Simon, Andrew, James, and John

Matthew 4:18-22

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!”

One day, Jesus was walking by a big lake. He saw two men working by the water. Their names were Simon and Andrew, and they were fishermen. Do you know what fishermen do? They catch fish with big nets!


Simon and Andrew were throwing their nets into the water to catch some fish. Then Jesus called out to them and said, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!” Simon and Andrew didn’t know exactly what that meant, but they knew Jesus was special. They wanted to follow Him and learn from Him. So, they left their nets and their boat right away and went with Jesus.


Jesus kept walking by the lake and saw two more fishermen, James and John. They were sitting in their boat with their father, Zebedee, fixing their nets. Jesus called out to them too, “Come, follow Me!”


James and John looked at Jesus, and they knew He was calling them to do something important. They left their boat and their father and went with Jesus.


Simon, Andrew, James, and John became Jesus’ helpers, His disciples. They followed Jesus everywhere He went, learning from Him and helping Him tell people about God’s love.


Jesus calls us to follow Him, just like He called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. We can follow Jesus by listening to Him, learning from Him, and showing God’s love to others.


Dear God,

Thank You for calling Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Jesus and be His helpers. Thank You for calling us to follow Jesus, too. Please help us to listen to Him, learn from Him, and show Your love to others. We love You, God. 

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.






Bible Verse: “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” — Matthew 4:19, BSB

Paraphrase: “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said.



Activities

These activities will help preschoolers engage with the story of Jesus calling His disciples, reinforcing the themes of following Jesus and learning from Him.

1. Fishing for Followers Game

Objective: Help children remember how Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen called to follow Jesus.

Materials: A small basket or box, paper fish cutouts, and a toy fishing rod or string with a magnet/sticky tape.

Activity: Scatter the paper fish around the room or in a basket. Write or draw a picture of a happy face on some fish to represent followers of Jesus. Let the children “catch” the fish one by one. After each catch, say, “Jesus says, ‘Come, follow Me!’” and talk about how Jesus called His disciples to follow Him.


2. Musical Follow-the-Leader

Objective: Reinforce the idea of following Jesus through a music-based activity.

Materials: Music (any upbeat or calming instrumental music will work).

Activity: Play music and lead the children in a game of “Follow-the-Leader.” The leader can walk, hop, wave, or clap as the others follow along. Pause occasionally and say, “Who are we following? Jesus!” Remind them that just like the disciples followed Jesus, we can follow Him, too.


3. Boat Craft

Objective: Help children connect with the story by making their own boats, like the ones the disciples used.

Materials: Paper plates, craft sticks, construction paper, glue, and crayons.

Activity: Give each child a paper plate and let them draw or color it to look like a boat. Use a craft stick and a triangle of paper to make a sail, attaching it to the plate. As they create, talk about how Simon, Andrew, James, and John were in their boats when Jesus called them to follow Him.


4. Act It Out: Jesus Calls the Disciples

Objective: Help children experience the story through role-play.

Materials: None.

Activity: Assign roles: one child can be Jesus, and the others can be Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Have “Jesus” say, “Come, follow Me!” and the other children pretend to leave their nets and boats to follow Jesus. Afterward, talk about how exciting it is to follow Jesus and learn from Him.
 
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Story illustrations are made possible by a joint venture of Good News Productions, International and College Press Publishing Co. Artist. Paula Nash Giltner (http://www.theglobalgospel.org). FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) have been granted permission to make these images freely available for personal, teaching and ministry use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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