Matthew

Matthew 9:9-10

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 through town. 


He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his table. Matthew was a tax collector. His job was to collect money from people to give to the rulers. Not many people liked Matthew because they thought tax collectors weren’t kind or fair.


But Jesus loved Matthew. Jesus walked up to him and said, “Follow Me!” Matthew was so surprised and happy that Jesus wanted him to be one of His special helpers, called disciples. Right away, Matthew got up, left his table, and followed Jesus.


Later, Matthew invited Jesus to his house for dinner. He wanted his friends to meet Jesus, too! Some of Matthew’s friends were people that others didn’t like, but Jesus was happy to eat with them and spend time with them. Jesus showed them that God loves everyone, no matter who they are.


Jesus loves everyone, and He wants us to follow Him, just like Matthew did. We can share Jesus’ love by being kind to others.


Dear God,

Thank You for loving everyone, no matter who they are. Thank You for calling Matthew to follow You and for showing us how to love others. Please help us to follow You every day and to share Your love with everyone we meet. 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 Matthew, reinforcing the themes of following Jesus, showing love, and including everyone.

1. Table Craft for Matthew

Objective: Help children visualize Matthew’s table and connect it to the story.

Materials: Paper, crayons, markers, and stickers (optional).

Activity: Give each child a piece of paper and ask them to draw a table with coins on it, representing Matthew’s job as a tax collector. Afterward, they can draw themselves with Jesus at the table, just like Matthew did when he invited Jesus to dinner. Talk about how Jesus loved Matthew and wanted to be his friend.


2. Musical “Follow Me” Game

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

Materials: Music (instrumental or a simple children’s worship song).

Activity: Play music and have the children march or dance around the room. When the music stops, call out, “Follow Jesus!” and have the children pretend to follow an imaginary Jesus. Repeat the game and encourage them to think about what it means to follow Jesus, just like Matthew did.


3. Love Everyone Heart Collage

Objective: Teach children about Jesus’ love for everyone.

Materials: Construction paper, scissors, glue, and colorful scraps of paper or stickers.

Activity: Cut out large heart shapes from construction paper. Let the children glue colorful scraps of paper or stickers onto their hearts to decorate them. Write “Jesus Loves Everyone” in the center of each heart. As they create, talk about how Jesus loved Matthew and his friends, and He loves us, too.


4. Act It Out: Jesus and Matthew

Objective: Bring the story to life through role-play.

Materials: None.

Activity: Assign roles to the children (one can be Jesus, another can be Matthew, and others can be friends or people in town). Reenact the story, starting with Matthew at his table and Jesus saying, “Follow Me!” Let the children pretend to leave the table and follow Jesus, then act out the dinner with Matthew’s friends. Talk about how Jesus invites everyone to follow Him.
 
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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 license.
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