Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group TEACHER BIBLE STUDY Seven Men Were Chosen Acts 6:1-7 There were two groups of Jews in the first church: Hellenistic Jews (Jews who spoke Greek) and Hebraic Jews (Jews who spoke Hebrew). The Greek- speaking Jews were from foreign countries, and the Hebrew- speaking Jews had been born in Israel. In those early days, as the apostles faithfully taught and preached the gospel, the church grew quickly. But tension existed between the two groups. Perhaps the Hebraic Jews considered themselves superior to the Hellenistic Jews, or maybe the groups lacked communication. In any case, the Hellenistic Jews complained that their widows were not being cared for properly. The Old Testament law was clear about what God requires of His people. He commanded them to care for the orphans and widows. (See Ex. 22:22; Deut. 10:18.) The early church continued this Jewish custom, but there was a problem. The Greek- speaking Jews claimed their widows were not getting their share of the daily distributions. The twelve apostles were quick to address the issue. They gathered all the believers together. The apostles explained that God had called them to preaching and teaching. They were not above handling problems among the people, but they wisely led the church to choose seven leaders to oversee such duties. The church did not choose just anyone to serve; the men were reputable, full of the Spirit, and wise. The chosen seven were Stephen, Philip, Prochorus (PRAHK uh ruhs), Nicanor (nigh KAY nawr), Timon (TIGH mahn), Parmenas (PAHR mih nuhs), and Nicolaus (nik uh LAY uhs). Now the apostles were free to devote themselves to prayer and preaching, and the widows were properly cared for. Everyone in the church has a role in God s work. The seven men who were chosen used their abilities to take care of others, and the apostles kept teaching the Word of God. Many people heard the Word of God and came to believe and trust in Jesus. YOUNGER KIDS BIBLE STUDY OVERVIEW Session Title: Seven Men Were Chosen Bible Passage: Acts 6:1-7 Big Picture Question: Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Key Passage: Acts 2:42,47 Unit Christ Connection: The church is God s plan to bring praise and glory to Jesus. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 1
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Welcome time Activity page (5 minutes) Session starter (10 minutes) Key passage activity (5 minutes) Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group Small Group Time THE BIBLE STORY Seven Men Were Chosen Acts 6:1-7 Bible story review (10 minutes) Activity choice (10 minutes) Journal (5 minutes) Prayer (5 minutes) In the time after Jesus resurrection and return to heaven, more and more people believed in Him. But some of the believers complained. The Jews who spoke Greek complained about the Jews who spoke Hebrew. The Greek- speaking Jews thought the widows were being overlooked when the daily food was given out. In the Old Testament, God told His people to take care of widows women whose husbands had died. The twelve apostles gathered all the believers together. (Matthias had been chosen to replace Judas.) They said, It isn t right for us to stop preaching about God to take care of all these daily things. So, brothers, choose seven men to take care of this. The apostles said that the men should be good men men who are wise and full of the Holy Spirit. These men should be obedient to God and be able to make good choices. These seven men would take care of the daily business of the believers. Then the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and to preaching. Both jobs were important, but the apostles should not stop teaching God s Word because hearing the Word was how people believed. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. So they chose seven men: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus (PRAHK uh ruhs), Nicanor (nigh KAY nawr), Timon (TIGH mahn), Parmenas (PAHR mih nuhs), and Nicolaus (nik uh LAY uhs). These men stood before Jesus disciples, who prayed for them and laid their hands on them. So the twelve apostles kept preaching about God. More and more people heard the truth about God, and more and more people in Jerusalem believed in Him. Christ Connection: The apostles believed that everyone in the church had an important job to do to serve God s people and help spread the gospel. Jesus wants us to serve others so that the message of His death and resurrection can be heard and believed all over the world. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 2
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group SMALL GROUP OPENING Session Title: Seven Men Were Chosen Bible Passage: Acts 6:1-7 Big Picture Question: Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Key Passage: Acts 2:42,47 Unit Christ Connection: The church is God s plan to bring praise and glory to Jesus. Welcome time: Arriving Activity: Helping tasks As kids enter the classroom, enlist their help in completing routine classroom tasks. Assign tasks based on your classroom needs. You may invite a child to sharpen pencils. Ask another child to neatly arrange chairs. Select someone to complete the class roll. Give a child the activity pages to distribute. Invite a child to stand at the door to greet other children as they enter. Lead another child to test markers and discard ones that are dried out. Thank kids for completing their tasks. Say You all have been so helpful today. Our class works better when everyone helps. Today we will learn how the early church worked together to make sure the work of the church was accomplished. Activity page (5 minutes) Everyone Has a Job activity page, 1 per kid pencils Guide boys and girls to complete the activity page. Say Great job matching the person to the tool they need for their job. Did you know that God gives each of us a job to do to complete the mission Jesus gave us? We will learn how some men took on a job in the early church so that the apostles could focus on their job of preaching God s Word. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 3
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group Session starter (10 minutes) Option 1: Lists of seven slips of paper marker basket Write the first letter of each kid s name on a slip of paper. Place the slips of paper in a basket. Guide kids to take turns selecting a slip of paper. Kids must list seven words that begin with the letter on the slip. To finish their turn, they must say the name of a child whose name starts with that letter. Say You all chose seven words that begin with different letters. In our Bible story today, the early church chose seven people for a special job. Let s find out what that job was. Option 2: Speed stack plastic cups, 10 per team Place kids in teams. Provide 10 plastic cups for each team. Guide kids to stack the cups: four cups on the bottom, three cups on the second level, two cups on the third level, and one cup on the top level. Each team member must stack at least one cup. The first team to stack the cups correctly wins. Play several times. Say Great job working together as a team. Everyone had to help to complete the task of stacking the cups. In our Bible story today, we will learn how the early church worked together to accomplish God s work. SMALL GROUP LEADER Session Title: Seven Men Were Chosen Bible Passage: Acts 6:1-7 Big Picture Question: Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Key Passage: Acts 2:42,47 Unit Christ Connection: The church is God s plan to bring praise and glory to Jesus. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 4
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group Key passage activity (5 minutes) Key Passage Slide or Poster dry erase board and markers (optional) paper markers Make sure the key passage, Acts 2:42,47, is visible for each child, either as the printed poster or written on a dry erase board. Read the passage together. Say Our key passage tells us about the early church. More and more people were being saved every day. The believers in the early church learned from the apostles and spent time eating and praying together. We as the church today should be doing those things as well. Separate the key passage into seven segments and write each segment on a sheet of paper. Distribute the seven sheets of paper to seven kids. Direct kids to hold the paper, facing out, in front of them. Guide the remaining kids to put the seven kids in order of the key passage. If time allows, select another group of seven kids and repeat. If you have fewer than seven kids, invite kids to put the seven sheets of paper in order on the floor or a table. Bible story review (10 minutes) Bibles, 1 per kid Small Group Visual Pack Big Picture Question Slide or Poster baskets, 2 plastic food, 14 pieces Encourage the kids to find Acts 6:1-7 in their Bibles. Help them as needed. Say Is Acts in the Old Testament or the New Testament? (New Testament) In which division of the Bible is Acts found? (History) Acts is the only Book of History in the New Testament. Acts tells us how the church started and grew. Use the small group visual pack to show kids where today s Bible story is on the timeline. Review the Bible story provided using the bolded text, or summarize the story in your own words. Invite kids to play a review game. Form two teams. Provide a basket for each team. Allow teams to take turns answering review questions. When a team gets a review question correct, they earn a piece of plastic food. The first team to earn seven pieces of food are the winners. Use the Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 5
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group following review questions or create your own. What is another word for women whose husbands have died? (widows) What did the church provide to widows every day? (food) Why did the Greek- speaking Jews complain? (Their widows were being overlooked when food was given out each day, Acts 6:1) How many men did the apostles ask the believers to choose? (seven, Acts 6:3) What kind of men did the apostles say the believers should choose? (good men, wise and full of the Holy Spirit; Acts 6:3) What was the job of the seven men? (take care of the daily distributions) Name one of the seven men. (Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicolaus; Acts 6:5) To what did the apostles devote themselves? (prayer and preaching God s Word) Who prayed for and laid hands on the seven men? (the apostles, Acts 6:6) Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Say The apostles needed help making sure the work of the church was being done well. Both jobs were important, but the apostles knew they must keep teaching God s Word. Hearing the Word is how people repent of their sin and trust in Jesus as Savior. Show the big picture question slide or poster. Say People still need to hear God s Word to be saved. We all have a part in making sure the gospel goes out to the world. Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Activity choice (10 minutes) Option 1: Thank an elder or staff member Lead kids to make simple thank- you notes to give to the elders or church staff. Say Hearing how God is using different people with different skills to serve the church is exciting. Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. We can ask God to show us what skills He has given us to serve the church and its mission as well. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 6
Sunday, July 5, 2015 Kidzone KG and 1st Grade Small Group Option 2: Serve a snack snack supplies (food, drinks, cups, plates, napkins, plastic utensils) Tip: If serving a snack is not an option, guide kids to make gift baskets for widows in your church.. Before class, ask permission to serve a snack to another group. You may choose to serve a group of senior adult ladies to help kids connect to the Bible story, but whom you serve is not as important as the act of serving. Involve kids in the preparation of the snack. Assign each child a specific task. Say The believers in the early church cared for each other s needs. God wants us to care for each other s needs as well. God gives each of us skills to do that. As we serve, we can help more and more people see the love of Jesus and hear the gospel. Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. Journal and prayer (5 minutes) Journal Page, 1 per kid markers or crayons Bible Story Coloring Page Distribute each child s journal page provided with this session. Instruct the kids to draw a picture of a way they can serve in the mission of the church. Writers can write a list of ways they can serve. Say God wants every believer to be involved in His work. Remember our big picture question and answer. Who can do God s work? God gives every believer skills for doing His work. If time remains, take prayer requests or allow kids to complete the coloring page provided with this session. Pray, thanking God for the church and salvation through Jesus. Pray for each child by name, asking God to save him and show him how God has gifted him to be on mission for Him. Dismiss to parents Make sure to check security tags when dismissing children. Unit 34 Session 2 Younger Elementary 7
UNIT 34 Session 2 Seven Men Were Chosen 2015 LifeWay OK TO PRINT The Early Church
UNIT 34 Session 2 Younger Kids Activity Pages The Early Church Instructions: Draw lines connecting the people to the tools they need for their jobs. 3