The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Lost Coin | Sunday School Solutions

by Emily Hechler

Think about the children in your Sunday school class. Have they trusted in Jesus as their Savior? God wants them to have a relationship with Him. We can demonstrate this truth to kids by teaching them the parable of the lost coin.

To start the lesson, play a game of object hide-and-seek with the children. Have a list of ten toys or stuffed animals for them to find. After they have found nine of them, tell them to come back to their spot for the lesson. They should quickly realize that they are still missing one of the toys. They may feel restless or anxious to find that last toy before the lesson starts. Tell them, “It’s okay, you just won’t play with that toy anymore – ever.” The children will find this to be quite a strange suggestion, and they may even be dismayed. How could you not care about finding the missing toy? Explain to the children that God feels the same way about each unsaved child!

How could you not care about finding the missing toy? Explain to the children that God feels the same way about each unsaved child!

Read the parable of the lost coin to your class from Luke 15:8-10: “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

You might tell the children:

“In this story, the woman is poor. The coin would have been equal to about one day’s pay for a worker. She only had ten of these coins! That’s not a lot of money. So, when she lost one, she was very concerned about finding it! To look for the coin, she lit a lamp in order to see. Lighting a lamp could have been expensive but it shows how important finding the lost coin was to her. She cleaned her house and looked diligently to find the coin. When she found it, she celebrated with her neighbors and friends because she was so happy. She said, ‘I have found the coin that I had lost.’”

In the parable, the woman represents God. The coin was so important to her that she looked for it until it was found. (At this point, you may want to reveal where the last toy is.) Assure your students that they are much more valuable to God than a toy or a coin. Without Him, we are lost. We will be stuck in a life of sin until we accept Jesus as our Savior. He is constantly pursuing us and wanting us to have a relationship with Him.

The Bible tells us over and over how God loves us and the great lengths He would go to in order to save sinners. You can teach children about the great love of God by using the Good News Club® curriculum called Jesus: God Who Cares for People, which includes the stories of the Samaritan Woman and of Nicodemus. The resource pack is available at cefpress.com.

Without Him, we are lost. We will be stuck in a life of sin until we accept Jesus as our Savior.

Children might think that God doesn’t notice them because they are only one of many people. Fortunately, that isn’t true. In the parable, the fact that the woman is poor shows us just how important that one coin is to her. We are so important to Him that there is celebration in heaven when someone gives their life to Him. You might recall that when Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep, He said the same thing. Anything that is repeated in the Bible is worth noting.

God’s love for us is amazing! I hope you can use this parable as an encouragement to the children in your Sunday school who need to know how much God loves them.