Following God, Teen Lesson

Thursday:	Following God
Main Passage:	John 21
Other Passages:	John 15:10, 1st John 5:3, Matthew 7:1-5
Objective:	We should follow God.
Memory Verse:	Colossians 1:10-12, And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Story: Fish in the Morning

After Jesus raised from the dead, he appeared again to his disciples by the sea of Galilee. [Show map.] The disciples were sitting by the sea, and decided to go fishing, since several of them were fishermen. They fished all night and caught nothing. In the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but they didn't recognise him. He called out, Friends, haven't you caught any fish? No. Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. They did, and the net got so full that they were unable to haul it in. John said, It is the Lord! Peter jumped in to swim to shore, and they followed in the boat.

They landed, and Jesus said, Bring some of the fish you have just caught. He had a fire they had fish and bread for breakfast.

Then Jesus talked with them. He talked with Peter and said, Follow me. But Peter saw John and said, What about him? Jesus said, What is that to you? You must follow me.

First Point: Lordship

When the net was full of fish, John and Peter recognised who Jesus was. What did John say? (It is the Lord.) What does it mean that Jesus is the Lord? [Discuss.]

Second Point: Resurrection

Why were they surprised that Jesus was there? Why didn't they recognise him at first? (Because he had died.) We talked yesterday about Jesus walking around on the earth after he was raised from the dead.

Application: Following God

Peter was a lot like we are. He should have been concerned about his own spiritual condition, but instead he was looking at John. We should follow Jesus because he loves us, and because he died for us, and just because he is the Lord.

[Have a volunteer read John 21:15-17.] Jesus was telling Peter to make sure that the church was looked after, to make sure that their spiritual needs were met. Basically, he was calling Peter to be a pastor. Peter needed to do this to follow Jesus.

Then Jesus tells him something else. [Have a volunteer read v.18-21.] Peter is still more worried about somebody else (John) than his own task. Instead of asking Jesus how he can do his job, he's asking about the other guy. Jesus sets him straight. [Have a volunteer read v.22-23.] Jesus was telling Peter to worry about what Peter needed to do, to follow Jesus. We can go through live worrying about whether everyone else is following God, ignoring our own spiritual needs, but we need to follow God ourselves first. Only when we are obeying God can we help others.

[Look at the Matthew 7 passage if time permits.]

Invitation: Following God

[Invite any teens who would like to talk about how they can follow God to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.]

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.