Unit: Jesus Loves Us
Session Title: Peter Walked on Water with Jesus
Life Point: People can follow Jesus’ example and teachings.
Unit Verse: “This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.” 1 John 2:3
Weekly Bible Verse: “This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.” 1 John 2:3
Bible Passage: Matthew 14:22-33
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Game: Walking on Water
What you need:
• Footprints (you can use different colors or all the same color)
• Large open space
• Tape (clear packing tape is suggested)
What you do:
Set up the feet in a left – right pattern going across the floor. To add an extra challenge for the older kids, either make their foot adorned line longer or space it further apart making it harder to jump from foot to foot.
Line kids up (can be in groups by ages, small groups, etc.) and put everyone behind a certain mark. On the count of three, the first person in line runs along the feet, being careful to ONLY step on the feet. They must race to the end of the line, touch the ground and then return to tag the next person, relay style.
Once a child has completed the “walking on water” run, they should sit down so it is clear who still needs to run. Once everyone on the team is sitting, that team wins! Have fun!
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Snack: Walking on Water
Make walk-on-water snacks with blue frosting, graham crackers and Teddy Grahams. On each cracker, use one arms-up Teddy representing Peter saying, “Help!” and one arms-down Teddy representing Jesus walking calmly.
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Game: Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
Tape a picture of Jesus on the wall and put an empty bucket underneath the picture. Ask the children to line up about 10-15 feet away from the bucket (distance doesn’t really matter). The first person in line holds the large spoon and puts the plastic egg on it. Then they have to walk the egg over to the bucket without dropping it. The trick is – they have to keep their eyes on Jesus the entire time!!! If they take their eyes off of Jesus, they have to start over.
Once they drop the egg in the bucket, they pick the egg back up out of the bucket and go back for the next child to play. After everyone has had a chance to play, ask the children some fol-low-up questions like “What makes you doubt?” or “What would make you sink?” Then remind them that as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus and trusted in Him, he was able to do something no other man on earth has ever been able to do, walk on water. But, as soon as Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink.
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Craft: Faith Drawing
Let children work together to create a chalk drawing of FAITH and believing (on one side of the chalk board for one team of children) and NON FAITH and doubt on the other side of the board. Give the children ideas for their “drawings” such as happy or sad faces, Peter ON the water (FAITH) and Peter sinking (non-faith/doubt), FAITH=floater, DOUBT=sinker, etc! Title their drawings and let each team explain their drawings!
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Object Lesson: Sinking Egg?
Before class half fill two clear drinking glasses with water. Stir three tablespoons salt into one of the glasses. Label the salted water “faith” and the plain water “doubt.” Draw a face on an egg to use for this activity. Review the story and talk about what would happen if you tried to walk on water. As you do this then gently drop the egg into the “doubt” water and watch it sink. Then talk about how that Jesus walked on water while you drop the egg in the “faith” water. The egg should float. Continue to tell the story showing how Peter floated (faith glass) and then sank (doubt glass). Then describe some real-life situations that the children might face and let them place the egg in the “faith” or “doubt” glass according to the way they would act in the situation. Practice this at home first!
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