Rio Vista Church

The
Heart Behind
Family Worship

Family Worship is a devotional plan which equips your family to build upon the gospel truths your child learns Sunday in children’s church

We include scripture, questions, and a prayer for you and your child to engage with throughout the week. It is our goal to give you tools to help model a personal worship practice for your children. 

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Unit 20: Session 4

Jesus’ First Followers

Big Picture Unit Question:

Is Jesus God or a human? Jesus is fully God and fully human.

Christ Connection:

Jesus still calls people to follow Him today as His disciples. Everyone who repents and trusts that Jesus died and rose again for their sins is His disciple. Jesus is worth following, no matter what we have to leave behind.

Preschool Bible Story

Elementary Bible Story

Have you ever played “Follow the Leader?” In the game, one person is the leader, and the rest of the group must imitate whatever actions he or she does. If the leader jumps up and down, then the group must jump up and down. If the leader clucks like a chicken, everyone must also cluck like a chicken. The point of the game is to pay special attention to the leader and mimic what they do.

Thinking about the rules of this game helps us understand what Jesus meant when He said to the disciples, “Follow Me.” Jesus was inviting them to walk with Him and watch Him teach people about the kingdom of God. Along the way, Jesus would also be teaching them and showing them how He is the Son of God. Then, Jesus would give them power and opportunity to share in the work of telling others about the kingdom of God.

One day, these followers of Jesus would have the chance to tell the world the good news about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This small group of disciples led to hundreds of followers, and after Jesus’ resurrection the number of believers grew into the thousands! Today, there are billions of people who have accepted the invitation to believe in Jesus and follow Him!

Jesus still calls people to follow Him today as His disciples. Everyone who repents and trusts that Jesus died and rose again for their sins is His disciple. Jesus is worth following, no matter what we have to leave behind.

Preschool Bible Verse

Elementary Bible Verse

Questions:

1) How was Jesus able to see Nathanael under the tree?

Share that Jesus’ statement displayed His identity as God. Remind kids that because Jesus is God, He is omniscient. He knows everything about us and desires a personal relationship with us! (Psalm 139:1-4.)

2) What does the name Son of Man mean?

Explain that the name “Son of Man” refers to an Old Testament prophecy where Daniel described someone who would rule the world forever. Remind kids that Jesus is the sinless Son of God who the prophets pointed to! (Daniel 7:13-14.)

3) Does following Jesus cost us anything?

Share that salvation is a free gift from God and that we can’t earn it by being good enough on our own. However, Jesus also tells people to count the cost of following Him. To be a disciple of Jesus, we must be willing to turn away from our sin and want to live for His glory, not our own. Following Jesus is not easy, but He offers something the world cannot: salvation and eternal life through Himself. (Matthew 16:24-25.)

Pray:

Jesus, You are the Son of God. You are the King who lived a perfect life, died as a sacrifice for sin, and rose again as the King above all kings. Help us believe in this good news and to share it with the world who needs to hear it. Amen.

Additional Resources:

Worship Video

The Apostle’s Creed

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.