Story of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15:1-7

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called the Gospel of Luke. Luke loved Jesus and wanted others to know and love Jesus, too. And the word gospel means “good news!”

We begin with Jesus. Jesus is special because Jesus is God’s Son. One day, Jesus told a story to teach us about how much God loves us. 


This story is about a shepherd who had 100 sheep. Wow! That’s a lot of sheep! Hmm . . . what does a sheep say? Does a sheep say, “Moooooo, moooooo?” No? Does a sheep say, “Quack, quack?” No? Well then, what does a sheep say? “Baaaaa, baaaaa!” Yes!


And a shepherd is someone who takes care of sheep. A good shepherd makes sure their sheep have food and water and that they don’t get hurt or lost. 


One day, the shepherd in Jesus’ story was counting his sheep, and the shepherd saw that one of them was missing! Oh no!


What do you think the shepherd did? 


The shepherd went to look for his one lost sheep because the shepherd loved each and every one of his sheep.


When the shepherd found his lost sheep, he put the sheep on his shoulders and JOYFULLY ran home! He rejoiced because he found his lost sheep!


Jesus told this story to teach us that God loves us like the shepherd loved his sheep. Every ONE is important to God. That’s good news! And that’s why we can have joy all the time! Because God loves us all the time!


God loves you in the morning when you brush your teeth, so you can have joy in the morning! 


God loves you in the afternoon when you’re playing, so you can have joy in the afternoon!


God loves you when you go to bed, so you can have joy when you go to bed! 


God loves you all the time, so you can have joy all the time! So, when anyone asks you, “Who can have joy all the time?” You can say, “I can have joy all the time!”






Bible Paraphrase: A joyful heart is good medicine. —Proverbs 17:22, ESV

Text Truth: I can have joy because God loves me.



Family Devotional

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
—Luke 15:1-7

In our Bible Story, Jesus told a story about a shepherd and his sheep. What did the shepherd do when one of his sheep was lost? The shepherd looked for his lost sheep because he loved all of his sheep. And what did the shepherd do when he found his lost sheep? The shepherd celebrated! Jesus told this story so we can know how much God loves us. God loves us even MORE than the shepherd loved his sheep! And knowing how much God loves us can give us joy all the time! So, when someone asks you, “Who can have joy all the time?” You can say, “I can have joy all the time!”

If you have taken medicine, you know that medicine makes you feel better. And guess what! JOY makes you feel better too! JOY is good medicine!

A joyful heart is good medicine. —Proverbs 17:22, ESV

With your family, take a piece of paper and make a list of people you love. Have each family member write done the name of someone they love. And be sure to write the family member’s name next to the name of the person they write down.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, thank You for loving us like the shepherd loved his sheep. We love (read the list your family made). It gives us so much joy to know that You love us even more! You love [family member’s name]. You love [family member’s name]. You love . . . (name each family member). Help us remember how much You love us so we can have joy all the time! You are amazing, God! And we love You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

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Some story images are the copyright of Jill Kemp and Richard Gunther and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. More free resources in support of this story and images can be found at www.lambsongs.co.nz

Some story images are in the Public Domain.

All story images are the property of their respective owners.
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