Teacher's manual connect Lower Primary A2 A Christian Education curriculum for children aged 7 to 9 years.
LOWER PRIMARY Lesson 13 Saul Acts 9:1 31; 13:1 3, 47 Lesson aim To show students Saul s transformation to Paul and encourage students to be transformed by God also. Lesson outcomes Students will learn about: how Paul became a Christian God s forgiveness of Paul and how he can forgive us too. Students will learn to: ask for God s forgiveness appreciate God s transforming grace. Memory verse All of us can tell you that God has raised Jesus to life! Acts 2:32 (CEV)» Bible background Saul (meaning asked of God ) was the Jewish name of the apostle Paul. Of the tribe of Benjamin, he was a zealous member of the Pharisee party (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5; Acts 23:6). He had been born at Tarsus, population 500 000 in Roman times, a substantial centre of Greek learning. His father was a Roman citizen, probably a man of means and influence (see Acts 23:16 20 for Paul s nephew s access to the Jerusalem leaders). He was educated in Jerusalem by Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), one of the leading teachers of the day and grandson of Hillel, the greatest exponent of liberal Pharisaic Judaism. Gamaliel is shown to be reasoned and persuasive (see Acts 5:33 40). Paul was extremely well-versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. As a young man Paul was given official authority to direct the persecution of Christians (Acts 7:58; Galatians 1:13ff). He could not believe that Jesus was the Messiah because, as a Pharisee, he knew that anyone who had been crucified was under a curse from God (Deuteronomy 21:22 23). Therefore he thought Jesus was accursed. Paul approved of Stephen being stoned (Acts 8:1), he had converts thrown into prison (Acts 8:3) and sought papers authorising him to hunt down Christians who had escaped to Syria (Acts 9:2), with the intention of bringing them back for torture and possible execution. Paul s miraculous encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road transformed him from being an enemy of Christians into the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:1, 2). The conversion had two elements: Christ appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:8) and God called him to preach (Galatians 1:15 16). Paul experienced God s forgiveness through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit transformed him dramatically. Not only did he give up his search to imprison and kill Christians, he actually began preaching Christ crucified and resurrected everywhere he travelled. Paul taught that Jesus took the punishment we deserve when he died in our place (Galatians 3:13 14). He also taught the good news about how our sins are forgiven through Jesus sacrifice, and how faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus puts us in a right relationship with our holy God, promising our own resurrection and eternal life (Romans 3 5). We also meet Ananias in this lesson, another person changed by his trust in Jesus. He is one of three people in Acts bearing the name ( Yahweh has dealt graciously ). Ananias was a follower of Jesus in Damascus, who befriended Paul as instructed by God, and conveyed Christ s commission to him (Acts 9:10ff). 118 connect teacher s manual
» You will need Visual aids on pages 123 125 of the Map of places in the New Testament, Outline diagram and Labels Cardboard poster with FOLLOWERS OF JESUS in the centre Marker pen Blu-Tack Activity books A CEV Bible marked at Acts 9:17 Jesus speaks (parts 1 and 2): track 18 and Changed man: track 11 on CEP Lower Primary CD CD player Paul, Map of places in the New Testament, Paul on the road to Damascus and Ananias from the Coloured Visual aid pack Materials for Taking it further (optional) The CD-ROM from this manual if you intend to use an interactive whiteboard to display the PowerPoints of either the lessons, song words, or prayers. Before you start If you intend to use an interactive whiteboard, review the PowerPoint slide(s) for this lesson on the CD-ROM that comes with this manual. If possible, photocopy and enlarge the Visual aids of the Outline diagram and the Labels. Cut out the labels so that they are ready to attach with Blu-Tack as indicated during the lesson. Listen carefully to the CD track Jesus speaks before the lesson so you know the right time to pause the track to discuss the story so far with the students. If you would like to perform a simple magic trick in the Way in section, practice it beforehand.» Teacher s prayer Thank God for his amazing love, and that he opens our eyes to see the truth about Jesus. Pray that the students will listen and take up the call of Jesus to follow him and be transformed. lower primary LESSON 13 Other resources If your lessons are longer than the standard, you may find the following resources useful. Little by little track 25 of Colin Buchanan s Practise being godly CD. Walk in the light track 5 of Emu Music s A very, very, very big God CD. T C E N N C O 119
lower primary LESSON 13» Way in Has anyone here today been to a magic show? (Accept responses.) I enjoy magic shows. I like how the magicians do tricks. (If you are talented with magic tricks you might like to perform a very quick one here.) What other sorts of tricks do magicians perform? (Accept responses. For instance, pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or making doves appear out of hankies.) Does anyone here want to be a magician when they grow up? (Accept responses.) Some magicians are called illusionists. These magicians might make great big elephants transform into little mice. Or they might put a person in a box, put a sheet over it and transform the person into a lion. Transforming people and animals is a very hard magic trick to do. But that s exactly what it is: a trick. It s not real, that s why those kinds of magicians are called illusionists. Today we are learning about a man called Saul, whose life was transformed. I want us to be thinking about whether Saul s transformation was real or an illusion.» Bible focus Let s now learn about the transformation of Saul. You may like to display the Visual aid of the Map of places in the New Testament behind you and point out the landmarks on the map as they come up in the story. Here is Saul. Display the Visual aid of the Outline diagram and point to the figure of Saul in the middle. Attach label 1 from the Visual aid of the Labels. Invite students up to attach each label at the right time in the story, as indicated. Saul was an interesting man. He was Jewish and eager to keep God s law. He knew about Jesus but hated Christians because they believed that Jesus was God s son and he thought they were wrong! Saul was very clever and very important. He lived in Jerusalem and was a Pharisee, which is a religious teacher. Paul was a young man, but because he hated Christians (student attaches label 2) so much, the Jewish leaders put him in charge of persecuting them. What does persecuting Christians mean? (Accept answers. Finding them and imprisoning them or having them killed because of what they believe.) Why do you think Saul hated the Christians so much? (Accept suggestions. He thought the Christians were telling lies about God; he didn t believe that Jesus was God s son and that he rose from the dead.) Display the Coloured Visual aid of Paul on the road to Damascus if you have it. One day, Saul went to the chief priest in Jerusalem to get letters that would allow him to arrest any Christians he found in Damascus. Damascus was an important city in nearby Syria. But as Saul and others in his group travelled along the road to Damascus, something happened. And it was so dramatic and so astounding that Saul s life was completely transformed. To symbolise this transformation, Saul s name was changed to Paul! Let s listen to what happened. You will hear Paul s voice first. Play Jesus speaks (Part 1) (track 18): CEP Lower Primary CD. What had happened to Paul? (Accept responses. He met Jesus, whom he had been persecuting, and then he went blind.) Student attaches label 3: Jesus spoke. After this experience, Paul was blind for the next three days (student attaches label 4). He just sat thinking and praying. He didn t even eat or drink. He d been transformed, not only in name, but more importantly in his heart and in mind. What might he have been thinking about? (Accept responses. Perhaps that Jesus was alive and he really was the Son of God as he had said. Perhaps he was thinking that he had been wrong about Jesus and wrong about the way he had treated Christians. He was sorry for what he had done.) 120 connect teacher s manual
Let s continue on with this interesting story all about transformation. Display the Coloured Visual aid of Ananias if you have it. There was a man in Damascus called Ananias (student attaches label 5). Ananias loved God and he was a Christian. Jesus spoke to him in a dream. Play Jesus speaks (part 2) (track 18): CEP Lower Primary CD. Ananias wasn t sure. He was a bit scared, but he did as Jesus asked him. He went to see Paul (student attaches label 6). Let s hear what the Bible says happened next. Ask a student to read Acts 9:17 from a CEV Bible. Suddenly Paul was able to see! He stayed with the Christians in Damascus for a few days. What do you think Christians in Damascus thought about Paul? (Accept responses. Some may have questioned whether he was genuine or whether it was some kind of trap. Others would have rejoiced that Paul was now saved.) Paul even started telling the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. What do you think the Jews would have thought about Paul? (Accept answers. Bring out that some would have been angry and would even want to kill him!) Paul s new Christian friends helped him escape from those who wanted to kill him. They put him in a basket and lowered him over the walls in the middle of the night (student attaches label 7). I d be pretty scared if people had tried to murder me but Paul returned to Jerusalem with great joy and excitement. He had met Jesus and knew he was alive. Paul was no longer Saul; he was a changed man and now called himself a Christian (student attaches label 8).» Connections We talked about magicians being illusionists at the beginning of our lesson today. The Bible shows us that Jesus is not a magician or an illusionist because he truly changes people and is not simply playing a trick. Jesus is the Saviour of Paul, the Saviour of you and me, the Saviour of the whole world! Paul was very different now. He now spent all his time spreading the good news about Jesus: that he died and rose again to bring forgiveness of our sins. Paul travelled far and wide telling people about Jesus (student attaches label 9). People listened to what he said and became Christians too. What is a Christian? (Accept answers and allow discussion. A person who loves and trusts Jesus, who died and rose again to save us from our sins.) Paul was changed by Jesus and we can be changed by Jesus too. You and I may not hear Jesus voice and go blind the way that Paul did but we can hear Jesus words in the Bible. The Bible tells us that we need forgiveness for all the wrong things we do and Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to change. Display your cardboard poster and add Paul s name in a bubble with a line from the centre. Distribute the Activity books and direct the students to page 13. Play 'Changed man' (track 11): CEP Lower Primary CD while students complete their Activity books.» Concluding prayer Thank you God that you changed and transformed Paul and opened his eyes so that he could see the truth about Jesus. Thank you that because of his enthusiasm to tell people about Jesus, so many other people became Christians too. Please help us to keep our eyes open to the truth about Jesus. Amen. lower primary LESSON 13 T C N E N C O 121
» Taking it further Newspaper article Ask the students to write a newspaper headline and short article about what happened to Paul. Examples of headlines include: One day in Damascus and A journey to remember. Singing I m changed (track 14): CEP Lower Primary CD Supplementary songs are also suggested in Other resources at the start of the lesson.» Teacher reflections Did you prepare and use the Visual aids effectively? What did the students answers in their Activity books reveal about their understanding of what a Christian is?» For next lesson You will need to prepare a marker pen and whiteboard, or a big piece of white paper to jot down ideas from the class. You will need a small bag with prepared notes inside (see Before you start). Drama lower primary LESSON 13 Ask the students to write down what Paul might have said to the Christians in Damascus when he met them. They should create a short drama based on their ideas. Puzzle Write the words HATE and LOVE on the border of a large sheet of paper. By changing one letter at a time, try to change HATE to LOVE. Either do this as a class activity, or invite the students to work in pairs. Here are some possible solutions: HATE RATE RAVE ROVE LOVE HATE HAVE HIVE LIVE LOVE HATE LATE LANE LONE LOVE HATE DATE DOTE DOVE LOVE Paul s new life Ask students to read Galatians 1:11 16 and draw up two columns. They should write under one column, 'Features of Paul s old life' and under the second column, 'Features of Paul s new life with Jesus as his Lord and Saviour'. Use students ideas to hold a whole class discussion on how Paul s life had changed. 122 connect teacher s manual
Places in the New Testament 2010 The purchaser of this manual is entitled to photocopy this page for classroom purposes. 123
2010 The purchaser of this manual is entitled to photocopy this page for classroom purposes. 124 connect teacher s manual
2010 The purchaser of this manual is entitled to photocopy this page for classroom purposes. 125