Forgive Seventy Times Seven Preschool Lesson
Preschool lesson (ages 3–6, 20 minutes)
1. Welcome (3 min)
Sit in a circle, greet every child by name and show one thing from the story to touch.
2. The little story (5 min)
Teach the refrain first: “Again and again and again!”
Peter was one of Jesus’ friends. One day Peter had a question. What if someone keeps doing wrong to me? How many times must I forgive?
To forgive means you let it go. You do not stay angry. You do not pay back. You give the person a fresh start.
Peter asked Jesus. “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” A brother here means anyone in God’s family. To sin means to do something wrong.
Seven times! That sounds like a lot. Maybe Peter thought seven was very kind. Let’s count to seven on our fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! Again and again and again!
But Jesus answered. “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.”
Seventy times seven! That is a very, very big number. Let’s try to count. One, two, three, four… Oh, that would take a long, long time! Seventy times seven is four hundred ninety! Again and again and again!
Jesus meant that forgiving should never run out. God’s forgiving never runs out either. Like a well that never gets empty. Like a song that never ends.
Another time, Jesus said this. “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.” To rebuke means to tell someone that what he did was wrong. To repent means to say sorry and to stop doing wrong.
Jesus talked about someone who does wrong seven times in one day. And seven times he comes back and says, “I repent.” I am sorry! Jesus said, “You shall forgive him.” Again and again and again!
Then Jesus’ friends said, “Increase our faith.” That means: Help us trust God more! Forgiving is not always easy. They knew they needed God’s help.
Maybe your little brother knocks down your tower of blocks. He says sorry. You forgive him. Then he does it again! And says sorry again. Can you forgive again? Jesus says yes.
Can you open your hands wide, like letting go of something? That is what forgiving is like. Let go! Like a balloon floating away.
After Peter’s question, Jesus told a story. A king had a servant who owed him a huge debt. It was more money than you can count. The servant begged, and the king felt sorry for him. He forgave all of it. Every bit! The servant did not owe anything anymore.
But that same servant met another servant. That man owed him only a little. And he did not forgive him. The king was not pleased. He had forgiven so much!
God is kind, and he forgives us again and again. We can go to sleep tonight, forgiven and loved. Again and again and again!
3. Talk together (3 min)
- How do you feel when someone says sorry to you?
- Why do you think Jesus said such a big number?
4. Move (3 min)
Refrain Freeze: move around the room; when you say the refrain, everyone freezes and says it together.
5. Make (4 min)
Peter said seven times. Color the 7 hearts.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven” — Matthew 18:22 (seven times → hold up seven fingers; seventy times seven → open and close your hands again and again)
Dear God, thank you for forgiving me again and again. Please help me to forgive others too. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: Forgive again and again
Memory verse: “Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven."” — Matthew 18:22 · WEB
The Bible story
Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive a friend, and Jesus tells a surprising story about a king, a huge debt, and a very small one.
Talk about it
- What question did Peter ask Jesus? — How many times should I forgive?
- How many times did Peter think would be enough? — Seven times
- What did Jesus say instead of seven? — Seventy times seven
- In Jesus' story, who did the servant owe money to? — A king
- How big was the servant's debt? — Ten thousand bags of gold
- What did the king do when the servant begged? — Forgave the whole debt
Where is Jesus in this story?
In Jesus' story, the king canceled a debt the servant could never pay. That is just what God did for us. The Bible says God forgave all our sins and canceled the record of what we owed, “nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13–14). Because Jesus paid it all, we can keep forgiving others, even seventy-seven times.
What God wants to tell us
Jesus shows us that God's forgiveness is bigger than any mistake we could ever make. When we say sorry, God wipes our wrongs away completely, just like the kind king wiped away that mountain-high debt. Because God has been so gentle and generous with us, He asks us to share that same kindness with the people around us. Forgiving your brother, your sister, or your friend isn't always easy, but each time you do it, you are letting God's love shine right through your heart.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving me every time I get things wrong. Help me to be kind and to forgive my friends and family, again and again, just like You forgive me. Fill my heart with Your love so it can spill out onto everyone around me. Amen.
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