Good News

Faith Quest

Calming the Storm

January 4 – February 1, 2004

Scripture: Matthew 8:18-27

Memory Verse: “You, Lord, are the light that keeps me safe. I am not afraid of anyone. You protect me and I have no fears.” Psalms 27:1 CEV

Concepts:

Ø Jesus calls us to follow Him.

Ø Jesus sometimes calls his disciples to new places and to try new things.

Ø Sometimes, following Jesus can be hard and scary.

Ø We can trust Jesus to take care of us.

Objectives:

In the Good News lesson we hope to:

Understand that all Christians are afraid sometimes and we just have to remember that our faith can help us through any situation.
Learn why Jesus went out on the boat when a storm was approaching.
Learn that trusting people who love us is important and trusting Jesus is very helpful to our daily life.
See how Jesus demonstrated he was Lord of creation.

Procedure:

Welcome and Introductions:

Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your nametag. Make sure the children are wearing nametags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week that may not know you. Remember to that if you need the shepherds to assist you in any way do not be afraid to ask, that is why they are present with the class. As students enter the room distribute to each child a slip of colored paper. The slips of paper are for an “energizer” prior to the interview. Red will represent fear, blue will represent calm and yellow will represent faith and hope.

Explain the purpose of this workshop:

As we study the story of Jesus and the disciples completing a long journey of preaching to all people, healing the sick and serving the poor we see that even Jesus needs to rest. He asks the disciples to leave the crowd and find a place to rest from their work. Jesus trusted the disciples to take care of the boat as they crossed the Sea of Galilee so that he could rest before they reached the other side.

Scripture/Bible Story:

1. Have the Children to stand and say the memory verse. (You may want to have the verse on poster board.)

2. Ask them to bow their heads for prayer. [Lord God of the nations, that you for sending the light of the world to us. We appreciate the stories Jesus used to teach us all lessons of love and trust. May we learn new things about Jesus today as we study another miracle he performed for his followers. Amen.]

3. Have them to sit and open their Bibles to the Scripture. Ask the children to volunteer/assist in reading the scriptures. It is not necessary to have all children to read. If you want to read and have them to follow along, that is your choice. Matthew 8:18-27

Application:

After the scripture has been read – review any terms you think they might not understand and/or make sure they have no questions on the scripture.

Inform the children that we all react to situations differently. Sometimes we remember our faith when we are scared and sometimes we forget how we should act. Each of you has a slip of colored paper. When I call out your color – please stand and I will tell you what to do.

Red - ask them to act out fear without any noise. Give them about 30 seconds then ask them to sit down. Remind them that they can’t make any noise as they show us what fear is to them.
Ask the children who have blue slips of paper to stand and to act out peace, calmness and/or safety without making any noise. Give them about 30 seconds and ask them to sit down.
Ask the children who have yellow slips of paper to stand and to act out anyway they want what faith, hope and/or trust are to them. Give them 30 seconds and have them to sit.
Ask the class what they learned from each small group standing and acting out an emotion that we all have had more than once in our life? Did they have problems acting out the emotion? Did they understand what their classmates were acting out when it was their turn? Why did I allow the group with faith, peace and trust to make noise? (There are no wrong answers here – just provide them some guidance as how we feel each day and how we cope with situations that might cause us to be afraid and or not feel safe.) You can let them know that having faith and trust in Jesus will allow us to go far when we are afraid. As they will find out in the story about Jesus calming the storm.

Note – for first and second grade groups, you may want to ask questions from number 4 after each group acts out its emotion.

Interviewing a Disciple

Today we are going to interview Matthew, a disciple, who was on the boat when Jesus calmed the storm. Each of you will be given a question or two to ask. If you need help in reading and/or understanding your question, ask your Shepard or me to help you.

Leader: use the questions attached by making copies and cutting into slips and providing each child at least one question. It does not matter the order of questions – as long as the “disciple” is aware of the questions and the answers.

You could be Matthew and/or you could ask a youth needing to complete a service project, or an adult male who does not mind working with children. You might want to provide a robe and ask the “disciple” to wear sandals. Whoever is Matthew for the interview, provide them with the questions and answers prior to the first rotation session so they will be prepared. Ask that they “pretend” to be Matthew and interact with the children as a “disciple” would have treated children.

Reflection Time:

Distribute the attached journal page for the students to work on .

By 10:45 close with a prayer.

Closing:

Prayer: Suggestions for the closing prayer – Dear Jesus in Heaven, forgive us when we get angry at some one who cares about us. Forgive us when we doubt that something good can happen if we will be patient. Thank you for sending Jesus to be our savior. We know He loves us no matter what. Amen.

Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help tidy up. Close/lock the door and turn off the lights. The pillows in the Puppet room need to be placed back in the closet if you used them. You might want to store your story props in the closet as well, since others use this room.

Teacher preparation in advance:

1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.

Prepare an opening prayer for your lesson if you do not like the one provided.

Suggested Supply List

Ø Bible verse on poster board

Ø Journal sheets will be provided at the Bible Study or the first Sunday of the rotation.

Ø Slips of colored paper – blue, red and yellow. Paper can be found in the supply closet off the hall way of the Great Hall.

Ø Copies of the questions to distribute to the children. Only provide them with one question slip each. If you have more questions than children, allow some to have more than one question.

Ø If you get to church early enough each Sunday – use the pillows found in the Praising Puppets closet.

Reference:

Lori Houck, Kirk Faith Quest Bible Study Leader

Children’s Illustrated Bible by Parker and Dyson

Questions with Answers:

1. How much did you get paid for following Jesus and helping him heal the sick and preach the word?

I did not get paid for following Jesus in the way one does when they work a regular job. I was one of 12 selected disciples to follow Jesus to assist Him with His work, to learn about the truth and to become skilled in preaching and continuing His work after His death.

2. What was it like to sit down under a tree in the shade and listen to Jesus tell you about heaven, God the Father and what believers in Christ needed to do?

Think about a time when you have felt so comfortable in the arms of your Mother, Grandmother or another loved one. Remember how protected you felt? Jesus had a gentle voice and He would share stories about what faith was and was not. I could listen to Him all day long. I never got bored. He was a wonderful, loving person who was teaching us the truth.

3. How did you feel when you helped the sick to get better and/or when you prayed for people and they became Christians?

At first it was scary. People looked at us like we were evil with some type of magic power. But after we had worked with so many sick people and had lead them to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, it became very special and it made us feel like we were doing exactly what God wanted us to do.

4. Why did Jesus ask you to become a disciple?

Jesus asked me to come and be a fisher of men. I was confused at first because I was a tax collector. I think he saw I was an honest man and he needed me to help in his work to show others he loved all types of people. I did not fish for a living, I collected money from people for the Roman government so roads could be built and soldiers could be paid to defend us. I was glad he as asked me to become a disciple because I became great friends with Mark, Peter, Andrew and James who were fishermen.

5. What did Jesus mean when he said the Son of Man had no place to call his own?

Jesus told us he would not be on earth long. He told us that he was here to do God’s work and then he would return to heaven. The Son of Man – would not stay on earth and he did not own any house while he was on earth.

6. How big was the Sea of Galilee?

I am not sure how big it was. It is located in northern Israel and is surrounded by mountains. During the afternoon, the hot air which rises off the lake cools over the hills and can cause storms. Some storms were so bad it seemed like we were on the ocean!

7. I understand that you all had been preaching to crowds that were larger than ever and that Jesus was really tired. Is it true that he asked you all to get on the boat so you could sail over to the other side to rest? Why did Jesus need to rest?

Yes, we had been with him while he had preached, healed the sick, taught us parables/stories to demonstrate what faith was and what it required. We had walked for days and had not slept in a while. You have to remember that Jesus was human. He needed to rest and eat just like the rest of us do.

8. If Peter, Andrew, James and John were such great fisherman, why were they afraid when the storm came up?

This storm was like no other storm they had been in or seen. The water was coming into the boat, the wind was howling so loud we could hardly hear each other yell! I think because one of the disciples said we are going to drown that Peter and James then began to really worry that the boat was going to sink.

9. Did Jesus get angry when you all yelled at him to wake up because you were afraid of dying?

He woke up and yawned. He stood and commanded in a very strong voice “Peace” and the skies began to clear. He spoke loudly the words “be still” and the lake became like glass. He turned around and looked at us – he was not angry but he was disappointed because he said “Why were you afraid?’ ‘ You have so little faith.” He then went back to his bed and lay down and went back to sleep like there was never any danger.

10. Did you all forget the truth that Jesus was the Son of God and God would not let anything happen to Jesus until all of His work was done?

Yes, we did. We talked among ourselves for a while and we were ashamed that we had not trusted Jesus, the Son of God to protect us.

11. What affect did the journey across the Sea of Galilee have on you?

We knew we had been part of another miracle. We knew we had faith and that we trusted Jesus, but we also found out that sometimes no matter what we make mistakes.

12. What did you all eat when you traveled with Jesus?

We ate figs and other fruits. We had fish sometimes and often the people shared their bread and cheese with us. We never really went long without food. There was always something to help us keep our strength.

13. Did anyone other than the Disciples go out on this boat that night?

No, it was just us.

14. What is the difference between faith and a miracle?

Boys and girls there is a difference between faith and a miracle!

Faith is putting complete trust in something or someone. People who follow God are devoted in such a way that they do what is asked of them and make sure what they do is right.

A miracle is an act or event of a mighty work. It is a powerful event that is caused by God. Having faith in God might help one believe in a miracle when they see one happen.

15. Have you had other situations or storms in your life since that journey on the Sea of Galilee?

Yes, and so will you as long as you live. We are faced with situations every day where we have to make decisions based on what we have learned from our families and church. As long as God knows we love Him and trust Him, no matter what we do or don’t do He will always be there for us.