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Kids Bible Lesson: Jonah Gets Mad at God’s Mercy

Kelly Henderson — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:22:02 +0000

This lesson is based on Jonah’s response to God’s mercy to the Ninevites from Jonah 4. Jonah had experienced God’s mercy and was given a second chance in his life. Jonah was unmerciful in his response to God’s compassion and mercy to the repentant Ninevites. The lesson uses Matthew 18:21-35 to bring in a New Testament Scripture as a parallel passage to teach the truth that God has shown sinners great mercy and believers should respond to those who have offended them with the same kind of mercy. The lesson can be used for Children’s Church and can be simplified for younger students.

Bible Story: Jonah Gets Angry at God’s Mercy
Scripture: Jonah 4; Matthew 18:21-35
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
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Supply List: Bibles, cards with difficult situations, natural responses, and Scripture references to respond to the difficulty, Paper for students to draw scenes from a difficult scenario, book marks or slips of paper

Learning Goal: Students will learn that as believers we can never forget God’s great mercy to us so our hearts can be compassionate and merciful to others. Unbelievers will learn that God is merciful and compassionate and desires all to be saved.

Learning Indicator: Students will demonstrate their understanding to the concept taught in the lesson by answering review questions. If Conflict resolution activity is used, students will be able to utilize God’s word when faced with difficult situations.

Learning Activity #1: Conflict resolution: Create possible difficult situations that your students may likely experience in their life. After each scenario ask the question: “What is our natural response to this difficulty? As a believer and having the Holy Spirit living inside our hearts how should we respond to this difficulty?” (Obey what Scripture teaches us) To make a variation of this for the students to work on as they wait for the other students to arrive. Create cards with the difficult situation. Create cards with the natural responses (examples: angry, sad, don’t want to be friends anymore, quit, etc.). Create cards with Scriptures that would help them know how to respond to that situation. The students would look over the different cards with Scriptures and choose the one that would most likely help in the difficulty (examples: forgive as you have been forgiven, in your anger do not sin, do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good, etc.)

Learning Activity #2: Give students a paper that is divided into 4-6 parts. Have students think of a difficult scenario with another person and draw pictures depicting the scenes and have the final scenes showing the conflict resolved in a way that honors God and is in obedience to His Word.

Learning Activity #3: Have students perform skits of different scenarios where forgiveness needs to be shown.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as Your Father is merciful.”

Teaching Memory Verse: Putting the verse to a familiar tune is a helpful tool for some students to remember the verse. A suggestion would be to sing this Scripture to “God is so good”.

Bible Lesson: Jonah is mad because God is merciful

Nineveh was a wicked city. God saw every evil thing that the Ninevites had done. He saw the times they were cruel to His own children the Israelites. God is holy. Because He is holy God can not allow sin. God is also loving, patient and kind. Sin must be punished. God is merciful and desires for sinners to turn from their sin and turn to Him. He gives them opportunities to repent.

God sent Jonah to Nineveh with a message that He was going to punish them because of their wickedness. When the Ninevites heard God’s message they believed God and turned from their wickedness. God showed them mercy and did not destroy them as He said He would.

How do you think the Ninevites felt to experience God’s kindness? If you were a Ninevite how would your feel? Most people are filled with joy and thankfulness when they have been rescued from death. We don’t know if the Ninevites tried to worship and follow the One True God or not. We can assume they were thankful to Him for letting them live.

God has called His followers to look and act like Him. Let’s look at our Memory verse for today. Luke 6:36: Be merciful, just as Your Father is merciful. Mercy is undeserved kindness. As sinners each of us deserve to be punished for our sins and separated from God forever. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) God has shown His mercy to every man, woman, boy and girl by providing a Savior who left heaven and came to earth as a man. He was sinless and willingly died on the cross taking on the punishment for the sins of all people. He was put to death in a very cruel, painful way by being nailed to a cross. This Savior, Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven. God has shown us mercy and as followers of Jesus we must show mercy to others even if we don’t like them.

(Pass out Bibles to any student who needs one. Hand out slips of papers/bookmarks for them to place in Jonah 4.)

Let’s open our Bibles to Jonah 4. What can you remember from our study from the Book of Jonah? (Allow students to respond). If anyone had received undeserved kindness it was Jonah. Jonah deliberately disobeyed God and went in the opposite direction he was supposed to go. God could have allowed Jonah to go to Tarshish and live the rest of his life there. That would not have been a good thing for Jonah because no one who is a child of God can live in rebellion against God and have peace and joy in his heart. Jonah would have been miserable all the days he lived his life away from God. God could have allowed Jonah to drown when the sailors threw him overboard. But God showed Jonah mercy. Jonah did nothing to deserve God’s kindness. Jonah was loved by God and God was patient and kind with him. When Jonah repented God continued to show mercy by allowing him to have a second chance to the serve as His prophet.

Let’s read Jonah 4:1-4. Jonah had been forgiven and given a second chance in life and he is furious that God would forgive the Ninevites and turn away from punishing them. If you were here when we studied chapter one of Jonah, why did Jonah dislike the Ninevites? They were enemies of God’s people the Israelites. When the Ninevites attacked their enemies they were cruel and violent with them.

From a human perspective it would be hard to forgive the Ninevites for the wicked, violent things they had done to their enemies. As believers we are not asked to look at others from a human point of view. We are to follow our Heavenly Father’s example. We have to know Him well enough to see others as He does.

(Provide a slip of paper for each student so they can keep their place in Jonah 4 while they turn to the next passage you are going to discuss.)

Jonah sounds like a person in one of Jesus’ parables. A parable is a story that Jesus told His audience to help them understand the ways of God’s Kingdom. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Matthew 18:21.

Peter asked Jesus how many times he was to forgive someone who sins against him. He thought 7 times would be plenty of times. Jesus told him that he was to forgive a person who sins against him 70 times 7. How many times does that equal? (490) Jesus didn’t want Peter keeping track of how many times he was to forgive a person so He tells the disciples the following parable:

Once there was a King who was looking at his books that recorded bills that his servants had not paid him back. As he looked at his book he saw that one of his servants owed him millions of dollars. The King decided it was time for this servant to pay back all that money. He sent his servants to bring this man before him. “You must pay back all that you owe me today.” The man looked at the king and knew he had no way of ever paying that bill in one day. The King commanded that his servants take this man, his wife and his children and sell them as slaves to receive money to pay off the bill that this man owed.

The news of his whole family being sold into slavery broke this man’s heart. He fell to his knees before the King and begged him to be patient with him and he promised he would pay back all that he owed. As the King watched this man beg for mercy, he showed compassion for him. He decided to erase the bill from his record book that the man owed. This man was free from having to pay back anything. He no longer owed a large amount of money to the king. He owed nothing to the King because he had shown him mercy and took away the large bill he owed.

The man left the King’s palace. He had been shown mercy that he did not deserve. As he walked down the street he saw a man who borrowed a couple hundred dollars. He grabbed the man and put his hands around his neck and began to choke him. “Pay me back every dollar you owe me!”

The man is startled and falls to his knees and says, “Please be patient with me and I will pay you back every dollar I owe you.”

The man who had just been shown mercy by the King refused to show mercy to this man and had him thrown in jail until he paid back every cent. This man who owed the king millions of dollars and had his bill erased by the king, showed no mercy to the man who owed him a few hundred dollars.

When the King heard about this man who showed no mercy, he had him put in jail and allowed him to be tortured until he paid back all that he owed.

Let’s read how Jesus ends this parable by reading Matthew 18:35. Like the King in Jesus’ parable God forgives sins and wipes a person’s record clear when they put their faith in His Son Jesus. The price for our sins is not something any of us could ever pay back to God. He mercifully forgives us for our sins when we believe in Jesus. Being forgiven a great debt should cause believers to be merciful and forgiving to others who offend them.

Now let’s flip back to Jonah 4. How are Jonah and the unmerciful servant alike? (Allow students to respond) Jonah had been shown mercy but was furious that God would show mercy to the Ninevites.

Let’s read Jonah 4:5. Jonah did not fully understand God’s mercy and kindness to him. He was selfish and did not want the same for his enemies. He went out and made a shelter. He hoped that he would get to have a front row seat to watch the Ninevites destroyed by God. As he sat in his shelter the heat from the sun made him very uncomfortable but he was not going to miss out on this event of watching his enemies be destroyed from the earth.

Read Jonah 4:6-9. God loves Jonah. He sees this selfish man with unforgiveness and no mercy in his heart towards the Ninevites. He shows love and compassion for Jonah as he creates a vine that grows large leaves to shade Jonah from the hot sun. Does Jonah deserve God’s loving kindness? God sent a worm to eat through the vine causing this plant that made Jonah very happy to die. After the vine dies God sent a scorching east wind to cause the sun to be so hot on Jonah’s head that he feels like he is going to pass out. He began to whine and say “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

God asks Jonah if he has any right to be angry about a vine and he believes he has every right to be angry over the loss of a plant that does not have a soul and will not spend eternity separated from God.

Jonah is blinded by his unforgiving heart. His behavior seems silly as we read about it but we are all capable of behaving this way if we choose to be unforgiving to others and not be merciful as God has been towards us.

Let’s read Jonah 4:10-11. God explains to Jonah that he was concerned over a plant that he had nothing to do with its existence. God created men and women as His most special creation. Sin came into the world and caused them to be separated from Him. God desires all people to be rescued from the destruction that sin brings into a person’s life. He saw the Ninevites and had compassion on them and showed them mercy when they repented.

As we close in prayer allow God to examine your heart. If you are like Jonah and the unmerciful servant ask God to forgive you. If you are a believer He has forgiven all of your sins by allowing His Son Jesus to die on the cross. You are forgiven because Jesus paid your sin debt in full. God commands us to forgive others as we have been forgiven. No matter how badly someone has hurt us we are to continue to forgive. (Note to teacher: Students may be facing bullying, physical or sexual abuse etc. It’s important to let students know that if they are in physical danger they need to talk to a trusted adult for help.) The Holy Spirit living inside your heart will enable you to have the power and the strength to obey God’s command. If you are not a believer your sins are you keeping you from a right relationship with God and you are separated from Him. Without faith in Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial and resurrection you cannot spend eternity in heaven with God. The price of our sins is death and the only way you can have that debt paid in full is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Today you can have your sins forgiven. You can speak to us if you need to know from the Bible how you can be saved.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

Why was Jonah angry? (Because God had forgiven the Ninevites)
From Jesus’ parable why was the King going to sell the man and his family as slaves? (To get back money that the man could not pay)
How much did this man owe the King? (Millions of dollars)
What did the King do when the man begged for him to be patient? (He showed mercy and cancelled the debt)
How did the man who had his debt forgiven treat the man who owed him hundreds of dollars? (He did not show mercy and had him thrown in prison until he paid back every cent)
Why did the King put the unmerciful servant in prison and have him tortured? (Because he didn’t show mercy to the servant who owed him money)
When Jonah was angry about God’s kindness to the Ninevites what did he do? (He made a shelter hoping to see the Ninevites destroyed)
How did God show Jonah kindness when he sat in anger in the hot sun? (He created a vine that provided shade for him)
Who was Jonah more concerned about? (Himself, the vine)
Who is God concerned about? (People because He wants everyone to turn from their sin and be saved)
Have you ever felt like Jonah? Has someone hurt you so many times that you want them to suffer? How has this lesson changed how you feel? If it hasn’t changed how you feel about your enemy will you pray for God to change your heart so you can be merciful as He is?

Need More Ideas? Browse our list of Sunday School coloring pages or find a Sunday School craft to accompany this lesson plan.

Lesson: Jonah Obeys and Nineveh Repents

Kelly Henderson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:20:59 +0000

This lesson is taken from Jonah 3 where Jonah obeys God and is given a second chance to go to Nineveh. As Jonah obeys God the people of Nineveh believe God’s message and repent. This lesson shows the importance of believers obeying God’s command to go into the world and preach the Good News and leave the results up to God. The lesson can be used for Children’s Church and simplified for younger students.

Bible Story: Jonah Obeys and Nineveh Repents
Scripture: Jonah 3
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
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Supply List: Pillow case and items that symbolize ways we send messages. Bibles, paper, crayons/markers, materials to create a magnet with a message

Learning Goal: Students will learn that believers are responsible to share the Good News and the results are God’s responsibility.

Learning Indicator: Students will demonstrate their understanding by answering review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Make a grab bag of items that enable people to send messages (radio, TV, computer, telephone, letters, tracts, sharing one on one, etc.). God has given us many ways we can share the message of the Good News. Can you think of any other ways the message can be shared?

Learning Activity #2: Have students create their own Gospel tract to share with someone who is not a believer.

Learning Activity #3: A craft idea for this lesson would be to make a magnet with the phrases “Help me to look like Jesus today”, “Help me to be an ambassador for Christ in every situation”, etc. Students can place this magnet in a place they will see every day before they leave the house.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:20 “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Teaching the Memory Verse: If you woke up in the middle of the night and looked out your window and saw your neighbor’s house on fire what would you do? Would you go back to bed and hope that someone else would call the fire department to rescue your neighbors from the fire? What if these neighbors were not your favorite people? Maybe they have caused a lot of trouble in the neighborhood and no one really likes them. What would you do about their house being on fire?

The only right answer to the question is to call the fire department and get some help to make sure the neighbors are awake so they can get out of the house before they are destroyed in the flames.

Let’s read together today’s memory verse. (Discuss ambassador-a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative. Implore-to beg urgently or piteously, as for aid or mercy; beseech; entreat. Reconcile-to restore a broken relationship.) Believers are God’s ambassadors. He lives in heaven and places His ambassadors all around the world to represent Him and help others to know how they can be reconciled to Him.

In the example of the neighbors in danger of being destroyed by the fire, each one of us come in contact with people who are in danger of spending eternity separated from God in a place called hell where the flame never goes out (Mark 9:47-48). Calling the fire department isn’t going to help them in any way. There is only One person who can rescue a lost person from the punishment for their sins. His Name is Jesus Christ. We can call upon Him to work in the hearts of those we know who are not believers and as believers we are Jesus’ ambassadors with a message to share with them.

What is that message? (The Good News that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day)

As Christ’s ambassadors we have been given a high calling to faithfully share the Good News with others. As His ambassadors we have an important job in God’s Kingdom. He has given us the position to be His representative on this earth to point people to Him. Name a place God has placed you as His ambassador (playground, home, school, sports, etc.).

Bible Lesson: Jonah Obeys and Nineveh Repents

In the Old Testament and the New Testament God’s ambassadors have pointed others to Him. In the Old Testament the prophets were God’s ambassadors taking His message to the people. Many times the prophets’ message from God to the people was to turn from sin and return to God (be reconciled to God) or face the consequences of God’s punishment. In the New Testament the disciples of Christ were God’s ambassadors taking the message of the Good News throughout the world. The Good News was a message that would rescue people from God’s punishment for sin.

Throughout the entire Bible God’s ambassadors have shared His message with people. Sometimes people heard the message that unless they turned from their sins and turned to God they would face God’s punishment and they believed. Sometimes people heard God’s message and chose not to believe and rejected God’s message.

As God’s ambassadors our responsibility is to share the Good News and represent King Jesus well. People’s acceptance or rejection of God’s message is not our responsibility. We need to leave the results with God.

(An idea for movement and drama for this story: It took three days for Jonah to walk through the entire city. Choose a volunteer to be Jonah. When Jonah preaches the first day allow the other students to respond as the Ninevites did. (If you have something could represent sackcloth for them to put on to symbolize their mourning before God.) Have another student act out the king’s part in the story.)

The following is the lesson told from a story point of view:

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Jonah 3. Let’s read Jonah 3:1

God came to Jonah a second time. God is a God of second chances. When a person sins God doesn’t cast them away never to be used for His Kingdom again. Sin hinders a person’s service for God but when that person repents of his/her sin and returns to God, He forgives them and enables them to continue to serve in some way for His Kingdom.

One minute Jonah was at the bottom of the sea sitting in the belly of a fish. Three days later he was propelled from the fish’s mouth onto the shore near Nineveh. Jonah may have looked very strange with sea weed wrapped around his head and his clothes and skin discolored because of the fish’s digestive juices. What he looked liked didn’t matter to him. God had given him a second chance to go to Nineveh and preach to them. He wasn’t going to let anything keep him from obeying God’s instructions.

Let’s imagine that after Jonah was given a second chance to do what God told him begins moving in the direction of Ninevah as fast as he can. Finally Jonah arrives in Nineveh. He finds a large city filled with people. The size of the city is so large that it would take him three full days to walk throughout the entire city. As soon as Jonah set foot in the city he boldly preached God’s Word: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

We don’t know this for certain because the Bible doesn’t clearly tell us but if Jonah showed up in Nineveh with discolored skin and clothes he may have looked very strange to the Ninevites. Maybe Jonah introduced himself before he proclaimed the message. All we know for certain is that he clearly proclaimed that God was going to destroy their city in forty days.

Jonah had obeyed God and gave the people of Nineveh His message and now the results were up to God. Let’s look and see how the people responded to God’s message. Jonah 3:5

The people of Nineveh heard God’s message and believed His Word. The people were distressed by the news they received from God’s prophet Jonah. They did not want to be destroyed by God and called everyone to stop eating which is called a fast. Everyone put on sack- cloth to show their grief over the news that God was going to destroy Nineveh.

The King of Nineveh heard the news about God’s prophet and His message to Nineveh. As a king he is in a position of great authority. His reaction is important to the message the city received. He could have been prideful and angry with the message and ordered his servants to have Jonah killed. The king responded completely opposite of pride. He responded with humility. He took off his royal clothes and put on sackcloth and sat in the dust. He sent out a law to the people of Nineveh: “Everyone can not eat or drink anything. No animals can eat or drink. Every person and animal must be covered with sackcloth. Call upon God and turn away from your evil ways and violence.”

The king of Nineveh was calling upon all the people living in his city to cry out to God and turn from their wickedness. He may have heard of times when God showed compassion on His enemies. He was pleading and hoping for God to turn away His punishment and show His mercy and kindness to them.

The Ninevites remind us of what God says about all people. Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Every person faces God’s punishment for sin unless they receive His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus. The King of Nineveh acknowledged that his people were wicked and violent…something God already knew and told Jonah (“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” Jonah1:2). The king knew the only hope he and his people had to be delivered from destruction was to call on God to have mercy. Mercy is undeserved kindness. God is merciful and full of compassion (Exodus 34:6 (NKJV); Daniel 9:9; Micah 7:18). He has provided a way for sinners to be delivered from sin and it is through faith in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. (“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:4)

God saw what the king of Nineveh and all the people did and how they turned from their wicked ways. He had compassion upon the people and did not bring the destruction upon the city that He had planned to send.

The story of Jonah continues but we are going to stop here for today. Let’s take some time to allow God to speak to our hearts about what He wants for us to do with the lesson we have heard today. If you are a believer this morning, how are you looking as an ambassador for Christ? Do others even know you serve Jesus? What does God want you to change in your life that would help you represent Him better to those around you? If you are not a believer this morning what is keeping you from calling upon God to save you from your sins? Today is the day of salvation and if God is calling you to be saved do not put it off for another day.

Close in prayer.

Closing Activity: As a closing activity play a game called “Who am I” and allows students to guess the Bible character who shared God’s message and the results. (Depending on the Biblical knowledge of your students you may have to adapt the questions to their needs. The following are just a few examples.)

I spent 120 years on a building project preparing for a day that God was going to destroy the earth by water. People mocked me and ignored God’s warning and the only people who were saved from destruction were me and my family. Who am I? (Noah)

I preached to a crowd after God sent the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Over 3,000 people believed in Jesus and were saved. Who am I? (Peter)

I shared the message of the Good News before the Jewish religious leaders and their response was to stone me to death. Who am I? (Stephen)

I rode in a chariot with an Ethiopian and explained how Isaiah teaches about Jesus and the Ethiopian believed in Jesus and was saved. Who am I? (Philip)

I was a missionary who travelled to different cities. Some people believed the Good News and some were angered by the message and tried to harm me. Who am I? (Paul)

Review Questions:

What is an ambassador? (A representative for a ruler who lives in another place)
What does an ambassador for Christ do? (Shares the Good News with others so they can be saved from the punishment for their sins)
What did Jonah do when he was given a second chance? (He obeyed God’s instructions and took God’s message to the Ninevites)
What was God’s message to the Ninevites? (Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned)
How did the people respond to this message? (They believed God, fasted and put on sackcloth)
How did the King of Nineveh respond to the message? (He changed from royal robes and put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. He sent out a decree calling for all people and animals to fast and put on sackcloth. Cry out to God and turn from wickedness)
How did God respond to the Ninevites fasting and mourning? (He showed compassion on them and did not punish them as He had planned)

Need More Ideas? Browse our growing collection of object lessons or find a Sunday School coloring page for your class.

Sunday School Lesson: Jonah Returns to God

Kelly Henderson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:09:16 +0000

This Bible lesson is a continuation for the study of the Book of Jonah. It was prepared with older elementary students in mind. The focuses of this lesson is repenting from sin and turning back to God. The lesson can be simplified for younger children with a focus on how God hears and answers our prayers. It can also be used for Children’s Church.

Bible Story: Jonah Returns to God
Scripture: Jonah 2:1-3:1
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

Supply List: Bibles, pictures of Jonah, paper, pencils, memory cards for activity #1

Learning Goal: Students will learn that God’s discipline for our sins should lead us to repent and turn back to Him so we can continue to do the work He has called us to do.

Learning Indicator: Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson by answering review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Memory Game: Make cards with a sinful action paired with the righteous action. (Lying-Honesty, Unkind-kind, Lazy-Hard worker, bad language-wholesome speech, Boastful-humble, etc.)

Learning Activity #2: Before class, prepare slips of paper with any additional Scripture verses you are planning to include. Give students an opportunity to select a Scripture and locate it in their Bible so when the verse is used in the lesson they will be ready to share.

Lesson Activity #3: For students who express themselves artistically give them an opportunity to draw a picture depicting Jonah’s situation in Chapter 2.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Bible Lesson: Jonah Returns to God

(Pray for each student every day as you prepare for class. Pray that God will prepare their hearts to receive the truths God has for them. Pray that the students will learn at an early age to immediately repent when they sin so that they can live a powerful life serving the Most High God. Pray for any students who have not yet received Jesus as their Savior to hear His voice and accept Him.)

(The following is only a guide to this lesson. There is not a lot of action in this chapter. Many Biblical Truths will be introduced for students unfamiliar with God and the Bible. The lesson also challenges students who are believers to apply the truths so they can grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus. Depending on your class’ familiarity with the Bible there are many opportunities for them to travel through the Bible looking up different verses.)

God has a plan for every man, woman, boy and girl that He has created. In order for people to know God’s plan they have to take the first step of His plan and that is to be saved. To be saved indicates we are lost. What makes people lost in God’s sight? (All have sinned and fall short of His glory. Romans 3:23) Sin separates us from a right relationship with God. The consequence of sin is death (eternal separation from God) Romans 6:23.

When sin first entered God’s perfect creation He promised to send a Savior to rescue us from our sins. Who is God’s Savior? (Jesus) What did Jesus do so every man, woman, boy and girl can be saved from their sins? (Died on the cross, was buried and rose again the third day)

When you believe in Jesus you are adopted into God’s family. He makes you into a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

True or False: God has a purpose and a plan for each one of His children? Let’s look in His Word to find out the answer to that question. Have students volunteer to read the following verses: Ephesians 2:8-10; Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 43:7; 2 Timothy 1:9

Our memory verse for today is Philippians 1:6. Let’s read the verse together. (Have students rephrase the verse in their own words. This will help them to personalize this verse and help them to understand it. Encourage their responses.) Discussion starters: What is God’s plan for each believer-to glorify Him so others can see Jesus and turn to Him and be saved. What are some works that God gives believers to do? (Share the Good News, preach, teach, encourage, pray, etc.)

(Give Bibles to any students who need one.)

Let’s open our Bibles to Jonah 2.

Last week we learned about one of God’s prophets named Jonah. What is a prophet? A prophet is God’s servant who takes God’s message to the people. God gave His prophet Jonah specific instructions. Allow students to review what they remember from the lesson on Jonah 1.

God had a plan for Jonah’s life and Jonah didn’t like it. He rebelled or sinned against what God wanted him to do. Sin interferes with God’s plans for our lives but nothing can stop or thwart God’s plan. (Job 42:1-2)

God loves all people. (John 3:16) It was never His plan for people to sin and suffer the punishment of sin. The Ninevites were living wicked lives and God wanted them to have an opportunity to turn from their sins so they would not have to be punished for their wickedness. (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4) Nothing would stop God’s plan to allow the Ninevites to hear and have the opportunity to repent and turn away from their sins. Since Jonah was rebelling against His instructions God could instruct another person to go and preach or He could change Jonah’s heart and continue to use him for the work.

In this circumstance God chose to work in Jonah’s life and change his heart. God began a good work in Jonah and He would be faithful to complete it. However, Jonah chose to disobey. God did not allow Jonah’s disobedience stop Him from doing what He planned to do. God chose to immediately discipline Jonah for his disobedience.

How did God discipline Jonah for his disobedience? (He was thrown into the sea and was swallowed by a great fish)

The word discipline means punishment inflicted by way of correction and training (Dictionary.com) As a child of God when we sin against Him we will be disciplined. God disciplines His children because He loves them and knows what is best for them. (Hebrews 12:10) His purpose in disciplining His children is to correct them and teach them the way to live a life that pleases Him.

Believers sometimes get angry with God when life doesn’t go the way we think it should. Sometimes we don’t like the instructions He has given us so we choose to go in a different direction than what He told us to go. Sin always causes our relationship with God to suffer. When we allow sin to control our hearts we cannot be as close to God as we used to be. We begin to read our Bibles and pray less. We may even choose to spend more time with unbelievers and begin to act and talk like an unbeliever. God will punish sin in the life of His children. God disciplines His children because He desires them to repent (turn away from sin) and return to a close relationship with Him.

God is a loving and patient heavenly Father. He does not punish us as our sins deserve. ( Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:10-14) When His child confesses his/her sin, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse him/her from all unrighteousness. (1 John1:9)

Let’s turn to Jonah 2 and listen in on what Jonah is up to now. Choose volunteer to read Jonah 2:1. What are some feelings that Jonah may have had as he is inside the belly of a great fish? What would it look like inside the great fish? How do you think you would feel if you were Jonah?

The belly of the great fish was like a ‘time out’ chair for Jonah. God put him there because He wanted Jonah to turn from sin and return to God.

Jonah didn’t have a lot of choices of things to do inside the fish’s belly. He could no longer run away from God’s plan for him. What did he choose to do? (He prayed) Can you think of what else Jonah could have chosen to do? (He could have become angry with God and spent the time inside the fish feeling sorry for himself)

Jonah choice is what we all should do if we are God’s children. When we are in a difficult situation, whether it is because we are being disciplined for disobedience or not we should always turn to God in prayer.

We are going to look at two things from Jonah’s prayer. He teaches us two important truths about prayer.

The first thing we learn from Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2:2 is that God hears all our cries. (Psalm 18:6, Psalm 34:15, Psalm 55:17, Psalm 145:19, 2 Chronicles 6:19)

Jonah also teaches us in Jonah 2:9 that when we pray we should have an attitude of thanksgiving. (1 Chronicles 29:13, Psalm 95:2, Psalm 118:21, Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18)

When we sin against God we need to cry out to Him and confess our sins. He promises to forgive us. If our sin is disobedience we need to ask God to help us obey. You can ask other believers to pray for you if you continue to struggle with disobedience. Memorizing Scriptures about obedience to God will help us when we are tempted to disobey.

We should always have an attitude of thankfulness. If you struggle with thankfulness you can spend time in your daily quiet time with God writing things in your journal you are thankful for. You will be amazed at the many things you actually can thank God for!

As Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish he responded appropriately to God’s discipline for him. God’s discipline brought him to the place where he repented of his sins and turned back to God. He decided that he was going to let God be the boss of his life. He was now back in the position for God to use him for the purpose God had planned for him.

As we continue to study the book of Jonah we will see how God uses him for His work. We would encourage you to read the entire Book of Jonah in your quiet time so you can allow God to continue to teach you throughout the week.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

What does God want all people to do? (Repent/turn away from sins and be saved)
How did God discipline Jonah? (Sent a great fish to swallow him)
Why did God discipline Jonah? (Because he disobeyed His instructions and wanted him to turn back to Him)
What is God faithful to do when believers confess their sins? (Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness)
What did Jonah do inside the great fish? (Prayed)
Name the two things we learned about prayer from Jonah’s prayer? (God hears all our cries, we should always be thankful)

Personal Questions:

Who is the boss of your life, you or God? If it’s you will you turn from your sin of pride and allow God to be your boss?
What sin is keeping you from having a close relationship with God? Is it the sin of unbelief because you have not yet accepted Jesus as the payment for your sins before God? If you would like to know more about how to be saved please talk to us and we can talk to you individually and share what the Bible says about how to be saved.
How has Jonah’s prayer affected how you will pray from now on?

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Sunday School Lesson: Jonah’s Undersea Accommodations

Kelly Henderson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:35:01 +0000

This is the second lesson created for the study of Jonah. This particular lesson deals with dying to self and living for Christ. The lesson may be more appropriate for students who have been believers and are maturing in their faith. The lesson clearly presents the Gospel so students who are unsaved can be exposed to the salvation message. The lesson can be simplified for younger students by focusing on the truth to say no to sin and yes to Jesus. This lesson also could be used for Children’s Church. Additional resources for teaching Jonah follow the lesson. We also have a Jonah children’s church lesson and children sermon about Jonah.

Bible Story: Jonah’s Undersea Accommodations
Scripture: Jonah 1:17 and other selected Scriptures from the New Testament
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
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Supply List: Corn seeds, pictures of the different stages of that seed growing (if using learning activity #1), Paper, markers, crayons (if using learning activity #2), For closing activity print a sheet with questions to prompt students to apply what they learned from the lesson and to pray about what their needs are.

Learning Goal: Students will learn that to follow Christ one must die to sin and live for righteousness.

Learning Indicator: Students will have opportunities to identify the sin in their life that needs to be put to death so they can live a life that pleases God.

Learning Activity #1: Seed object lesson: (John 12:24-25) Talk about the corn seed. If we want more corn what do we need to do? (Place it in the ground and cover it with soil) If we never plant it, this seed in our hands is all we will have. Jesus used symbolism to teach God’s truth to His disciples. He was preparing them for what God was going to do with His life. Jesus came to save us from our sins. After Jesus’ death on the cross His body was placed in a sealed tomb. Thinking about the seed, Jesus was like this kernel of corn being placed in the ground. Jesus died, was buried and God raised Him from the dead and now all who believe in Him become a part of His family. If Jesus would not have died for our sins He could not save men, women, boys and girls from their sins. Just like a kernel of corn going into the ground it appears to have died but when it sprouts (use pictures), it grows and brings forth more corn. Jesus’ death has brought forth many who have placed their trust in Him. Jesus’ death brings life to all who believe.

Learning Activity #2: Buried with Him in Baptism: (Romans 6:3-4) Have students draw scenes for baptism (person going under water, person rising from the water). Allow students to discuss what the symbolism of going under the water means. (Dying to our old sin nature) On a sheet of paper have students list sins that believers need to ‘die’ to (Ephesians 4:20-32, Galatians 5:19-21). Place that sheet of paper under the picture of ‘Being buried with Him in baptism’. Next discuss the symbolism of rising up out of the water means. (Our new life in Jesus) On a piece of paper have students list characteristics of a new life in Christ. (Ephesians 4:20-32, Galatians 5:22-26)

Test: Closing Activity will help students to identify areas in their lives they need to change so they can live the life God wants them to live.

Memory Verse: Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave His life for me.”

Bible Lesson: Jonah’s Undersea Accommodations

The following is a guide to teach this lesson. As you plan and prepare God will impress on your heart what truths to teach your students. Having lessons with additional Scriptures allows students to become more confident in locating them and as they hear them read God will speak to their individual needs.

Sin always leads to death. God told Adam and Eve if they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would surely die. (Genesis 2:17) They chose to disobey and brought death into the world. Their sin separated them from God and their bodies would eventually die. Every person who has been born after Adam and Eve was born with sin already living in his/her heart.

God provided a way to rescue all people from their sins by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross. He was buried and was raised to life on the third day. When Jesus was raised to life He conquered sin and death and all who put their faith in Him no longer have to live a sinful life that leads to death and destruction.

Last week we read about how Jonah ran from God because he didn’t want to go to Nineveh and preach to the people about their wickedness. Jonah’s rebellion against God was sin. To continue our study of Jonah’s life let’s open our Bibles to Jonah 1:17. (Choose a volunteer to read this verse.) What do you think you would feel like if you were Jonah inside the fish’s belly for 3 days and 3 nights?

Jonah may have felt that he was going to die. He was inside a fish at the bottom of the ocean and surrounded by darkness. Without God’s help there was no way Jonah could make it out of this situation alive.

This verse is symbolic of what Jonah needed to do and what all followers of Jesus need to do if we want to experience the life God has planned for us. (Draw on the board a picture of Jonah inside the fish’s belly. In the space inside the belly write the word sin/death. On the outside above the fish write the words Life.)

Jonah needed to die to his selfishness and sin and let God live in and through his life. Jonah could never experience the life God had for him until he died to his sin. From the standpoint of being inside the belly of the fish Jonah was dead to his own plans. He could no longer move about as he pleased. He couldn’t run from God anymore. Next week we are going to learn about how Jonah called upon God and turned back to Him. For now we are going to look at the truth that as believers we must die to our sin and live for Jesus. We can’t live the life God has for us if we continue to live sinful lives.

(Turn the students attention to the memory verse written out on the board.)

If you are a believer you are not your own boss anymore. When you believed in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins He became your boss. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Discuss the memory verse allowing students to rephrase it in their own words. What does this verse say to you?

This verse says, “I no longer live”. How can believers not live and still be alive in this world? (By allowing Christ to live through me)

When you became a believer did you stop sinning? (No) When Jesus saved you the Holy Spirit came into your heart and gave you a new life. He made you into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). As a new creation you are not comfortable with sin in your life. Until we go to heaven we will battle sin in our life. That should not discourage us because Jesus gives us power to say no to sin.

The only way we can live a life that God wants for us is to die every day to our sinful ways. God’s Word tells us how to do this. (Let students volunteer to look up these passages: Matthew 16:24, Romans 8:5-17) As a believer the Holy Spirit’s power living inside of your heart will help you to overcome any sin that you struggle with.

We are going to close with this verse: John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV) As believers we can live a life that pleases God when we allow Christ’s life to control ours. This kind of life brings peace and joy instead of death and sadness from sin.

Close in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of the students so they can make the changes in their lives so they can live for Him.

Closing Activity:

We are going to take some time to allow you to pray and talk to God about what He spoke to you about in this lesson. As a guide to help you with this quiet time with Him you will have a sheet of paper with questions that will prompt you how you need to pray for your situation.

Ideas for how to prompt students to pray:

Have you been saved from your sins by believing in Jesus who died, was buried and rose again?

If not, what keeps you from making the decision to believe and be saved?

The following questions are for believers and if you are not a believer stay seated and remain quiet while others finish their time praying to God.

What sin do you need to put to death so Christ’s power can live through you?

Write out a prayer to God asking Him to help you with this sin.

What changes do you want to make in your life this week so you can live for Jesus?

Write a prayer asking God to help you make those changes.

Additional Resources:

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Sunday School Lesson: Jonah Runs From God

Kelly Henderson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:19:20 +0000

This is lesson is based on the the first chapter of the Book of Jonah. It focuses on how a person’s disobedience to God causes difficulty in the lives of others. Despite knowing his mission from God, Jonah allowed prejudice and fear to control his actions. This lesson plan was prepared for older elementary Sunday School, but you modify it to use as a Children’s church lesson and simplified for younger students. As always, be creative and teach for the children God has placed in your ministry. We also have a Jonah children’s church lesson and children sermon about Jonah.

Bible Story: Jonah Runs From God
Scripture: Jonah 1
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

Supply List: Bibles, Bible map of divided kingdoms and a map of Assyria, dominoes, small boxes

Learning Goal: Students will learn that disobedience to God negatively affects others.

Learning Indicator: Students will be able to re-enact the lesson at the end. They will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson by answering review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Cause and Effect: Choose some examples of how a person’s negative actions affect others. (Lying causes others not to trust you. Speaking unkind words about others hurts them. Pushing in line may cause physical harm to others.) Discuss examples and allow students to come up with other ideas of how our negative actions affect others. When people choose to sin their sin hurts others.

Learning Activity #2: Let students line up dominoes so that by pushing down the first one all the dominoes will be knocked down. The first domino that fell put into motion all the others to fall down. When we make sinful choices we cause others to fall or suffer as well.

Learning Activity #3: After the lesson create a boat by lining up chairs. If you have some small empty boxes the students could use those to pretend to throw the cargo overboard. Allow students to reenact the story.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

The story of Jonah is a great Bible illustration about the meaning of sin & repentance. Despite all his blessings, Jonah refused to follow the mission God had given. God still loved this reluctant prophet and worked to bring him back to a right relationship. When teaching kids this can be a great way to approach the Gospel story. We are all like Jonah and need God’s love & patience as we learn to obey. Because of Jesus and the cross, we can be forgiven and welcomed back.

Choose a volunteer to be Simon and play the game ‘Simon Says’. Have students recite verse. As believers others are watching our examples. This verse teaches us to live in such a way that no sin keeps us from running the race that God has given to each believer. As we run the race God has given us our goal is to point others to Jesus so they can believe and be saved. If we obey God and follow Jesus’ example others will see Him clearly in our lives. If we choose to let sin control our lives we affect others in a negative way and cause other believers to follow our bad examples or hinder unbelievers from being saved. (Another idea is to use the boxes that are for the reenactment to symbolize the sin in our lives and toss them overboard because our sin weighs us down and keeps us from running the race well.)

Bible Lesson: Jonah Runs From God

(This is only a guide to teach this lesson. As you pray for your class’ individual needs God will impress on your heart what truths to teach your students.)

Have students open their Bibles to Jonah 1. (Give Bibles to students who do not have one.) Ask the class which part of the Bible would be find Jonah (Old Testament or New Testament)? Jonah is found in the Old Testament and is considered one of the minor prophets.

Some of you may have heard this story many times in your life if you have been in church since you were small. Maybe this is the first time you will be hearing this story from God’s Word.

Whether this is your first or 100^th time hearing about Jonah, God always has something He wants to teach us from His Word. Each one of us in this room has different needs and God knows what we need to hear. Let’s listen to this story as though it was the first time we have ever heard it so we can learn the lesson God wants to teach us.

When we sin against God there will always be negative results. Earlier we discussed how our negative actions affect those around us. Sin always has consequences. God is holy and He must punish sin. God is also merciful which means He is kind and compassionate. He wants people to turn from their sin and turn to Him so they can live a life that pleases Him.

(Give a brief history of the Israelites.) God’s people the Israelites had a long history of disobedience. When David was king he ruled over the whole country of Israel (show a map.) After David died his son Solomon became king. Solomon sinned against God and the consequence for his sin caused the nation of Israel to be divided into two parts. Israel was divided into a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. You can find out more about the history of the divided kingdoms in 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. The northern kingdom had wicked kings who were evil in the sight of God. As evil kings they led the people in the northern kingdom to sin against God by their wicked example. The southern kingdom had many good kings who tried to lead the people to obey God’s laws.

One of the consequences of sin in both of the kingdoms was that enemies from other countries attacked the Israelites. Assyria was one of the countries that attacked Israel and caused difficulty for them. The Assyrians were very cruel people.

With that brief background let’s read Jonah 1:1-2. Jonah is an Israelite and he has received a message from God. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. How do you think Jonah felt about the Ninevites? He did not like them because they were enemies of Israel.

God is a compassionate God. He knew that the Assyrians were wicked and cruel. He also knew that there were over 600,000 people living in Nineveh. (Nineveh was the largest city in the world at the time Jonah lived.) If they did not turn from their sins they would be punished by God. Because He is compassionate He gives people a chance to turn from their wickedness so they will not suffer His punishment. (Ezekiel 18:32, 2 Peter 3:9)

God chose Jonah to go to the Ninevites and tell them that unless they turned from their wicked ways they would face God’s punishment.

If you are a follower of Jesus, God has given you instructions to take the message of the Good News to others (Matthew 28:19-20). People need to hear that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. When people believe in Jesus they are rescued from God’s punishment for their sins which is death (separated from Him for all eternity).

Jonah was not happy with this assignment God had given him. He did not like the Ninevites because they were Assyrians and wanted them to be punished for all the hurtful things they had done to the Israelites over the years.

Jonah chose to disobey God’s instructions and went completely in the opposite direction that he was told to go. (Show Map) If Jonah would have obeyed God immediately his trip to Nineveh would only be 550 miles. Instead he went to Joppa and found a boat that was heading to Tarshish located 2500 miles away.

Jonah may have breathed a sigh of relief as he settled in for his long trip to Tarshish. He would be so far away from Nineveh there would be no way he would ever have to preach to them! Jonah may have thought he could run from God but that is not possible! (Psalm 139)

When a person believes in Jesus as their Savior they have been adopted by God. That person now belongs to God and He is their heavenly Father. Earthly fathers discipline their children for disobedience because they want their children to make wise choices and do what is right. Jonah belonged to God. God was His heavenly Father and He would discipline Jonah for his disobedience. (Hebrews 12:7-11)

Let’s read Jonah 1:4-5. Choose volunteer to summarize the verses in their own words.

These sailors were minding their own business doing what they normally do by sailing from Joppa to Tarshish carrying people and packages (cargo) that were being shipped from one port to another. Jonah’s sin of disobedience caused the sailors’ lives to be endangered. They were so afraid the ship would sink they all began to cry out to the different gods they worshiped. They also began to throw cargo overboard to help the ship not sink.

These sailors did not know the One True God and yet a man sleeping down below the deck did know Him. The captain of the ship must have been amazed not to see Jonah up on the deck praying and crying out to his god as they all feared death. Read Jonah 1:6.

How many of you have had a callous on your hand? If you haven’t raked before or haven’t raked in a long time when you use the rake it may cause you to have blisters on your hands. The blisters hurt a bit and make your hands uncomfortable. The more you rake the tougher your hands become and where you used to get blisters you get hardened skin called a callous.

When we obey God our hearts are tender. If we sin we become uncomfortable like the blister on our hands. That discomfort should cause us to go to God and confess to Him the sin we have done. He forgives our sin and our hearts are still tender to His voice and instructions to us. On the other hand, if we sin and don’t confess our sins our hearts begin to become calloused and we are no longer sensitive to God’s voice. We become sleepy and insensitive the needs of people around us and cannot serve in God’s kingdom as He wants us to.

Jonah’s disobedience caused him to be sleepy and insensitive to the needs of those around him. The sailors did not worship the One True God and if they were to die in that storm they would be separated from God for all eternity.

If we allow sin to control our hearts we will be sleepy and insensitive to those around us who are not saved and if they were to die they would be separated from God for all eternity. We need to have a clean heart before God so that we can be sensitive to the needs of others. God wants us to be His instruments to share the Good News with those who do not believe in Jesus.

The sailors wanted to know who was responsible for the danger they were in. They cast lots to find out who was responsible. Casting lots is like flipping a coin and the person who says ‘heads’ gets to go first. It also could be like putting names in a hat and the name that is drawn first is the person responsible. When the sailors cast lots they realized it was Jonah’s fault that they were suffering this terrible storm.

They asked Jonah who he was and where he came from. Let’s read Jonah’s response to their questions in Jonah 1:9. The sailors were frightened and as the storm gets worse and they ask Jonah what they should do to make the sea calm down.

Jonah knew why these people were suffering this difficulty and he told them to throw him into the sea and everything would calm down.

The sailors who didn’t worship the One True God had more compassion for Jonah than he did for others. They didn’t want to throw him overboard so they tried everything they could to try to sail back to the land. The storm only got worse. These sailors prayed to the One True God. Let’s read their prayer in Jonah 1:14. After praying they took Jonah and threw him overboard and immediately the sea became calm. The sailors were in awe at God’s power and they offered a sacrifice to Him and made vows to Him.

As Jonah sinks into the sea God provides a great fish to swallow him. Jonah stays inside this fish for three days and three nights. Our next lesson will continue in the book of Jonah so we hope you will be able to come back.

We have seen in our lesson today how Jonah’s disobedience had negative effects upon those around him. As we go through each day let’s pray for God to give us strength to be obedient to Him. Living an obedient life for God will have a positive impact on the lives of others.

We began our lesson with negative examples and their effects. Let’s close our lesson with ways positive examples affect others. (Allow students to volunteer positive things they can do. Share the Good News-people will know how they can be rescued from the punishment of sin. Say kind words-encourage others. Reach out to the person who has no friends in your class-encourage that person and also be an example to those who haven’t tried to be his/her friend.)

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

Where did God tell Jonah to go? (Nineveh)
Why did Jonah run away from God? (He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because they were Israel’s enemies)
What city was Jonah sailing to? (Tarshish)
How did others suffer because of Jonah’s disobedience? (The storm was causing the ship to break apart and the sailors were afraid)
What was Jonah doing while all the sailors were praying to their gods? (Sleeping)
How did the sea become calm? (Sailors threw Jonah overboard)
What did God provide for Jonah? (A great fish)

(Personal Questions that students don’t answer out loud)

What person do you not want to share the Good News with because they have been very hurtful to you? Will you pray that God will help you have compassion for that person as He does? He will enable you to love that person and give you the power to share the Good News.
What actions or attitudes do you need to change so that others can see Jesus more clearly in your life?
If you have been disobedient and have been a bad example to others around you will you confess that sin to God? He will forgive you and cleanse you from your sins and help you to do what is right.

Need More Sunday School Ideas? Browse our growing selection of Sunday School Coloring Sheets. You can also find helpful articles for teaching Sunday School.

Adopted into God’s Family: Sunday School Lesson

Amy Brown — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:23:05 +0000

This is a Sunday school lesson is about being adopted into God’s family based on Galatians 4:4. It can be adapted for use in a preschool classroom or elementary aged classroom. The lesson is followed by a paper doll self portrait craft activity.

Feel free to modify this Bible lesson for your own ministry setting. Be creative and make it personal for the children in your class.

Bible Passage: Galatians 4:4
Bible Story Title: Adopted into God’s Family
Target Age Group: 4 years old – 3^rd grade
Target Time Frame:30 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Children’s Church or Sunday School
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
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Materials Needed: A photograph of your (the teacher’s) family, copies of a simple paper doll pattern (outline of a child), crayons or colored pencils, a variety of colored construction paper, a variety of colored yarn (yellow, red, black and brown), sharpie markers, glue and scissors.

Hook:

“What is a family?” Take answers from the children.
Show the photograph of your family. Introduce the children to each member of your family by using the picture. “Is every family just like my family?”
“What is God’s family like? Who gets to be in God’s family?” Take answers from the children.

Book:

“Today we will look at what the Bible says about becoming a part of God’s family. Maybe you are already a part of God’s family, maybe you are not sure if you are a part of God’s family, or maybe you don’t know how to become a part of God’s family. I hope after what the Bible teaches you today you will be sure about how to become a part of God’s family.”
Open your Bible to Galatians 4:4.
Read aloud the verse while the children follow along.

Look:

“How did God show people the way to become part of His family? The Bible tells us how in verse 4.”
“What did this verse tell us? First, God sent His son who was Jesus. Second, Jesus was born of a woman who was Mary. Third, Jesus was born under the law. Fourth, Jesus redeemed those under the law, which is you and me! And Jesus did all of this so that we could be adopted as sons and daughters into God’s family!”
“There is no greater blessing than to be in God’s family!”
“Verse four tells us that Jesus was fully God, fully man, and he lived out God’s law by being under the law.”
“Now, what does it mean for Jesus to redeem us?” Take answers from the children.
“It means he bought us out of sin. Before we come to know Jesus we can’t help but sin. And Jesus set us free from our sin by dying on the cross! He redeemed us! He set us free!”
“What does it mean to be adopted?” Take answers from the children.
“Adopted means becoming a part of a new family.”
Review, with the children trying to say it along with you, the five parts of the gospel message explained it verse four: God sent His Son, who was born of a woman, who was born under the law, redeemed us from our sin, and adopted us into His family.
“If you have admitted you are a sinner, turned away from your sin and believed in Jesus living a perfect life and dying on the cross for your sins, then you are a part of God’s family! You have been redeemed and you have been adopted!”

Took:

“How can a person be adopted into God’s family?” Take input from the children as a review of the basic gospel story and message.
“Does anyone have questions about how to become redeemed and adopted into God’s family?” While the children are working on their paper doll self portraits, the adult leaders can meet with any children individually who have questions about their salvation or how to join God’s family.
“As a reminder of how we can all be a part of God’s family, we are going to create a paper family which we can display on the wall of our room and look at each week when we come to church.”
“You are each going to get a blank paper doll to decorate to look like you. You can use the yarn to glue on hair and the colored construction paper to cut out clothes. The colored pencils and crayons can be used to draw your face. Most importantly, I want you to write your name on the front of your doll with a sharpie marker, so we know who your paper doll is!”
When the paper dolls are decorated, the children will cut it out. Then the paper dolls can be attached hand-to-hand like a paper doll chain and displayed on a bulletin board in the classroom.

Tips:

For decorating paper dolls with preschool-K, you may want to leave out the yarn and construction paper and have the children simply color their paper doll. Or you may want to have construction paper clothes and yarn hair pre-cut for them. The younger the children the more prep-work and adult help is required. If used with 2^nd-3^rd graders the entire activity could be self-directed by the children.
Craft activities sometimes go even smoother if you have a finished product already completed to show the children. In this case they would love to see a paper doll you completed of yourself and then your doll could be added to the bulletin board display.

Lesson: Paul and Barnabas Persevere

Kelly Henderson — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:38:37 +0000

This lesson is a continuation of the study of the Book of Acts. Paul and Barnabas face difficulties in Iconium and Lystra but continue to share the Good News because they are empowered with the Holy Spirit. Children will learn that God helps us stick to our mission, even when things get hard. This lesson can be adapted for Children’s Church or simplified for younger students. Be creative and adapt this lesson to fit your own Sunday School class and teaching style.

Bible Story: Paul and Barnabas are Empowered to Persevere
Scripture: Acts 14
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

(For those who have been using these lessons in the series of the study of Acts, this lesson will be the last for a few weeks. We’re doing some review weeks for children who missed the first lessons.)

Supply List: Bibles, map of missionary journey, butcher paper, markers and crayons, foam door hangers, foam stickers (if making door hangers)

Learning Goal: Students will learn that the Holy Spirit empowers believers to share the Gospel despite difficulties.

Learning Indicator: Students will demonstrate their comprehension of the Bible lesson by answering the review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Missionary update: Have students review Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey. (Acts 13:4-14:20) Use a sheet butcher paper and have students draw a mural of the events that Paul and Barnabas experienced.

Learning Activity #2: Have someone from your church that is a missionary or has been on a mission trip share what God has done in the place where they were called to serve. Allow students to ask questions.

Learning Activity #3: This is the last week for the students in our class before they move up to their new class next week. We brought in foam door hangers with foam stickers and wrote out different main truths the students learned over the time we studied Acts together. (Example: The Holy Spirit gives me courage to share the Good News.) They had the option to choose a truth from the paper we provided or write something of their own that was meaningful to them from the study of Acts. They wrote the truth on the door hanger and decorated it with stickers and markers.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Acts 14:27 “On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.”

Bible Lesson: Paul and Barnabas are Empowered to Persevere

(This is only a guide to help you in preparing to teach this lesson. Give Bibles to students who need them. Before teaching the Bible lesson pray and ask God to speak through you and help each person to hear and respond with obedience to what He teaches through the lesson.)

Pronunciations:

Lycaonian- lihk-ay-o-nih-uhn
Lystra: Lihs-truh

Last week we heard about Paul and Barnabas’ experience in Pisidian Antioch. We learned that whenever the Good News is shared some will believe and some will not. The Jews who would not believe in Jesus stirred up trouble and kicked Paul and Barnabas out of their city.

Today we are continuing our journey through the Book of Acts and we will travel with Paul and Barnabas to Iconium. (Locate on a map.)

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 14. (For students unfamiliar with the Bible: Encourage students who have found their place to help those sitting near them who seem to be having difficulty finding the passage.)

If you have been here each week who can guess where Paul and Barnabas went first as they arrived in Iconium? (Synagogue) Why did they go to the synagogue? (To share the Good News)

The Holy Spirit lives in Paul and Barnabas’ heart. When they share the Good News about Jesus they have the Holy Spirit’s power speaking His words through them. The Holy Spirit enables believers to speak the right words to the people they are sharing with. Let’s read the last part of Acts 14:1. The Holy Spirit gave Paul and Barnabas the power to speak in such a way that many in the audience listening heard the Good News and believed in Jesus.

Once again we see that whenever the Good News is shared some will believe and some will not. Let’s read Acts 14:2. The Jews who refused to believe poisoned the minds of the Gentiles. When we read that they poisoned the Gentiles minds it means that they criticized the message Paul and Barnabas were sharing and said bad things about them.

Even though there were people trying to stir up trouble, the Holy Spirit empowered Paul and Barnabas to keep doing the work that God told them to do. They stayed in Iconium a long time teaching God’s word boldly. God’s power could be seen through Paul and Barnabas when He gave them the ability to perform miracles. (Acts 14:3)

The people living in Iconium were divided into two groups of people. Some of the people believed that Paul and Barnabas were teaching God’s truth to them. Others did not believe they were teaching the truth about God. The group of people who did not believe made plans to hurt Paul and Barnabas. When Paul and Barnabas learned of this plan they quickly left and went to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe.

The Holy Spirit had given Paul and Barnabas courage to do the work God called them to do. We must not think because the verse says they quickly left to mean they were afraid of possible physical danger. The passage doesn’t tell us but most likely they quickly left Iconium because they were obeying the Holy Spirit’s instructions for them to continue to go to other places to share the Good News.

It would be easy for Paul and Barnabas to be afraid to share the Good News in the new places they went. They were experiencing difficulties in each place they went. Instead they trusted God to empower them to preach knowing that their lives could be in danger wherever they went.

Choose a volunteer to play the role of the cripple man in Lystra and another student to play Paul. (As you narrate the story from Acts 14:8-10 the volunteers will act out their roles)

What an amazing sight this was to the crippled man who was healed and to the crowd who knew he had been crippled from birth. It was a miracle that this man could stand on his feet and walk. A miracle is something only God can do. When God performs a miracle it is to show us His power and point us to Him. The correct response to seeing a miracle take place is to praise and thank God for what He has done.

Let’s read what the response of the people of Lystra was. Read Acts 14:11-13. God created people to have a relationship with Him. He is the One true God and He alone deserves to be worshiped.

The people living in Lystra worshiped a Greek god named Zeus. They believed Zeus was the king of the gods. Zeus was not a real god at all.

God created people to worship Him and Him alone. When men, women, boys and girls allow sin to control their hearts they worship gods that are not real. Gods can be anything that we focus on instead of the One true God. Jesus is the King of Kings. He is the One we should worship with all our hearts.

The people who worshiped Zeus believed that a long time ago he came and visited their land. When they saw the crippled man healed the people thought that their gods had come down as humans in the form of Paul and Barnabas. They thought Barnabas was Zeus and they thought Paul was Hermes because Hermes was the messenger of the gods.

The priest of Zeus’ temple brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the people wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas.

When Paul and Barnabas realized what the people were doing they stopped them and told them they were only men as they were. They shared God’s Words with them and told them to turn away from there worship of false gods to the Living God.

Even when Paul shared God’s Words with these people they were having a hard time not worshiping Paul and Barnabas.

The response of the people of Lystra was not the response God wanted. He didn’t want the people in Lystra to worship His messengers. He wanted them to turn from their sin and worship the One true God. It is always sad to see people worship gods who are not real instead of worshipping the Living God who has come to earth in human form. Jesus, God’s Son came and died on the cross for our sins. When we believe in Jesus He saves us from our sins and gives us eternal life.

It’s important for us today not to worship our favorite pastors and teachers. They are God’s messengers teaching us to how to live a life that pleases God. We know when we are worshiping pastors and teachers when we only want to hear our favorite pastor or teacher but will not read and study the Bible ourselves and listen to others who love and believe in Jesus. Sometimes it is hard to go to a new Sunday School class. As you prepare to be promoted next week to your next grade in Sunday School remember that God will use your new teacher to help you to continue to grow in your relationship with Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas never had a dull moment as they obeyed God and traveled as missionaries sharing the Good News.

As Paul and Barnabas served God in Lystra their enemies were still working to fight against them. Their enemies from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium traveled to Lystra and stirred up trouble with the crowd of people. The crowd believed the lies that the enemies were saying and they turned against Paul and Barnabas.

One minute the crowds were worshiping Paul and Barnabas and the next they turn violent. Read Acts 14:19.

Jesus experienced the same kind of treatment when He was on this earth. On Palm Sunday the people were waving palm branches and praising Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem. (John 12:13) The following week the crowds of people were crying out for Him to be crucified. When we follow Jesus we will experience suffering just as He did when He was on this earth. (John 19:6)

The enemies of the Good News thought they had silenced Paul. They dragged what they thought was his dead body outside the city.

Many believers gathered around Paul’s body thinking he was dead. To their surprise Paul stood up and walked right back into Lystra. The Holy Spirit gave Paul courage even when he was persecuted and mistreated by his enemies.

Believers should never fear death because nothing can happen to us until the work God has for us on this earth is done. Another reason we should not fear death is because when He does take us from our life here on earth through death we will live forever with Jesus in heaven.

Paul and Barnabas left the next day from Lystra and went to Derbe. Many people in Derbe heard the Good News and believed in Jesus.

When it was time to leave Derbe, Paul and Barnabas knew that it was time to return to the believers in the Antioch Church where they began their missionary journey. (Allow students to point out the way they think would be the quickest and easiest way to return to Antioch.)

Paul and Barnabas did not take the easy way home. That was not God’s plan for them. Instead they travelled back to each city that they had stopped and shared the Good News. In each of these cities there were new believers that Paul and Barnabas wanted to encourage to remain faithful to God. Why do you think the believers in these cities needed to be encouraged? (Paul and Barnabas wouldn’t be there and they would need to keep trusting that the Holy Spirit would give them the courage to stay faithful to Jesus even when difficulties came. Maybe the enemies were bothering them since they thought they got rid of Paul and Barnabas and they were trying to keep them from following Jesus.) Let’s read Paul’s encouragement to them in Acts 14:22. This might not seem like encouragement. It would have been a lie for Paul and Barnabas to say it is easy to follow Jesus. They had already experienced suffering and difficulty for their obedience to Jesus. They were in a place that they could encourage these new believers that even though they would face difficulties God would always be with them and enable them to do what He called them to do.

After going through each city encouraging the new believers and helping them establish their own church Paul and Barnabas finally arrived back in Antioch.

The believers in Antioch must have been so excited to see them home safe and sound. Imagine what it would have been like to hear all the stories Paul and Barnabas shared of what God had done as He led them to different cities sharing the Good News. The believers in Antioch must have rejoiced when they heard how many people had believed in Jesus. They must have thanked God for His protection and power as they heard of the dangers that Paul and Barnabas had faced. They would have been encouraged to see how God answered their prayers as they prayed for them while they were gone.

Paul and Barnabas trusted the Holy Spirit to give them power to do the missionary work God called them to do. We can be encouraged to trust that the Holy Spirit will empower us to do whatever God asks us to do.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

(Choose two teams and play a game of tic-tac-toe as each team correctly answers a question.)

In today’s lesson in which city did Paul and Barnabas start out? Iconium
Where did they teach? The synagogue
What did the unbelieving Jews do? Stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds
What did Paul and Barnabas do as they stayed in Iconium? Taught God’s Word boldly
Why did Paul and Barnabas quickly leave Iconium? People were planning to stone them
Where did Paul and Barnabas go next? Lystra
What miracle did God do in Lystra? He healed the cripple man
Why were the people worshiping Paul and Barnabas? They thought they were Zeus and Hermes
Who convinced the crowds to stone Paul?
What did Paul and Barnabas do as they travelled home? Stopped at the cities where they shared the Good News and encouraged believers.
When they returned to Antioch what did Paul and Barnabas share with the believers there? All that God had done through them

Need More Sunday School Ideas? Browse our growing selection of Sunday School Coloring Sheets. You can also find helpful articles for teaching Sunday School.

Lesson: Paul and Barnabas share the Good News

Kelly Henderson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:15:32 +0000

This lesson is a continuation of Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey. In this lesson they experience rejection to the message of the Gospel and also see many respond with faith as they hear the message. The lesson can be used in Children’s church and also simplified for younger students.

Be creative and adapt this lesson to fit your own Sunday School class and teaching style.

Bible Story: Paul and Barnabas share the Good News in Pisidian Antioch
Scripture: Acts 13:13-52
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

Supply List: Bibles, Bible map, paper, pens, and index cards with different responses to the Gospel, construction paper if making wordless books.

Learning Goal: Students will learn that believers who share the Good News will face obstacles and sometimes rejection.

Learning Indicator: Students will experience possible reactions to how others respond to the message of the Gospel. This will prepare them and enable them to be obedient to share no matter what response they receive. Students will be able to verbalize their testimony to enable them to have confidence to share with others that they encounter outside of Sunday school. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Bible Lesson by answering review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Students will role play sharing the Gospel. Choose a volunteer who will be the one sharing the Gospel. Have other volunteers choose a card with how they will respond to the message. (Uninterested, distracted, mocks, listens but isn’t ready to be saved, wants to be saved) Students can switch roles and act out the different responses. The teacher guides the students by encouraging the student sharing the Gospel with possible suggestions. (Using a tract, wordless book, sharing his/her testimony etc)

Learning Activity #2: A writing activity for this lesson is for students to write out their testimony. Teachers can help the students by guiding the students to the key points of how and when they put their faith in Jesus. As they write out these facts about themselves they can share their testimonies with others in the class.

Learning Activity #3: Students can create their own wordless book (use yellow, black, red, white and green construction paper and staple like a book). Students can practice sharing the Good News with their wordless books.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Ephesians 6:19 “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel”

This morning as you arrived we have been working on different activities to help us to share the Good News with people God puts in our path. Our memory verse is a good prayer for each of us to pray so that we can boldly share the Good News. Let’s use hand motions to help us memorize this verse.

Bible Lesson: Paul and Barnabas share the Good News in Pisidian Antioch

This is only a guide to teach the passage. An effort was made to cover all the verses. As you teach this lesson you may be led to leave some aspects out or even expound on parts that focus on your aim for teaching your students.

(Give Bibles to students who do not have one.)

Ask the students to name someone (besides God or Jesus) who is living or has passed away that they look up to and see as a hero. What did that person do that makes you look up to him/her? (Answers will vary. If the group is quiet share a person that made a positive impact in your life that makes them like a hero to you.)

The Bible is filled with people who have lived before us. Many of these people are people we can look up to and try to follow their example.

As we have studied the Book of Acts we have witnessed many examples of how to live a life that pleases God. (Allow students to share some ways believers filled with the Holy Spirit set an example for believers today to follow.)

Using a map have a student locate the island of Cyprus and point to Paphos. Last week we learned about how Paul and Barnabas shared the Good News with Sergius Paulus and how Elymas tried to keep him from believing. Whenever the Good News is being shared Satan tries hard to keep people from believing in Jesus. Even though Satan tried to distract Sergius by using Elymas he did not succeed. Sergius heard the Good News and believed in Jesus.

For believers who share the Good News Sergius’ response is the one we all would like to have each time. Unfortunately when we share the Good News some will believe and some will not. Believers are not responsible for others’ responses to the message of salvation but we are supposed to be obedient to continue to share the Good News.

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 13:13. Today we are going to continue the adventure with Paul and Barnabas as they obey Jesus’ command to “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) Locate Perga on the map.

Choose a volunteer to read the verse. Who remembers who John is? John is also known as John Mark and he is Barnabas’ cousin. John Mark left Antioch with Paul and Barnabas and travelled with them as their helper. Acts 13:5

Where did John go? No one knows exactly why John Mark went home. What are some possible reasons that you think he may have went home? (Allow responses) Some have said he may have been homesick. It is possible he got physically ill. Others have thought that maybe he was fearful of the difficulties and dangers of traveling to different places.

As we continue to study Acts we will learn later that Paul was very disappointed that John Mark left. He was disappointed that he deserted them and did not continue with them in the work. Acts 15:37-38

Sometimes as believers we are like John Mark. We want to be obedient to do what God tells us to do. For whatever reason we don’t do what we said we would do. An example might be that a new family moves into your neighborhood. You see that there is a child your age in this family. The child doesn’t look like the friends that you normally play with. As you have been faithfully coming to Sunday school each week and have learned how God shows no favoritism but wants all people to be saved, God keeps putting on your heart that you need to go over to the neighbor’s house and introduce yourself to the child your age. Every time you have your quiet time God brings this neighbor to mind. You go to your mom/dad and tell them what you think God is telling you to do. Your parents have met the parents of this child and have given you permission to go to their house to introduce yourself. There is no doubt in your heart that God has made it clear what you need to do. You pray for strength and the right words to speak to this neighbor. You start walking down the street and one of your friends sees you heading to the new family’s house and asks you what you are doing. When you tell him he makes fun of you and says that the family is weird. As you get closer to the house a huge dog that this new family owns comes to the fence and growls and barks loudly at you. You are so overwhelmed with fear that you go back home and put off meeting this new neighbor.

In many ways that may be what happened with John Mark. He committed to traveling with Paul and Barnabas and when things looked scary he didn’t follow through with what he set out to do.

If you have ever experienced this type of failure as a believer you can be encouraged that God still can use you. Later in our study of Acts we will see how God used John Mark for His kingdom. We need to remember to learn from our mistakes and keep walking with Jesus and do what He asks us to do.

Paul and Barnabas continued to travel without John Mark. The next destination they planned to share the Gospel was Pisidian Antioch. (Show on the map) This is not the same Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were called to be missionaries. (Point out the other Antioch.) The distance from Perga to Pisidian Antioch was about 100 miles. To understand what the journey would be like imagine going on a hike up a rocky mountain. Paul and Barnabas traveled through an area that was filled with robbers and yet they didn’t let fear keep them from getting to the place where they would share the Good News.

When Paul and Barnabas arrive in Pisidian Antioch they go to the synagogue (the place where the Jewish people worship) on the Sabbath (day of rest for the Jews-Saturday).

After Scriptures from the Old Testament were read, Paul was invited to share a message of encouragement.

As believers we always need to be ready to share our faith in Jesus. 1 Peter 3:15-16: But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Paul stood up and began to teach. In the synagogue that day there were Jews and Gentiles who worshiped God. Paul’s message to his audience that day teaches us how we can share the Good News with people that God puts in our path.

Paul begins at the place of his audiences’ understanding. Paul knows that the goal of his teaching was to help those listening to hear the Good News about Jesus. Since he was speaking to Jews who knew God’s promises and the history of Israel, he begins by talking about the things they would be familiar with. (Acts 13:16-22)

The Jews knew God promised to send a Messiah yet they didn’t understand that God kept His promise by sending Jesus. Let’s read Acts 13:26-29. (Choose a student for each verse)

Paul comes to the most important part of the message. He shares the Good News! The Jewish people didn’t understand that God spoke through His prophets and said that the Messiah would suffer. When the Jewish people crucified their very own Messiah they fulfilled God’s prophecy that Jesus would suffer and die. When Jesus was put to death the Jewish people thought that was the end of Him. But….let’s read Acts 13:30.

Paul tells his audience that what God has promised has been fulfilled. God promised that the Messiah would rise from the dead. Paul shares the passages of the Old Testament that his audience would be familiar with to prove God did keep His promises.

The final thing Paul does that is important for everyone who shares the Good News is to share how they can have their sins forgiven. Acts 13:38-39

The Holy Spirit enabled Paul to preach to this audience. Many in the audience that day were so captivated by the message that as Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue people invited them to come back next week to teach.

God’s message that Paul shared made a huge impact in the lives of many in the synagogue. What would make me say that? Let’s read Acts 13:44. How can we explain having almost the whole city show up at the synagogue the next time Paul would be preaching? (Allow responses) When people hear the message of the Good News and believe they will want to share the Good News with others.

Paul and Barnabas were being obedient to share the Good News and many people responded very positively by believing in Jesus. Unfortunately there will be times when people won’t believe.

Paul and Barnabas experienced a negative response to the message of the Good News. Let’s read about it in Acts 13:45.

Paul and Barnabas responded with gentleness and respect to these Jews who were speaking unkindly to them. They explained that they shared the message of the Good News with them first but since they rejected the message they were going to obey God’s command to share the Good News with the Gentiles so all people can hear and be saved if they believe. (Acts 13:46-47)

The message that angered the unbelieving Jews caused a completely different reaction in the Gentiles. Let’s read their response in Acts 13:48.

God’s Word spread throughout the area. This caused the unbelieving Jews to stir up more trouble for Paul and Barnabas and made them leave Pisidian Antioch.

As Paul and Barnabas left they did something that Jewish people did when they had walked through an area where Gentiles lived. When they arrived back in their land they shook off the dust to symbolize that they were cleansing themselves of being exposed to those who did not worship God. When Paul and Barnabas did this as they left they were sending a message to the unbelieving Jews that their rejection of Jesus makes them no better than the Gentiles that worshiped other gods.

Paul and Barnabas do not let the response of the unbelieving Jews discourage them from continuing on their missionary journey. They left Pisidian Antioch and traveled to Iconium. As they continue on their missionary journey they are filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas set an example for us to see that even when we are obeying God and sharing the Good News, there will be people who reject the message and may even be unkind to us. As believers we have the Holy Spirit living in us and He will help us to continue to share with joy and boldness.

Before we pray I want to ask you a question that I don’t want you to answer out loud. As you listened to the Bible lesson this morning what is your response to the Good News? Are you already a believer? If so are you sharing the Good News with others? If you have not believed that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection can forgive your sins, it’s not too late to believe. Please feel free to talk to us if you have any questions and we will do our best to help you.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

Where did John Mark go? (Home to Jerusalem)
How far was the journey from Perga to Pisidian Antioch? (About 100 miles)
What made the journey difficult? (Rough terrain, robbers)
Where did Paul and Barnabas go on the Sabbath? (Synagogue)
When Paul taught the people what did he start talking about first? (What the audience would understand from the Old Testament)
What was the most important part of the message Paul taught? (The Good News that Jesus died and rose again and they could have forgiveness of sins if they believed in Him.)
How many people showed up the next time Paul taught? (Almost the whole city)
How did the Jews react when they saw the crowd gathered to hear Paul? (They were filled with jealousy and spoke abusive words to Paul and Barnabas)
How did the Gentiles respond when they heard the Good News? (They were glad and honored the Word of God)
Why did Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet when they left Pisidian Antioch?
What can you take from Paul and Barnabas’ example and use it in your life?

Need More Sunday School Ideas? Browse our growing selection of Sunday School Coloring Pages. You can also find helpful articles for teaching kids Sunday School.

Lesson: Barnabas and Paul Begin Their Missionary Journey

Kelly Henderson — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:39:28 +0000

This lesson is based on the calling of Paul and Barnabas to take the message of the Gospel to others. It is based off the events in Acts 13. The original teaching context of this lesson plan was Sunday School. With some modification you could also use this material for a Children’s Church lesson. With some work, it can be simplified for preschool and younger students.

Bible Story: Paul and Barnabas’ adventure begins (you could also title this story God calls Barnabas and Saul)
Scripture: Acts 12:25-13:12
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

Supply List: Bibles, cards for God is calling activity, suitcase with items needed to go on a mission trip, map to point out where Paul and Barnabas traveled.

Learning Goal: Students who are saved will learn that God calls believers to a work He has prepared for them to do and the Holy Spirit empowers and enables them to do that work. Unsaved students will learn that God calls all people to be saved.

Learning Indicator: Students who participate in the “God is calling” activity will be able to identify Biblical characters who received God’s call and their responses. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the lesson by answering review questions.

Learning Activity #1: Students will pack a suitcase with items they would need if they were going on a mission trip. (Bible, prayer journal, prayers of other believers, passport, clothes etc.)

Learning Activity #2: “God is calling” A Bible search for students to identify people in the Bible who were called by God and their response. Create cards with ‘phone numbers’ (Bible Address of someone God called). Have blank cards for students to create the answers/response of the people receiving God’s call. (These cards can be used later as a memory/concentration game allowing students to match up the call with the response.)

Some examples: Moses (Exodus 3), Samuel (1 Samuel 3), Gideon (Judges 6:11-27), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), Disciples (Matthew 4:18-22), Jonah (Jonah 1), Rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22), Felix (Acts 24:24-27), Agrippa (Acts 26:26-32)

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Acts 13:2: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Bible Lesson: Paul and Barnabas’ adventure begins

This is a guide for a possible way to teach this passage of Scripture.

(Give Bibles to students who need one. Having a Bible each week is very important. It is important for students to be able to read the passage along with you and see that you are not making up what they hear. God’s Word is powerful and what the student may not hear you say as you teach the lesson, they may hear loud and clear from reading for themselves the Word of God.)

As we have studied the Book of Acts so far we have been learning more and more about the Holy Spirit. Some of you have been here each Sunday and have been learning about the Holy Spirit. Some of you here today may be brand new to the Bible and are not familiar with the Person of the Holy Spirit.

God is Three Persons in One. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons with different jobs. Some are confused about how God can be 3 persons and still be One God. One way people have tried to explain this is by using water. Water can be liquid, ice and steam. Whatever form the water is in it is still water.

When Jesus, God the Son returned to heaven God the Father sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came upon the believers in Jerusalem and He empowered them to speak in different languages and praise God. As we have studied Acts we have seen how the Holy Spirit gave believers the power to be brave and teach the Good News about Jesus despite difficulties.

The same Holy Spirit that we read about in Acts is still working in the world that we live in. When a person hears the message that Jesus died on the cross for his sins, the Holy Spirit works in his heart and shows him that he needs Jesus to have a right relationship with God and have his sin forgiven. The moment he believes Jesus is his Savior the Holy Spirit comes and lives within his heart. The Holy Spirit will give him the power to obey God. As he studies God’s Word the Holy Spirit will teach him and give him a deeper understanding of who God is. The Holy Spirit will help him to be brave in difficult situations. When he sins the Holy Spirit will convict this believer that his behavior doesn’t measure up to how God’s Word says a believer should live. John 16:8 This conviction causes him to feel bad in his heart and he confesses his sin to God (or tells God what he did) even though He already knows and asks Him to forgive him and help him not to continue in that sin. After he confesses his sin the Holy Spirit fills his heart with peace because the sin that was interfering with his right relationship with God has been repaired.

This was a brief summary to help us remember or understand the work of the Holy Spirit. Our lesson today continues to teach us how the Holy Spirit is involved in the lives of followers of Jesus or as we learned in Acts 11:26 believers were first called Christians in Antioch.

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 12:25. Barnabas and Saul had taken gifts from the believers in Antioch to the believers in Jerusalem because the prophet Agabus said there was going to be a severe famine in the land. When Barnabas and Saul left Jerusalem they brought Barnabas’ cousin Mark (Colossians 4:10) back with them.

When Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch they join the other Christians in a time of prayer and fasting. What is fasting? (Allow students to respond) Fasting is removing something from your life (food, TV, video games, etc.) for a time so you can focus more clearly on God and what He wants you to do.

At Antioch the Christians were praying and fasting because they wanted to know what God wanted them to do. Let’s read Acts 13:2.

Sometimes when we can’t see something we wonder if it is real. We cannot see the Holy Spirit and yet He is very real. He is working in the lives of believers so others can see the Power of God and come to know Jesus as Savior.

Let’s look at what we learn about the Holy Spirit from this verse. “The Holy Spirit said.” What does this show you about the Holy Spirit? He speaks. The Holy Spirit speaks to the hearts of believers. As we read God’s Word, pray and worship with other believers we learn to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice speaking to us.

One way to recognize if we are hearing the Holy Spirit speaking to us is to think about what we believe the Holy Spirit is saying. The Holy Spirit is always going to keep us focused on God’s Truth and living our lives to bring honor to Jesus. John 16:13-14

As God had a work for Barnabas and Saul to do, He has prepared a work for each believer to do. (Ephesians 2:10) As we grow in our relationship with Jesus He prepares us and leads us to the work He created in advance for us to do.

Earlier we packed a suitcase with items in it that we would take if we were going on a missionary journey. The Bible doesn’t tell us what Barnabas and Saul packed but we know that they were going on this trip filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would be the One who told them where to go. Read Acts 13:4.

Have a student find Seleucia on the map. Allow another student to locate Cyprus.

What do you think Barnabas and Saul felt like as they set out on this missionary journey? (Allow students to respond) Barnabas and Saul had been sent by the Holy Spirit to do the work God had planned for them. It must have been a time of excitement knowing they were obeying God’s plan for them.

Read Acts 13:5. Barnabas and Saul continued to take the Good News to the Jewish people and they had Mark traveling with them as their helper.

(Locate Paphos on the island of Cyprus.)

Up to this point Saul was using his Jewish name. In our passage we see that he begins to use his Roman name Paul. (Acts 13:9) God had called Paul to take the Good News about Jesus to the non-Jewish people called Gentiles. (Acts 9:15) It was appropriate for him to use his Roman name from this time on.

In Paphos there was a governor or leader of the city named Sergius Paulus. He had heard that Barnabas and Paul were visiting his city and asked that they would come and teach him from God’s Word.

When a person wants to hear God’s Word taught they are responding to God’s call. God desires all men, women, boys and girls to be saved from their sins. (2 Peter 3:9) In order for a person to be saved they need to have someone share the Good News with them. (Romans 10:14-15)

God’s enemy Satan will do whatever he can to keep people from being saved. He knows the power of God’s Word and if people hear it they will be taken from his kingdom of darkness and sin and be rescued into God’s Kingdom of light and righteousness.

Sergius had a man working for him named Bar-Jesus. Let’s look at Acts 13:6-8. What do you learn about him? He is a Jewish man. He is not obedient to God’s laws because we read here that he is a sorcerer and a false prophet. When God gave His laws to Moses He told the Jewish people not to practice sorcery/witchcraft. (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10-13) This is an evil practice that God said not to have anything to do with. Bar-Jesus was also a false prophet. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 God’s prophets speak His truth and do not lie.

Bar-Jesus or Elymas (el’-im-as) was being controlled by Satan and he didn’t want Sergius to hear the truth that Paul and Barnabas would speak.

Filled with the Holy Spirit Paul had wisdom to recognize what Elymas was up to in trying to keep Sergius from believing in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave Paul the power to speak the following words: (Choose volunteer to read Acts 13:10)

Paul knew the power Satan had over his own life before he believed in Jesus. Paul did everything in his human power trying to stop people from hearing the message about Jesus. God allowed him to be blind for 3 days after he met Jesus on his way to Damascus. It’s possible that’s what he was thinking about when he causes Elymas to be blind.

As believers we do not have to fear Satan. We have God with us through the Person of the Holy Spirit. Satan is God’s enemy and if we allow God to control our lives we will be able to speak boldly and powerfully as Paul did when Elymas tried to stop God’s work.

As Sergius hears God’s word being taught by Paul and Barnabas and sees God’s power to blind Elymas he answers God’s call. Let’s read what his answer to God is in Acts 13:12.

As we close let’s think about something most of us use on a daily basis. One of the main ways we communicate with others is through a phone. Suppose you want to invite your friend to spend the night and you call him on the phone. What are some good and bad things about communicating on a phone? (Allow students to respond) Sometimes the line may be busy and your call can’t get through. Sometimes the people are at home but let the phone ring and no one answers. Sometimes an answering machine is the only voice you hear on the line asking you to leave a message. Your friend might actually pick up the phone and start talking to you and the phone doesn’t have a good connection so he won’t be able to hear what you are asking him to do. If everything is working with the phone the result you want is for your friend to answer, hear your invitation to spend the night and gets permission from his parents to do so.

In a similar way God calls people today. He doesn’t use a telephone to call. His Holy Spirit speaks to the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls. Sometimes people are too busy to recognize that God is calling them. Some people ignore God’s call and avoid Him. Sometimes people don’t hear God’s call clearly because someone is teaching them lies about God and His Word and they don’t understand. The people who hear that God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for sins, was buried and rose again and believe are those who hear God’s invitation to be saved and say yes.

Some of us have answered the call to be saved. When God calls us to be saved, He is not done talking with us. He wants to talk with us every day. We need to pick up our Bibles, open them and allow God to speak as we read. God has called each believer to a work He has planned. When we stay in a right relationship with God day after day we are in a place that when God clearly shows us what He wants us to do for His Kingdom we will hear Him and answer yes just as Paul and Barnabas did.

As you listened to this lesson today God had a message for you personally. Before we close in prayer we are going to have a time of silence to allow you to respond to the message the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about. After we pray if you have any questions please talk to us.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

Who is the Holy Spirit? (God, Third person of the Trinity, Lives in the heart of believers)
What were the Christians doing in Antioch when the Holy Spirit spoke? (Worshiping the Lord and fasting)
Where did Barnabas and Saul go first? (They sailed from Seleucia to Cyprus)
Who did they preach God’s Word to in Salamis? (The Jews)
Why did Saul start using the name Paul? (Because it was his Roman name and he was sharing the Good News with non-Jewish people)
Why did Sergius Paulus send for Paul and Barnabas? (He wanted to hear God’s Word taught)
Who tried to stop Sergius from believing in Jesus? (Bar-Jesus/Elymas)
How did Paul treat Elymas? (He spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit and caused him to be blind)
What was Sergius Paulus answer to God’s call? (He believed in Jesus)

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Lesson: Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

Kelly Henderson — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:22:26 +0000

This lesson is about God delivering Peter from prison. The believers were constantly praying for this seemingly impossible situation. Students will learn from this story that nothing is too hard for God. They can trust Him even when life situations seem bad.

The original learning context for this material was older elementary Sunday School. It can also be adapted for Children’s Church and with modifications can be simplified for younger students.

Bible Story: Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison
Scripture: Acts 12:1-24
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
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Supply List: Bibles, paper chain for memory verse, visuals of the story (flannel graphs or pictures), Robe, paper chains or toy hand cuffs, etc. for students to re-enact story.

Learning Goal: Students will learn that God can be trusted in difficult situations because nothing is too difficult for God to handle.

Learning Indicator: As students identify seemingly impossible situations in their life they will be encouraged to pray that God will work out those difficulties. Students will demonstrate their comprehension of the Bible passage by answering review questions and re-enacting story/ordering pictures.

Learning Activity #1: Choose students to play the characters from the Scripture passage. Allow them to re-enact the Bible lesson. Another idea would be to use pictures of the story and allow the students to put the pictures in the proper order as they occur in the Bible.

Learning Activity #2: Have a sword drill using Scriptures that are about God’s power and ability to do anything. (Jeremiah 32:17, Exodus 14:31, Joshua 4:24, 1 Chronicles 29:12, 2 Chronicles 25:8, Job 5:15, Psalm 18:17, Isaiah 40:10, etc.)

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Matthew 19:26: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Memory Verse Activity: Have slips of paper with the words of the verse on one side. Ask the students to think of difficult situations that seem like they are never going to change. As they share different circumstances have them write it on the back of one of the slips of the Memory Verse. After having all the impossible circumstances mentioned and written down create a paper chain putting the verse in the correct order. Recite the verse a few times. Have the students pick up a section of the paper chain. As they recite the verse this time when they get to the phrase ‘with God all things are possible’ have them break the chain. After this activity have the students move to the area where the Bible lesson is taught.

Bible Lesson: The Church prays and God miraculously delivers Peter from prison

This is a guide to teach the Bible Lesson. Each class has unique needs and the students are in different places with their Biblical understanding. For example in our current class of 4th graders we have a student with a deep understanding of Biblical concepts. A few weeks ago a child raised her hand and said “It’s sad that the people that God gave His promises to were the ones who crucified Jesus.” This statement was amazing because the lesson was about Cornelius’ and Peter’s vision and explanation for why the Jews didn’t associate with Gentiles was being discussed. The challenge of teaching is not assuming the students understand all the concepts you are teaching and teaching so those who do have understanding can continue to grow and not grow bored. Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit we can teach with confidence knowing God knows where each student is with their Biblical understanding.

(Give Bibles to students who do not have one. )

As we have been studying the Book of Acts we have seen God’s power in many ways. What are some ways you have seen God’s power in the Book of Acts? (Allow students to respond) When we see God’s power we see that impossibilities turn into possibilities.

Let’s turn to Acts 12 to find out how God will show us His power.

God was at work and the Good news was being spread into many different places. More and more people were being saved because now even the Gentiles were believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit. Whenever God is working His enemy Satan isn’t happy. He doesn’t want people to hear the Good News and be saved from their sins. Satan uses whatever tool he can to try to stop God’s work.

Let’s read Acts 12:1-4. Last week we heard how Peter explained God’s plan to save the Gentiles to the Jewish believers. When they heard Peter’s explanation they understood and were in agreement with him.

There were some Jewish people who heard of this news about the Gentiles being accepted into God’s family and they didn’t like it. Does anyone want to guess who these people might be? The Pharisees and Sadducees/or Jewish religious leaders didn’t like this news at all. It went against their laws. These leaders had not put their faith in God’s promised Savior and were being used by Satan to make life difficult for followers of Jesus.

It is believed that the Pharisees and Sadducees went to King Herod and complained to him about what the followers of Christ were doing. King Herod was a Jew but didn’t believe in Jesus. He decided to make trouble for the apostles in Jerusalem. He arrested James the brother of John and had him killed with a sword. This made the unbelieving Jews very happy. This made Satan happy because he was using the unbelieving Jews to try and stop the spread of the Good News.

Sin darkens a person’s heart causing them to be used as an instrument for God’s enemy. Ephesians 4:17-24 (NKJV) Herod had a sinful heart. How do we know that? When Herod saw how happy the death of James made the Jews he decided to have Peter arrested too. Having someone put to death who didn’t break any laws should make a person sad not happy. Herod obviously wasn’t interested in pleasing God because he seemed to find pleasure in pleasing the unbelieving Jews.

At the time of Peter’s arrest the Jews were celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was a seven day feast that prepared them for Passover. For the followers of Jesus it meant that the time of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection was near.

Our lesson is about God doing the impossible. Jesus, God’s Son was nailed to a cross for the sins of the world. He was buried and three days later God raised Him from the dead. Every person who believes by faith that Jesus died in their place has every sin forgiven and are given eternal life. It was impossible for man to be saved in his/her own strength but with God all things are possible!

When Herod arrested Peter perhaps he heard about the miraculous deliverance from prison that we learned about in Acts 5:17-25. We don’t know for sure but Herod was doing everything in his power to make sure Peter didn’t get out by having him heavily guarded with four squads of four soldiers each. Each squad guarded Peter for 3 hours and then another squad would take their place. From a human’s perspective it looked like there would be no way Peter could ever get out of prison with that many guards. But remember what is impossible to man is possible with God!

Meanwhile as Peter is locked in a prison cell, the believers are gathered together doing the most important thing they could do as they faced this impossible situation. Let’s find out what they were doing. Read Acts 12:5.

These were difficult times for these believers. James was killed by Herod. Even though they knew James was with Jesus because he believed in Him, it was still sad to lose someone they loved. Now it looked as though Peter was next in line to lose his life. The believers did the only thing they knew would help their difficult situation. They prayed.

As believers the most powerful weapons we have are prayer and the Word of God. As we memorize God’s Word and grow in our understanding of God we learn how we can better pray to Him.

The place the believers were gathered to pray was in the home of Mary. This Mary is the Aunt of Barnabas Colossians 4:10 and the mother of Mark who we will be learning about later in our study of Acts.

As believers are earnestly praying to God in Mark’s home let’s check back in with Peter’s situation. As we look into his prison cell we don’t see a man who is angry with God for being put in prison when he did nothing wrong. Sometimes when we face difficulties instead of trusting that God has good intentions for every thing we face (Romans 8:28) we get angry at Him. Peter is a good example for anyone facing a difficult situation. Let’s read and see what we find Peter doing. Read Acts 12:6.

It seems like it would be difficult to sleep being chained by two soldiers and knowing that you are facing death but that’s what we find Peter doing. Peter was able to sleep because he believed completely that God could be trusted with his life. He didn’t need to worry about what was or wasn’t going to happen. Worrying only causes a person more harm. Psalm 37:8 He had peace that he belonged to God. Because he believed in Jesus the Holy Spirit lived in his heart.

It is also possible that as the believers are constantly praying for Peter that his ability to have peace is an answer to their prayers. If you and I know of someone going through a difficult situation we can pray for God to give them His peace.

This next scene is amazing! As Peter is resting peacefully chained by two soldiers a visitor shows up in his cell. The once dark prison cell is now bursting with light. Because Peter is sleeping so soundly the angel hits him on his side to awaken him. “Quick, get up!” the angel said. The chains that once kept Peter securely bound to the soldiers fall off his wrists. The angel told Peter to get dressed and put on his sandals. Peter follows the angel but has no idea what is really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. The angel leads Peter and they walk by two more guards. They come to the iron gate that is closed so no one can enter and no one can leave. Let’s read what this secure gate does in the first part of Acts 12:10. I would like to imagine it was like walking up to those doors at the store and when they sense a person is near they just open up automatically!

As the two walked down the street the angel left Peter. By this time Peter is outside in the cool air and most likely is fully awake and now realizes what miraculous thing has just happened. He ran to the place he knew the believers were gathered and knocked on the door to the outer gate of the house. A servant girl named Rhoda came to the door. She must have wondered who would be knocking at the door at this late hour. Maybe she said, “Who’s there?” and as soon as she heard Peter’s voice she was so excited she ran back into the house without letting Peter in.

As the believers are gathered inside praying for Peter, Rhoda comes in and screams, “Peter is at the door!”

The believers had been praying constantly every day that Peter had been in prison. Rhoda has just told them he is outside and they say, “You’re out of your mind.” What she was saying seemed impossible! How could Peter be outside? Rhoda didn’t let that discourage her and she kept saying Peter was outside.

In those days the people believed that each person had a guardian angel that looked like the person he was guarding. This is not in the Bible but it’s a belief that some people had. They decided that Rhoda must have seen Peter’s guardian angel.

It’s not recorded how long it takes Rhoda to convince the believers that Peter is outside. Meanwhile he continues to knock.

As the believers continue to think Rhoda is crazy, someone must of heard the knocking. They go to the door and open it and as Peter stands before them they are astonished!

Peter puts his finger to his mouth so they will be quiet. He explains to them exactly what happened and how the Lord rescued him out of prison. He told them to share this miracle with the other leaders in the church. Peter knew he could not stay because it wouldn’t be long before the news got out that he was missing. He left the believers and went to a different place.

The next morning the soldiers looked everywhere in the prison for Peter. Could they find him? Let’s read Acts 12:18-19. Herod was so angry that Peter had disappeared that he had the soldiers put to death.

Herod was being used by Satan to stop God’s Word from spreading. God’s word tells us that the wages of sin is death but the Gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) The last we hear about Herod is that as he gathered to speak to a group of people they all thought he was a god. Let’s read what they said in Acts 12:22.

Herod should have stopped the people from speaking those words. There is only One God and he was most definitely not Him. Because he didn’t stop the people from worshiping him God punished him and he became sick and died. The price for Herod’s sin was a painful death.

Herod thought he could stop God’s work by persecuting believers. No one can stop God’s plans. Romans 8:31 Satan will continue to try to stop God’s work but he will fail every time. Let’s read our final verse for this passage from Acts 12:24.

As believers we will face difficulties. We can be encouraged that if we are trusting God and serving Him, He never leaves us. He may rescue us from the difficulties like the angel took Peter out of prison. If God chooses not to remove us from the difficulties we can trust that He is with us every step of the way and will give us His peace and strength in our difficult situation.

Before we pray, let’s say our memory verse again. If you are facing a difficulty in your life right now as we say this verse remember that nothing is impossible for God. He can be trusted!

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

Who did Herod have put to death by a sword? (James the brother of John)
Why did Herod arrest Peter? (Because he saw that the Jews were pleased when James was put to death)
What feast were the Jews celebrating? (Feast of Unleavened Bread)
What were the believers doing while Peter was in prison? (Urgently praying)
How did God change Peter’s impossible situation? (An angel rescued him from prison)
Why did Herod die? (He allowed people to praise him as though he were a god)
What continued to spread even though believers faced difficulties? (God’s Word)

(Personal Questions students don’t answer out loud)

Which person in the story are you most like? Are you like Peter and the believers who trust God despite difficulties or are you like Herod who allowed sin to control his life?
What changes will you make in your day to day life after hearing this story? Will you spend more time in prayer and Bible reading? Will you pray for others you know are having a difficult time?

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