Dear Parents, Have you ever heard a pastor say that Jesus was seeking the lost? Who is “the lost”? What does it mean to be lost? In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables to the crowd of tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, and scribes. Jesus’ teaching brought gospel truth to the tax collectors and sinners—those whose unrighteousness separated them from God—and to the Pharisees and scribes—those whose relied on their own righteous efforts for salvation. The first two parables are similar. In one, a man loses a sheep. He leaves his flock to find the missing sheep, and he rejoices when it is found. In the second, a woman loses a silver ...

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Dear Parents, This week we will be teaching our students about the parable of the sower. The Gospels record dozens of Jesus’ parables. A parable is a story Jesus told to help people understand the kingdom of God. Each parable taught a lesson and revealed secrets of God’s kingdom for those who would understand. (See Matt. 13:10-13.) The parable of the sower would have resonated with those listening because they would have been familiar with the practice of sowing or planting seed. But the parable had a deeper meaning. It contained a lesson about God’s Word and the responses of those who hear it. In the parable, a sower’s seeds fell in ...

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Dear Parents, Over the next few weeks, kids will be studying some of Jesus’ sermons and parables. During His time on earth, Jesus spent time preaching about God’s kingdom. One of Jesus’ most well-known sermons is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is recorded across three chapters in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 5–7, Jesus taught how believers should live. While Matthew 5:1-2 specifies that Jesus taught His disciples, Matthew 7:28 reveals that the crowds listened to His sermon as well. First, Jesus began with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes describe God’s great blessings for believers. God’s kingdom belongs to ...

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