Family Home Evening Luke 12-17; John 11

 Read Luke 10:4-7

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Discussion

This might seem crazy if you have 100 sheep, and one of them wandered away, you would leave 99 to find one, but one would need to understand that the shepherd knows that the 99 sheep in the corral are safe, but the one that wandered away could be hurt or maybe hunted by a wolf, bobcat, coyote or some other animal nearby. The shepherd loves all of his sheep and would be so sad to lose any of them, because he knows them by name and loves them individually. When the sheep is found, he throws a party and is happy.

This is how we should be with our neighbors and friends who are lost and then they are found, or maybe we are the lost ones that have wandered away, and we need to repent and find our way back to the path that Jesus has set. Heavenly Father and Jesus love every one of us. They would never turn us away if we repent and come back to them. Heavenly Father is happy and rejoices when his lost sons and daughters use the Atonement of His son Jesus Christ to repent and come back to Him.

Activity 

Get a group of 5-10 super familiar toys and have your children say the names of these toys and memorize what they are. Then, have your children close their eyes. Take and hide one toy. Have them open their eyes. Ask them which sheep (toy) is lost. Ask them how they would feel if this toy was lost forever. Even though they have plenty of other toys, it would make them super sad to lose that one. Tell them to go look for the lost toy. When they find it, ask them how it feels to have that toy back. 

Discussion

If they feel that much joy over one toy, how do you think Heavenly Father feels when one of His children come back to Him?

Watch

Click the picture below to see how we did the lesson.