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So That You May Believe: A Study in John – April 12, 2015
Year 2, NT Lesson 14:
F e e d My She e p
Lesson Highlights:
 Scripture References: John 20:30-21:25
 Teaching Point: Jesus joins several disciples on a beach by the sea for a breakfast
and a lesson on forgiveness for Peter.
 Unit Memory Verse: John 20:31 – These are written so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His
name.
Lesson
Overview
John’s written everything so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God. And it’s God’s compassion and forgiveness toward Peter that Jesus highlights in
this lesson. Peter has decided to go fishing. A few friends join him for a fruitless night on
the water until a man from shore asks about their catch and tells them where to find
more. It’s enough to jog their memory of another day that must have seemed like long
ago. Then more reminders as a charcoal fire and broken bread show them all that Peter
is never too far from the grace of God. Jesus has died for Peter’s sins. Rising has secured
his victory…and ours. Ask the Father with us that this hope would be born again in the
hearts of our kids as they see Jesus one last time through John’s eyes.
Story
Well, we didn’t meet together last week, did we? Why? What did we celebrate? (Easter)
And your day probably had something to do with chocolate, bunnies, chicks, eggs…
which may seem pretty strange if you think about it. What in the world do all of those
have to do with Jesus rising from the dead? (see what they say) Well, the truth is we took
those things that the world was celebrating and made them about Jesus. Easter is about
new life…things like babies, small baby animals, eggs all celebrate the fact that winter is
over, new life appears. Like the fresh green in the grass and on the trees, our world has
gone from the bare trees of winter to the new life of spring. And Jesus gives us new life
because He rose from death and really walked and talked and moved around with
people for a while after He rose again. But there’s one person whose story is left
unfinished. We need to find out about Peter. Surely, Christ didn’t rise again just to leave
Peter standing on the outside ashamed of himself for denying his Savior.
We find out today that Peter really didn’t know what to think. Do any of you remember
what Peter was doing before he became a disciple of Jesus? What was his job?
(fisherman) But Jesus called to him and said, “Come and I’ll make you fishers of men.” His
job now was to tell people about the kingdom of God. But when Jesus finds Peter, that’s
not what he’s doing. Instead, he’s back doing what he once did. Seven of the disciples
are together including James, John and Peter. Let’s read together in John 21:3-14.
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Year 2, NT Lesson 14: Feed My Sheep
Does the story of telling them to throw their nets on one side of the boat sound
familiar? Jesus had done that very same miracle with them when He first called them to
be disciples. As soon as John starts hauling up that net, he must have remembered
because all of a sudden he knew, didn’t he, that the man standing on the shore was
their Lord. And what did Peter do when John said that? (put on his clothes and jumped
into the water to swim to Jesus) He couldn’t wait, could he? He wasn’t about to wait until
all those fish got in the boat and the boat finally got turned around, and they rowed
back to shore. No way. His Savior was there…he had to get to Him.
And when he got to Jesus, what was on the beach? (breakfast of bread and fish on a
charcoal fire) Anyone remember the last time Peter was at a charcoal fire? (when he
denied Jesus) Jesus knows that, doesn’t He? He’s provided a meal…when was the last
time they ate together? (Last Supper when Jesus washed their feet and told Peter he’d
betray Jesus) Jesus told Peter he’d betray Him over a meal…and knew Peter had denied
Him over a fire…and here are both together. Jesus told him to go help his friends with
the fish…more than all 8 of them could eat. Then they sat again and ate with Jesus…
while Jesus had some special words for Peter. Let’s read again in 21:15-17.
“Do you love me?” Jesus asked Peter. How many times did He ask him? (three) Why did
He ask Peter three times instead of just once? (once for every time Peter betrayed Him)
And Peter knew it. He was grieved when Jesus asked the last time. Peter told Jesus that
he knew Jesus was God and could see into his heart…Jesus would know that Peter really
meant it. And when Peter would answer yes, what did Jesus tell him to do? (feed my
sheep) Jesus is our good shepherd, isn’t He? He’s the one who takes care of His
disciples…but now He was telling Peter that he had a job to do, taking care of all of the
disciples who would come after Peter. Peter would be doing the job Jesus had come to
begin, gathering and caring for His people. Peter was back in relationship with Jesus. He
was once again a friend of Jesus who was welcomed to sit and eat, and be given the
privilege of serving. But that’s not the only message Jesus had for Peter. Read vs. 18-19.
Not fun words to hear, are they? What did Jesus basically tell Peter? (see what they say)
It’s not so easy for us to see, but Jesus when Jesus said that Peter would “stretch out
his arms”, it was the way then that they would talk about people being crucified. Jesus
just told Peter that he’d get old, not be able to do things for himself and then be
crucified. Whew. That’s hard news, isn’t it? Wonder what Peter’s reaction is? What do
you think he said next? Let’s see in vs. 20-23.
As soon as Jesus said, “Follow me.” What did Peter do? (looked behind them at John)
We know all the way through the book that the “disciple whom Jesus loved” is John.
And Peter sees him behind him and immediately wants to know what’s going to happen
to him. I’m so like that. What about you? Have you ever been sitting and playing maybe
with your brother or sister and your mom says something like, “I need you to go clean
in your room.” Or maybe it’s do the dishes or pick up the stuff in the living room…but
she doesn’t say anything to your brother or sister. I always want to say, “Wait a minute.
If I have to do it, why don’t they? What are they going to do?” Are you like that, too? It’s
like I’m saying, “If I have to be miserable, they do, too!”
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So That You May Believe: A Study in John – April 12, 2015
Peter wants to know if others are going to suffer with him. Does Jesus say, “Oh, Peter,
don’t worry! John’s going to have really hard things happen to him, too!” (no) Instead,
Jesus sort of gets upset with Peter. He says, “If I want to leave him alive and have nothing
happen to him until I return, why should you care? You do what I tell you to do.” Ouch.
That sounds a lot like what my mom would have said to me when I was growing up.
“Don’t worry about your brother. You just do what I say.” Jesus was reminding Peter that
though He was Peter’s friend, He was also His King and Lord. Peter was to keep His eyes
only on his own life, following Jesus wherever He led him…doing whatever He told Peter
to do…worrying about his life, not John’s.
And then a rumor apparently started about John. What did everyone think was going to
be true of John because of what Jesus said? (John would never die) That’s not at all what
Jesus said, but that’s what rumor started. John is writing this book near the end of his
life, and he’s making sure that everyone knows it was a lie. He was just a man like every
other. Death comes to all of us. John doesn’t get to stick around forever here either. And
you know what? I know that He actually wouldn’t have wanted to live forever here. He
loved Jesus more than anyone else. He would want to be where Jesus is now, with God
the Father in heaven. But we’ll get to that next week. For now, let’s finish the book of
John with just two more verses…vs. 24-25.
I guess that’s going to be part of the fun of being in heaven…finding out what John’s
talking about. There’s so much more that John could tell us about Jesus. I can picture
him finishing this book and thinking about all the days they walked with Jesus and
listened to Him…the laughs they had…the jokes they told…the meals they shared…the
stories that he still didn’t understand completely. I wonder if John thought about all the
times Jesus just slung an arm around him and encouraged him. I wonder if all the times
he didn’t quite get it passed through his mind. Have you ever gone somewhere you just
loved so much and then when you get back…maybe days later…you just think, “Man, was
I really there??” I wonder if John sat back sometimes and thought, “I sat with the Son of
God and ate fish? Seriously??” If John had told us everything, he said the world couldn’t
hold the books…but one day we’ll hear every story there is about Him.
For now, we can be sure of this. These words about Jesus are for one reason…remember?
That’s our Bible verse from John 20:31…these were written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…and by believing, have life in His name. John
wanted one thing for all of us before he died. He wanted us to know what he knew. He
wanted us to have what he had…eternal life with Jesus Christ…life with the Father…life in
the Spirit here and abundant life in heaven later…loving and enjoying the Father forever.
So, John picked seven miracles to tell us…and seven I AM’s about Jesus to show us…and
touching stories about betrayal and then closeness again while sitting on a beach, eating
some fish and bread with their friend Jesus. It’s a good way to wrap up our lessons in
John because we all start off just like Peter. We’ve betrayed our Savior by disobeying
Him and ignoring His commands…but just like Peter, we have the offer from Jesus to
follow Him and obey Him and live for Him. I have made that choice…and I want nothing
more for that to be true of all of you as well. Let’s pray.
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Year 2, NT Lesson 14: Feed My Sheep
Prayer Time
Before you pray, allow the kids time to share with you things that are happening in their
lives. Be sure you write these down with their names for you to pray for as the week
goes along. Ask individuals about how things went with the things they mentioned the
previous week. Older kids can be asked if they will pray for another who mentions
something. As the leader, begin by opening in prayer and thanking God for this lesson:
 Praise Jesus for always being willing to give us life if we will just believe.
 Ask Him to help us to be like Peter, willing to throw ourselves into the water to get
to Him…and that like Peter we would follow Him every day of our lives.
Pray for any specific requests named either by praying yourself or by opening it up to
those who said they would pray.
Suggested Follow-up Activities
Teachers are free to choose the activities that they feel are best for their group. The idea
is that as the children work and play, remind them of the truths they just learned.
Scripture Memory: Figure out your reward system for memorizing the Scriptures
provided in this section. Give the children several opportunities to tell it to you in class.
Play a memory game with the kids if you have time.
Craft: Bubble Fish (Older Child Craft) – Remind the kids that today we learned about
Jesus appearing to the disciples on the shore of a beach with breakfast of fish and
bread ready for them. He came with a special message of forgiveness for Peter. Three
times Peter denied Jesus…three times Jesus allows Peter to say that he really does love
Jesus. Peter’s new job will be to take care of the new disciples who will believe in Jesus.
Give each child a piece of bubble wrap that is about 7”X8”. Give them some acrylic
paints in various colors and have them use a paint brush to paint on colors all over the
wrap except for the edges. They can overlap them and swirl them together to make
whatever coloring they’d like. Then give them a piece of lightly colored cardstock and
have them turn the painted bubble wrap carefully upside-down on top of it. Tell them
to be careful not to shift it as they press it down firmly on the paper. They will then
simply throw away the bubble wrap (you can choose to rinse it and
reuse it for the next class if you’d prefer).
While that dries, have them draw a simple fish shape onto darker
colored paper. If you’d like, you can give them a shape to share
and trace. Give them scissors so that the shape can be cut out.
They will then glue the darker colored cut out paper over the
lighter colored impression to make a fish with scales. Have them
glue the text box with the verse reference at the bottom of the
page.
Materials: bubble wrap; acrylic paints; bowls; brushes; lightly colored cardstock; darker
cardstock; scissors; stick glue
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So That You May Believe: A Study in John – April 12, 2015
Craft: Moving Fish (Younger Child Craft) – Remind the kids that today we learned
about Jesus appearing to the disciples on the shore of a beach with breakfast of fish and
bread ready for them. He came with a special message of forgiveness for Peter. Three
times Peter denied Jesus…three times Jesus allows Peter to say that he really does love
Jesus. Peter’s new job will be to take care of the new disciples who will believe in Jesus.
Give each of the kids a cardstock cut out of the craft page figures with holes punched at
the dots. Let them color their fish as they’d like. Then they will use a brad to put the tail
on the body and glue to put the fin on.
Materials: craft pages; markers or crayons; scissors; stick glue
Craft: Foil Fish – Remind the kids that today we learned about Jesus appearing to the
disciples on the shore of a beach with breakfast of fish and bread ready for them. He
came with a special message of forgiveness for Peter. Three times Peter denied
Jesus…three times Jesus allows Peter to say that he really does love Jesus. Peter’s new
job will be to take care of the new disciples who will believe in Jesus.
Give each child a cardstock copy of one of the fish. Let them punch a hole out of the top
on the dot. Provide each child a piece of aluminum foil a little larger than their fish. They
will fold it careful around the shape. Tell them that the creases and folds will only make it
better. Give them a craft eye and sequins to glue on their fish to make a fin and to
decorate the tail.
Materials: cardstock copies of craft page; aluminum foil pieces; liquid glue; sequins; craft
eyes; hole punch
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Year 2, NT Lesson 14: Feed My Sheep
Notes:
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