FAITH QUEST
A Walk on Water
February 8–
Creation Station
Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33
Key Scripture Verses: Matthew
Memory Verse:
Christ gives me the strength
to face anything. Philippians
Concepts:
· Faith is believing God is with us.
· If we focus on Jesus, our faith is strengthened.
Objectives:
1. Learn that these passages
relate Jesus’ calling us to follow and trust him.
2. Understand that this is
another one of the wonderful miracles where Jesus showed the power of God
by surprising his disciples with unexpected results.
3. Know that Jesus does not
promise us anything that we might want, but he does tell us to have faith
that God will care for us.
4. Children will create a scratchboard drawing
of Peter and Jesus.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Welcome the children and introduce yourself.
Wear your nametag. Make sure that everyone is in the right classroom!
Children will either already have name tags on, or will get a nametag
from their shepherd. Make sure that you know everyone’s name and greet the
students individually. Remember you are interacting with a different group
of students each week that may not know you.
2. Start the “lesson time”
with prayer. Ask for volunteers, but plan on praying yourself. A short prayer
asking God to open our eyes and ears so that we can see the great power he
placed in Jesus would be appropriate.
Bible Story:
1. This Bible story tells of another miracle that
happened on the
2. Jesus had been traveling about
3. Evening came and the boat was far out on the
lake. The wind was blowing against
it and it was being tossed about by the waves.
Some of you may remember from the last lesson that this sea is a very
large lake set lower than the Mediterranean Sea to the west and bordered by
many high mountains (see map). Because
of the mountains, the lake sometimes receives surprisingly strong storms,
and even experienced fishermen like several of Jesus’ disciples have trouble
handling their boats.
4. The men were struggling to keep the boat from
filling with water. Suddenly, in the
dark of the night, Jesus appeared. He
was walking on the water toward the boat.
When they saw him, the disciples thought he was a ghost. They were so frightened that they started screaming.
At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry!
I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.”
5. One of the disciples was named Peter and he
had worked as a fisherman before he followed Jesus. Upon hearing Jesus, Peter
replied, “Lord if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking
toward him. But when Peter saw how
strong the wind was blowing the waves, he forgot to keep his eyes on Jesus.
He was afraid and started sinking.
“Save me Lord!” he shouted. Right away Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You surely do
not have much faith. Why do you doubt?” When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the
wind died down. The men in the boat
worshipped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God.”
6. Do you remember that Jesus used the same words
in the last lesson? When the disciples
were frightened by the storm as he slept, he woke and said, “You surely don’t
have much faith.” Sometimes we are
like Peter and the other disciples. We
want to believe and follow Jesus. We
want to be as good as Jesus. But, we
get frightened and have doubts. Sometimes
we lose faith. As Jesus helped Peter,
he will help us.
7. Today, you will be creating a picture of how
you think it looked that night when God’s power allowed Peter to walk toward
Jesus on the rough water.
Application:
1. Create! READ
the Bible story (1-7 above) with expression. Tell the children to listen carefully for the
action and to find mention of miracles of faith.
2. Show them the sample of what they will be creating.
Point out the technique and tell them to make their own picture of
the event and not copy the example.
3. Steps: Pass
out scratch-art paper and stylus sticks. Work on a hard smooth surface. Gently scratch away the black with the stylus.
Start by outlining the figures of Jesus and Peter.
Gradually remove more black, making shapes out of the lines to define
details. Then scratch some lines to show the waves.
Remember that this happened at night so the water will be mostly black.
Older children may wish to indicate the boat or mountains in the background. Scratching too hard and fast will tear the paper.
Try to work with lines rather than large solid shapes.
4. Surprise! These
sheets reveal different color backgrounds when the black is scratched off.
When finished, you may want to start #2 of Reflection Time at a separate
table or on the floor. Ask the shepherds to direct this project.
5. Clean up! Collect
sticks for future projects. Involve
everyone in cleaning up so that you will have time to share together in the
closing. You may want to have a prearranged signal for clean up and tell them
at beginning of art project what that will be - perhaps giving them a 5 minute
warning and then the final clean up notice to allow those who need a bit more
warning that they need to complete whatever they are working on.
6. Turn out lights and lock the classroom door
when leaving.
Reflection Time:
1. Ask the shepherds to pass out Journals and pencils/markers.
The children should spend a few minutes reflecting upon the morning's
lesson – Where did this story take place?
Who was Peter? When the disciples saw Jesus on the water, what
did they think he was? Why do you think
Peter tried to walk on the water? What
miracles were mentioned in the Bible Story? How could Jesus help you? How can we help each other? Remember that Jesus and God care about us and
are with us - no matter how long a bad time lasts, we are not alone.
2. If time and space permit, instead of doing an
activity sheet, try the following activity.
Give each child an ordinary sheet of newspaper. Have them print “Jesus” on a top corner. On the diagonally opposite corner, have them
print “Peter.” Now taking scissors,
tell them to cut a straight line between the two names. Unless they look to Jesus, they cannot cut a
straight line. If we focus on (look
to) Jesus, we can reach the target.
3. At
Closing:
1. Encourage them to think about letting what we
learn about Jesus guide our lives.
2. Tell them that their Pennies will be
given to a in
3. Say the Key Memory Verse together (see above).
You may want to have this verse printed on a banner and hung in the room,
write it on the white board in the room, or have it on slips of paper that
each child can take home.
4. Pray! Ask the children if they have any prayer
requests. Thank God for the wonderful things that Jesus did, to help us to
remember that God forgives us when we have doubts and lose faith, and for
Jesus who is here to help us always.
Teacher preparation in advance:
1. Read the scripture passage
and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Workshop.
2. Practice reading the Bible story (above) with
expression.
3. Prepare an opening prayer in case nobody volunteers
to pray.
4. Check the art room and the supply closet to
see what supplies exist. Experiment
with what the children will be doing.
5. Prepare all the materials you will need for
the creation process. Have the materials
ready to go. There will be limited
time for the creation process, so do everything you can to conserve time.
6. Decide how you want to close the lesson. Prepare
a prayer or use one of the group suggestions.
Materials:
Sample
Map and tape to hang it with
Scratch-art paper cut to 8
˝” X 5 ˝”
Wooden Stylus Sticks
Newspaper sheets (classified
pages are good)
Scissors
Pencils or markers
References:
Sample, map, scratch-art paper
and stylus sticks will be provided. Please
call
Scratch-art paper #9712865
and stylus sticks #0900846 were purchased at NASCO (800) 558-9595