Single lesson

The Lost Sheep: Each One Matters

Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:12–14; Luke 15:1–7

Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep to show that one person matters greatly. This lesson helps children see the shepherd’s careful search and joyful response, and connects that picture to Jesus’ teaching about welcoming and valuing people.

6–10 years30 minutes

Before you teach

In Matthew, Jesus warns people not to despise “little ones” and says it is not the Father’s will that one should perish. In Luke, tax collectors and sinners came to hear Jesus, while Pharisees and scribes complained that he welcomed sinners. Then Jesus told this parable.

Learning aim

Students will be able to retell the shepherd’s search and explain that Jesus teaches that each person matters and that there is joy when one lost person is found and repents.

Welcome: One out of one hundred still matters

5 min

Show 100 counters, blocks, or drawn dots, then remove one. Ask, “Would one missing sheep matter?” Read Matthew 18:10 and explain that Jesus says not to despise one of these little ones. Introduce the main idea: in Jesus’ parable, one sheep is not ignored just because many others are safe.

Matthew 18:10

Read and explain: The shepherd searches for the lost sheep

8 min

Read Matthew 18:12-14 and Luke 15:3-5 aloud. Explain that this is a parable, an illustration Jesus told. Notice the actions in order: one sheep goes astray or is lost, the shepherd goes after it, and when he finds it he rejoices. Point out that Matthew links this to the Father’s will that one little one should not perish.

Matthew 18:12, Matthew 18:13, Matthew 18:14, Luke 15:3, Luke 15:4, Luke 15:5

Discuss: Why did Jesus tell this parable?

7 min

Read Luke 15:1-3 and ask why Jesus spoke this parable at that moment. Help children observe that some people complained because Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. Then read Luke 15:6-7 and note the joy when the sheep is found. Jesus says there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:1, Luke 15:2, Luke 15:3, Luke 15:6, Luke 15:7

Make and respond: Lost sheep craft

7 min

Children make a simple sheep craft, then add one sheep that can be moved away and brought back. As they work, ask them to say one sentence from the parable: “The shepherd looked for the lost sheep” or “Rejoice with me.” Afterward, discuss one practical way to welcome someone kindly instead of despising them.

Matthew 18:10, Luke 15:6

Closing: Joy when the lost are found

3 min

Review the parable together in three steps: one sheep is lost, the shepherd searches, and he rejoices when it is found. Finish by reading Luke 15:7 again. Emphasise only what the text says: Jesus connects the found sheep with joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:4, Luke 15:5, Luke 15:7

Questions to explore

In Matthew, what does Jesus say people must not do to “one of these little ones”?

Look carefully at Jesus’ warning and then connect it to the shepherd going after one sheep instead of treating one as unimportant.

Matthew 18:10, Matthew 18:12

What different feelings or responses do we see in Luke 15 before and after the sheep is found?

First notice the complaint in Luke 15:2, then compare it with the rejoicing in Luke 15:5-7.

Luke 15:2, Luke 15:5, Luke 15:6, Luke 15:7

According to Jesus in Luke 15:7, what does the found sheep picture?

Use Jesus’ own explanation rather than guessing extra meanings: he speaks about one sinner who repents and joy in heaven.

Luke 15:7

Make, think or respond

Moveable Lost Sheep Craft

What you’ll need

paper
pencil or texta
scissors
glue
cotton balls or scrunched paper
small strip of card or spare paper

Try it together

Draw a simple field or hill scene on paper and add many small sheep shapes, or draw one large sheep and many dots to show the flock.
Make one extra sheep on a separate piece so it can be moved away from the group.
Decorate the sheep with cotton balls or scrunched paper, then place the extra sheep far from the others.
Retell the parable by moving the lost sheep back while saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!”
Finish by naming one kind way to welcome or notice someone who may feel left out.

The movable sheep helps children picture the shepherd searching for one lost sheep and the joy when it is found, as Jesus describes in the parable.

Adapt for your group

For younger children, shorten the discussion and let them repeat key phrases such as “one was lost” and “rejoice with me” from the passage.
For older children, compare Matthew 18:10, 14 with Luke 15:1-7 and ask what each passage especially highlights: not despising little ones, and joy over one sinner who repents.

An optional closing prayer

“Father in heaven, thank you that Jesus teaches that one person matters. Please help us not to despise others, and help us be glad about what brings joy in heaven.”

Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic

Matthew 18

¹⁰ See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

¹² “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?

¹³ If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Luke 15

¹ Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.

² The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

³ He told them this parable:

⁴ “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

⁵ When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶ When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

⁷ I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

World English Bible Classic. Public domain.