The church picnic was coming in September, and I was tasked (for reasons unknown to me) to make the announcement in the Sunday morning services.
The church had about 2,000 people at each service, so I prepared my little three-minute announcement and memorized it. I was locked, loaded, and ready to go when I stepped up on the stage and looked out over the sea of heads and……. froze.
As prepared as I was, there was nothing like the experience of standing in front of a large crowd. Fortunately, the lead pastor sensed my stage fright and conducted a deft little interview that allowed me to at least mumble a few words which he filled in with the proper information.
Nothing can prepare you for that experience!
Experience is a powerful teacher, and this is evident in Jesus’ teaching ministry in the New Testament. It certainly is crucial in life changing children’s ministry.
We see experiential activities featured in Jesus’ ministry with Peter.
“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to take out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So, they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:1-11 NIV)
Having studied physics as an undergraduate, I have always been fascinated by technical issues of the Bible.
One of them is how people were able to communicate to such large crowds without the benefit of a microphone, megaphone, or some kind of sound amplification system.
This passage provides a hint as Jesus heads out in a boat (vs. 3) where the water would amplify the sound of His voice.
After completing a teaching session, Jesus turns His attention to Peter. His intention was to call Peter as His disciple. This truth (vv. 10-11) is preceded by an experiential activity.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is one of the few places in the Bible that speaks directly and explicitly about how to lead a life-changing children’s ministry. A key and impactful element is experiential teaching. I explained this in more detail in an earlier blog.
I have used experiential teaching activities for over forty years, but this activity that Jesus organizes is in another league…. a real whopper.
Before calling Peter to follow Him and become a fisher of men, He has Peter throw out a net in a spot that was “fished out. ” He causes the net to be filled with so many fish, that it is at its breaking point (vv. 4-7).
There are three things we can learn from Jesus’ experiential activity.
The Activity was Familiar
Jesus does not choose an unfamiliar activity, but rather something absolutely familiar to Peter.
Peter was a fisherman by trade and had spent hours on the water fishing. He was familiar with all kinds of nets, fish, and techniques. Jesus chose a daily activity as His experiential activity.
I have experienced and we also teach children’s ministry leaders that the simplest and most common activities are often the most effective experiential activities.
Things like drinking, cleaning dirty hands, carrying heavy objects, singing, walking, whispering, hand-holding, or tossing a ball can be the most effective experiential activities.
Often, we feel the need to create some complicated, extravagant activity; and while those can be effective, simplicity and familiarity are often more impactful.
Last week, we lined up in teams on the side of the table and blew empty plastic cups across the table. It was a race with each “heat” having a winner. The winners competed in the final round. The kids loved it. Then we filled the cups with liquid and tried again.
Each cup was filled so that you could not blow it one inch with a straw. In fact, the cups wouldn’t budge.
After the activity, we watched a video of Peter and John being brought before the Jewish leaders in a trial. In the face of this challenge, persecution, and difficulty, they spoke boldly citing Psalm 118:22 in their defense.
The Word of God was their anchor and strength in the face of the “blowing” trouble they faced. Without God’s Word, we are like the empty cup blown to and fro. With God’s Word, we can experience strength and confidence in the face of difficulties.
A simple activity involving cups, straws, and water helped the children experience that important Bible truth.
Impacted Peter Beyond the Cognitive
Jesus was about to communicate an important truth. He was about to communicate cognitively to Peter, His desire to make him a disciple and a fisher of men.
However, rather than just communicating that cognitive element, Jesus first engages Peter’s senses. There was the smell of fish, the tossing of fish in the net, the water splashing, and the near sinking of the boats by the volume of fish (vs. 7).
It was a full sensory moment that only made the truth more impactful. And so it is in a transformational ministry.
When experiential activities are used, the truth comes alive as it is communicated through the senses and the spoken or written word.
This is not just some teaching trick or clever methodology, but rather one rooted in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and in Jesus' larger ministry.
Connected to Truth
Finally, the experiential activity is linked directly to truth teaching.
Granted, it would have been an amazing moment in and of itself, but the real impact came when Jesus connected Peter’s experience to the truth of the calling.
Experiential activities are only activities until they are connected to the teaching of Bible truth.
At that point, they become powerful ways of teaching the Word of God. Transformational children’s ministry includes experiential activities that are connected to the teaching of God’s Word.
Closing Thoughts
One of my favorite games is “Four Corners” (How to Play Four Corners: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow), where children sneak from numbered corners, trying to avoid detection while a blind-folded child sits in the middle of the room calling out a corner number after the children sneak from corner to corner.
Tiptoeing, sneakiness, and stealth are essential elements for success. Following the game, we taught from Genesis 4, where Cain murders Abel and then thinks his sin will be hidden from God.
Like so many others in the Bible (David, Achan, Ananias, and Saphira), Cain discovers that God is not wearing a blindfold. He learns that all kinds of tip-toeing, sneaking, and stealth can not keep our sins from an all-knowing God.
Experiential teaching runs throughout the Bible as I have written about over the months:
- Smooth Stone #2: Jesus and Experiential Teaching
- Smooth Stone #2: Paul and Experiential Teaching
- Smooth Stone #2 – God and Moses (Experience)
This weekend, include experiential teaching in your life-changing children’s ministry and see God work!