Appears to His Disciples & the Miraculous Catch of Fish May 17th, 2020 ______

Overview: Get Thinking Fishy Jokes Bible Story Introduction Bible Story Review Pray Craft

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Get Thinking: To begin, ask your kids one or more of the following questions: 1. How many fish do they think they could catch in one day? 2. If they’ve been fishing, ask them to talk about their experience. What did they like? What did they not like? If they haven’t been fishing, ask if it’s something they’d like to do. Why or why not? What do they think it would be like? 3. What can you use to catch fish?

Fishy Jokes: Why are fish so smart? (Because they swim in schools!) What’s the richest fish in the whole world? (A goldfish) Why didn’t the prawn share his toys? (He was a little shellfish) Why is a fish easy to weigh? (It has its own scales)

Bible Story Introduction: Last week we talked about Mother’s Day, but before that, we were looking at the stories leading up to and those after Easter. Our last story taught us about what happened when Jesus appeared to Thomas. Today we are going to talk about a fishing trip and a Jesus performed for His friends! When Jesus’ disciples went fishing, they used a net. Their net was very big and very strong. They would throw their net out into the sea and wait for the fish to swim into it.

Bible Story: You can read from or the following summary of the story. To encourage further engagement with your kids, encourage them to pretend to cast a net every time they hear the word “fish” or “fishing”:

“I’m going fishing,” Peter said as he looked out over the water. “It looks like a good night to go fishing.” Peter’s friends decided to go with him. So they all got into Peter’s boat and went out to fish on the lake. They rowed the boat out into the water, and then they threw out their nets and waited for the fish to swim right in. They waited, and waited, and waited. But every time Peter and his friends pulled their nets out of the water, they were empty! Peter and his friends kept fishing all night long, but they didn’t catch a single fish. They were discouraged and very, very tired. Early in the morning, when the sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of the water, they saw a man standing on the shore. “Friends, did you catch any fish?” the man called out. Peter and his friends shook their heads sadly. “No,” they called back. “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some fish,” the man said. Peter and his friends weren’t sure about that. They hadn’t seen a single fish all night. But they did what the man said. Right away, their net filled with fish. Slippery, flippery, fish. Big fish, little fish, scaly fish, slimy fish. The net was so full of fish that Peter and his friends couldn’t even pull it back into the boat. One of Peter’s friends looked at the man on the shore again. “It’s Jesus!” he shouted. Jesus can do anything, and He had helped His friends fill their net with fish. Right away, Peter jumped out of the boat and started swimming back to shore. The rest of his friends stayed in the boat and rowed back to shore, dragging the net full of fish behind them. When they got to the shore, Jesus was waiting. He asked them to have breakfast with Him. And do you know what they ate for breakfast? Some of the fish they’d caught! They were glad to be with their friend Jesus once more. This was the third time Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples after He was crucified.

Review Questions: • What do you think the disciples thought when they heard the man on the beach talking to them? • What did Jesus tell His disciples to do with their net? • What happened when the disciples did what Jesus asked? • Can you think of any other stories in where Jesus performed a miracle? • What kind of amazing things does Jesus do for us? (He loves us; He can forgive us; He can heal us when we’re sick) Say: Jesus did something amazing by helping the disciples catch lots and lots of fish. We can trust Jesus to do amazing things for us, too, because Jesus can do anything! On their own, the disciples couldn’t catch any fish. But with Jesus’ help, they were able to catch all the fish they needed, and even more. Just like Jesus helped His disciples, He can help you if you ask him to. Remember, we can ask Jesus for help when we feel alone, or afraid, or sad, because Jesus can help us be strong.

Pray: Jesus, thank you that you are our friend and that you help us do the things we need to do. We want to be like you and to help others, too. Thank you Jesus for always being with us. Amen.

Craft: There are two colouring pages attached that your kids can colour, add stickers to or paint. These colouring pages highlight the story we just read where Jesus visits His disciples after the resurrection. The disciples are not catching any fish, but Jesus re-directs them, and then the nets become too heavy to even haul in to shore. It’s a story that reminds us to trust Jesus and remember His authority and wisdom. Above all, we can remember Jesus can do anything!