8 Now Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

Transcription

1 Mustard Seed Children s Lesson Summary for October 7, 2012 Released on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 Stephen Defends His Faith Lesson Text: Acts 6:8 7:2a Background Scripture: Acts 6:8 7:53 Memory Verse: Now Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). Acts 6:8-15 (NIV) 8 Now Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us. 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Acts 7:1, 2a (NIV) 1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, Are these charges true? 2a To this he replied: Brothers and fathers, listen to me!

2 KEY CONCEPT Faith in God gives us the courage that we need. MESSAGE TO CHILDREN 1. God gives us the wisdom that we need. 2. We can be bold when we have faith. 3. We have nothing to fear when God is with us. PLANNING YOUR LESSON For Today s Story Lesson you will need a Bible, pictures of a group of 7 Bible-time men, Stephen, religious leaders, and the high priest. For Helping Hands, you will need for each student: a 2-foot strip of construction paper, large index card, 5 cut out circles (about 2 inches in diameter), and a thin ribbon or string. You will also need blunt-tip scissors, non-toxic glue, crayons, and colored pencils. WORDS TO KNOW Apostles the friends of Jesus who went everywhere telling others about Him Bold to be brave and have courage Deacons helpers in the church who serve others Faith to trust someone or something; belief and trust that the Bible is true Gospel the message of Jesus life and teachings; the good news of salvation in Jesus Miracle special things only God s power can do Temple building where the people worshipped God Wise to know what is right and true TEACHER S NOTES Time: A.D. 32 Place: Jerusalem The remaining lessons for the Fall Quarter are from the book of Acts. The Acts of the Apostles is a history of the early Christian church In Acts 6, the main character is a man named Stephen, who was one of the first deacons in the early Christian church. He is described as a man filled with the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith and God s power. Stephen believed God absolutely, and had been given unusual ministry gifts to make Christ know. The opposition viewed Stephen as a threat and told lies to turn the crowds against him. Stephen was brought before the religious leaders and defended his faith with courage and wisdom. TODAY S STORY LESSON (Turn to Acts 6 in your Bible to begin the lesson.) After Jesus went back to heaven, his friends (the apostles) were busy preaching the gospel and praying for the church. There

3 was much work to do, but the apostles could not do it all by themselves. They decided to choose seven men to serve as helpers in the church. (Show 7 Bible-time men.) These were good men who were wise and full of the Spirit of God. Stephen was one of these men who were called deacons. (Show Stephen.) He was a man full of faith and full of the power of Jesus. Because of this, he did miracles that helped many people. Some of the leaders did not want to believe Stephen s message about Jesus, and did not want the people to believe the message either. (Show leaders.) They tried to argue with Stephen, but Stephen knew what to say because God s Spirit was in him. The leaders could not win because Stephen spoke with wisdom by the Spirit of God. The leaders came up with an evil plan! They decided to get some people to give false reports about Stephen. They brought very serious charges against him. They told others that he said bad things about God; that Jesus would tear down the temple and change the rules that Moses gave the people. Stephen had to stand before the leaders to answer these charges. The high priest asked Stephen, Are these things true? (Show high priest.) What do you think? Were any of the charges against Stephen true? No, none of it was true. Stephen listened to the untrue things that the people had to say. He did not get angry, and was not scared. Stephen was brave and bold because of the Spirit of God. When he stood up to answer the high priest, everyone saw that his face was glowing it was shining like an angel s face. (Show Stephen.) Do you think that Stephen was brave when he began to talk to the leaders? Why or why not? We will find out next week just what Stephen said. TELLING HOW TO LIVE Stephen faced the angry crowd, the religious leaders, and those who brought charges against him. When the high priest asked Stephen if the things said about him were true, Stephen was not afraid to tell the truth. What about you? How many times do you keep quiet when you could speak up and tell others about Jesus? We should ask God to make us strong like Stephen so that we will never be ashamed to speak up for Jesus. HELPING HANDS Each child will make a Faith hanging. Glue strips of construction paper together to total about 2 feet long. On the index card have the children write the memory verse ( or help them write the verse), and decorate the card with a picture of Stephen. Attach the ribbon to the card for hanging. Color the picture using crayons or colored pencil. On the five circles, write one letter each to spell F-A-I-T-H. Glue the letter onto the construction paper and space evenly (vertical). Glue the construction paper slip to the index card. Hang from a doorknob or on the wall to remind you to have faith!

4 EXPLAINING THE MEMORY VERSE Now Stephen, a man full of God s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). Stephen believed God and was given special power to do great things and miracles. The Bible does not tell us what those special things were, but we know that they were great and helped many people. CONCLUSION Stephen is a good example to us of how we should stand up for Jesus, even when others do not want to. Stephen was bold because of his faith in Jesus. The Spirit of God shows us how to respond in different situations. He will give us boldness and make us wise. We, therefore, do not need to be afraid! PRAYER Dear God, make us strong and brave like Stephen. Help us to always tell the truth to be brave and honest, in Jesus name. Amen. ANTICIPATING THE NEXT LESSON Next week s lesson is Stephen is Faithful to Death, and tells how Stephen was brave to the end because he knew he would be with Jesus. Study Acts 7:1 8:1. LESSON SUMMARIZED BY Renee Little Jesus is All Ministries WORKS CITED Holman Bible Dictionary, Holman Bible Publishers. Life Application Bible New Revised Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. Scofield, C.I., ed. The New Scofield Study Bible King James Version. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Summary and commentary derived from Standard Lesson Commentary Copyright 2012 by permission of Standard Publishing. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary, by Nelson Books. The Pulpit Commentary, Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Hrsg.), Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc.

5 Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Cook

6 WORD SEARCH PUZZLE Stephen Defends His Faith (Acts 6:8 7:2) NAME: DATE: P Y F G D P V R H R M Q S K H G X P U C O X N J E B G R D X X R S Z F S L G S W C K H G Y H K E J Y A E B T O A A V D Y T C H T T B I C E P C D Z Q Y U W H R E E S T P H I H I Y Z R F Z A R N Y T H E X J Z S G T G O E R M T Y E T E G D U J U L Q X V G Z N N G Z F R E C P A A M Y G E U D W Q X W Y J K B W A S B T S O H G Y L O H S D I O P E D P F S D Q B T W F C P U F P L B G C N X F P Z V J W P S N O C A E D T G W E J U N I D W B Z A J T U R L C X P K O I N E M R R C X P E I U Y V J E N R G J C I M S G J D F L P I X E Q D J E M F A J E H S H I N I N G T M K N S K F R F R L G Q V V B R G R S J E R D P U X V T E P E T B E L N R U Z U U S U N L F Z A M P D K S J S O I H V C H U R C H ANGEL BOLD CHARGES CHURCH DEACONS DEFEND FAITH HOLY GHOST JUDGE MESSAGE MIRACLES POWER SHINING STEPHEN TEMPLE TRUTH