Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 8:23-27, pp. 286-289 in the Spark bible)
Materials needed:
*Adults (and older kids) who will be the rainstorm, complete with a few squirt guns
*clouds (?)
*To make the rocking of the boat, have kids sit in a circle, grab hands, and sway back and forth (in all directions)
We have been following Jesus the last few weeks, and he did a LOT of miracles! We can’t even talk about them all over the summer—there’s so many—but we’ve tried to talk about some of the different types of miracles he did—making water into wine, healing people, and today we’re talking about Jesus saving his disciples from bad weather danger! Can we all be the disciples this morning? Good.
You see, a lot of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and when they weren’t out healing people and telling them about God, they were often out on a boat, fishing. One particular day, Jesus was TIRED. He’d been healing lots of people, telling lots of stories, and meeting with thousands of people—the disciples knew he needed to rest, but there was no where to take Jesus to get away from the crowds, except to travel out on a lake in their boat.
CREAK. GROAN. The boat sounded as tired as Jesus did, as he climbed inside. He called to his disciples “Follow me!” and they all, one by one, climbed in. (move the kids into a circle to sit together, as if in a BIG boat) SPLASH! They pushed off the shore and out into the peaceful lake.
It was quiet and peaceful out there. Jesus’ friends talked and laughed. They told fishing stories
“and mine was THIS BIG! …but then he broke free and swam away! What was the biggest fish you ever caught, Jesus?”
But Jesus didn’t answer. He was sooooo tired, he had fallen fast asleep. He curled up in the corner and lay down his head (pretend to sleep).
The disciples had been so busy talking, they didn’t notice as the gray clouds crept in. The boat began to rock (holding hands, sway back and forth). Harder and harder.
Then the first raindrops fell—drop. Drop. (adults start rubbing hands back and forth). Then they fell a little harder splish splash! (snapping fingers). The disciples held their cloaks around them as the rain fell (pretend to pull a hood around and over head). The rain was cold and the wind was blowing strong against their skin. WOOOOOOO! (start patting legs to make the rain louder).
Waves came over the sides of the boat (people start squirting water guns). Splash! Lighting flashed all around the boat. Thunder cracked! (shake pans? Stomp feet to make the storm stronger). Jesus’ friends yelled “we shouldn’t be out here! Let’s get back to shore---but how?”
And you know what? Jesus was STILL sleeping! Here was lighting and strong wind (WOOOOO!) and yet Jesus kept sleeping! Jesus’ friends didn’t want to disturb him, but they couldn’t wait any longer. They shook Jesus awake. “Wake up! Help us, Jesus!”
Jesus woke up. He saw how scared his friends looked. “Why are you so afraid?” (snapping, leg slapping, water squirting, stomping continues)
Jesus stood up in the boat and lifted his arms. “Peace. Be still!”
And quickly, the waves calmed. SHHHHH. Clouds moved away and made room for the sun. The raindrops stopped (all sounds stop) and there was silence instead of thunder.
The disciples couldn’t believe it! They stared at each other. “Did you see that? Jesus saved us! We’re alive!”
They thanked Jesus for keeping them safe in that terrible storm.
What did you learn?
Jesus has shown us that he can heal us, forgive us—and today, he showed us that he can even control the skies and keep us safe in life’s storms. When is a time in your life that you saw God protect you—were you scared like the disciples at first? How did you know that God was protecting you?
No comments:
Post a Comment