Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Hello everyone! Today is the second lesson of our Superbook adventure, “The Prodigal Son.” Let’s spend some time in praise and thankfulness to God as we sing and do the motions for Everything Good.

Play Video 11: (Song) Everything Good (3.5 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along with the children.

Everything Good

SuperTruth and Discussion (1 minute)

In the Bible story about the prodigal son, the father waited patiently for his son to return home. God waits patiently for us to turn to Him, too! That’s why our SuperTruth for today is, “God waits patiently for us to turn to Him.” What do you think turning to God means?

We can make bad choices at times and wander away from God and His plan for us, yet God waits patiently for us to turn back to Him. I am so glad that we have a heavenly Father who is loving and patient!

Introduce Condensed Bible Story (1 minute)

If all children watched the full Bible story video in the previous lesson, you may skip it here and go straight to the Bible Background Video.

In our video last time, what bad choice did Chris’ friend Aaron make?

Yes, Aaron skipped school, rode an all-terrain vehicle without permission, and wrecked it! He was scared and thought his father could never forgive him. For those of you who haven’t seen the video, we are going to watch a short version of The Prodigal Son to see how the father in Jesus’ story showed patience and love. For those of you who have seen the full video, let’s watch for ways that the father showed patience to his two sons.

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (9 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to ancient Galilee. Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal Son—a young man who leaves home for what he thinks is the adventure of a lifetime, only to discover that what he wants most in the world is his father’s love. The children learn about God’s unfailing love and the power of forgiveness.

Discussion (1 minute)

Why do you think that the father was patient and the older brother was so impatient?

Do you think the older brother ever changed his attitude about his younger brother?

Introduce Bible Background Video (1 minute)

Now let’s watch our Bible Background Video and learn more about the Bible times and location in which Jesus’ parable about the Prodigal Son took place. When Gizmo asks a question in the video, wait for him to suggest some answers, then call out the one you think is right!

Play Video 5: Bible Background (8.5 minutes)

Bible Background

Play Video 10B: SuperVerse Graphic 2

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 2

SuperVerse (2 minutes)

Our SuperVerse is found in Revelation 3:20:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

Who is speaking in this verse? Jesus.

Yes, Jesus calls to each of us, seeking a close and loving friendship with everyone. He is gentle and patient, but He will not force His way into our lives. Let’s say our SuperVerse together this time.

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear God, we praise You for being patient, loving, and merciful to us—even when we make bad choices and turn away from You. Thank You for calling out to us so that we can receive Your forgiveness. We praise You for giving us a new start each time we turn back to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our SuperTruth is about turning to God. Next, you’ll play a game about turning. Let’s go to our Small Groups and see what this is all about!   

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “God waits patiently for us to turn to Him.” The youngest son made a bad decision to walk away from his father and the blessed life that he had at home. We will mess up and make unwise choices in life. Yet God does not disown us and tell us we no longer belong in the family. Instead, He waits patiently for us to turn to Him.

Divide the children into teams of 4–6, depending on class size. Divide each team in half again. Have each half stand directly across from their teammates behind the marks at the opposite ends of the room. See illustration.

Walk as you talk and demonstrate turning at each mark. Today we are going to play a fun game about turning. You will walk from the start mark to the finish mark at the other side of the room. When you come to each of the two marks along the way, you must turn completely around before you can continue. Now, does that sound easy enough? Hmmm, yes—probably a little too easy.

Hold a paper plate or cardstock sheet and place a balloon on top of it, then demonstrate again walking the course.

To make this more challenging, you must balance the balloon on top of the plate as you walk and turn. Now, be careful—if you move too quickly, the balloon may fall to the floor. If it does, you must pick it up and continue from that spot. When you reach the finish line, hand the balloon and plate to the next player on your team, who will then take the journey to the finish line at the opposite end. The first team to finish wins!

Play again as time permits.

Conclusion: Good job turning, everyone! In our journey of life there will be times we make bad choices and need to turn back to God. We will always find Him waiting patiently for us with open arms of love and forgiveness.  

Teaching

The volunteer should stay outside the closed door and knock softly as indicated during the presentation. You will need to speak loudly enough for the volunteer to hear you through the closed door. The knock should be just loud enough for the children to barely hear it.

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “God waits patiently for us to turn to Him.”

How did the father in the parable today show patience? He let his son go and waited patiently for him to come home again. He also showed patience with the older son and his attitude.

Volunteer knocks softly on the door. We are very busy right now; I’ll answer the door in a few minutes. In our SuperVerse, we see that Jesus waits patiently for us to answer the door of our heart. There is not actually a door to our heart; the door represents opening our hearts and lives to Jesus. This verse is often used to show how Jesus gently calls out to people to accept Him into their hearts. However, this verse is in a letter written to people who were already followers of Jesus, yet they had disobeyed God’s Word. Jesus was calling out to them to return to Him.    

Volunteer knocks softly on the door. Wait a little longer. I have an important question for you. Why do you think Jesus knocks on the doors of our hearts?

As the SuperVerse tells us, He wants to spend time with us as our closest friend. He wants to know our questions, our failures, our frustrations, and disappointments. He wants to share our victories, our successes, our plans and dreams. The question is—do we allow Jesus to come into our lives to share in these personal experiences? Or do we just tell Him, “Jesus, I’m glad You are my Savior, but I don’t have time to spend with You right now”? If we haven’t allowed Him to enter; He keeps knocking until we are ready! 

Volunteer knocks softly on the door. Hold on! I don’t want to be interrupted just yet. In our Bible story today, the father knew his son was making a bad decision, yet still he allowed him to leave home. This must have made the father extremely sad! The father wanted to have his son remain with him and be part of his life every day—both the good times and the difficult times that every family has. He wanted to be able to talk, laugh, give wisdom, and share his son’s life. 

This is very similar to our relationship with God. He created us to be in a close relationship with Him—yet He also gives each of us a free will to make our own choices. If people choose to walk away from God, He allows that, and then waits patiently for their return. While they are gone, Jesus knocks and calls out gently to come home and restore that relationship. 

And when we follow Jesus, He continues to knock and call out to us to open up new areas of our lives so that He may enter. He longs to have an even deeper, closer walk with us in all that we do! The knocking and calling from Jesus never stop.  

Volunteer knocks on door. Choose a child to open the door and let the volunteer in. Welcome! Name of volunteer did not knock down the door or force his/her way in. Jesus will never push the door open and force His way into our lives. He is patient and waits for us to ask Him to enter. However, what did you think about how I treated him/her? Did you think I was rude to keep name of volunteer waiting in the hall so long? 

Let’s not keep Jesus waiting; let’s invite Him into our lives every moment of every day. 

Let’s pray. Dear Jesus, thank You for being our Lord and Savior. We are sorry for times that we have kept You waiting and didn’t invite You be part of our lives. Remind us to keep the doors of our hearts open all the time so we can hear Your voice and obey Your Word. In Your name, Amen!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Hand out the Lost and Found Pattern and Scripture Patterns to any children who were not present for Lesson 1, and explain how to make the craft at home. 

Have the class discuss the answers to the first “Lost and Found Challenge” from the previous lesson. Ask them to look up the second “Lost and Found Challenge” scripture at home, and then fill in the answers to the four questions before the next lesson. If any child does not have access to a Bible at home, give them the scriptures on a separate page.

SuperVerse

Have the children stand facing the board, with enough room to do the motions. Slowly say the words aloud as you lead the children in doing the accompanying motions.

Our SuperVerse today is Revelation 3:20:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

- “Look, Put hand above eyes like a salute.

- I stand at the door and knock. Do a knocking motion with closed hand.

- If you hear My voice Cup a hand around an ear.

- and open the door, Pretend to open a door.

- I will come in, Take a step forward.

- and we will share a meal Make spooning motion from hand to mouth.

- together as friends.” Make an outward gesture with both hands.

Each time you repeat the verse, erase a phrase from the board and have the class repeat it with all the words and motions.

Jesus wants to spend time with us. All we need to do is to respond to His call and open the doors to our hearts!

Note: Younger children may not be able to memorize the entire SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “God waits patiently for us to turn to Him.”

In our SuperVerse activity, we learned that Jesus calls out to us and asks permission to enter.

Have the children find a place in the room to sit alone and pray. 

For those of us who are followers of Jesus, He desires a deeper relationship with us. Let’s take a moment to think and pray about whether there is an area of our lives where we haven’t allowed Jesus to enter—then let’s invite Him in.

For anyone who is not yet a follower of Jesus, you can invite Him to enter your heart today! It is very simple and you can speak to God silently.

Allow a short time for the children to think and pray silently, then close in group prayer.

Dear Lord Jesus, we hear You knocking on the doors of our hearts today, and we are opening the doors right now to invite You into our lives. Come into our lives and take control. We want You to know everything about us—the good things we have done and the bad things we are ashamed of. Thank You for dying on the cross to pay the punishment for our sins. We praise You for rising from the grave to win the victory over sin and death. Thank You for hearing each prayer today. Help each one of us to experience a new and deeper relationship with You! In Your name we pray, Amen.

Encourage any children who asked Jesus into their hearts to speak to you, with an assistant, or another adult after class. Congratulate them and discuss the important decision they made. You may wish to share this link to Gizmo’s Bible Adventures, a free devotional for new believers: Superbook.CBN.com/Gospel_Presentation.

Balloon Game

Read Luke 15:20 (hcsb)

“So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.”

The verse tells us that the loving, patient father looked for his son to return. He spotted him when he was still a long way from home and ran to him! Close your eyes and picture the son—possibly shuffling along very slowly with his head down; ashamed, hungry, weak, and weary. He must have been fearful of his father’s reaction. Would he allow the son to live at home as a servant, or would he send the son away for leaving home and foolishly wasting all of his father’s money? Now imagine the father, looking down the road, hoping that his lost son will return—and then imagine the father’s great joy to see his son come into view! The son is about to be wonderfully surprised; the father isn’t filled with anger, he is filled with compassion!  

Now we are going to play a game based on this verse. 

Divide the children into two teams. You may have more teams for larger classes. Divide each team in half again: one half will be the “fathers” and one half will be the “sons.” Have the “fathers” stand directly across from the “sons” on their team behind the two outer marks or lines, similar to the setup for the Small Group Game. Give a balloon and a strip of paper to the first player on each “son” team.

Why is there a sad face on each balloon?

The balloons represent the son, who is sad, ashamed, and needing forgiveness for his actions. You must move the balloon to the line in the middle. The line represents the point where the father spotted his son a long distance away from home. Once you reach the line with your balloon, your teammate across the way, who represents the father, will quickly come to meet you at the line. The father will scoop up the balloon and carry it as you will both walk quickly to the father’s home. However, the “father” cannot leave from “home” until after the balloon reaches the line, so be sure to watch carefully! Once a “father” arrives back home, the balloon should be given to a Sixth Grade helper or another assistant, who should quickly take it to the next player in the “son” line.   

Now, the challenging twist to this game is how you move the Prodigal Son balloon to the line. As we said, the son most likely moved very slowly home. Because of this, you must use only the strip of paper to push the balloon forward on the floor. You cannot touch the balloon with any part of your body! If you do, you must return to the line and start over! Once all of the original players on one end have moved the balloon to the center, the half-teams will switch sides and start over: fathers become sons and sons become fathers. The first team to finish wins!

Conclusion: Great job everyone! Just like the Prodigal Son’s father, God is not looking for us to turn to Him so He can punish us for going astray. No, He waits patiently to forgive us, restore us, and welcome us home! 

Object Lesson

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Revelation 3:20:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

As we have been discussing in our lesson today, Jesus knocks and calls out to us. He pursues us patiently because He wants to be included in our lives now on Earth, and then to live with us in heaven for all of eternity!

Hold up the “Keep Out” sign.  Have you ever seen a sign like this?

What does it mean?

It means that only certain people are allowed to enter. These people must have authorization or official permission to enter. No one else is welcome; they must KEEP OUT!

It is wise to be careful about which people we allow into our lives. Can you name some people we can trust to love us, protect us, and give us good advice?

Some of these people may include our parents, teachers, pastors, grandparents, and other family members.

However, we can’t trust everyone to love us, protect us, and give us good advice. Think about the people who the Prodigal Son met when he left home. Were those people really his friends?

Why did those people want to be with the Prodigal Son?

What did they do when he had spent all of his money?

Now let’s think about Jesus. Why does Jesus want to be with us?

Will He ever leave us or betray us?

What will He do if we make a mistake?

Jesus is our true friend. The SuperVerse tells us that Jesus stands and waits for us to open the door. He will not come in unless He is authorized by you! He waits for our approval and permission to enter our hearts. 

We can trust Jesus with every part of our lives. He will never betray us or let us down. Jesus loves us unconditionally—no matter what we do. He will always forgive us when we come to Him and ask. He wants to lead us into a closer relationship with His Father—God. Jesus desires only good things for us and will never lead us astray. God gives us free will to choose how to respond to Jesus.

Hold up the “Enter Here” sign. Will Jesus see this sign on the door of your heart? We want to welcome Jesus into our hearts and give Him permission to enter every area of our lives.

Craft

Hand out one door hanger and heart box to each child, along with glue, scissors and markers. Have children carefully cut out the circle hole and the 3 dashed lines of the door. Emphasize that they should not cut the solid line of the door. Have children turn the door hanger face down on the table. Children then will apply glue to the outside front edges of the “Jesus” heart box without putting any glue in the heart area; then carefully attach it to the door hanger so it will be visible when the door on the front is opened. Children should write their names on the back using washable marker.  

Have children turn their door hanger over and open the door at the correct time while they say the verse.

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Revelation 33:20:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

Encourage the children to take their craft home and hang it on a door knob to remind them that Jesus wants to have a close relationship with them! 

Activity

Jesus’ story about the Prodigal Son is a parable. In the video, Gizmo defined a parable as a short story which uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical point. Parable comes from a Greek word that means to place one thing beside the other to compare them. In the parable Jesus told, who do you think the father represents? God.

Yes, He did this to help us understand the depth of God’s love and forgiveness for His children. Who do you think the Prodigal Son represents? The lost, sinners, those who make unwise choices or turn from God. 

In this activity, we are going to make up very short parables to describe God. Let’s look up a verse and then think of something in the world that we can use to explain it. I’ll do the first one.

Have children look up and read each scripture, then think of ways to explain God’s love:

1.God’s love and patience. Psalm 103:8:

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

Let’s make up very short parables about God’s love and patience. I’ll start: “God’s love is like a water faucet that you can’t turn off.” How else can you describe God’s love or His patience?

2.God’s goodness and faithfulness. Psalm 100:5:

For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

Can you make up a short parable about God’s goodness or His faithfulness?

3.  God’s power and protection. Psalm 18:2:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

Can you make up a short parable about God’s power or His protection?

Conclusion: Let’s Pray. Dear God, thank You for showing us Your love and forgiveness in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Thank You for giving us the Bible so we can learn more about Your love, mercy and forgiveness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.