Catching people
Children's sermon
Object:
a Frisbee®, a fishing pole, and some flypaper
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be
catching people." (v. 10b)
Good morning, boys and girls. Today I brought along three different things that do the same thing. Let's see if you know what they are, and then we will guess how all three are supposed to do the same thing.
What is this? (hold up the Frisbee®) That's right, this is a Frisbee®. What do you do with a Frisbee®? (let them answer) Very good, you throw it and someone else catches it or you catch it when he or she throws it. Let's try the second one. (show them the fishing pole and ask them to identify it) What is this? Very good it is a fishing pole. What do you do with it? (let them answer) Wonderful, you catch fish! Finally, we have something that you may not have ever seen. (show them the flypaper) This is flypaper and flypaper is sticky and it catches flies.
Today, we are going to talk about the kind of catching Christians do. Peter and his brother, Andrew, were very good fishermen. They had friends who were brothers, James and John, who were also fishermen. Every day, unless there was a big storm, the four of them and other fishermen would take their boats out on the lake and drop their nets into the sea. These were big nets made to catch big fish. The nets had big holes in them so that the little fish could swim out of them. But the big fish, the kind they wanted to sell, would fill up the net and they would bring them home. Sometimes they were not able to catch any fish. Those were not good times.
One day, when Peter, Andrew, James, and John were finished fishing, they brought their boats back to the dock. Then Jesus got into their boat and asked them to go back out to sea. Because Jesus asked them to do it, they did it. Jesus told them where to throw their nets and guess what? (let them answer) That's right, before they knew it, the nets were so full of fish they could not put them all in one boat. They needed to ask for help.
It did not take Peter, Andrew, James, and John long to figure out that Jesus helped. Peter knew he was in the presence of holiness. Jesus wanted Peter to know that even greater things were going to happen. Jesus wanted the brothers to know that he had a bigger job for them. When Peter looked at Jesus, he saw something special in his eyes. Peter heard Jesus say, "From now on you will be catching people." And that's the way it happened. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their nets and began a ministry with Jesus to catch people for Jesus. It never stopped. Every day the fishermen would go out and tell the people about God and ask those people to become part of the ministry of Jesus. It wasn't long before the crowds were in the thousands. The fishermen became disciples who brought many to Jesus to be loved, healed, forgiven, and touched by him. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today I brought along three different things that do the same thing. Let's see if you know what they are, and then we will guess how all three are supposed to do the same thing.
What is this? (hold up the Frisbee®) That's right, this is a Frisbee®. What do you do with a Frisbee®? (let them answer) Very good, you throw it and someone else catches it or you catch it when he or she throws it. Let's try the second one. (show them the fishing pole and ask them to identify it) What is this? Very good it is a fishing pole. What do you do with it? (let them answer) Wonderful, you catch fish! Finally, we have something that you may not have ever seen. (show them the flypaper) This is flypaper and flypaper is sticky and it catches flies.
Today, we are going to talk about the kind of catching Christians do. Peter and his brother, Andrew, were very good fishermen. They had friends who were brothers, James and John, who were also fishermen. Every day, unless there was a big storm, the four of them and other fishermen would take their boats out on the lake and drop their nets into the sea. These were big nets made to catch big fish. The nets had big holes in them so that the little fish could swim out of them. But the big fish, the kind they wanted to sell, would fill up the net and they would bring them home. Sometimes they were not able to catch any fish. Those were not good times.
One day, when Peter, Andrew, James, and John were finished fishing, they brought their boats back to the dock. Then Jesus got into their boat and asked them to go back out to sea. Because Jesus asked them to do it, they did it. Jesus told them where to throw their nets and guess what? (let them answer) That's right, before they knew it, the nets were so full of fish they could not put them all in one boat. They needed to ask for help.
It did not take Peter, Andrew, James, and John long to figure out that Jesus helped. Peter knew he was in the presence of holiness. Jesus wanted Peter to know that even greater things were going to happen. Jesus wanted the brothers to know that he had a bigger job for them. When Peter looked at Jesus, he saw something special in his eyes. Peter heard Jesus say, "From now on you will be catching people." And that's the way it happened. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their nets and began a ministry with Jesus to catch people for Jesus. It never stopped. Every day the fishermen would go out and tell the people about God and ask those people to become part of the ministry of Jesus. It wasn't long before the crowds were in the thousands. The fishermen became disciples who brought many to Jesus to be loved, healed, forgiven, and touched by him. Amen.
