Simon Peter Youth Edition: Flawed but Faithful Disciple

By Adam Hamilton

Simon Peter was an ordinary fisherman who heard an extraordinary call. He was not rich or educated, but he was familiar with hard work. He was quick-tempered and impetuous but possessed a passion that would change the world. He left everything to follow his teacher, yet struggled with doubt and fear.


Join pastor and author Adam Hamilton in this six-week Lenten journey, and take an in-depth dive into the life, faith, and character of Simon Peter.


Chapters Include:

The Call of Simon the Fisherman

Walking with Jesus in the Storm

Bedrock or Stumbling Block?

“I Will Not Deny You”
From Cowardice to Courage
The Rest of the Story

This Youth Study Book takes the ideas presented in Adam Hamilton’s book and interprets them for young people grades 6-12.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Dec 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501846113

Adam Hamilton

Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. Started in 1990 with four people, the church has grown to become the largest United Methodist Church in the United States with over 18,000 members. The church is well known for connecting with agnostics, skeptics, and spiritual seekers. In 2012, it was recognized as the most influential mainline church in America, and Hamilton was asked by the White House to deliver the sermon at the Obama inaugural prayer service. Hamilton, whose theological training includes an undergraduate degree from Oral Roberts University and a graduate degree from Southern Methodist University where he was honored for his work in social ethics, is the author of nineteen books. He has been married to his wife, LaVon, for thirty-one years and has two adult daughters.

Book preview

1.

THE CALL OF THE FISHERMAN

Opening Activity: Simon Peter Scavenger Hunt

Supplies: newspapers, magazines

From Simon Peter, by Adam Hamilton:

The Gospel writers . . . lift up Simon Peter as representing those of us who believe in and seek to follow Jesus. Like Peter, you and I have chosen to follow Jesus. We’ve given up something to answer his call. At our best we would, like Peter, boldly proclaim that we would die for Christ if necessary. Yet we’ve all at times lost our courage, taken our eyes off of Jesus, misunderstood his teaching, and even denied him. Just as Jesus reveals and represents God, Simon Peter represents all who seek to follow Jesus.

Form as many teams of two to four participants as total group size will allow. Give teams five minutes to find pictures of as many of the following as possible in the newspapers and magazines. Each picture found is worth a point; if a group finds a picture of one of the items no other group finds, that picture is worth two points. The team with the most points wins.

fish

fishing

a lake

a boat

a storm

rocks and stones

ghost

keys

church

king

dirty feet

sword

rooster

campfire

sheep

blanket or sheet

Peter

Jesus

All of these items connect, in some way, to the subject of our study, Simon Peter. Depending on how much you already know about Peter and his life, you may get many or even all of the connections; if not, you will understand them by the time the study is finished. Either way, you will also gain an appreciation of what Simon Peter still has to teach us about being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Opening Prayer

After the scavenger hunt, open your discussion with this prayer or one of your own:

Lord Jesus, your holy interruptions in our lives challenge us to leave behind everything that would get in our way as we try to follow you and share your love. May your Spirit help us trust you whenever and however you call us, so we may discover how deep and abundant life can be when we live it trusting you. Amen.

Read and Reflect on Scripture

One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.

Simon replied, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the