Walking on Water

Matthew 14:22-33

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus. That means Jesus was his teacher. And the word gospel means “good news!”

We begin by a lake where Jesus had been teaching people all day. When Jesus was done teaching, He told his friends, the disciples, to get in a boat and go to the other side of the lake.
(boat, lake, shore)


Then Jesus went up on a mountain to pray by Himself. While the disciples were in the boat, the wind began to blow. The wind blew and blew. It rocked the boat back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth. The disciples didn’t know what to do! 


Then, something amazing happened! As the wind rocked the boat, the disciples looked out on the water and saw something coming toward them. 


As the disciples looked, it got closer and closer and closer. It was a PERSON! The disciples were so afraid! They thought, how could a person really walk on water? Then, the person talked! They said, “It’s me! Don’t be afraid!” 


IT WAS JESUS! Jesus walked on the water! The disciples were so happy to see their friend, Jesus. 


They were happy and AMAZED to see Jesus walking on water! Right away, Peter said, “Jesus, if it’s You, tell me to walk to You on the water.” And guess what Jesus said to Peter? Jesus said, “Come.” Peter looked at Jesus and stepped out of the boat.


And he started walking on the water towards Jesus! Only Jesus could help Peter walk on water. It truly was amazing. Until Peter stopped looking at Jesus and looked at the wind.


When Peter saw the wind, he got scared and started to sink in the water. Oh, no! 


But Jesus reached out and caught Peter by the hand so he wouldn’t sink. Then they both got back in the boat together. Whew!


After everyone was back in the boat, the wind stopped. The disciples looked at Jesus and said, “You really are God’s Son!” You know, Jesus really is the most amazing friend ever. He’s the only friend who has the power to always be with us, even if it means walking on water! Yes, Jesus can always be with you and me, because Jesus is God’s Son.






Bible Paraphrase: “I am with you always.” —Matthew 28:20, NIV

Text Truth: Our friend Jesus is always with us.



Family Devotional

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
—Matthew 14:28-31

In our Bible story, Jesus did something that only He can do. Jesus walked on water! And because Jesus can walk on water, He can always be with us AND be our friend forever.

“I am with you always.” —Matthew 28:20, NIV

With your family, make a list of your friends. Then when you pray, you can thank God for your friends.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, thank You for our friends. Thank You for [family member]’s friend, [friend’s name] and thank You for [family  member]’s friend, [friend’s name] . . . (continue with family member' and their friend’s name). Most of all, thank You for sending Jesus to be our friend forever. Jesus truly is the best friend EVER. We love You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

-
Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence.
-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Early Christians Shared Everything

Image
Acts 4:32-37 Our story comes from a book of the Bible called Acts. That name is short for “the Acts of the Apostles.” The word "Apostle" is another word to describe a helper of Jesus. Our Bible story tells us about some people who loved Jesus. The people were gathered together in a room. Buzz, buzz, buzz. The room filled with talking and laughter. The people called themselves Christians because they did what Jesus Christ said to do (Christian means "follower of Christ"). The Christians knew that Jesus was God’s Son. They wanted others to know about Jesus, too. Grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, and children met together in homes. They would pray, sing, and learn about Jesus together. All these people loved Jesus. They were like one big, happy family. Because they loved Jesus, the Christians happily shared what they had more than others. Everything a person had was happily shared with the rest of the Bible-time Christians. They shared food so every...
Read more

Abraham and His Family Moved to a New Land

Image
Genesis 12:1-9 Our story comes from the book, or part, of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis means "the beginning." A man and woman lived in a land called Ur. The man was named Abram and the woman was named Sarai. Abram and Sarai were husband and wife. God called Abram and Sarai and gave them new names! Abram means “nobel father.” But God changed his name to “Abraham,” which means “father of many.” Sarai” means “princess.” But God changed her name to “Sarah,” which means “mother of nations.” Now they were Abraham and Sarah, "father of many" and "mother of nations!" Abraham grew up in the land called Ur. When he was grown, Abraham moved with his family to a new land called Haran. But then, in the land of Haran, God appeared to Abraham and told him to leave his country. God told Abraham to move to a new land. God promised to be with Abraham and show him where to go. God also promised to give Abraham children, grandchildren, and many g...
Read more

Jacob and Esau

Image
Genesis 27:41a; 32:9-21; 33:3-11 Our story comes from the book, or part, of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis means "the beginning." The Bible tells us about two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers. They were the sons of Isaac and the grandsons of Abraham. Jacob and Esau were born at the same time and were the same age. But Esau was a couple of minutes older than Jacob. Because Esau was the oldest son, he would someday receive a special blessing from their father. That was very important. One day, Jacob tricked his father Isaac into giving Jacob the important blessing instead of Esau. Esau was very mad. Esau was so angry that Jacob became afraid. Jacob decided to move away from Esau. So he packed up his things and traveled to another land. Even though God didn’t like what Jacob had done to Esau, God still blessed Jacob. God gave Jacob a large family and many animals. After many years, God told Jacob it was time to g...
Read more