unit 6 early church--lesson 3 nt6.3 early church …...unit 6 early church--lesson 3 nt6.3 early...

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NT6.1 The Holy Spirit Comes © Beverly Wilson 2018

Unit 6 Early Church--Lesson 3

NT6.3 Early Church Shares

Scripture: Acts 2: 42-47; Acts 4: 32-37

Lesson Goal: In this lesson we are going to learn about the beginning of the church and the First

Church Family In the early church people showed God's love by giving things to each other. In this lesson we will learn how we can share things to help others who are in need.

Introduction: This is the third lesson in Unit 6: The Early Church. This unit covers Acts 1-12 and

tells the story of the apostles spreading the gospel in Jerusalem and Samaria. In the early church people gave things to each other. In this lesson we will learn how we can share things to help others who are in need. It is described by Luke in the book of Acts. Acts tells the story of the history of the church. Let's say the names of the gospels plus the book of history--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts.

Attention Getter: How do you feel when you win a prize? It is good to be glad when you work hard and accomplish a Have you ever heard of Random Acts of Kindness? This is a way that people are encouraged to do good things for people. People are asked to help others when they do not expect it. Some ways of helping others might be to give flowers to someone for no special reason. Another act of kindness might be to carry someone's groceries or package for them or perhaps to help someone with a door. By being kind to others we encourage them to be kind to someone else. Did you know that doing random acts of kindness is an example of how we should act toward others? That is what our story is about in this lesson.

Opening Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, Thank you for loving us. You love us so much that you have given to us eternal life. Help us to love others in the same way as you have loved us. Help us to share what we have with others. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Memory Verse: The memory verse is John 13:35 "All men will know that you are My disciples if

you love one another.”

Lesson Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOJ8wuRpHjc

Just before Jesus returned to heaven, he told the disciples that he had a big job for them to do. They were to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus knew they could not do this by themselves so He promised to send the Holy Spirit to help them. He told them to go into Jerusalem and wait until He gave them the Holy Spirit. Forty days after Jesus' Resurrection on the Day of Pentecost the disciples were gathered in one room upstairs. While they were praying a great wind began to blow. All the doors and windows were locked so it was not an ordinary wind. Soon flames of fire began to be on the head of everyone. The fire was shaped like tongues and it was the Holy Spirit. Jesus was giving them a great gift. The Holy Spirit gave the disciples great power and boldness to tell others about God and the gift of salvation. A miracle happened. The disciples—Peter, James, and John could talk in many different languages. The city was full of people from many lands. They all heard the message about how Jesus had come

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOJ8wuRpHjc%20

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and had died and wanted to give them eternal life! Many people heard Peter and John preach and they were saved. Three thousand people were baptized in one day. We call these people the first Christians because they were the first people to love and follow Jesus Christ. The number of people in the church grew and grew. They went from house to house singing, praising God, listening to the Peter and John preach, and praying. They loved each other very much. Everyone was so happy. They met at the temple everyday and listened to Peter and John preach. They were very excited telling others about Jesus. They were especially thrilled when Peter and John were used by the Holy Spirit to heal the crippled man who sat by the entrance to the temple. Peter had told the man that he did not have silver or gold to give him but he did have a gift for him. The man would be healed! All the believers watched as he jumped and shouted for joy that he could walk again. This miracle caused everyone to praise and worship God. More people believed in Jesus as their Savior when they saw this. Because everyone was telling others about Jesus and the number of people in the church grew to 5,000. The love that the church had came from the Holy Spirit. He helped them love each other and that made more people want to become part of God’s family. The Bible says that they ate their meals together and visited with one another every day. They prayed together and read and talked about God’s Word. The first Christians knew Jesus wanted them to help each other. They made sure everyone in the church had the things they really needed. Suppose a man only had one old and torn shirt and he could not afford a new one. What do you think the first Christians did? Someone who had two good shirts would give one shirt to the person who needed it! They shared the clothes. Many of the first Christians had good jobs and could buy or grow all the food they needed. But there were other people in the church who couldn't even afford to buy food. What do you think the first Christians did? Someone would share his food or her food with the person who didn't have any. If someone needed something and another person could help they would sell something that they owned and buy food to help the person in need. That took a lot of love! Right? One of the members of the church was named Barnabas. Barnabas owned a field. It was a very big field and was worth a lot of money. He could have used the field to grow extra food to make money for himself. What do you think Barnabas decided to do with his field? He thought, "I know what I will do. I'll sell my field. Then I can give the money to the leaders of the church. The leaders of the church can give the money to the poor who need it!" So Barnabas sold his expensive field. He took the money from the sale of his field and gave it to the apostles. He said, "Here is the money from the field I sold," Barnabas said. "Please use it to help the people who need food and clothes." The leaders of the church were happy to receive so much money to help others. Peter and John divided up all the money that people had given to the church and made sure that everyone was not hungry and had plenty to eat. Everyone called Barnabas the Encourager because he helped so many people! What a wonderful church it was! Everybody in the city of Jerusalem was talking about the believers. They thought that it was amazing that the church was so big and that everybody loved each other. They shared their food with the widows and orphans who did not have anyone to care for them. No one was hungry or needed clothes. A widow is a woman whose husband has died and she does not have any man to help care for her. An orphan is a child whose parents have both died. One day the church ran into a problem. Some of the widows they were helping were from a different country and they did not speak the same language that the Jewish believers did. Soon the leaders of their group began to complain that these women were not being treated fairly. Peter and John wanted everyone to be treated alike so they said, "We have so much to do in preaching and teaching that we

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do not have enough time to take care of this problem. The church should choose seven men who are full of the Holy Spirit to make sure that the widows and children are fed." So the church chose seven men were very good, full of wisdom and lived uprightly to take care of the problem. These seven men were called deacons. They were Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. These men were brought to Peter and John who prayed and laid hands on them. This was a good solution to the problem! They carefully distributed the food and clothes to all the widows and orphans. Everyone was happy now! The early church was willing to give what they had so that many people could be saved. Acts 4:4 says that many people believed in Jesus because Peter and John told them about Him. Jesus says that others will know that we are followers of Christ if we love one another. John 13:35 “All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.” This verse says that the church is different from everyone else. People who love God will love one another! Just like the early church we today should be willing to show our love for one another by sharing with others. We may not have a lot of money or other things to give to others, but we can still help others. We show we love Jesus by giving what we can and sharing with others too. We can encourage others by showing others how to praise and give thanks to God. We can encourage others by praying for them. We can tell people about the Bible and the story of how Jesus came from heaven to save us. We can be kind when someone wants to play with our favorite video game and share the remote with them. We can donate clothes or food to needy people. We can work together in the church by sharing and loving each other. Remember let's be a part of a giving church family!

Review Questions/ Game: Tie Strings Give each child a string about 5-8" long. Talk about all the things they could do with a piece of string that length. (Ex. tie it around your finger; measure a short distance). As students correctly answer the review questions below, take their piece of string and tie it together with the other string(s). As each question is answered the string will get longer and longer. Now ask question: What can we do with one long string now? (Tie a package; make a rope; etc.) Conclude that when we make one long string together we can do more things with it. Similarly even though our part may be small when we use it with others it can help in a big way!

1. What mission did Jesus give the disciples to do before he ascended into heaven? (“Go and

make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20.)

2. Who did Jesus promise to send to help the disciples accomplish this job? (He promised to send the Holy Spirit to give them power to witness.)

3. How did the disciples know that God had given them the Holy Spirit? (The Holy Spirit descended on them with a great wind and tongues of fire.)

4. What ability did the disciples have that they had not previously had before the Holy Spirit came? (They were able to speak in many different foreign languages so that people from all different parts of the world could hear the gospel in their own tongue.)

5. How large was the first church? (On the first day the church was 3,000 and it soon grew to 5,000 people.)

6. What things did the first church do? (They went from house to house singing, praising God, listening to the Peter and John preach in the temple every day, and praying.)

7. How did Peter and John help the crippled man who sat at the gate of the temple? (They didn't have money but they could share God's healing power with him.)

8. How did the first Christians help each other? (They shared what they had; shared money, clothes, and food. They made sure no one was hungry or did not have any clothes.)

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9. How did Barnabas help other people? (He sold his field and gave the money to the church leaders for people who needed it.)

10. Who was a group of people that the early church had to especially help? Why? (The widows and the orphans needed special help because they did not have anyone to take care of them.)

11. What problem did the early church leaders have in helping everyone? (The apostles ran out of time helping everyone when they needed to be preaching and teaching.)

12. How did the early church solve the problem? (They appointed seven men who were godly to take care of the job. They called these men deacons.)

13. Why were the people in the early church so eager to help one another? (They loved the Lord and one another.)

14. Do we give money at church? Who does it help? (We give money to support our church; to pay for our pastor and his family; to help missionaries at home and around the world.)

15. What are some things that people really need to live? (Food, water, home, love) 16. What do the people in our church family give to each other? What do we share? (clothing,

games, toys, a ride to church for a person who doesn't have a car.) 17. What are some the ways that the people in our church help each other? (Visit people who are

sick. Take food to people who need it. Give money to help someone who doesn't have a job.)

18. Who are some of the people who help our church? (Pastors, secretaries, choir or worship leaders, and other volunteers.)

19. In our classroom how can we obey Jesus by helping each other? (share supplies; take turns; help someone find a verse in the Bible.)

20. What are some things that you can give to help others? (Be kind and share what you have; share your toys with friends; let another person go first in a game; help take care of the church building by cleaning or sweeping or picking up trash; give our time to help people who are in trouble.)

21. What is the greatest thing you can share with other people? (We can share the good news of Christ and salvation.)

22. What is our memory verse? (John 13:35 “All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: Sticker Poster

The memory verse is John 13:35 "All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.” Say the verse together in unison. Look up the scripture in the Bible. Have a student read the verse. Repeat the verse together. The Bible says were are to show love to each other. We show love by sharing things with each other. Today we are going to help each other decorate a Bible verse poster by sharing these stickers and stamps. Procedure: Print the scripture verse on a large sheet of poster board. Place poster on table or floor at one side of the room. Have students line up on the other side of the classroom. Place a supply of stickers or stamps and a stamp pad on the floor or on a chair near the children. Read or repeat the verse aloud together. Have children one at a time choose a sticker or stamp, run across the room and add it to the poster. Continue repeating the verse each time a sticker or stamp is added. Continue until each child has had several turns. When finished, each child can write his or her name on the completed poster.

Group Learning Activity: Service Projects (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need paper gift bags, index cards, Bible verse bookmarks, tissue paper, and any gifts your church chooses to give first time visitors. Procedure: To make Visitor Bags: Give each child a paper gift bag to decorate. Give each child an index card to print the following words: "We are glad that you came to our class." Child may decorate the card also. Put the card inside the bag. Fill the bag with a Bible verse bookmark, a small snack, stickers, information about your church or

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children's ministry. Keep the bags in your classroom to be give to visitors who come to your class in the coming weeks. Add tissue paper or curling ribbon to the gift bag. Encourage the children to bring pencils, crayons or other small toys from home to put in the bags. Birthday Greetings: Children can fill shoe boxes or gift bags with items to help senior adults celebrate their birthdays. Ex. balloons, streamers, party hats, small stuffed animals. Children can record themselves on cell phone videos singing birthday greetings or telling them Happy Birthday or reciting scripture verses and send them to the adults on their birthday.

Group Learning Activity: Combing Hair (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need brand new combs for each volunteer in this activity. Procedure: Ask for a couple of volunteers. Bring them to the front of group. Say: Now each of you gets one of these brand new combs to use. What I want each of you to do is get your hair combed, but there is one thing that you cannot do! You cannot bend your elbows. You’ve got to keep your arms straight out. (Demonstrate) Okay, start combing. (The helpers will find that this is an impossible task). This seems to be difficult for each of you. However there is a very simple solution. Ask class to help them think of a way they can comb their hair. Let students struggle to solve the problem. Solution: Help each other by combing each other's hair! Even though they couldn’t comb their own hair, the students were not unable to comb each other’s hair. It’s like in the Bible when it talks about sharing what we can do with each other! Do what you can to help others. As we serve each other God meets our needs!

Group Learning Activity: Puzzle Pieces (Grades K-5) Purpose: This activity helps students see the importance of each person's service in the church. Preparation: Ahead of time cut a picture of the leaders of your church or a picture of your church building into as many "puzzle pieces" as you have students in the class. Procedure: Give each student a puzzle piece. Recite the memory verse together and have each student come and place their puzzle piece to assemble the picture. As each piece is placed, talk about how we are better able to see what the picture is. It's the same as each one of us serves other believers. God's plans and power are more clearly seen to those who do not believe in Jesus as we serve and help each other in the body of Christ. Culminate this activity by having students write a thank you note to different church leaders so that all the leaders receive a card/picture of appreciation. Identify deacons, worship leaders, custodians, nursery workers, etc. in your church for children to thank.

Group Learning Activity: “Sharing Game” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need Bibles, index cards, permanent markers, masking tape, dried beans, two buckets, and two spoons. Print “Give” on six index cards. Print “ask” on six additional cards. Separate the cards into two identical sets and then add any number from 1-3 to each card. Make masking tape lines on opposite sides of playing area. Divide the beans equally between two buckets and place a bucket and a set of cards near each line. Say: “In our lesson how did the first Christians show their love for one another? (They gave food and clothing to the people in their church family who needed them.) How did Barnabas help others in need? (He

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sold his field and gave the money to the church leaders.) How can we share and help each other in our classroom? (Share supplies. Take turns. Help someone find a verse in the Bible.) Today we are going to play a sharing game to see how this idea works for us.” Procedure: Divide the class into two teams. Teams line up behind the masking tape lines. Player from the first team choose a card from the card pile. If the card says, “Give 2” the player takes two beans from the bucket and places them on a spoon and walks across the room to put them into the other teams bucket. If the card says, “Ask 3,” the player walks to the other team and asks for three beans from the team. The player then carries the beans on a spoon back to his or her own team bucket. Then the other team takes a turn. Continue until each child has had a turn to choose a card. Optional: If possible play the game outside and encourage the children to run as they play the game.

Group Learning Activity: “Balloon Relay Game” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need Bibles, balloons in two colors, and two large containers such as boxes or trash cans. Inflate and tie the balloons. You will need an equal number of balloons of each color. Prepare at least one balloon for each child. Place the large containers on opposite ends of the playing area. Print a set of the playing cards of pictures of different places below. Cut the cards apart and stack the cards on a table or other prominent place for students to see. Say: “In our lesson we learned that the early church shared with one another. We are going to play a game that will see if we can think of ways to share with others in different situations.” Procedure: Place balloons on the floor in the middle of the playing area. Divide the class into two teams. Assign each team a balloon color and choose a child from each team to be a collector. The collector stands opposite his or her team in front of a container. At your signal all the team members run to the middle of the playing area and try to tap balloons of their team’s color to their team’s collector. The collector grabs his or hers team’s balloons and puts them into the container. At your signal, children freeze where they are and collectors must count the balloons in the containers. The team with the most balloons in the containers gets to select a card from the set of picture cards. They then tell how they could work together to help people in that situation. If the team gives an example of how to help and share with others then they win that point. Play as long as time permits.

Group Learning Activity: “Helping” Bingo Game (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a printed copy of the bingo cards below and the Helping Bingo pictures. Cut apart the “Helping” picture cards and the “Helping” Bingo cards. You will need paper squares to buttons to act as markers for the Bingo game. Say: “What was the problem in today’s Bible lesson? (The widows and orphans needed help and were not getting it.) How did the people take care of the problem? (They voted on deacons to take care of the problem and serve the widows and orphans.) Who are some people in our church who serve one another? (Talk about those who serve in your church.) We are going to play a bingo game that will help us to know how people serve in different ways in the church.” “I am going to show you a picture. Tell me how the item can be used at church.” (Display the “Helping” pictures.) Now let’s play a game with our pictures.

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Procedure: Distribute the Helping Bingo cards and buttons. Say: “I’ll show you one of the pictures we talked about. Find the picture on your card and cover it with a button. Display the first picture. Guide the children to locate and cover the item with a button. When you get four in a row, shout, “I’m a helper!” Play as long as time permits. Gather the cards and buttons.

Say: “One thing we can all do to help our church is to pray for one another. Let’s thank God for the people who help in our church.” Encourage children to say sentence prayers for the people in your church.

Group Learning Activity: “Clothing” Run Relays (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need large shoes, pieces of clothing (one per child), laundry basket, masking tape, cans of food (one per team), offering plate, container, 10 pennies per child, and 2 brooms. Tape a starting line and finishing line to the floor on opposite sides of the room. Place the clothes next to the empty laundry basket on the finishing line. Fill the container with pennies and place it on the finishing line. Place the offering plate at the starting line. Procedure: You will have the children run three different relays: Clothing relay; canned food relay; and the offering plate relay. Divide your class into two teams. Line the teams up at opposite ends of the room from the clothing and basket. Say: “You will pick up a piece of clothing. Fold the clothing and place the item in the basket. Say today’s Bible verse (John 13:35 "All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”) while you walk back to your team. Run the clothing relay and removed the filled baskets. Form new teams. Say: “This time the team members will take turns pushing a can of food with a broom from the starting line to the finish line and back. When you return to the starting line, give the broom to the next person in line to run the relay.” Run the canned food relay. Form new teams. Say: “This time we are going to have an offering plate relay. One at a time you are to run to the container and get 10 pennies, run back to the starting line and put the pennies in the offering plate.” Run the offering plate relay. Say: “The early church shoes special helpers called deacons to help the widows who were hungry. The people in the early church helped one another. People in our church also help one another. We can give clothes, food, and even money to help people in need.” Close in prayer remember the needs of individuals in your church who need help.

Group Learning Activity: “Exploring Ways to Help” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need Empty food containers, clothing (various items to fold and match), play money, Bibles, boxes, grocery bags, coins, scoops, hand sanitizer. Create 4 centers: 1) Food: food containers and grocery bags; 2) Clothing: clothes; 3) Money: hand sanitizer; play money and coins to sort, scoop, and pour; 4) Bibles: Bibles and boxes. Say: “"The disciples told the church people to choose special helpers to help the widows. The church chose seven men to help. Let's discover how we can help our church help others." Say: "I'll place all of you in groups. The groups will rotate through the centers. Stay with your group. The centers include playing with money, folding and matching clothes, bagging food, and boxing Bibles. Each group will explore the materials at the center. After a few minutes, I will call for groups to move to different centers. Everyone will go to all centers."

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Procedure: Place children into four groups and assign each group to a center. Allow time for children to enjoy the centers. Rotate the groups through all of the centers. Gather the children together. Say: "How can we as a church help other people?" Lead responses to include giving food, money, clothes, and Bibles.

Craft Learning Activity: Teamwork Drawing Papers (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need one copy of the template of the child below for each student in your class. You will need colored markers, crayons, or colored pencils for each student. Stickers or other decorating items are optional. Procedure: Give each child a sheet with a the paper person. Use template below. Be sure the child puts his or her name at the top where indicated before starting. Tell the children that they will work together to complete their paper person. Make sure each child is finished before proceeding to the next direction. Have the students sign their name by the part they drew on each paper.

1. Hand you paper to the child on your left and draw in the face of the person. (eyes, nose, mouth).

2. Hand the paper to the child on your left and draw hair on the person. 3. Hand the paper to the next child to the left and draw a shirt. You may decorate the shirt. 4. Hand the paper to the next child to the left and draw pants on the person. 5. Return the paper to the child whose name is at the top.

Say: “In the early church all the new believers worked together to help each other. Working together is fun and it is also what Jesus wants us to do in the church. We are to serve one another. What are some ways that you can serve others in our church?”

Craft Learning Activity: Paper Tunics (Grades K-3) Preparation: You will need a large brown paper grocery sack for each student in your class. Say: “In Bible times most people wore tunics which were similar to long T-shirts. They wore the tunics with belts tied around the waist. Often a person wore his or her tunic all cay and then took off the belt and slept in the tunic at night. In cold weather people slept in their coats to keep warm. Not having a coat was a serious problem. It took a long time to make a tunic and even longer to make a coat so clothes were very expensive. To give away an extra coat was very generous! But that is what the early church did to show their love for one another. Today we are going to make some paper tunics to remind us of the love in the early church family.” Procedure: Give each child a brown paper grocery bag. Cut the arm holes and a slit down the front for opening of the tunic. Provide rope or heavy cord to tie the bag around the waist. Let the child decorate his tunic with crayons or markers as he/she chooses.

Craft Learning Activity: “Matching Pieces” Church (Grades K-3) Preparation: You will need printed copies of the church and its matching puzzle pieces below for each student in your class. If possible print the copy of the church on light brown, light red brick color, or light gray colored paper. Print the copy of the matching puzzle pieces on yellow or bright orange or light blue colored paper. Procedure: Distribute the copies of the church and its matching puzzle pieces to each student. Have students color the pieces if you did not print on colored paper. Have students use scissors to cut out the church building and the matching puzzle pieces. Glue the main part of the church onto a large piece of drawing paper. Match other

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pieces with the faint outline on the main part of the church and glue. Glue the cross at the top. Have students add the trees, people, landscape to the church with colored markers and crayons. Write memory verse on edge of picture. John 13:35 "All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.” Say: “In this lesson we have been studying the beginnings of the early church. The early church was formed with many different believers from a lot of different countries and places. They spoke many different languages and had many different needs. Yet everyone loved one another and cared for each other by sharing what they had. This craft helps us to remember that the church puzzle has many different pieces and yet they all fit together to form a picture that praises God. What are some important people that are in our church? What are the different jobs they do? What can we do to help our church share and work together in a way that honors God?”

Craft Learning Activity: “Church Helpers” Flower Pot (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need heavy weight paper, scissors, glue, markers, crayons, paint sticks, large flower pot, florist foam. Print the “Body Shape” template below on heavyweight paper (at least one copy per child). Say: “In this lesson we learned that there were many people helping one another in the early church. The apostles helped by leading the people in worship and preaching the message of salvation. The deacons helped by distributing the food, clothing, and other needs to the widows and children. Barnabas helped by giving to the needs of the people. They all worked together to make the early church a place of love and acceptance. “Today we are going to think of our church and some of the people who help to make our church a place where people serve and help one another. Who are some of the people in our church? (Pastor, worship leader, Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, church secretary, janitor, day care workers, deacons, etc.) What are some of the jobs they do? (Write the names of the people on a white board or poster chart so all the children can easily see the list.) For each of these people we are going to make a church helper flower. We will put our flowers in a pot so we can be reminded to pray for one another.” Procedure: Distribute the copies of the “body shape” template to each child. Have students cut out the body shape. Distribute supplies. Have children decorate the shapes to resemble helpers in your church. Write the names of the church helpers on the backs of the body shapes. Attach each body shape to a paint stick. Place florist foam in a large flower pot. Have children arrange their flower pot people in the flower pot. Say: “One thing we can all do to help our church is to pray for one another. Let’s thank God for the people who help in our church.” Encourage children to say sentence prayers for the people in your church. Optional: Provide a pictorial directory for the children to look through to learn the names of the people in your church. Allow the children to create additional helpers to be the guests in your church.

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Craft Learning Activity: “Help Wanted Posters” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need one copy of the Help Wanted poster printed for each child, scissors, markers and crayons. Say: “What was the problem in this lesson’s story? (The church widows and orphans were not receiving the help they needed.) What did the church do about the problem? (They solved the problem by selecting deacons who would distribute the food and clothing to those who needed help. Review Bible lesson.) Who are some people in our church who help one another? (Talk about people who serve in your church.) How do people know where and how they can help in our church? Many times in our church people are asked to help. They hear people talking about someone who needs help or they may read about a way to help.” (Talk about some current needs in your church.) Today we are going to make “Help Wanted” signs to post so people can know how they can help and who to talk to if they would like to help.” Procedure: Distribute the “Help Wanted” posters, crayons, and markers. Say: “Think of how someone can help in our church. Draw a picture of how the person can help. I will help you write the words about your pictures.” Assist as needed. Say: “One thing we can all do to help our church is to pray for one another. Let’s thank God for the people who help in our church.” Encourage children to say sentence prayers for the people in your church.

Life Application Challenge: If your church has a group or committee that oversees benevolence giving, ask them to come and briefly explain without naming specific families the ways your church helps church members when they have needs. Choose a class project for students to demonstrate their love for one another. Ask students to help someone this week and be ready to tell about it in class next time.

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Early Church Shares Read Acts 2: 42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.

Use these words to finish the sentences.

Prayer Teaching Together Bread Encouragement

Need Miracles Fellowship Praised Barnabas

Saved Sold Hearts

1. The early church listened to the apostles’_______________, enjoyed

______________________ with each other, shared _________________ together, and

had _________________. (vs. 42)

2. The disciples were able to perform many signs and _____________. (vs. 43)

3. All the believers were _________________ and loved each other very much. (vs. 44)

4. The church family ______________ their possessions and goods and gave to anyone

that had ________________. (vs. 45)

5. The church family ate together with glad and sincere ________________. (vs. 46)

6. The people ______________ God and many people were ______________. (vs. 47)

7. One man named Joseph who was called ________________ sold his field and gave

the money to Peter and John to give to the people. (Acts 4:36) His name means

___________________________.

On the back draw your hand. Write ways that you could give to others.

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This person belongs to: ____________________________________________.

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unit 6 early church--lesson 3 nt6.3 early church …...unit 6 early church--lesson 3 nt6.3 early...

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