The Unforgiving Servant 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: “The king forgave it all!”
One day Peter came to Jesus with a question. “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” To forgive means to let go of the wrong someone did to you.
Seven times! Let’s count to seven on our fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Is that a lot?
Jesus said, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.” Seventy times seven is four hundred ninety! That is so many times, nobody can keep counting! Then Jesus told a story.
There was a king. He wanted to check the money his servants owed him. A servant is someone who works for a king.
One servant owed him money. Lots and lots of money! Ten thousand talents. One talent was more money than a worker could earn in many years. So this was more money than you can count. The servant could never pay it back. Long ago, people who could not pay could be put in prison.
The servant fell down and knelt before the king. Can you kneel down low, like him? “Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!” The king felt sorry for him. He let him go. He forgave him the whole debt. A debt is money you owe.
Can you believe it? All that money! The servant did not owe the king anything anymore. The king forgave it all!
But then that servant went out. He found another servant. This man owed him money too. But it was much, much less – one hundred silver coins.
Show me something big with your arms. That was the first debt. Now show me something tiny with your fingers. That was the second debt. One hundred coins is still money. But next to ten thousand talents, it was tiny.
The first servant grabbed him. “Pay me what you owe!” The man fell down at his feet. He begged, “Have patience with me, and I will repay you!” Listen! Those were almost the same words, weren’t they?
But the first servant would not wait. He put the man in prison until he paid it back. The man could not go home.
The other servants saw it. They were very sad. They went and told the king everything. The king forgave it all! But this servant did not forgive at all.
The king called the servant in. He said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant? Even as I had mercy on you?” Mercy means being kind when someone does not deserve it. The king forgave it all!
The king was angry. He had been so kind, and the servant had not been kind at all. He sent that servant to prison until he paid all that he owed.
The king had forgiven a giant debt. God forgives us so very much, like that king. The king forgave it all!
3. Talk together (3 min)
- How do you think the servant felt when the king forgave him?
- What could the first servant have said to the man who owed him a little?
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)
Draw a line to who said it.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other” — Ephesians 4:32 (Be kind → give yourself a hug; tender hearted → hands on your heart; forgiving each other → shake hands with someone)
Dear God, thank you for forgiving me so much. Please help me to forgive others too. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: Forgive like you are forgiven
Memory verse: “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32 · WEB
The Bible story
A servant who owed the biggest debt in the world was forgiven every coin, but then forgot all about mercy when another servant owed him just a little.
Talk about it
- Who asked Jesus how many times to forgive? — Peter
- Who wanted to settle the money his servants owed? — A king
- How much did the first servant owe the king? — Ten thousand bags of gold
- What did the servant do when he could not pay? — He fell on his knees and begged
- What did the king decide to do about the huge debt? — Forgave the whole debt
- Peter asked if forgiving seven times was enough. What did Jesus say? — Much more than seven times
Where is Jesus in this story?
In this story the king canceled a debt the servant could never repay. The Bible says God did the same for us through Jesus: he canceled the record of everything we owed and nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:13–14). Jesus also taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Forgiven people can forgive.
What God wants to tell us
God shows us that His forgiveness is bigger than the biggest mountain and deeper than the deepest sea. He wipes away all the wrong things we do, just because He loves us so much. When we remember how kind God has been to us, it helps us be kind to others too. Forgiving a friend who says sorry is one of the loveliest gifts we can give, and it makes God very happy.
Prayer
Thank You, God, for forgiving me for everything, even when I get things wrong. Help me to have a soft and kind heart, so I can forgive my friends and family too. Fill me up with Your love so I can share it. Amen.
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