides 11–13
Interpret
Say
Parables use everyday situations to teach deeper truths. Through this parable, Jesus illustrates sin as a broken relationship and repentance as returning to that relationship.
Ask
What does this story teach us about repentance?
Answers may include: You do not have to earn God’s forgiveness; repentance is like walking away from bad choices toward your home in God’s family; repentance is being found after being lost.
Say
Being sinful involves turning our hearts away from God to chase our own desires. Repentance is turning those same hearts back toward God—over and over again. God does not call us to repent to keep us from good things. He wants to give us a life saturated with his love.
Optional Follow-Up Question
How do you see yourself (or others) chasing things that are not good for them?
Ask
What does Jesus teach us about God and the kind of relationship he desires with us through this parable?
Answers may include: God is compassionate, merciful, actively loving, patient, celebratory when we return, and eager to receive us as children.
Slide 14
Apply
Have students form pairs for reflection. Remind them to keep confidentiality and listen respectfully.
Say
Now it is time to reflect on your own relationship with God. Turn to one person near you and discuss the following questions.
Ask
How do you see yourself in the lost son’s story? In what ways have you turned your heart away from God, and how can you respond?
Ask
How do feelings of shame and guilt impact your relationship with God and your walk with Jesus?
Bring the group back together to debrief.
Practicing Life with Jesus 15 minutes
Slide 15
Say
God, our loving Father, wants daily relationship with us. Repentance is not only turning away from sin but also turning toward God over and over again. As we live this way, the Holy Spirit transforms us so we become more like Jesus.
Say
One way we orient ourselves toward God is through prayer. Today we will practice the Upward-Inward-Outward framework to guide our prayers.
Slide 16
Upward: Start your prayer by thanking God for who he is and what he has done. Use Luke 15 for inspiration, thanking him for his extravagant love and adoption.
Inward: Look honestly at your own heart. Confess where you have turned away from God and ask for forgiveness. Ask God to help you forgive others, too.
Outward: Pray for your needs and the needs of others. Ask God to guide you, help those around you, and use you to show his love to the world.
Slide 17
Response
Transition into a time of individual response. Encourage students to keep a journal throughout the program.
Journal Prompt
Say
Take out a notebook and a pencil. Use the Upward-Inward-Outward tool to write a prayer in response to Jesus’ teaching. If you need guidance, use these prompts:
- Upward: God, I thank you for being...
- Inward: I have sinned by... Please forgive me and help me turn back to you today.
- Outward: I pray that you help... (family, conflict, personal need). Bless us with your love and guide us toward a closer relationship with you.
Closing
Encourage students to keep practicing Upward-Inward-Outward during the week. Close by praying over your students using the same framework.
