Unit 6 Early Church--Lesson 10 NT6.10 Peter and Cornelius

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1 1 Unit 6 Early Church--Lesson 10 NT6.10 Peter and Cornelius Scripture: Acts 10: 1-48 Lesson Goal: This lesson is about Peter the Apostle who preached about Jesus Christ in Samaria. In this lesson we will see how Peter showed love for Jesus by helping a Gentile man named Cornelius learn about Jesus. Students will see that God loves all people the same and understand that Jesus died for everyone! Introduction: This is the tenth 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 this lesson we will see how Peter showed love for Jesus by helping a Gentile man named Cornelius learn about Jesus. This lesson comes from the book of Acts. Acts is the fifth book in the New Testament. This book was written by Luke the Apostle. The first four books of the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- tell about the life of Christ. The fifth book-- Acts--tells about the beginning of the church. Let's say the first five books of the New Testament together-- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Attention Getter: What rules do some people have for eating? Did you know it is important to eat the right foods. Here is are some fruits and vegetables that are good to eat. Here is a food pyramid. It shows the food that every person should eat every day. At the bottom of the pyramid are the bread and cereals, then come the vegetables and fruits. Next are the milk and cheese products, meat, chicken, and fish. Last are the sweet, sugar desserts, with oil on top. Notice you should eat very few sweets and fats. Mostly you should eat fruits and vegetables. How well do you eat? Long ago in Bible times God had given His people, the Jews, some strict rules to follow about the foods they ate. The Jewish law said they could eat animals chew the cud and have a split hoof. That means they could eat fish, beef, lamb, and goat but they could not eat camel, pigs or pork, snakes, rabbits, birds or bats. Today in our Bible story we will find out how God used those rules to teach an important lesson. Opening Prayer: Let's pray. "Dear Father in heaven, Thank you for dying on the cross for the salvation of everyone. Help us to accept all people like You do. We believe that you died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Thank you for saving us. In Jesus name, Amen Memory Verse: Our memory verse is Romans 15:7 " 7 Therefore accept one another, just as Christ accepted you." Lesson Video: Just before Jesus went back to heaven he told the disciples that they should Go into all the world and preach the good news about Jesus.. Jesus promised that after He left He would send the Holy Spirit to help the disciples tell others about Jesus. Ten days after Jesus left for heaven the Holy Spirit came like tongues of fire on the disciples. Miraculously the disciples had the ability to speak many different languages. All the people heard about Jesus in their own language! Many people believed in Jesus as their Savior. They were baptized. One day there was three thousand that believed. Another day there were five thousand people! The church grew and grew! The believers were to tell people in Jerusalem first, then in Samarian and the Judea, and finally to the whole world. At first Peter and John were the main preachers in Jerusalem but soon they were traveling to other cities. As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord s people who lived in Lydda. There he healed a crippled man. While he was there two men from Joppa came and told him about a woman named Dorcas who had died. She was a Christian woman who sewed clothing for the poor and helped the widows. Peter traveled to the city of Joppa. There he prayed and the Lord raised Dorcas back to life! Peter stayed in Joppa and lived in the house of Simon for many days. He preached to the people there about Jesus.

2 2 Joppa was a town along the sea. There were many ships that came to that port. Just up the sea coast was another town named Caesarea. In that town lived a Roman man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile. A Gentile is a name for any person who isn't a Jew. Jesus and His followers were Jewish. Cornelius was a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. This means that he was the commander for 100 of the Roman soldiers. Even though Cornelius wasn't Jewish he loved God. He did kind things for the people around him and prayed often. Cornelius and his family were very devout and feared God. Cornelius would give generously to people who were poor. Cornelius prayed every day. He wanted to know more about God. One day while he was praying, God sent an angel to him. The angel said, "Cornelius, God hears your prayers. He is pleased with you. You should send for a man named Peter. He is staying in the town of Joppa at Simon's house by the sea. Tell your servants to bring him here to you." Cornelius must have been very excited! God had sent an angel to tell him that his prayers were really heard! He called three men who worked for him. He told them all about what had happened. "Go to Joppa as quickly as you can and invite Peter to come here," he probably said. The men got ready and left for Joppa. These three men got to Joppa around lunchtime the next day. As they came near the house where Peter was, Peter was on the roof by himself. In Bible times many homes were built with flat roofs. People often sat on their roofs. On this day Peter was on the roof, praying and waiting for lunch to be ready. And he was hungry! While Peter prayed, God showed him a strange dream. In front of Peter was what looked like a big sheet. It was coming down from heaven toward him. There were all kinds of wild animals, wild beasts, and creeping things in it. God said to Peter, "Get up! Peter! You can eat any of these kinds of meat for your lunch! Peter said to God, "Certainly NOT! Nothing unclean has EVER been in MY mouth." Peter was Jewish and one of God's rules said that Jewish people could NOT eat certain kinds of meat. All of his life Peter had obeyed the laws of what to eat and what NOT to eat. Peter couldn't imagine eating meat from pigs for instance. "Don't call anything UNCLEAN that I have made CLEAN!" God said. God showed Peter this strange dream TWO more times! God wanted Peter to understand that God wanted to make all kinds of people part of His family. God's family was not just for Jews! Peter thought about what God had shown him. Then God said to him, "There are men outside looking for you. Go with them." After the sheet went back up into heaven for the third time, Peter must have wondered what all this meant! What was God trying to tell him? Peter went downstairs. Sure enough, there were three men coming through the door who wanted to see him! These were the men that Cornelius had sent to find Peter. And they were NOT Jews. That meant they were Gentiles, people that Peter had stayed away from all his life! But God had said to go WITH them. They asked Peter to go with them to Cornelius' house. Then Peter must have understood! That's what God meant by that strange dream he saw! So Peter invited Cornelius' men in to spend the night. The next day they all set out for Cornelius' house. Some of the men from Joppa went along with Peter and Cornelius' men. The following day Peter and all the men arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and he had called together all his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered his house, Cornelius ran out to meet him. He fell down at Peter's feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up!" he said, "I am only a man." When Peter and his new friends went inside Cornelius' house, they found that the house was full of people. They were all waiting to hear what this man Peter had to say! Peter said to all the people, "I know now that God loves EVERY person. He has sent me to tell you the good news about Jesus. He showed me in a dream that no one is unclean. That is why I came today with Cornelius' men. Tell me, why did you send for me?" Cornelius then told Peter how the angel of the Lord had appeared to him while he was praying. He said, "God told me that He was pleased with my prayers and that I should send for you. Now we are all here waiting to hear what the Lord has told you."

3 3 Peter began to tell them about Jesus. Peter told them that Jesus was God's Son and he had been sent from heaven to bring salvation to all people. He told them how that when Jesus was baptized that God had sent His spirit on Him. Then he told them about Jesus' ministry and how he had healed the sick and made the blind to see because He had the power of God. Peter told the people how he and the disciples had seen Jesus die on the cross but they had also been witnesses of His resurrection. As he talked, the people believed the things Peter said. Right then and there, the people in Cornelius' house became part of God's family! God's Spirit came to them just like He had come to Peter. The Holy Spirit descended on them and they began to speak many different languages. They were praising God and worshipping Him. Some of the people who had come with Peter were astonished that these Gentiles had the Holy Spirit! They could not believe that God had given them the same gifts they had received! But Peter could see that God did NOT think there was a difference between him and his Jewish friends and these people! EVERYONE was the same to God. God loved them all! Peter then said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just like we did." So Peter ordered that everyone in Cornelius' house be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then Cornelius asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Peter taught them many more things about Jesus. Everyone was glad to have more people in the family of God. I'm glad that God love all people because that means that He loves you and me too! God wants us to be part of His family, and He wants us to show love and acceptance to other people, too. When we accept other, we treat them with respect and are fair to them. We treat them like we would want to be treated. We can ask God to help us accept and respect others. Let's think about how we should accept others. If a little girl is new to school, what should the children do? Yes, they should talk to her and make her feel welcome. She will need a friend to help her find things, get around the new school, and just be a person to talk to. Some boys were talking about the patches on a girl's dress. Perhaps they think that the girl is poor. Maybe they think that they do not want to be friends with someone who is poor. Is that a good thing? No, we should be friends with people that do not have a lot of money. God loves poor people and we should too. This boy is accepting the new girl" by introducing her to others. He is talking to her! That shows kindness and love like Christ has for us. Susie the Soccer player is the goalie. The goalie is supposed to stop the balls from going into the goal. She missed stopping the ball and now the other team has a point. A girl is making fun of Susie for missing the ball.. Is this girl accepting Susie? No, it isn't it. Making fun of people for their mistakes is not accepting them. How do you suppose that would make Susie feel? The girl should say, "That's all right. You will stop it the next time." That would be a good way to accept Susie, wouldn't it? Remember Christ died on the cross because He loved everyone and wants them to go to heaven. Have you ask Jesus to be your Savior? You can do that now. Remember Accept One Another. Review Questions/ Game: Snowball Fight Have students make snowballs from crumbled sheets of paper. Make a cardboard wall or turn a table on its side as a barrier. Divide the class into two equal teams. Give an equal number of snowballs to each team. Have the students hide behind the barrier and throw snowballs at each other. After each round, count the snowballs that were thrown over the barrier. The team who got the most snowballs over the barrier get the first opportunity to answer the following review questions. If their answer is wrong then the other team gets an opportunity to answer. Each correct answer is worth one point. After the game, remove the barriers, clean up the snowballs, and shake the other team's hand to show that we are no longer fighting each other but are all on the same team. 1. How many soldiers does a centurion command? (The centurion commands one hundred Roman soldiers.) 2. How do you know the Cornelius was a devout man? (He prayed daily, helped the poor, and was kind to people around him.)

4 3. How did Cornelius feel when the angel appeared to him? (Cornelius was amazed and excited that God had heard his prayers.) 4. What did the angel instruct him to do? (The angel told Cornelius to send some men to Joppa and invite Peter to come to his house.) 5. Which men did he send? (Cornelius sent three of his men who worked for him to go invite Peter to come to his house.) 6. What did Peter see in a vision? ( Peter saw a sheet come down out of the sky with many unclean animals in the sheet.") 7. What did the voice tell him to do? God said to Peter, "Get up! Peter! You can eat any of these kinds of meat for your lunch! 8. Why was this a hard command for Peter? (Peter was a Jew and Jews do not eat animals that are unclean or that are against the Law. The law said not to each animals that chew the cud or have a split hoof.) 9. What was God teaching Peter with this vision? (God was showing Peter that the church or kingdom was to be made of many different nationalities and peoples, not just the Jews.) 10. What did Peter do when the men came to the door? (He invited them in and asked them to spend the night before they traveled back to Caesarea to see Cornelius.) Bible Memory Verse Activity: "Pass the Words" Noodle Relay Our memory verse is Romans 15:7 " 7 Therefore accept one another, just as Christ accepted you." When Jesus died on the cross he died for everyone. He loves everyone the same and wants them to go to heaven. Jesus wants us to accept other people, too. Help students look up the scripture in the Bible. Have a student read the verse. Repeat the verse together. Preparation: Cut a swim noodle into 10 pieces. On each of the pieces write one word of the scripture memory verse and the reference. Make two sets of these swim noodle memory verse pieces or one set for each of the teams in your class. Place swim noodle pieces at the opposite end of the playing area. Divide your class into teams. Give the first person in each team two dowel rods (1/2" or thicker). Say: In this game we will use two dowel sticks to move and arrange words. One person from your team will race to the noodles. Using the dowels like chopsticks, carry a noodle back to your team. Give the dowels to the next person. Continue until you get all of the words and arrange them in order to make the verse. Shout 'Done' when you think you have them in the correct order. I will tell you if you are correct." Group Learning Activity: Object Lesson with Brown / White Eggs Get a clear glass bowl and some brown eggs and white eggs. If you wish, use markers to decorate some eggs to look like people -- some with yellow hair and blue eyes, black hair and brown eyes, red hair and green eyes. Say: Do you like eggs? There are so many different ways to fix eggs -- fried, scrambled, or hard boiled. You can make an omelet or a breakfast burrito. You can eat them by themselves or mix them with chicken or tuna to make sandwiches. Eggs are also used to make delicious treats such as cookies, cakes, and pies. Did you know that some eggs are white and some eggs are brown? Have you ever wondered why? Well the answer is quite simple. White chickens lay white eggs and reddish brown chickens lay brown eggs. Is there any difference in white eggs and brown eggs? Well, yes, white eggs are white and brown eggs are brown. "What about the inside?" you may ask. Well, let's see. (break a brown egg and a white egg in to the clear glass bowl.) Can you see any difference? No, on the inside they look just the same. I also read that the color of the shell has nothing to do with an egg's quality, nutritional value, or flavor. On the inside, all eggs are the same. You know, that is true of people too. Some people may be light-skinned and have blond hair and blue eyes. Others may be dark-skinned and have brown hair and brown eyes. On the outside, they may look different, but on the inside they are the same. Snack Learning Activity: Animal Crackers or Sardines Peter had a dream about animals. God used that dream to help Peter see that all people are important to God. Snack on animal crackers to remember that God loves all people. Alternative: Bring some sardines or other unusual meat product. Say: In Peter s dream, God helped him know that he could eat anything. In the same way, God was helping Peter to see that all people are accepted by God and 4

5 He loves all people very much! Help the kids know that God loves them and cares for them just the way they are. God made us and thinks we are special! Craft Activity: "All the children of the World" Wreath Cut the inside of a paper plate out to make a wreath form. Have the children color the plate lightly and draw or glue pictures of children of all races along the edge of the wreath. OR print the picture below on cardstock for students to cut out the figures to glue around the paper plate. Give children a ribbon to hang their wreath up at home. Craft Activity: Paper Chain of Children of the World Use colored banner paper which has been cut into 4 1/2" by 12" strips. Or use different colors of strips of construction paper (red, black, yellow, peach, gray, white). Fold the paper strip into eight equal sections of accordion pleats. With black marker draw the half image of the child along the folded edge with the arms extending to the cut edge. Cut on the black line. Do not cut along the folds. When it's unfolded it will be several children holding hands in a line.. Color the children to look like different races. Join two different chains of children with tape. Be sure to alternate the different colors of construction paper or banner paper together to display on the classroom wall. 5 Craft Activity: Jesus Loves Me Bookmarks Print the "Jesus Loves Me" bookmarks from the template below onto cardstock. Cut into bookmarks for each child. Have children color the bookmarks and decorate with stickers or markers. Have the children finish the stick figure to look like themselves (hair, eyes, smile, clothes). Group Learning Activity: Acceptance Game Brainstorm with children ways kids their age can show acceptance and respect for others. (Be kind, don't tease others, think about other's feelings, etc.) Say: Let's play a game and find out why God wants us to show acceptance and respect each other. Have children walk around the room while you play music on CD. After several moments, stop the music, and call out an action (handshake, high-five, wave, etc). Children quickly find a partner and do the action together. The first pair to do the action wins a point. Repeat several times. Teaching Application: When kids move to a new school or neighborhood, how should you treat them? We should show acceptance and respect. We do that because God loves everyone. Talk with children about times that children have not accepted others. Say: It's easy to accept people we like. We need to ask God's help to show acceptance to people we don't like or who are mean to us. Accepting others does not mean that everyone has to be our best friend. Accepting others does mean that we treat other people fairly and with respect. Group Learning Activity: Laws of Clean and Unclean Animals (Gr.3-5) Purpose of this activity is to have students introduced to the Old Testament laws of clean and unclean animals. Have stuffed animals in a large bag or box. Say: "God had special laws for His chosen people the Jews. These laws were to protect His people and also to make the distinct from the Gentile people who worshipped idols or false gods. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 God lists the animals they were not to eat. As I take each of the animals from the bag, we are going to look at these scriptures and decide it they are clean or unclean. We will separate the animals into two piles." Have students look up and read these chapters before beginning to divide the animals. Clean animals include ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, antelope, mountain sheep, fish with fins, grasshoppers Unclean animals are camels, rabbits, pig, octopus, eagles, vultures, owls, insects with 4 legs, weasel, rat, lizard, snakes, and flying insects that swarm.

6 Group Learning Activity--Sorting Game (Gr. K-3) Jesus told his friends to tell everyone about Him. But some of Jesus' friends thought he meant only certain people called the Jews. So for a while they only told Jewish people about Jesus. They sorted people into groups. Let's play a game to see what this was like. With masking tape make a large circle in the center of your classroom. Have the group stand around the edge of the circle. Call out the following categories (adapt to meet your group). After you read a category, have the children who meet the criteria come and stand inside the circle before you read the next category. Categories: all children wearing red; all children with green eyes; all children wearing tennis shoes; all children with freckles; all children with black hair; all children who have brothers; all children who have sisters; all children who go to school; all children who enjoy playing at the park. There are things that make us all different and there are things that make us all the same. What would you think if we made a rule that only kids who have sisters can play in the park? Would that be fair? How would you feel if you did not have a sister? In Bible times some people thought that God's love was only for certain people. They thought you had to be Jewish to hear the good news about Jesus. But a man named Cornelius who wasn't Jewish wanted to know more about God. God told Peter to go to Cornelius' house and talk to him. So Peter did. Everyone at Cornelius house believed and was baptized. Then Peter know that the news about Jesus was for everyone--not just the Jews. Life Application Challenge: Do we see others as God does? He doesn t look at people the same way as we do. He doesn t like people or not like them based on their skin color, size or where they live. God sees the heart of every man, woman, boy and girl. He sees whether they are believers or unbelievers. Believers are clean in God s sight because they have believed by faith that Jesus blood cleansed them from all sin. Unbelievers are people who have not put their faith in Jesus and their sin makes them unclean in God s sight and separates them from Him. 6 If you have not put your faith in Jesus to have your sins forgiven and would like to know from the Bible how you can be saved we will gladly speak to you individually and show you how you can be cleansed from all your sins. If you and I are believers we need to adjust the way we see others to the way God does. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 If we see people the way God does we will be praying for the people we know and meet who do not yet believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit living in our hearts will enable us to love all people and be an example of how to live a life that pleases Jesus.

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11 11 Pictures for " All the children of the World" Wreath

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