Jesus Calls His First Disciples Sunday School Lesson for Kids -
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Jesus’ first disciples to
teach kids the importance of spending time with Jesus.
Needed: Bibles, soft balls or paper wads
Intro Game: Taking Our Place
Play a game of dodgeball with soft play balls or paper wads. When one team starts to accumulate a lot of players in the “Out” zone, run in and say that you’ll take their place being out. They can get back in the game. Do the same for the other team. Keep doing it as long as time allows. Then, explain that just like you were taking the place of people who were out, Jesus took our place on the cross. He took our punishment so that we could be forgiven for our sins.
An alternative is a game of two-team tag. Take
the place of students who are tagged and out of the game.
Lesson
Ask students, What do you like to do with your friends?
When you do all those things with your
friends, you’re spending time with them, aren’t you?
There were some men who wanted to spend time
with Jesus in our Bible lesson today.
(Read John
1:35-36.)
What did John call Jesus? (The Lamb of God.)
What does it mean for Jesus to be called the
Lamb of God?
In the Old Testament, the first part of the
Bible, people used to sacrifice lambs and other animals to God. You see, God’s
rule was that anyone who did something wrong, anyone who sinned, had to be put
to death as the punishment for their sin. But since God loved people and didn’t
want them to die, He said that people could kill an animal instead. If they
killed the animal, God would pretend that the animal was dying for the sin
instead of the person that actually committed the sin. The animal was their
substitute, taking the punishment for them. But they had to do that every time.
Every time someone sinned, they had to kill another animal. Jesus is like our
sacrificial lamb because Jesus died for our sins. Now, instead of sacrificing
animals, we remember that Jesus died for all of our sins.
(Read John
1:37-39.)
John’s disciples followed Jesus, and they asked Him whose house He was staying
at. Why do you think John’s disciples wanted to know where Jesus was staying?
They wanted to know where Jesus lived so that
they could go visit Him. They wanted to spend time with Jesus and talk to Him
and learn about Him.
Jesus told the two disciples to come with Him.
Then, they spent the rest of the day with Jesus. Do you think we can spend time
with Jesus?
How can we spend time with Jesus?
We can’t spend time with Jesus in the same way
that the disciples did because we can’t see Jesus as they did. But we can spend time with Jesus by praying and
reading our Bibles and going to church. Those are some ways that we can learn
about and spend time with Jesus.
Prayer Exercise: Spending Time with Jesus
Have students separate around the room. Ask them to spend 5 minutes praying to Jesus. Tell them that they can talk to Jesus about anything they want to. After 4 minutes, ask them to stop talking to Jesus and to listen to anything He might want to say to them in their heart.Lesson continues...
(Read John 1:40-42.)
It says that after Andrew, one of the
disciples who spent the day with Jesus, left Jesus, he went and told his
brother Peter about Jesus, so then, Peter also came to Jesus.
(Read John
1:43-45.)
It says that Philip believed in Jesus and then,
what did he do? (He went to tell Nathanael about Jesus.)
So, Andrew went to tell his brother Peter
about Jesus, and Philip went to tell his friend Nathanael about Jesus. Do you
think God wants you to tell other people about Jesus? (Yes.)
God wants us to tell everyone about Jesus so that
they can believe in Him too and go to Heaven when they die.
Activity: Acting It Out
Divide students into groups of two or three. Have each group decide on and act out one way that they can help someone and convince them to believe in Jesus. Name some outreach activities that your church does if students need help thinking of something.Lesson continues...
(Read John 1:46-51.)
Nathanael asked Jesus how He knew him, and Jesus said that He saw Nathanael under the
fig tree. Jesus knew all about Nathanael before He ever met him. Do you think
Jesus could know all about you, too? (Yes.)
Jesus knows everything about you. He knows
what you’re thinking and what you’re doing and how you’re feeling all the time.
Jesus knows everything. He knows the good things you do and the bad things. He
knows everything about you. And He loves you.
So, let’s remember to thank Jesus for being
the Lamb of God and dying for our sins. And let’s spend time with Him by
praying and reading our Bibles and going to church. And lastly, let’s make sure
that we’re telling other people about Him too so that they can believe in Him as we do.
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