Leader Guide

Finding Game

David, the shepherd, guided and protected his sheep from harm. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, also guides and protects us today. Jesus told this story to His disciples.

Have children look up Matthew 18:12–13. Select three children to each read one sentence of the passage.

¹² “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? ¹³And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away!"

Jesus was saying that a human shepherd will search until he finds a lost sheep. Every single sheep is loved and very valuable to the shepherd. How much more will Jesus, the Good Shepherd, search and rescue us when we are lost!

Now we will play a game to show what a loving shepherd does when a sheep is missing from the flock.

Hold up the toy sheep — or paper sheep — so children can see it. This poor sheep has wandered away from the flock, is lost, and cannot find its way back. We need a shepherd to find it!

Ask one child to leave the room with a helper for a minute while the rest of the class watches you hide the sheep. Have the child return to the room and begin looking for the hidden sheep. The class guides the child by giving various temperatures to indicate if the child is getting farther — cold/colder/freezing, or closer warm, warmer, hot, burning— to the sheep. As time permits, hide the sheep in different places. Ask children for ideas of hiding places if you wish. Have the class guide other children to find it.

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “Jesus will guide me and protect me.”