Category: M.Acts- Church Begins

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A Very Special Happy Birthday

Published on by Mary2 Comments

Every child can relate to the idea of a birthday party.  Try this interactive story-telling method to help children celebrate the beginnings of the church.

Background:

The “birth” of the church was long-anticipated and expected.  From the beginning chapters of Genesis and onwards, we read how God, the Father, worked out a plan to redeem imperfect people back to himself.  In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of building “his church”. Then, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit ushers in a new age and the birth of the church.

Among the crowds gathered in Jerusalem, there were one hundred and twenty believers gathered and waiting just as Jesus had told them to do.  By the end of the festival, specifically the Day of Pentecost, three thousand others had been added to this group of followers.  The Day of Pentecost marks the beginning of an age when imperfect people could have their sins washed away in baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This was the beginning of the church.

Items to Gather:

  • 12 cupcakes topped with soft icing or whipped cream
  • A plate or platter for the cupcakes
  • 12 candles
  • Matches or a lighter
  • “Sprinkles” or “Hundreds and Thousands” (or any tiny cake decorations)
  • A gift box and wrapping paper.
  • The following verse that you have transcribed on an index card or piece of paper:
    “Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 ICB

Prepare:

  • The words below are provided as a guide and are not meant to be read like a script.  Keeping this in mind, read and become very familiar with the events of Acts 1:12-2:41 so that you are able to share the story with the children in a natural way. For additional help, refer to the lesson: Sermon at Pentecost.
  • Place the verse card inside the gift box and wrap it like a birthday gift.

How to Tell the Story:

  1. Introduction: Ask the children to share their experiences of birthday parties.
    As you and the children are talking about this, set out the 11 cupcakes and the gift box on a table in front of the children. (Keep the 12th cupcake hidden from view.)
  2. The church had a beginning: Explain that birthday parties are a way of remembering and celebrating the birth or beginning of a person’s life. “Today, we are going to talk about a different kind of beginning.  It is not the beginning of a life of one person.  This is the beginning of the church.”
  3. One hundred and twenty followers of Jesus: Just before his ascension, Jesus had told the apostles to go to Jerusalem and wait for a special gift to arrive. (Luke 24:49) Tell the children about the 120 followers who had gathered together with the apostles.  Now, add a few sprinkles to the tops of the cupcakes.  Ask the children to help you estimate 120 sprinkles in all.
  4. Eleven Apostles: Ask the children to count the cupcakes and point out that there are only 11.  Talk about how Jesus had chosen 12 Apostles, but after Judas betrayed Jesus and died, there were now only 11.  Matthias was chosen to replace Judas.  This is the time to bring the 12th cupcake out from hiding.
  5. Arrival of the Holy Spirit: Have the children make sounds like the wind and then talk about how the apostles heard a sound like a mighty wind.  Place a candle in each of the cupcakes and, as you light them, talk about the flames of fire resting upon the head of each apostle. The sound of wind and flames made it clear that the Holy Spirit was there that day.  We cannot see the Holy Spirit, but we know he was there because of these things.  Jesus said that the Spirit would give power.  Explain the power these 12 men now had to speak in languages they had not even studied.
  6. Peter’s Sermon: The Holy Spirit also gave Peter the power to courageously preach a sermon to a huge crowd of people that day. Push one of the cupcakes in front of the others as you talk about the sermon content. Jesus wanted all of the Jews to have good hearts and turn to God.   Peter told this crowd of Jews that, instead of following Jesus, they had crucified him.
  7. “What should we do?”: The people felt terrible (quietly blow out the candles and set them aside). They had done a terrible thing.  How could they ever make it right?  They asked Peter.
  8. The gift for everyone: Peter knew that the Holy Spirit had given the apostles a special kind of power, but the Holy Spirit was also a gift that God wanted everyone to have in their life. Peter knew exactly what to say to the people that day.  Now, you or one of the children can open the gift and read Acts 2:38.
  9. Three thousand people were baptised: As you discuss this, group the cupcakes back together and bring out the sprinkles again.  Remind the children that there were 120 believers at the beginning of this day.  Begin adding more sprinkles to the cupcakes so that you cover them with what seems like 3,000.  These may even spill over onto the plate. Talk about how 3,000 people were added to their number on that day.
  10. Conclusion: This was the beginning of the church.  In the book of Acts, we read that, from that day forward, more and more people began to follow Jesus and were baptised.  And even today, when people are sorry for their sins and are baptised, God still adds them to the church as well. Some day, I pray that even you will be added to that number.

And now it is time to celebrate and eat those cupcakes!

I Say L.O.V.E

Published on by MaryLeave a comment

Have you ever had a song stick in your head and refuse to go away?   This week a friend of mine shared a song with me that has done exactly that.

The song is not fancy.  It only has six words.  It is a teacher training video and not a performance for the Grammy Awards.   Even so, it is stuck in my mind like glue.  Listen a few times and I dare you to forget it.

Everybody needs some love.

Lyrics:

I say L
I say L-O
L-O-V
L-O-V-E

Everybody needs some love.  L-O-V-E!

Everybody needs some love.  L-O-V-E!

Everybody needs some love.  L-O-V-E!

Everybody needs some love.

 

For more songs and free teaching resources visit Mission Bible Class

 

The One About the Cross

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“Teacher, when you tell stories, do you think sometimes you could tell me the one about the cross. I keep wondering what that cross is about.” I will never forget that question from a little boy who attended church and my Bible class for the first time.

This little boy had loved the Bible story and learning activities that day. He told his parents and me that he wanted to come back every Sunday (and he did). What he experienced that day with us was extremely important in his faith journey but it was clear that we were not the beginning of his journey. God had been planting seeds in his heart all along the way. Seeds were planted every time this young man passed a church building with a cross on it. Seeds were planted when he would see jewelry and billboards and bibles with crosses on the front.

Seeds are planted at Easter time. Children see the crosses people are putting up on signs and in decorations. The words “Christ”, “Christian”, “Jesus”,”resurrection” and phrases like “He is risen” are uttered by many people whether they understand deeper truths or not. Many children (and adults) wonder, “What does it mean?”

Any day is a good day to share the story of Jesus but Easter time creates a perfect opportunity to answer the questions children are wondering about.

Resources for Telling the Story of Jesus

The One About the Cross

And yes, I shared the story of the cross with that little boy that first day. It was a condensed version but I wanted to make sure he knew that this was one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask.

I told him that God created the whole world and he wanted everyone to be happy and love him. Sadly, people made bad choices and that has made lots of bad things happen in this world. Sometimes people even die. God was very sad that people had caused the earth to be so bad. Even though many people did not follow him he still loved them. So God sent his son, Jesus, from heaven to earth to show everyone how to obey God and make good choices.

But many people did not believe Jesus and got so angry that they made him die on a cross.

But guess what!? He was dead but after 3 days Jesus came alive again! Jesus showed that he is stronger than death and stronger than any bad thing that can ever happen.

Soon after he came back to life, the time came for Jesus to go to heaven to live with his Father again in heaven. Before Jesus left he told his followers to be sure and tell other people the good news. The good news is that “Jesus died but he came alive again!” God says that Jesus dying on the cross means that people can change from being bad to being good. People who follow Jesus do not have to be afraid of dying. If you follow Jesus then you will also come alive again to live in heaven someday!”

And THAT is the one about the cross!

Teaching Children About the Church

Published on by Mary2 Comments

How important is it to teach children to love the church?  Basically, the church should be as important to all of us as it it to Jesus.

In the middle of a conversation about submitting to one another in situations such as marriage the Apostle Paul writes…

Christ died for the church to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water. Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it.  Ephesians 5:25b-27 (International Children’s Bible)

Jesus loved the church completely and was willing to die for it.  Not because it is perfect but so it could be perfect.

So, how do children learn to love the church?

A good beginning is to understand that the church is personal.  It is made up of living and breathing people and is not simply an organisation or a building.

To make this point I used two large white poster boards.  One would represent “family” and the other “church”.

 

My Family

On the family poster I drew a large outline of a house. My drawing lines went right to the edge of the paper.  I then set one group of children to work drawing their families inside that house.  Families come in all shapes and sizes so the picture was quite an interesting collection of faces.

Knowing my intentions with this picture I encouraged the children to be careful to keep all of the drawing inside the outline of the house.

 

My Church

Meanwhile, on the other poster I had drawn an outline of a church building.  While the first group was working on drawing family members I asked the second group to think about who is in their church and to draw those people inside the outline of the church building.  I loved hearing the children name people from their own perspectives.  Soon the building was filled with people of all ages and various backgrounds.

Again I encouraged the children to draw only inside the walls of the church building.  This would be important later on in the next step.

 

What is a Family?

Now it was time for part two of the lesson.  After we spent some time talking about the families drawn inside of that house I took my scissors and began to cut away the outside edges.  There were gasps because this was not what the children expected.  Basically, I cut away the house and left the pictures of the family inside.

Then we talked about how our family is still a family even if there is no house.  When we go to the park are we still a family?  Yes.  When we get in a car and drive to another place are we still a family?  Yes.  One little girl even offered up that her family was still a family even though they had moved far far away from their home country to be missionaries.

 

What is the Church?

Now it was time to talk about the church.  I know many adults who struggle to separate worship from formal buildings but I was a bit unprepared for the initial reaction these children had when I began to cut away the edges of the church picture.  You would have thought I was committing sacrilege when I cut off the outline of the building.  I even heard an accusation of “church cutter” thrown my way.

But then the children began to see that only the building was missing and that the Christians were left inside.  We talked about how it is the saved people who are the church…not the building.  If the church decides to meet at the park instead of a church building are they still the church?  Yes.  If the church travels across town to deliver food to a family in need are they still the church?  Yes.

We concluded with a reminder that every person in the church is loved.  Christ was willing to give up his life for the church and we all agreed that he did not die for buildings.

 

How to Use this Lesson

The earlier quote is from the International Children’s Bible (ICB)
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a division of Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.

 

Same-Same But Different

Published on by MaryLeave a comment

For a number of years I have been collecting songs to add to http://www.missionbibleclass.org My hope has always been that Bible class teachers who would like to learn new songs can watch and listen to the videos over and over until they have mastered them.

Hearing Christian songs sung in different countries often reveals some interesting variations to what I have been singing the same way for years. In these last couple of days some wonderful Christian women allowed me to video them singing songs to upload to my website. I hope other teachers in Thailand will appreciate listening to them and learning new songs to sing with children.

I thought you might enjoy listening to the Thai version of a couple of old favourites.

More songs here.