Scripture: for teacher background: Acts 8:1-3, Ch 9
Making contact:
Play pin the donkey’s tail – blind fold the
children one by one and get them to pin the donkey’s tail on.
Another game is to blindfold the children and
get them to draw a horse.
Exploration:
There was a man named Saul who held the
cloaks of the people who stoned Steven. He went from house to house dragging
out all the Christian believers and throwing them into jail.
He was a Pharisee
of Pharisees – the best. His teacher was Gamaliel and he was the best Jewish
young man.
He knew the law and kept it perfectly. He was zealous and
enthusiastic. He was enjoying his job of persecuting these Christians.
He
thought they were so wrong and such a threat that they had to be put in jail
and even killed!
Have you heard about someone falling from
his or her high horse? It is an expression about someone who think that they
are high and mighty being humbled, not actually falling from a horse.
Well, our buddy Paul had to fall off his high horse in every sense of the word!
Saul had permission from the High Priest to
go to Damascus
He fell to the
ground and heard a voice saying: “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?”
He asked: “Lord who are you?” “I am Jesus whom you persecute!”
Paul got up but was blind. His friends led
him into Damascus
God spoke to a Christian called Ananias and
told him to go to the house where Saul was and to lay hands on him and pray for
him.
Ananias was worried – this was the Christian persecutor they all dreaded
and he had to go to him!
But he obeyed and when he laid hands on Paul he
could see again. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and straight away began
preaching about Jesus. From being the strongest enemy of Jesus he become the
most powerful missionary.
Paul visited many, many places. He faced
danger in every place. There were sometimes plots to kill him and he had to
escape.
Listen to how he describes all this: “I
have been in prison, whipped – five times I was given the 39 lashes, 3 times I
was whipped by the Romans; I was stoned once; I have been in 3 shipwrecks and
once I spent 34 hours in the water. I have been in danger from floods and from
robbers, dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas
and danger from false friends.” 2 Cor 11:23-25
Many people accepted his message and became
Christians. In one town, Ephesus
One night Paul preached for so long that a boy fell asleep
and fell out the window. Paul prayed over him and he was fine – miracles were
happening like in the days of Jesus, Elijah and Elisha.
Paul received wonderful visions and felt
the Holy Spirit guiding him very clearly where he was to go and preach.
Challenge to Mission
Remember that when you
spread the Gospel, this is a powerful message.
God can use anybody and He can
use you. It might not be easy but God will protect you and always be with you.
Don’t ever think you
are not good enough. Be careful of being high and mighty. God humbles the proud
like he did with Saul.
On the worksheet are a
series of pictures describing Paul’s conversion. Get the children to retell the
story using these pictures. There is also the memory verse and a description of
some of the things Paul went through.
There is a word search
using words from the story that will help them retell it. Some of the words
overlap and there is one diagonal word.
Memory Verse
“Fight a good fight for the faith and claim
eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:12
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