Free
2 Share VBS-4
Day
1
Walking
on Water
Immediately
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other
side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, He went up on
a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but
the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves
because the wind was against it.
During
the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When
the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,
they said, and cried out in fear.
But
Jesus immediately said to them: “Take
courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord,
if it’s You,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to You on the water.”
“Come,” He said.
Then
Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But
when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord,
save me!”
Immediately
Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. You
of little faith,” He said, “why did
you doubt?”
And
when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the
boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33 NIV®
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Memory
Verse: “But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 14:27 NIV®
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Discussion
Example:
Say,
“What an amazing miracle it was for Jesus to be walking on the water. This
wasn’t shallow water like you might see in some places. This lake was deep
enough that fishers on boats were able to let down their nets and pull up large
fish.
“It’s
significant that Jesus tells the scared Disciples ‘It is I, be not afraid.’
It’s something that we should all remember, because we are all afraid of
something some time or another in our lives. When we are fearful, we need to
remember to turn to Jesus and remember He will be there with us through the
events of our lives.
“Jesus
did another miracle when He let Peter walk on the water, too. Unfortunately,
Peter got scared and wasn’t trusting in Jesus to take care of him and started
sinking. That happens to us, too, when we get fearful of worried about things.
We start have a sinking feeling in our hearts when we aren’t focused on Jesus
to be there with us. We don’t want our Savior saving, ‘Oh you of little faith,
why didn’t you trust in Me?’ "
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Arts
and Crafts Example:
Have
protective clothing like an old T-shirt or a big garbage back cut up the back
with a hole for their head and arms, paper, water colors, a brush, and cup of
water for each student.
Say,
“We are going to paint a picture. It can be a design you paint, a picture of
the countryside or whatever you want. After we all finish painting these
pictures, we are going to drop water on them to see what happens.”
After
all have finished painting, say, “Clean your brushes off in the water the best
you can and then dribble water in different spots in the picture. These
represent times in our lives when things happen that we weren’t expecting or
times we are worried about something.
“Even
though the picture doesn’t turn out exactly as we had expected it to, each of
those little drops have their own beauty in them. They represent all the times
that Jesus is there for us to get us through the events in our lives, like how
He reached out and grabbed Peter’s hand when he started doubting. It’s helpful
whenever you are afraid to remember how Jesus is there with you through it all.
Be not afraid.”
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Science
Example:
Have
a small piece of paper, pencil, scissors, plastic knife, cup with about an inch
of liquid dish soap and a Styrofoam plate of any size for each child or group
half filled with water.
Say,
“You will be making a drawing of the outline of a small boat to put on the
plate of water. What is your Hypothesis about what will happen if you dip your
knife in the cup of soap and add a little to the back of the boat?” Listen to
all their Hypotheses. If you have one plate per group, let the
students take turns and each have a chance to put their small boat on the water
and do the experiment. If they get too much soap in the water, you may need to
get fresh water, periodically, if you’re taking turns doing the boat.
Listen
to all of the results of their experiment. Explain, “Liquid soap breaks down
the surface tension of the water, so your boat that was pretty much
staying in the same place, ends up moving forward.
“So,
when you feel stuck in pretty much the same place or are afraid of something,
if you turn to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, He will be what it takes to
get us moving forward like the boat.”
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Game
Example:
Say,
“We are going to play: Do Not Be Afraid, Jesus Is With You! This will be
somewhat like Freeze Tag, but different. One person will gently tag others
and they will freeze in the position they were in when they were tagged. This
represents being sometimes stopped in our tracks by being afraid, worried, etc.
“Another
person will periodically say, ‘Do Not Be Afraid, Jesus Is With You!’
When they say that, you are no longer frozen by being afraid or worried, and
are free to run again. I will periodically change the taggers and the person
saying, ‘Do Not Be Afraid, Jesus Is With You!,’”
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