June 21, 2020

L e n e x a B a p t i s t C h u r c h — E a r l y C h i l d h o o d

Bible Story Focus: I Spy Someone Who Believes in Jesus! Acts 9: 1-20

Memory Verse: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” John 20:31, NLV

Key Question: Who can believe in Jesus?

Bottom Line: I can believe in Jesus.

Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever.

PARENT: We’ve been talking a lot about God’s Son, Jesus. We talked about when Jesus was born. Can you pretend to rock a baby like this? (Pretend to rock a baby.)

We talked about how Jesus grew up to help sick people, love everyone, and do AMAZING things that only He can do. Can you make a heart with your fingers like this? (Make a heart shape with fingers of both hands.)

We talked about how Jesus died, but on the third day, the stone was rolled away! Jesus came back! Jesus is alive! Can you pretend to roll a stone away like this? (Do a rolling motion with both hands.)

After Jesus came back, He went to see His friends so they could see that He is alive. They told people Jesus is alive and wrote down that Jesus is alive, so everyone, everywhere could believe that Jesus is live!

But . . . not everyone believed Jesus is alive. One of the people who didn’t believe was a man named Paul. Paul grew up believing you had to follow a lot of rules if you loved God. I mean A LOT of rules!

One day, Paul heard people say that Jesus taught a brand-new rule. Not a lot of rules, just one rule. Jesus’ one rule was: Love each other the way I have loved you. Because Jesus is God’s Son, people followed Him and did what He said.

This made Paul very angry. Paul wanted people to follow all of the other rules. He did not want people following Jesus. Do you know what Paul did? He started being mean to people who followed Jesus.

Well, one day, when angry Paul was on his way to be mean to more people who followed Jesus, he saw a bright light and heard someone talk to him. Who do you think was talking to Paul? (Pause.) Yes! It was Jesus! Jesus asked Paul why he was doing mean things. Then, Jesus told Paul to go to a house and wait. After Paul saw the bright light, he couldn’t see anything, but he wanted to do what Jesus told him to do. So, someone had to help him find the house. Some of Jesus ’ friends came to the house to help Paul. They helped Paul, because Jesus had taught them the new rule: Love each other the way Jesus loves you.

After a few days, Paul could see again! Do you think Paul believed in Jesus now? (Pause.) He sure did! Angry Paul, who was mean to people, became happy Paul who loved people and believed in Jesus!

I love this story because it teaches us that EVERYONE can believe in Jesus. And when we believe in Jesus, we love people the way Jesus loves us. So, tell me, who can believe in Jesus?

CHILDREN: “I can believe in Jesus!”

PARENT: You sure can! Let’s close our eyes and talk to God together.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that Jesus loves everyone, and everyone can believe in Jesus. You are the best, God, and we love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I Spy Someone Who Believes in Jesus ! (Acts 9: 1-20)

ROAD What You Need: chalk or masking tape

What You Do: Using masking tape make a road on the floor or if you prefer outside, use chalk on the sidewalk or driveway.

Invite the children to walk on the road. After they have walked, challenge the children to crawl, hop, and tip toe on the road. Repeat as desired.

What You Say: Today is a good day for a walk! Let’s walk down the road! We can get down the road in other ways, too! Let’s crawl down the road. (Demonstrate.) Nice job! Let’s hop down the road! That was so much fun! Today, in our Bible story, we will hear about someone who was walk-ing on a road and something AMAZING happened! Are you ready for a TRUE story from the Bible?”

FOLLOW ME

What You Need: Bandanas and masking tape or sidewalk chalk

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Use the floor tape or chalk to create a wind-ing road.

During the Activity: Group family members in pairs. Help one person in each pair put on a bandana blindfold. Encourage the partners without blindfolds to carefully lead their partners around the room and along the “road” on the floor. When you say, “RETURN,” children must lead their part-ners back to where they started. Have children remove their blindfolds and switch roles so that everyone has a chance to be leader and follower.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “In our Bible story, today, we heard how Paul’s friends had to help him get home after he was blinded on the road. Let’s take turns leading each other down this road on the floor. One person will be blindfolded while your partner carefully leads you. Be very careful and move slowly as you lead.”

During the Activity: “Okay, now that one partner is blindfolded, let’s move down the road. When you hear me say, ‘RETURN!’, I want you to lead your partners right back here. We’ll switch so that every-one has a chance to lead and follow.”

After the Activity: “After the light, Paul heard a loud voice. Who was it? (Pause.) Jesus! Paul was blinded by the bright light, and his friends had to help him to the house where he stayed. But a few days later, Paul could see again, and he started believing in Jesus! And you can, too. Who can believe in Jesus? I can believe in Jesus.”

What You Need: “Happy Face” cutout, yarn, colorful paper straws, hole punch, and scissors

What You Say:

“When we believe in Jesus and follow his one special rule, we can be happy. Let’s make a special happy necklace.”

[Cut straws into pieces…this is GREAT fine-motor work for your child!]

[Cut out the smiley face below and punch a hole in it.]

[Cut a 24” piece of yarn, and thread the straw pieces and smiley face onto it. It might help to put a small piece of tape on the end of the yarn to make threading easier. Tie a knot at the end.

“Jesus came to teach us how to love others and to be our friend forever. Jesus said there was one rule: Love each other the way I love you. This made a man named Paul angry because he believed you had to follow a lot of rules if you loved God. One day, Paul saw a bright light and heard someone talking to him. It was JESUS! Jesus asked why Paul did mean things. He told Paul to go to a house and wait.

“Paul couldn’t see anything after he saw the bright light, but he did what Jesus told him to do. Some of Jesus’ friends came to help Paul because Jesus had taught them the new rule: Love each other the way Jesus loves you. After a few days, Paul could see again. Angry Paul, who was mean to people, became happy Paul who loved people and believed in Jesus!

“Jesus is God’s Son. He came to teach us how to love others and to be our friend forever. Jesus is alive, and we can believe in Him. Who can believe in Jesus? [Bottom Line] I can believe in Jesus.”

HAPPY NECKLACE