Joyful Moments in Christ

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it.

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Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever lost something that was important to you? How did you feel when you found it?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn a story that Jesus told about a young man who made bad choices and left home. We will also see how the father welcomed him back with love. This story helps us understand God’s love and forgiveness.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Against — Not on the side of someone or something; doing something wrong toward them.
2. Alive — Living; not dead.
3. Angry — Feeling mad or upset about something.
4. Always — At all times; every time.
5. Bean Pods — Long, thin parts of a plant that hold beans inside.
6. Beg — To ask someone for something in a strong and serious way.
7. Between — In the middle of two people or things.
8. Called — Named or spoken to.
9. Calf — A young cow.
10. Came To His Senses — Realized something important; started thinking clearly again.
11. Celebrate — To be happy and have a special time because something good happened.
12. Country — A large area of land with its own people and government.
13. Dancing — Moving your body to music.
14. Dead — No longer alive.
15. Disobey — To not follow rules or do what someone says.
16. Far Away — A long distance from a place.
17. Father — A male parent.
18. Feast — A big meal to celebrate something.
19. Feet — The bottom parts of your legs that you stand and walk on.
20. Fit — Good enough or right for something.
21. Found — Discovered something that was lost.
22. Friend — A person you like and care about.
23. Gave — Handed something to someone.
24. Get Up — To rise from sitting or lying down.
25. Give — To hand something to someone else.
26. Goat — An animal with horns and a beard, often kept on farms.
27. Happy — Feeling good or pleased.
28. Heart — The part of you that feels love, joy, or sadness.
29. Hired Workers — People paid to work for someone else.
30. Home — The place where you live.
31. Hurry — To move or act fast.
32. In The Meantime — At the same time something else is happening.
33. Kill — To make a living thing die.
34. Kiss — To touch someone with your lips to show love.
35. Left Home — Went away from the place where you live.
36. Long Way — A big distance.
37. Lost — Not knowing where something or someone is.
38. Money — Coins or paper people use to buy things.
39. Music — Sounds made by voices or instruments.
40. No Longer — Not anymore.
41. Older — Having lived more years than someone else.
42. Order — A rule or direction someone must follow.
43. Part — A piece or section of something.
44. Pigs — Farm animals with flat noses and curly tails.
45. Pity — A feeling of care and sadness for someone.
46. Prize Calf — The best young cow a person owns.
47. Property — Things someone owns, like land, money, or animals.
48. Prostitute — A person who has sex for money.
49. Ran — Moved quickly on your feet.
50. Reckless Living — Living in a wild and foolish way.
51. Ring — A small round band worn on a finger.
52. Safe And Sound — Not hurt; healthy and okay.
53. Saw — Looked at something.
54. Servant — A person who works in someone’s home.
55. Severe — Very bad or serious.
56. Share — A part of something that is divided among people.
57. Shoes — Things worn on your feet.
58. Sin — Doing something wrong against God.
59. Slave — A person forced to work for others without pay.
60. Son — A male child of parents.
61. Spent — Used up money or time.
62. Spread — To move and cover a larger area.
63. Started Back — Began to return to a place.
64. Starve — To be very, very hungry because of no food.
65. Take Care — To look after or help someone or something.
66. Treat — To act a certain way toward someone.
67. Threw His Arms Around — Hugged someone.
68. Went — Moved from one place to another.
69. Wasted — Used in a way that was not good or careful.
70. Wish — To want something to happen.
71. Younger — Having lived fewer years than someone else.

Summary of the Passage

This passage tells a story Jesus shared to teach about God’s love. It is called the story of the Lost Son. In the story, a younger son asks his father for his share of the family money. He leaves home and spends all the money in a faraway place. When he runs out of money, he becomes very poor and hungry. He even takes a job feeding pigs, which was a very low job. Finally, he decides to go back home and ask his father to let him work as a servant.

As the son is walking home, the father sees him from far away. He feels so much love and runs to him. The father hugs him and welcomes him back, not as a servant but as a son. He gives him clean clothes and a party to celebrate his return. The father is full of joy because his son came back home.

The older brother does not feel happy. He stayed home and worked hard. He feels upset that his brother, who made bad choices, is getting a party. But the father tells him that they must celebrate because the lost son has come home. He was like someone who was dead, but is now alive again.

This passage shows us how much God loves people who turn back to him. Even when we make mistakes, God is happy to forgive us and welcome us home.

Read The Passage

The Lost Son
11 Jesus went on to say, “There was once a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.’ So the man divided his property between his two sons.
13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.
14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing.
15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs.
16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat.
17 At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father’s hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve!
18 I will get up and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you.
19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers.”’
20 So he got up and started back to his father.
“He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him.
21 ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’
22 But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet.
23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast!
24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’ And so the feasting began.
25 “In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, ‘What’s going on?’
27 ‘Your brother has come back home,’ the servant answered, ‘and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.’
28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in.
29 But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends!
30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’
31 ‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’”

Luke 15:11–32 (GNT)

Most English learners should use the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) or the Good News Translation (GNT) because they are easy to read. If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions:

• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 15:11-32 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 15:11-32 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 15:11-32 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. What did the younger son ask his father for?
2. What did the younger son do with his money?
3. What happened to the younger son when he had no money left?
4. What job did the younger son do when he was very poor?
5. What did the younger son decide to do after he became hungry?
6. How did the father react when he saw his son coming home?
7. What did the father give the son to show his love?
8. Why was the older brother angry?
9. What did the father say to the older brother?
10. Why did the father want to celebrate?

Application Questions

1. Have you ever made a bad choice but were still loved?
2. How does it feel to be forgiven?
3. Do you ever feel like the older brother? Why is it so hard to forgive someone who was bad?
4. What does this story teach you about God’s love?
5. How can we welcome others like the father welcomed his son?

Theological Insights

1. God forgives people who turn back to him.
2. Even when we sin, we are never too far from God’s love.
3. God is happy when people come to him.
4. We do not have to earn God’s love. He gives it freely.
5. God wants us to love others the way he loves us.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for loving us, even when we make mistakes. Help us to turn to you and welcome others with love. Amen.

ELL Resources for the Gospel of Luke

More ELL Resources

You can find more Bible lessons for English learners on the main ELL page.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.