Jesus Walks on the Water

Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities: 

Using the Son of God DVD (2014)

Chapter 10:  Jesus feeds the 5000  …beginning to reveal who he is. He’s more than just a teacher!  (this miracle is very much related to the central question in chapter 11.)

Chapter 11: Who is Jesus? Jesus Calms the Storm, we can trust him.

Update: I had written a free teacher's outline to the movie Son of God (2014).  I updated it in 2020 and gave it to Rotation.org's Supporting Member Resources here (along with many of my other Bible movie guides). Neil

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture ahead of time.
• Gather the materials.
• Preview the video.

Supplies List:

• Video

Lesson Plan 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction: 

Begin the lesson by writing out on the board and having the kids help you answer the following questions:

•  Who is Jesus to you? (A friend?  A God?  A hero? A good teacher? A bore? A legend?)
• Who is Jesus to people who don’t know him?
• How do you KNOW Jesus is who he says he is?
• What does it mean when you say Jesus is your Messiah?
  
  

Dig

Show the Video:

Start at Chapter 10.
We see Jesus coming ashore to teach, and then perform the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.  No, it's not part of the "Calm the Storm" story, but they are connected to the same question: Who is Jesus? Is he the one? How will we know?

Then in Chapter 11 we see Jesus at a campfire, and the disciples are coming to grips with who Jesus is.

The disciples ask him, Who are you? Some people think you’re the Messiah.  

PAUSE the video right at this point and write down that question: Who do you think I am?  It's the most important question anyone can answer.

Jesus confirms that he is the Messiah, and interestingly, that only GOD can reveal that to a person. (What does that say about faith? ...that it is a gift, and not something you can attain on your own, you can only prepare for it and nurture it.)

Then we see Jesus come walking during the storm and calling Peter out of the boat.  

End use of the video at the ending of the scene where Jesus has calmed the sea and comforted the disciples.

After the Video

ASK: Why did Peter get out of the boat? 

ASK: What does the story teach us?

(Peter is us. Life is the storm. Who will help us through it? We should do what Jesus asks us, not fearing for our life. Faith means going through difficult scary things knowing that Jesus is right there with you and will save your life. Faith in this story = "confidence.")

Now ask:  What Important Things do we see Jesus doing in this miracle?

(1) He walks on water in the storm showing who he is.
(2) He calls Peter to walk through the storm with him. 
(3) He rescues Peter from the stormy waters.
(4) He calms the storm and the disciples’ fear. 

Say:  He does not let Peter sink, and he does not punish Peter for lack of faith or the disciples for being afraid.  He does not let us sink. He does not punish us for having little faith. Jesus understands, he comes to save.

(5)  Notice that Jesus doesn’t get rid of the storm, he just calms it. Storms happen! 
The waters are still there, and the wind can come back. But we have this story to remind us that we can count on Jesus to save us. That he has the power. That he truly is the Messiah they were wondering and asking about!

Reflection Activity  -- Walking Across a 2 x 4...  (a great activity focusing on Life App!)

Place a 2 x 4 x 8 piece of lumber on top of two sturdy/stable blocks.

One at a time, with spotters, invite the kids to walk from one end to the other.

At first, your average 4th grader will be able to make it across quickly. But then in each successive 'round' -change the conditions to begin introducing the idea that "obeying Jesus (by walking towards him) is not easy when the board (life) gets scary or you have distractions that are trying to keep you from following Christ." **You'll say several versions of this basic idea many times as each child tries crossing. Watch closely and make your point repeatedly!

Here are a couple of the "make difficult" and "distractions" we had the kids do while someone was walking the board...

• Waving hands in front of the person crossing.
• Only looking at your feet and not the name "Jesus" written on the end of the board.
• Walking backwards.
• Walking with your eyes closed or looking to the side.

After a time, stop walking the board and give each a marker so they can create a "record" on the 2x4 some of the ideas presented in the story, lesson, and teacher/student comments as they crossed the board. For example, we had them write encouragements, such as, "don't be distracted from following Jesus."  "Don't worry, Jesus saves!"  and "key your eyes on Jesus." We had them write down distractions. We also had them name the board, "Walk of Faith," and add verses from the story.

The kids loved this activity and working on the board.

We then watched Chapter 11 again. They were very impressed with the special effects and "got it" that the story was not just a miracle, but a lesson taught by Jesus to Peter, and to THEM.

Closing:

End with a prayer.

 A lesson from Neil MacQueen

 A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability. This lesson contains a link to a free resource at the lesson writer's business website.