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Jonah 3.1-5,10; Psalm 62.5-12; 1 Corinthians 7.29-31; Mark 1.14-20

Explore and respond

Adult & All Age

Explore and respond

Ways to engage different ages, spiritual styles and learning preferences

Ideas for a sermon or interactive talk

See also Thought for the week to read out in place of a sermon; and 'The week in focus', linking the readings to the news. 

  • People change direction in life frequently today. Almost no one has a job for life any more; many people have several careers. What does it feel like to retrain and begin a new line of work? Is it exciting, scary or both? How does this experience relate to the story of the disciples abandoning their careers in fishing and following Jesus? Is this a life choice the disciples make, or a response to being chosen by Jesus? What difference does it make if you believe that you’re answering a call from God?

  • We often think of hesitancy as a less attractive quality seen in someone unable to make their mind up, whereas careful forethought – assessing and evaluating possible outcomes before making a decision – is a good quality. Do we commend the disciples for their unhesitating commitment to Jesus, or wonder about the impact of their decision on their dependants? What if forethought is the foundation for an unhesitating ‘Yes’ to Jesus? Are Christians called to live their lives in a state of readiness, expecting that the Lord will be at work in our lives in new ways? There is a strong link between unhesitating service and the practice of trusting God from day to day.

  • Fishermen have many skills. They need patience and the ability to endure hours in the hot sun or the cold wind. They need to notice the movement of the water that reveals the presence of the fish. They need strength to play a big fish and gentleness to land it. These are all transferable qualities. Sharing God’s message also demands patience and endurance, sensitivity to other people and careful attention to the ways of bringing them into Jesus’ presence. No wonder Jesus spoke about becoming ‘fishers of people’! What about other skills that people have developed over the course of their work and life? How might God make use of these as resources for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ?

  • Obedience is not the admired quality in our society that it once was. For some, it is associated with outdated ideas of marriage or the status of a subject or servant. Many people value much more the right to express their own opinions, to challenge the status quo, to protest unjust decisions – and sometimes to be deliberately disobedient. Centuries of Christian protests have attributed this to obedience to a different authority, and one that focuses on justice in a way not always found in worldly powers and authorities. Many people saw Jesus as disobedient for the same reason. He consistently challenged rules and practices. because his obedience was to the authority of God, which transcends human restrictions and flows from love. Where does our obedience lie?

 

Thought for the week: Can you hear God calling?

Have you ever tried to ignore a ringing phone? Perhaps some of us are more disciplined than others. Perhaps it is easier now that many phones – mobile phones, in particular – show us who is calling before we pick up. But for many people, it is a hard thing to do – and research shows it’s getting harder! 

A study in Austin, Texas, showed that simply having their mobile phone in the same room as them made people less effective at a given task. With social media on our phones as well, we can see our friends, their current ‘status’, and their ‘news’ (or is it gossip?). We can see the national news, weather updates, traffic updates. We can access our emails. And much more. And that’s on top of using it as an actual phone to call people – colleagues, friends and family – to speak to them, or receive calls from them. 

And that’s all in just one small amazing device. What about all the other demands on our attention and time? How much harder is it to hear God’s voice in our everyday lives, when they are full of so many preoccupations and distractions? Are we expecting God to compete with the other voices in our lives? Should we ask God to speak up? 

The disciples were busy when God, through Jesus, called them. They had financial pressures, family pressures and peer pressures pushing them – just as we do. So, the fact that they were able to hear, and to recognise and respond to Jesus’ voice is – at least in part – what marks them out as followers of Jesus. Many others were invited to follow Jesus, or thought about it, but ended up walking away. If we feel that we don’t hear God’s voice in our daily lives, perhaps we need to ask ourselves whether or not we are making enough space in the daily noise to really listen. 

 

All age act of worship Session

Active worship

A familiar game with a twist

A fun way to illustrate the challenge of distractions.

  • Invite two pairs of people to the front to play Pictionary™. Give each pair a pen and a flip chart (or large sheet of paper). Give one of each pair a word (whisper it or pass a slip of paper). Those two people draw something (not words!) to help their partner guess the word. When the correct word is guessed, they reverse roles.
  • Start with an easy word (e.g. table or aeroplane), but move quickly to more challenging examples (use things that are relevant or amusing in your context). Play five ‘rounds’ of the game to prevent it running too long.
  • While the game is being played, have another person stand behind the two teams reading a few simple sentences in a normal speaking voice – e.g. an address or a historical fact.
  • After the five rounds, announce that the winner will be the person/pair who can best remember what was read out behind them while they were playing the game.
    W E

 

Questions for discussion

Listening to Jesus in our daily routine.

The disciples were in their daily routine when Jesus came and called to them. With so much to do, and pressure from others to complete work and make money, it would have been easy for them to have ignored him.

  • Where in our daily routine is Jesus speaking to us? Are we missing his voice as we struggle to complete all that is expected of us by family, colleagues and friends?
  • If we were to hear him, what would we expect him to say?
  • Would we be willing to change what we are doing if he asks us to?

 

A listening exercise

Explore how we listen to each other and to God.

  • Working in pairs, ask one person to talk about a recent holiday or trip out, and the other person actively to convey ‘not listening’ – e.g. avoid eye contact, check phone, look out of the window. After one minute, swap roles. Invite feedback about how it felt to talk without being listened to.
  • Now repeat the exercise, but with the listener making an effort to show that they are truly listening. Reflect on how much easier it is to speak when someone is listening. In pairs, discuss how you might indicate that you are listening to God when you pray.
  • Agree at least one practical step or action for each person during the coming week. (If circumstances allow, the following week you could check out how this went.)
    E

 

A simple worship activity

Pray for the week ahead.

  • Display a calendar or diary and turn to the page for the previous week. Invite people to recall again the past week (see Gather). Was there any place or time where you felt that you ignored or dismissed God speaking to you?
  • Now turn the calendar/diary to the week ahead. Invite people to look ahead and think about people that they will have contact with in the coming week. What problems, anxieties or worries might you be facing? What might stop you from hearing God’s voice?
  • Gather these thoughts together and offer them in prayer.
    E S A

 

Two pen and paper exercises – choose one.

Finding time in the daily routine.

  • Give everyone a sheet made to look like a page from a ‘day-to-a-page’ diary, and a pen. Invite people to fill in the diary sheet with as much detail about their regular/typical daily routine as they can recall.
  • When complete, invite people to look for spaces. That is: where are the times/moments in their day where they can pause and pray, listen to a hymn, read from the Bible or Bible notes?
  • Invite them to review how they actually use such times; or if they found none, how they might make some.
    W A

Looking for God in everyday decisions.

  • Give everyone a small sheet of paper and a pen. Ask them to draw a line down the middle of the paper.
  • On the left-hand side, invite them to write down any decisions or commitments they have made recently, and what they hoped to gain from each one (e.g. to lose weight, to make better use of time).
  • Next, ask them to think about what following Jesus more closely in daily life might look like in practice, and on the right-hand side, to write down at least one or two achievable resolutions or commitments.
  • Take the paper home and review it from time to time.
    W

 

 

Activity sheet

 

Drama: Chance of a lifetime (part one)

 

Spiritual styles abbreviations
W Word E Emotion S Symbol A Action
Read our Spiritual Styles articles

Children & Youth

Explore and respond

Activities marked with an asterisk  next to the activity title are in addition to the resources in the Ready to go sessions. Suggested timings for these activities are also shown. NB The inclusion of additional activities varies from week to week.

 

 

  VERY YOUNG CHILDREN

Very young childrens Session

Follow the leader

Play and explore watching and following

Play ‘Simon says’ where the children have to follow the leader. Lead some actions relating to the story, e.g. fishing.

 

Fish and people

Create a display of what Jesus asks us to fish for

Provide card fish and people shapes for each child to decorate with collage materials. Use these to create a display, in a large net.

 

FOR CHILDREN

Very young children's Session
Children's Session

Quick response game    E

See how quickly we respond to a signal

You will need: a large cushion, a bell or alarm.

  • Place a large cushion in the middle of the room and play the bell/alarm to the group.
  • Encourage the children to move around the room in different ways, e.g. walk, run, hop. But also ask them to listen for the bell/alarm. When they hear it, the first child to touch the cushion is the winner.
  • Repeat the game to see how quickly the children respond. Revisit the passage; point out that the fishermen responded immediately.
Very young childrens Session

 

Childrens Session

Make an invitation      W E A

Create something to ask others to follow Jesus

You will need: folded sheets of A5 coloured card, pens, craft materials, stickers, glue.

  • Give each person a folded A5 piece of card. Ask them to write ‘You are invited to follow Jesus. Will you respond?’ on the outside, and on the inside, write ‘R.S.V.P.’ leaving space for people to write (pre-prepare for younger children).
  • Provide everyone with pens, stickers and craft materials. Ask them to make the card look like an invitation to the greatest party.
  • Encourage everyone to take their invitation home and invite the whole family to write their names under the R.S.V.P. if they want to respond to Jesus.

 

Sing

Key to abbreviations for hymn book titles

I’m going to take a step of faith (CPR 87)

Find more suggestions on the Hymns, songs & music page.

 

Talk together and talk to God

Use these questions to discuss the Bible passage and then bring your thoughts together by praying to God.

Talk together

  • Why is it sometimes hard to make decisions and respond immediately?
  • How would you feel being asked to leave lots of things behind as the fishermen did?
  • In what ways do you think we are asked to follow Jesus today?

 

Talk to God: Fish prayers    E S

Make and pray about responding to Jesus

You will need: strips of coloured or patterned paper L10cm x W2cm, scissors, pens.

  • Provide each child with a strip of paper and show them how to cut a slit about 1cm from either end, at opposite sides of the paper. Ask the children to write their name on one side of the paper and fit the slits together to make a fish. If the children hold the fish up and then let it go it should spin as it falls.
  • Ask everyone to stand holding their fish and say the prayer together.
    When you all say ‘Amen’ they can let go of the fish and watch them spin to the ground.

    Pray:
    Jesus, we want to respond when we hear you call our names.
    We want to live our lives with you.
    We want you to be with us.
    Amen. 

 

Activity sheet

 

 Do something different game   10 minsE

Explore what risks we are willing to take

  • Ask the group to line up along one wall facing into the room. Explain that you are going to ask a series of questions to see if they would take the risk and respond with a ‘yes’. If they would, they should take a step forward.
  • Questions could include: Would you…? try a new food; learn a new sport; dive off a diving board; go on a protest; move to a different school; abseil; start a new activity; live in a different country? When individuals step forward, ask them what the risks might be.
  • Finish by asking: Would you respond and say ‘yes’ to Jesus? Talk about what the risks of following Jesus might be.

 

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Young people Session

Make newspaper fish  5 minsW E

Think about what it means to ‘fish for people’

You will need: newspapers, watch/countdown timer, prize for winning team (Haribo™ freaky fish would be ideal!), pens.

  • Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a newspaper and challenge them to make as many fish as they can in two minutes, by ripping up the newspaper. Award a prize to the winning team. NB You may want to save these fish for the prayer activity.
  • Explain that Simon and Andrew were catching fish when they first met Jesus, and he invited them to fish for people which changed their lives for ever. Ask: Would you have responded so quickly to this invitation? 

 

Social media followers 10 minsW E

Consider the cost – and reward – of being a disciple

You will need: access to the internet. 

  • Do an internet search for the celebrities with the most Instagram followers. Display or print pictures of the top 10 without their names and rank. Invite the young people to name the celebrities and put them in order, from the lowest to highest number of followers.
  • Have a conversation with the group about who the celebrities are using some of these questions: Would you follow them? Why/why not? What does it mean to follow someone on social media? What would you have to give up/change to be a follower? What is the benefit of being one of their followers?

 

Fish prayers10 minsE S

Pray for those who we would like to follow Jesus

You will need: paper fish or fish from Make newspaper fish.

  • Give out the ‘fish’ and ask the young people to write names on them, either their own or someone they know who they would like to follow Jesus. Put the fish in a net and ask each person to pull out one each (not one they wrote).
  • Invite the young people to hold the fish and pray for each of the people. They can keep them as a reminder to pray for this person through the week.

  

Check-in: Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues

 

 Last one’s out    5 mins  E

 Consider situations where we must make a quick decision

You will need: music and equipment to play it.

  • Play some music and invite the group to move around the room. When the music stops, the last person to sit down is ‘out’.
  • Explain that sometimes we must respond quickly, and if you hesitate, you lose! Explain that in today’s session we see how the disciples followed Jesus straight away. Ask the group why the disciples might have followed Jesus immediately. What was it about Jesus that made them want to follow him?

 

Spiritual styles abbreviations
W Word E Emotion S Symbol A Action
Read our Spiritual Styles articles

 

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