FREEDOM IN CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.

VBS 2019 “RESCUE MISSION”

Day 2 - Lesson

4th through 7th Grade

Bible Reference: Romans 1:28-3:20; Luke 15:11-32

What is our theme this year? It's the greatest rescue story ever. Is it true or just another fairy
tale? True, right? And we know this because God, who never lies, tells us in His Word. Who
remembers what our problem was yesterday? We have sinned. How many of us have sinned? All of
us have, right. How does God feel about our sin? He's angry. Is He right to feel this way? Yes, He's
very right to feel this way. In part, it's because He loves us so much that He is so angry.

Let's look at another reason He is so angry. It is because He is 100% holy and perfect. When we first
hear that, we might think that's not right of God. Let's look at a little example to help us try to
understand it better. There are people today in poor countries, that live in garbage dumps. It is the
cheapest and easiest way for them to survive. It is absolutely filthy and the smell is horrible. We
live in a pretty clean country. We're always being told how important it is to wash our hands and
cover our cough, etc. If someone from this country goes to visit or help someone living in one of
the dumps I told you about, the dirt and the smell seem pretty gross. Many people living in the dump
don't know anything different. They aren't as grossed out by the filth as a missionary from another
country is. This is a small picture of God and us. We are very dirty with sin and live in it. God is
100% holy and sinless. Sin is absolutely disgusting to a holy God. So combined with His great love
for us, we can see why God is so angry about sin. Today we're going to learn about a story that Jesus
told when He was here on earth over 2,000 years ago. Jesus told this story to teach us what God is
like, what we are like and to show us that we all need Jesus to rescue us.

This story is found in the Bible in the book of Luke. (Open your Bible so the children know it comes
from God ) Who remembers what Jesus did yesterday in our story? He did a few things, didn't He? He
taught the people about God. He loved the man controlled by Satan, but He also got angry. He
healed the man and rescued him. Jesus often did things like this. The Bible tells us that Jesus was
always busy teaching people about God. (hold up 1st picture ) All kinds of people liked to listen to
Jesus. Some were good people that went to church every week and some were bad people that liked
to do very naughty things. The Bible tells us that the good people didn't like it when the bad people
came to see Jesus. They liked it even less that Jesus would spend so much of His time being with
these people. But that was why Jesus came to earth. He came to rescue people from their sin, just
like we saw yesterday. He came to rescue you and me! So Jesus told this story to the good people
to teach them that they are sinners too and need Jesus just as much as the bad people
do. Sometimes it's easy for us to look at other boys and girls and see how naughty they are and
think, “Oh, I would never do that! I must be better than they are. God must love me more than He
loves them.” But that is not true. ALL of us are sinners and we ALL need Jesus to rescue us. O.K.
So let's get to the story Jesus told. Here it is!

(Hold up 2nd picture ) Jesus said, “Once upon a time there was a man who had 2 sons. One day the
youngest son went to his dad and said, “I don't want to live with you any more. I don't want to have
to obey your rules. I think I can handle life all by myself. I want you to give me a bunch of your
FREEDOM IN CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.
VBS 2019 “RESCUE MISSION”

money.” How do you think the dad felt? I'm sure he was very sad. Was this boy doing the right
thing? No, not at all. His dad did give him the money he asked for and sure enough a couple of days
later, the boy packed his bags and ran away from home. At first the boy had lots of fun. He didn't
have any rules to obey. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Besides that, he
had his dad's money and he could spend it anyway he wanted. No one was standing over him telling
him what to do or how to do it. The Bible says he spent the money foolishly, on all the candy and
toys and fun he saw and wanted. Of course he had lots of friends because he had this
money. Remember Jesus was telling this story to teach a lesson, so let's just figure out the lesson
as we go. The father is a picture of God. When we sin and don't want to obey God's rules we are
like this boy who ran away from home. We run away from our good and loving heavenly Father when
we disobey and just do what we want to do. So who is the dad? God! And who is the boy? Us!

One day the boy woke up and went to his wallet to get money out and you know what? He had spent
all of it. It was gone! No more money left! What was he going to do? He went to his friends and
told them he had no more money and asked if they would give him some of theirs. After all, he had
bought them many things with his money. But these friends weren't very good friends. They really
weren't friends at all. They just looked at him and said, “ Nope, you can't have any of our
money. And if you're out of money then we don't want to be your friend anymore.” About the same
time food was hard for everyone to get because there was a famine in the land. This boy went
looking for a job, but he couldn't find anyone to hire him. Finally he persuaded a farmer to let him
work for him. The farmer sent him out to take care of the pigs. (hold up 3rd picture ) This boy was
so hungry he even started to eat the garbage that the pigs were eating. This got him to start
thinking. What was he doing? He had hated being in his dad's house and having to obey his rules,
but when he lived at home he always had good food to eat. His dad always made sure he had clothes
to wear and he always had a nice warm bed to sleep in. Now look at him. He was dirty and his
clothes were torn. He was eating and living with the pigs. He felt very sorry for what he had
done. Suddenly he had a good idea. He thought, “I will go back to my father and tell him I have
sinned big time against him and God. I will tell my dad I don't deserve to have him forgive me. I will
ask him if I can work for him. It would be much better to work for my dad than to work for this pig
farmer.” So the very next day he started for home.

Now we know that God is angry when we sin and this dad is a picture of God in this story. So what
do you think the father did when the boy got home? Do you think he yelled at the boy and punished
him? You would think so, but you know what? Before the boy even got home, the father saw him
coming. He was out watching for him. The father ran out to meet the boy and hugged and kissed
him. (hold up 4th picture ) Yuck!! The boy was all dirty! He had been eating with the pigs! The
father didn't care. The son said, “Dad, I have been so wrong. I sinned against you and God. I've
been so bad, I don't deserve to have you forgive me.” But the father called out to a servant and
said, “Quick, bring me a nice new set of clothes for my son. Bring him some new shoes and a ring
for his finger and let's have a party to celebrate his return!” What was this father thinking? This boy
had been really, really naughty. He had blown all the money that his dad gave him. He had been
extremely selfish and proud. You know what? The father realized the boy was truly sorry for his
sin. The boy wasn't able to clean himself up or fix what he had wrecked. The father still loved his
son very much and he forgave him all his sin. This is what God does for us when we run to Him to be
rescued from our sin. This boy realized he needed his father's help. He knew he couldn't help
himself. We are just like this boy. We have all sinned against God. We are dirty with sin and can
not clean ourselves up, no matter how hard we try. When we realize there is nothing we can do and
run to God to be rescued from our sin, He is as ready to forgive as this dad was.
FREEDOM IN CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.
VBS 2019 “RESCUE MISSION”

Let's finish our story. Remember, I said this man had 2 sons. (hold up 5th picture ) Well, the older
son was a pretty good kid. He generally tried to obey his father's rules. When he heard that his
brother was back home and his dad was throwing a party for him, he was mad – really, really
mad! He refused to go to the party. He didn't want to be around his dad or his brother. His dad
went out to talk to him and ask him to come in and enjoy the party. The older boy said he would
NOT go in. He thought he was much better than the other brother and told his dad that he wasn't a
very good dad. Even though this boy felt he was a much better person than his brother, he too went
away from his dad and disobeyed him. The story ends there, but Jesus was trying to tell us that we
can be like that boy too and still not be right with God. If we think we are better than other sinners
and think that God owes it to us to save us we are very wrong. Whoever you are and whatever you
have done, you need to realize that you have sinned against God and need Jesus to rescue you. We
can NEVER rescue ourselves. Using our example from the beginning of our lesson - we are all living
in the dump of sin, even if we are in the cleaner section of the dump. We cannot clean ourselves
up. We need Jesus to do that for us. Tomorrow we will learn about the rescue part of this story,
so you won't want to miss it! If you have any questions please ask one of us. Remember this is the
most important story ever!

(If there is time, you can ask questions to see if they know who in today's skit is acting like the
younger son and who is acting like the older son. Point out that they have ALL disobeyed the dad
and are in danger.)

Memory Verse: Roma 3:22-23

Ang taoʼy itinuturing ng Dios na matuwid sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya kay Jesu-Cristo. At