‘Made to Follow’ Childrens Lesson on Matthew 4:18-22

BIG IDEA: WE WERE MADE TO FOLLOW

AIM: This is session one of ‘The Search’ teaching series. It’s aimed at helping children understand that we were all made to follow someone. We were made to follow Jesus!

SONG AND VIDEO IDEAS available on our dedicated Pinterest Board.

GAME IDEAS:

1. Bean Bag Throw. (regular/widescreen) Create your own lifesize minion with a hole for his mouth. Have children stand far away from your yellow friend and attempt to throw bean bags or balls into his mouth.
2. The Great Minion Dash. (regular/widescreen) After gathering all their points throughout the day, the teams then choose five different people (Group Leaders to record who has played  a game each day) to answer a review question about the story/skit/object lesson of the day.

   Once the five members are chosen they will line up on one side of the room. The first member of each team must sit on a space hopper. Once the question has been asked, if they think they know the answer, they must space hop over to the front of the room and tell the games leader the answer. The first member to tell the games leader the answer is the winner.

   Then the first team member runs back and hands the space hopper to the next player, who is given a different question. This is repeated for each of the five players. At the end of the game the points are added up. This is when the POWER Points are added and the winning team chooses one of their group leaders to be gunged.

3. The Search Is On. (regular/widescreen) Preparation: Print off a number of pictures of leaders and followers. Laminate them and blue tac them onto the walls. Can the children match the masters to their followers? Around the room will be pictures of Masters (coaches/managers/leaders and their followers: players/team). The children must run around and grab the pictures and then put them in pairs to match them up on a big wall.

Application: Just like these people needed a Master or Leader, so we all need someone to be our Master. We all want someone that we can look up to and follow.

BIG VERSE: “I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.” Proverbs 8:17 (NLT)

(regular/widescreen)

Voice It Out. The leader will lead the children in saying the memory verse in a variety of different ways: shouting, whispering and in different accents.

Download Bible Cards

MEMORY VERSE VIDEO 

 

SET the Scene:

Based on Matthew 4:18-22. To tell the bible story for this lesson you will need the drama found here.

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. What was Jesus doing by the Sea of Galilee? (teaching)
2. Whose boat did Jesus get into? (Simon Peters and Andrews)
3. Why did Jesus want to get into the boat? (to teach the crowd)
4. What did Jesus tell the fishermen to do with their nets? (cast them into the sea)
5. What did the fishermen reply? (We’ve fished all night and caught nothing, but because you say we will)
6. How many fish did they catch? (so many they needed another boat to help)
7. When Simon saw the miraculous catch of fish, what did he say to Jesus? (go away from me, I am sinful)
8. What did the fishermen do? (left everything and followed Jesus)

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) WE WERE MADE TO FOLLOW 

You will need to pre-prepare images of your favourite team or celebrity on your PowerPoint. 

Say: The minions in the movies love to find someone to follow. In the first Minion movie they were looking all over for an evil leader to follow. Then they finally found Gru. The minions love to follow Gru and do anything he asks them to do. They obey his every command.

{Show your PowerPoint and talk a little about the thing or person you follow]. We all follow somebody or something. Maybe you have a big brother or big sister that you just love to copy. Or maybe you are the big brother or sister that hates your younger sibling copying you. Perhaps you follow your favorite person on YouTube and their gaming, craft, sport or fashion tips [you could mention a few names if you know of any that your kids love]. Or perhaps you have a famous celebrity that you follow. [show pictures or videos of your  favorite celebrity or stars]

We were all made to follow someone or something. In the passage we just read, we learned about the disciples and how they turned to follow Jesus. Jesus is worth following because He is simply the best! There is nobody that is as perfect, as good or that cares about you more than Jesus does! That’s why the disciples dropped everything to follow Him. The disciples knew that Jesus was very special and was worth following. He would be their teacher and a great friend. 

2) MADE TO FOLLOW JESUS

Pose the question: Who are You Following?

Say: Who are you following? Do you have a favourite team or celebrity? Why do you follow them? Have you thought about following Jesus? Perhaps today is your day to start?!

Jesus was the greatest master to have because he spoke to the disciples clearly and gave them purpose. He would make them fishers of men! They would no longer fish for fishes but for people (Matthew 4:19). This must have excited the disciples! Jesus showed the disciples there was much more to life than what they were doing. They were going to be on an incredible team – Jesus was starting to build a team of followers and he started with these four fishermen. They were ordinary people who were about to have their whole life changed!

Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary master. They would watch as he would heal people, turn water into wine, walk on water and raise people to life. That’s why Jesus is the best master. Much better than Gru. Jesus would always do as his Father would instruct (John 14:31); He was obedient and would teach His followers to be the same. The Bible tells us that God created us (Genesis 1-2) and that Jesus is God (John 1) because Jesus is God and God created each one of us – that means we were made to follow Him! 

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)! That means He is the same master and leader today that He was all those years ago. He is alive and He wants to lead You to the Father so that You can know God for yourself! Will you let Him lead you? You were made to follow Jesus!

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Banana Pass Along. (regular/widescreen) Children must sit down one behind the other. Use the Bible verses about following Jesus and write each one on a separate banana. Put the pile of bananas in between all your groups. The first child in the line must grab a banana, sit down and put in between their feet. They must then roll back and pass it on to the child behind them using only their feet, The next player must grab the banana with their feet also. Children keep doing this until the banana reaches the end of the line. Then the child at the front can grab a new banana and start again.

The team with the most bananas at the end is the winning team. Then you can check the Bible verses and what they say.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to follow Jesus?
2. Who can follow Jesus?
3. Is it costly to follow Jesus? Why? Why not?
4. Is it fun to follow Jesus? Why/why not?
5. Who shows us how to follow Jesus?
6. Why would we want to follow Jesus?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

Imagine you are one of the fishermen that Jesus invites to follow Him.

How does it feel to be chosen to follow Jesus?

Encourage your children to do one of the activities below as they think about how they would feel.

1. For minion themed craft ideas go to the Pinterest Board.
2. Fill in/Color the activity sheets for 5-7s and 8-11s.
3. Build: Build a giant fish or an under water scene using Lego or building blocks.
4. Mould: Using play dough or moulding clay make the fishermen and some fish.
5. Sensory: Using some water in a tub and some small fishing nets and toy fish, encourage the children to think about what it means to be a fisherman during the time of Jesus.
6. Craft: Using the Fishers of Men Craft Printable attach the fish to some string and a stick to make your own fishing rod.

 

SEEK God

Say: Would you like to follow Jesus today? We were made to follow Him. We can choose to follow Him. All we have to do is to invite Him into our lives and our hearts. If you would like Jesus to be your master today please raise your hand and we will pray. [wait for response]

Pray: Father God thank You that You sent Your only Son for each one of us. Jesus I ask you to be the Master and Leader of my life. Help me to follow You and to live like You. Amen.