4.7 Jesus & His Disciples

This is lesson 7 in our study of Jesus on Wednesday night for preschool.

The visuals I decided to create for this class are two per page. The pictures have a flap for the teacher to fold on the dotted line and it will be a stand-up. I plan to add each one as I teach and line them up on the table.

Let’s talk about the helpers that Jesus picked. They are called Disciples, which means follower. Jesus picked 12 men to follow Him.

Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, and He saw two brothers fishing. (1) Peter and (2) Andrew was throwing a net into the sea. Jesus told them "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately, they left their nets, and they followed Jesus!

Then, Jesus saw two more brothers named (3) James and (4) John. They were in a boat fixing their fishing nets. But, when Jesus called to them, they left the boat immediately to follow Jesus.

Jesus went to Galilee, and He found (5) Philip and told him to “Follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida. Philip found (6) Bartholomew. He was also called Nathanael. He asked Philip if anything good could come out of Nazareth and Philip told him to come and see Jesus!

Jesus was walking and He saw a man named (7) Matthew sitting in a tax office.  Jesus told Matthew to "Follow Me", and Matthew stood up and followed Jesus!

Matthew was a tax collector. He collected taxes outside the city of Capernaum. People who came by him had to pay taxes for items they traded. The fishermen also paid taxes on their catches. People didn’t like the tax collectors because the overcharged to make extra money for themselves. They cheated people!

(8) Thomas is known as Doubting Thomas because he didn’t believe that Jesus, after He died was raised from the dead.

 (9) James is also called James the Less. There were 2 men named James. (Point to the fisherman) Then, (10) Simon and (11) Thaddeus. We don’t know too much about these three.

Last, we have (12) Judas Iscariot. He is the one that betrayed Jesus. Judas was the treasurer for the Disciples. He betrayed Jesus for money.
Jesus told His disciples to “Go, teach all people, baptize and do what I have taught you.” Matthew 28:19-20.

Scriptures are Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9-13, Luke 6:12-15, John 1:43-51; 12:6

Click here to download the stand-up visuals.

You can download the full-size visuals here.

Click here to download the worksheet.

When we came to Matthew the tax collector, I used this display. We went to the table, and I showed them how Matthew would have taken money for different goods. You can see more next week when the post in live.

The lesson is for Jesus picking the four fishermen for Disciples. So, we decided to do an overall lesson on all the Disciples. This includes the color and black & white. It also has a teacher's visual ready to print. Students can glue as you discuss each Disciple, or this worksheet can be used with a review. I cut the disciples out and put them through my sticker maker before class. They love stickers! It doesn't matter if they mix up the men, since we don't know what they looked like anyway. Click here to download.

Click here to download the lesson.

  

Click here to download the teacher's visuals.

Click here to download the pictures to color.

Click here to download a one-page foldable disciple's book.

 

Click here to see the ideas and more for preschool at D is for Disciples of Jesus.
Click here to see the original post with Jesus is the Great Physician.

Another lesson in this series is Jesus eating with Matthew. People didn't like the tax collectors back then, but Jesus told Matthew "Follow Me." And Matthew did. Right away. Some people didn't like that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus told them that He was there to help people. I used the Great Physician Kit on pages 8-9 in this Miracles pack. Click here to download it. 

There are several posts using the same graphics. The Venn worksheets are here.

There are quite a few ideas and printables, including the lesson for the Disciples here. 

 More ideas and printables for the Disciples here!

The Disciple's Anchor Charts have a picture and an 'About Me' on each page. There are several extra posters for Disciples and the Apostles are included also. 

Click here to download the updated posters.