The Reading
Have people in your family take on the different voices in today’s Bible reading (Narrator, Jesus, and Simon):
Luke 5:1-11 The Voice (VOICE)
5 Picture these events:
On the banks of Gennesaret Lake, a huge crowd, Jesus in the center of it, presses in to hear His message from God. 2 Off to the side, fishermen are washing their nets, leaving their boats unattended on the shore.
3 Jesus gets into one of the boats and asks its owner, Simon, to push off and anchor a short distance from the beach. Jesus sits down and teaches the people standing on the beach.
4 After speaking for a while, Jesus speaks to Simon.
Jesus: Move out into deeper water, and drop your nets to see what you’ll catch.
Simon (perplexed): 5 Master, we’ve been fishing all night, and we haven’t caught even a minnow. But . . . all right, I’ll do it if You say so.
6 Simon then gets his fellow fishermen to help him let down their nets, and to their surprise, the water is bubbling with thrashing fish—a huge school. The strands of their nets start snapping under the weight of the catch, 7 so the crew shouts to the other boat to come out and give them a hand. They start scooping fish out of the nets and into their boats, and before long, their boats are so full of fish they almost sink!
8-10 Simon’s fishing partners, James and John (two of Zebedee’s sons), along with the rest of the fishermen, see this incredible haul of fish. They’re all stunned, especially Simon. He comes close to Jesus and kneels in front of His knees.
Simon: I can’t take this, Lord. I’m a sinful man. You shouldn’t be around the likes of me.
Jesus: Don’t be afraid, Simon. From now on, I’ll ask you to bring Me people instead of fish.
11 The fishermen haul their fish-heavy boats to land, and they leave everything to follow Jesus.
Discussion
The men that Jesus called to follow him in this story were all fishermen - not ministers or priests or wise men but ordinary people with ordinary jobs. Fish and fishermen are in a lot of stories in the Bible. It was a common job in Jesus’ time.
It was an amazing day for Simon and his friends. First there was the amazing teaching, then the huge catch of fish and then Simon was surprised that Jesus even wanted to spend time with him, let alone make him a leader.
Why do you think Jesus chose Simon and his friends to be “fishers of men”?
What was the job he was asking them to do?
This story tells us that even ordinary people - even people who make mistakes - have gifts to offer. What do you think Jesus might be calling you to do?
Response Activity Ideas
Large Catch of Fish
Materials: worksheet, coloured paper, scissors, burlap/plastic netting, glue, popsicle sticks, colouring tools
Print out the worksheet. Cut out little fish from coloured paper and glue them on to the bottom of the boat, or alternatively draw them on. Glue a burlap or plastic netting ‘net’ (attaching it just around the edges) over the fish. Glue on a popsicle stick mast if desired. Finish by colouring the rest of the picture.
Access the website http://faithsprouts.blogspot.com/2016/01/fishermen-follow-jesus.html for more step-by-step images, if needed.
Click to print PDF
Comic Retell
Use the comic panels provided, or design your own, and retell the story of Simon Peter being called to follow Jesus!
Click to print PDF
Wordsearch
Click to print PDF
For Youth: Our strengths, our calling
Think about and discuss your personal gifts and strengths with your family. Consider working through a quiz like:
https://www.bethlehemschools.org/wp-content/uploads/VIA-Character-Strengths-Discussion-Survey.pdf OR
https://high5test.com/ to get you thinking about what’s important to you and how you work best.
It can be hard to talk about what we’re good at, so listen and encourage each other as you notice and point out strengths you see in others in your family, and in what capacities these skills may take each other in making a difference in the world.
How can these strengths work towards stewardship in the church setting? How can these strengths play out in contributing in the community? In working to bring about God’s love and peace in the world?