Jesus the Good Shepherd

Family Prayer

Dear God, thank you for being our Good Shepherd. Please keep watch over us, and make sure to find any sheep who get lost. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

Engage the Story

John 10:11-18 Story Bible

John 10:11-18 NRSV

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can watch related episodes from our normal Sunday “Whirl” curriculum for free ($1.99 if you don’t have Prime). Just follow this link: Whirl Videos. The video for this week is “Shepherd Camp”, season 1, episode 4, beginning at 7:10 into the episode.

Alternative/Additional Video

Family Discussion and Activities

In Jesus’ time, being a shepherd was a common job. Jesus used this common knowledge to help the disciples understand how much he and God love us.

Family Discussion Questions

How does a good shepherd care for his sheep?
How does Jesus care for his people?
Whose voices could you recognize without seeing them?
Who helps protect you?
How do you know you’re one of Jesus’ sheep?

Family Activities

Here are a few ideas from our curriculum that you can use with your kids.

Woolen Clothes
Look online to learn which countries produce wool for clothes (or other things). Do any of your clothes at home have wool in them? Sheep’s wool has been used in clothing for a very long time.
Hand Sheep
1. Trace your hand on black paper and cut it out.
2. Cover the sheet with cotton balls.
3. Don’t cover the fingers and thumb (they are the legs and head).
4. Add eyes and a mouth to the thumb.
Sheep Cupcakes
Make cupcakes and frost them with white icing. Cover the top of each cupcake with mini marshmallows. Then, use food coloring to make colored frosting for the eyes and a smile. Enjoy your delicious sheep cupcakes!