Discussion Prompts

 

The first part in italics at each bullet point, is the quote from the story. Following that is the description of that part, which you can use in discussion with the child.

 

Page 1

 

* The Good Shepherd represents our savior, Jesus Christ, the son of Abba God, our heavenly Father.

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*  “Every morning, He comes to the gate...”

The Good Shepherd is faithfully there to meet you every morning of every day you live on earth. He is never late and never absent. He wants to be part of your life. He wants to lead you into each new day.

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* “... calls each one of us by name. He never forgets a single sheep—He knows all our names by heart!”

Our Good Shepherd knows your name because He made you. He chose for you to exist. He wants you to know Him personally, just like He knows you personally.

 

 

Page 2

 

* “The Good Shepherd walks ahead of us, calling our names as He goes.”

You’d be wise to follow the leadership of the Good Shepherd, because He knows where to lead you. He knows the best places to take you in life. Let Him walk ahead.

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*  “His voice is always kind and gentle, and I know it right away—because I belong to Him.”

Learn to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd - a soft, still voice - kind and gentle in nature. If you choose to follow your Good Shepherd, you will recognize His voice. The more you follow Him and listen in obedience to what He says, the more you will know His voice.

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* “He leads us to quiet, peaceful places.”
Your Good Shepherd will always lead you to a peaceful place. He will not lead you into evil or destruction. The enemy, Satan, does that.

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* “There is soft, sweet grass to nibble and cool, sparkling water to drink.”

In this peaceful place, He will provide for all your needs.

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Page 3

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“I always feel safe with the Good Shepherd, because He truly loves His sheep. He will do anything to protect us—even give His own life.”

Your Good Shepherd will protect you from the enemy. Just like sheep have wolves, bears and lions that want to attack and kill them, you have an enemy, the devil, who wants to destroy you. But when you are with the Good Shepherd, Jesus, you never have to be afraid of the enemy. You are always safe with Him. Jesus gave His life on the cross to save you from hell, just like the Good Shepherd will do anything, even give his life, to save His sheep.

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Page 4

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* “When I wander too far, my Good Shepherd calls me back with His gentle voice.”

The Holy Spirit will call you back when you start living your life without Jesus.

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* “If I get too close to the edge of a cliff, He comes and walks between me and the danger—so I don’t fall. When dark clouds fill the sky and the wind begins to blow, He gathers us close and says, “Don’t be afraid. You are safe with Me.””

No matter where you go, or what life’s circumstances are, Jesus will always keep you safe if you stay near Him..

 

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Page 5

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“Every day, my Good Shepherd calls me to spend quiet time with Him. He tells me how much He loves me …”
Jesus wants you to spend time alone with Him every day. You need to know how much He loves you. Intimacy in talking and being with Jesus is a very important part of each day.

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Page 6

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*  “He tells us stories ...”

God speaks to you through His Word, the Bible. He teaches you what to do, how to live your life, and how to deal with the enemy.

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* “He says there is one who pretends to be a shepherd—but he is not kind or good. No wolf, bear, or lion is as unloving as the bad shepherd.”
You need to know that there is an enemy, the devil, who wants to steal, kill and destroy, just like there is a Bad Shepherd in the story.

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* “But we don’t have to be afraid—not when we stay close to our Good Shepherd.”

Although you need to be wary of the devil, you shouldn’t be afraid of him, just like the sheep don’t have to be afraid of the Bad Shepherd. You are safe if you stay with Jesus, just like the sheep are safe when they stay in the Good Shepherd’s flock.

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Page 7

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* “The little creature hopped away, and I followed, curious to see where it would go.”

Be aware of anything that takes you away from Jesus. Anything that becomes more important than Jesus will lead you away from Him.

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* “I wandered further and further... until I couldn’t hear the Good Shepherd’s voice anymore.”

The further you wander away from Jesus, the less you will be able to hear His voice, just like Molly couldn’t hear the Good Shepherd’s voice when she went after the rabbit. It’s only by staying close to Jesus that you can hear His voice and be safe.

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* “I was lost.”

The further you wander away from Jesus, the more lost you will feel.

 

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Page 8

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* “Master! Master!” I called, but there was no answer. I ran this way and that, searching for my Good Shepherd—but I couldn’t see Him anywhere.”

When you are lost, you will be confused and you won’t know what to do, just like Molly running to and fro. You can’t hear Jesus’s voice anymore to lead you. It is a terrible place to be.

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* “Then, from behind a bush, I saw another sheep. But something felt different. This sheep didn’t look like anyone in my flock. Its wool was dark, and its eyes didn’t look kind.”

When you are lost and away from your Good Shepherd, the enemy grabs the opportunity to come into your life to lead you further away from your Master, Jesus, just like the black sheep appeared in the bushes when Molly was lost.

 

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Page 9

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* “Hello, little lamb,” he said. “You look lost. Come with me. My shepherd will show you the way.”

Bad people will lie and tell you they will lead you back to Jesus, but their real purpose is to lead you away from God.

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* “He stepped closer, and I felt nervous. But I didn’t know what else to do… So I followed him.”

When you are lost and scared and don’t know what to do, the easiest way out is to follow the bad people / the crowd / what most people do.

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* “All the sheep had black wool …”
Bad people usually flock together and do the same bad things.

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*  “… and eyes that didn’t look kind.”

Bad people have bad characters. Sometimes it shows in their eyes.

 

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Page 10

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* “Suddenly, a loud, rough voice shouted,…”
In comparison to the Good Shepherd, Jesus, the Bad Shepherd’s (the devil’s) voice is sometimes loud and harsh. It accuses and makes you feel bad and scared.

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* “Hey, you there! Where did you come from?”

If you belong to Jesus, you will immediately be noticed as the odd one out among bad people.

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* “He slammed his staff on the ground with a thud.”
The devil will try to intimidate you and make you feel scared of him. He uses anger to control you with fear.

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* “He wore a dark cloak,…”

In comparison to Jesus, who is clean, holy and represents light, the devil is dark, full of lies and sin, just like his cloak in the story.

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* “… and his eyes looked angry and mean.”

The devil’s eyes represent anger, meanness and hate, in comparison to Jesus’s eyes, which are soft, gentle and full of love. Eyes can sometimes give a glimpse into someone’s soul.

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Page 11

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* “He let out a harsh, croaky laugh—”
The devil will laugh at your predicament when you’re lost and scared. He has no compassion for your situation. He has a hard heart with mean intentions.

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* “… but then he smiled and said, “Sure, follow me.””

The devil will lie and tell you he will help you get back to Jesus, to give you a false sense of peace or ease. Sometimes he uses a seemingly sweet voice to lull you into believing that he speaks the truth. It is never the intention of the devil to lead you back to Jesus.

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* “But his voice didn’t sound kind, and his way didn’t feel right.”

If you belong to Jesus, in the Good Shepherd’s flock, you will always be able to hear that the voice of the enemy sounds different from your Master’s voice, and the way he does things seem wrong compared to how Jesus does things.

 

 

Page 12

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* “For many days, I followed the bad shepherd—further and further away from my Master.”

The enemy, the devil, will always try to lead you further and further away from Jesus. He is actually scared of Jesus, who already won the battle on the cross, so he tries to move as far away from Him as he can, while taking you with him.

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* “The bad shepherd did not tell the truth.”
The devil is the father of lies. He will always lie to you. Never believe one word he tells you.

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* “The water he gave me tasted bitter, and he fed me strange leaves.”

With the devil and his people, you will never taste the good things in life, as with the Good Shepherd and His flock. He will make you listen to and do bad things - things that are strange to what you are used to with Jesus and His people.

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* “He said they were good for me, …”
Again the devil will try to deceive you by telling you that the things he feeds you are good for you.

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* “… but one morning, I was scared to see some of the wool on my legs turning black.”

When you listen to and do the things of the devil long enough, and spend all or a lot of time with people of the devil, you will start to change. You will start looking like them, doing things they do, listen to things they listen to, and soon become like them.

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*  “He wanted to make me a black sheep, too.”

It gives the devil immense pleasure to see a child of God wander away from Him and start doing wrong things with bad people. It is his way of keeping you away from God.

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Page 13

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* “The black sheep were not kind to me. They pushed me and shoved me. One day, as we walked near a deep ravine, one of the black sheep bumped me with his head.”

Even though bad people may seem to be helpful when they meet you, in the end they will try to harm you.

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* “There was no way to climb back up—the rock was smooth and very steep. I was trapped.”

When you wander away from Jesus, it is possible to land in a position where you are trapped, don’t know how to get out, and cannot help yourself at all.

 

 

Page 14

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* ““Maybe this will teach you, silly sheep.” Then he walked away.”

The devil is rude and heartless. He has no compassion for your problem. He will not help you in times of trouble. He will abandon you, leaving you alone without help.

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*  ““Master, please hear me,” I called. “I’m in trouble.Please find me, Good Shepherd.” I called over and over, far into the quiet night.”

In times of desperate trouble, when there is no way out, the best to do is to call out to Jesus for help.

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Page 15

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The whole page refers to circumstances in life that are utterly desperate. There is no way out and things just get worse and worse, like the storm in the story represents. At such a time, you sometimes don’t even have a voice to speak anymore. All you can do is cry out in your heart for Jesus to help you.

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Page 16

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The whole page refers to the fact that Jesus sometimes seems to be late, and that you feel like it’s the end and no hope is left. But the truth is, Jesus is always on time. He will be there to save you the moment you cannot hold on anymore.

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Page 17

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* “The stormy clouds had moved away, …”
When Jesus comes to save you, your troubles will part like the clouds. He always provides a way out.

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* “The Good Shepherd wrapped His arms around me, and tears fell from His eyes as He said, “Molly, I’m so happy I found you.
I missed you very much.””

When you are united with Jesus again after you’ve been lost, He is even more relieved and happy than you are that you are back with Him. He cries happy tears then.

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*  ““I’m sorry, Master,” I whispered. “I wandered away from You.
I was not being obedient.””

It’s important that you repent of your sin towards Jesus. It shows that you are truly sorry and that you don’t want to do it again.

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*  ““Shh, little one,” He said gently. “Don’t worry your heart anymore. You are safe now. I love you very much.””

When you repent, Jesus forgives you immediately. You do not have to trouble yourself with guilt after you’ve said you’re sorry. Jesus will also reassure you of His love for you.

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Page 18

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* “My Good Shepherd brought me back to His flock.”

After Jesus finds you when you’ve been lost, He will take you back to a good place where He is.

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* “Slowly, the black wool on my legs turned soft and white again.”

All the consequences of being among bad people and the devil’s influence when you were lost, will gradually go away, and you will return to the way you were before you got lost.

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* “He told me that the moment He saw I was missing, He left all the other sheep to come and find me. He never stopped searching—not until He found me.”

The moment you are lost, or wandered away from Jesus, he will not hesitate to come find you. He loves you too much to desert you. He will do anything to find you. He won’t stop looking for you until he finds you and brings you back to Him.

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Page 19

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Praise Jesus, who is truly our good Good Shepherd.

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