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Read Matthew 25:31-46.

This week we have another parable, or teaching story, from Jesus.  This one is called the Parable of the Sheep and Goats.  In this parable, Jesus says that when the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will sit on his thrown.  He will sort out people like a shepherd sorts out sheep from goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and they are blessed because when he was hungry they gave him food, when he was thirsty they gave him something to drink, when he was a stranger they welcomed him, when he was sick they visited him, and when he was in prison they visited him.  They don’t remember when they did that.  The video explains when they did.  Let’s watch the video and hear about it.

Watch this video together:

Read:

In his parable, Jesus teaches his earliest disciples, and us, that when we serve others, we are serving him.  This is the last Sunday in the church year.  A special day we call Christ the King Sunday.  Jesus is our King.  He is the King of our lives and the King of our world.  But Jesus isn’t the kind of King who wants to sit on a throne and have people bow before him.  Jesus is a King who loves and cares for us so much that he died on the cross and then rose to new life for you and me and for the world world.  Jesus is the kind of King who says that when we serve others, even those who others might consider to be the “least” or lesser than themselves, we are not only serving them, but we are serving Jesus himself.  On Christ the King Sunday, we celebrate that Jesus is King of our hearts and we remember that we can use our hands to serve him by serving others.

Discuss

  • Imagine a King coming to your house.  How would you prepare?
  • What does it mean to have Jesus as your King?
  • What does it mean to serve the “least of these?”
  • What is one way you could serve someone in the coming week?

Song

Glory.  Go Fish Guys.

Activity

Download the “Help Is On The Way” activity below (from David Cook Publishing.  Used with permission).  Have fun with it.

Activity

Watch this video:

  • How is what you see in this video similar to Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats?
  • Can we always tell how our serving someone else will make a difference?  Why or why not?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, King of kings, rule in our hearts and lives forever.  Teach us to love as you love.  Teach us to forgive as you forgive.  Teach us to serve others knowing that in doing so we are serving you.  Amen.

 

Pastor Dan Fugate, Assistant to the Bishop for Discipleship in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, ELCA, put this lesson together for Sunday School @ Home.  There will be a new one for each Sunday while we are unable to gather together physically in our congregational buildings.  Contact him at dfugate@iksynod.org.

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