KIDSLOT “FOLLOW ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN”

Note to KidSlot Leader: For this activity, you will need yarn and blue cardstock (cardstock may be picked up from the church office if necessary).

Central Thought: desires us to follow Him and share Him with others so that they also will come to know and follow Him.

Scripture :18-20 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of , He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this mean: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Read Matthew 4:18-20 and :9-13. If you have preschoolers you may want to use only the Matthew 4:18-20 passage. Discuss these verses for a few minutes.

Discussion Questions – Use some of the following questions to guide your discussion time. Be sure to end with the FINAL question. Questions that can be used with preschoolers or young children are bolded. • What does it mean to “follow” someone? • Do you go where the leader goes? • What was Simon Peter and Andrew doing when Jesus saw them at the ? • When you go fishing what do you catch? • What did Jesus say to them? • What did Jesus say He would make them? • Did Simon Peter and Andrew keep fishing or did they follow Jesus? • Have you decided to follow Jesus? Tell about it. • Did Jesus want them to keep fishing for fish? • Does Jesus want everyone to believe in Him and follow Him? • How will people hear about Jesus? (need someone to tell them) • Do you ever tell anyone else about Jesus and how much He loves them? If so, you are being a fisher of men. • Do all your friends know Jesus? Who can tell them about Him? • Who can you pray for to believe in Jesus and follow Him? • Where did Jesus find Simon Peter and Andrew? • What were they doing? • What did Jesus tell them to do? • What was their response? • What did Jesus mean by saying “I will make you fishers of men”? • How were Simon Peter’s and Andrew’s lives different after that? • Where did Jesus find Matthew? • What did Matthew do for a living? • What did Jesus tell Matthew to do? • What was Matthew’s response? • Name the people or groups of people who were at Matthew’s house for dinner. • What questions did the Pharisees have? • Do you think they were surprised that Jesus associated with “sinners”? • Do you care about “sinners” the way Jesus does or do you think like the Pharisees that you are better than them? Why? • Have you decided to follow Jesus? • What change has that made in your life? • Do you look for opportunities to share Jesus with others? • Would Jesus say you are a fisher of men? • FINAL question – Who do you know that you could share Jesus with?

Activity: Fishers of Men Craft & Matching Game

Directions for Fishers of Men Craft • Give each child a piece of blue cardstock with Matthew 4:19 on it. Have each child cut 2 slits in the cardstock, where indicated. • Help each child to fold the cardstock in half (will form a tentcard) so that the words are on the outside and at the top near the fold. • Children should next make a pocket (which they can put their people into) on the back of the tentcard by taping (or using glue stick) the short sides and 1 long side of the small piece of matching blue cardstock. • To make a fishing pole, children should tie the piece of yarn to the end of the dowel rod. (You may want to have children tape the yarn to the pole to keep it from sliding off.) Tie a knot in the other end of the yarn and attach the bobber just above the knot by squeezing the ends of the bobber to expose one of the hooks. Attach a paper clip to the other end of the bobber. • Give each child a copy of the 4 children. Have children cut the pictures along the solid black outlines and color each picture. After the pictures are colored, a magnet should be attached to the back of each picture. (Note: There’s a magnet strip for each child included in the bag. Each strip should be cut into 4 pieces. Just peel the paper off the magnet and stick it onto the 4 people). Next have children write the name of a child they are praying for to come to know Jesus on each of the people on the back. • Children can play a fishing game by putting their children representing their friends on the floor and fishing with their poles to catch their friends for Jesus. • When finished playing, store the pictures of their friends in the pocket on the back of the tentcard and the fishing pole in the slits on the front of the card. Remind children to continue to pray for opportunities to share Jesus with their friends.

Directions for Matching Game • Prior to KidSlot cut apart the two pages of 12 cards each with Matthew 4:19 and the little boy on. • Divide the cards into piles of two and divide the 12 pairs among the children. Tell children to write the name of one of their friends who they are praying for to come to know Jesus on each of the 2 cards. Continue to write names on the pairs of cards until all 12 pairs have been named. • Have children shuffle the cards and lay them out name side down in rows. • The first child should turn over two cards to see if they match while all the other children watch taking note of where each name is. If the cards do not match they must turn them back over and let the next person take a turn. If the cards do match names the child picks up the match and keeps them. They may take another turn as long as they keep getting matches. Play stops for them as soon as they do not get a match. • Children continue playing in turn until all matches have been made. • The child with the most matches wins.

Prayer – Lead children in a time of prayer asking Jesus to help them be “fishers of men” by sharing Jesus with their friends. Encourage children to pray for all the friends identified in their fishing game and matching game by name. Be sure to pray for any other requests the children may have.

Report back to the adults and have children share about their time together tonight. Be sure the adults also share about their facilitation time.