GOOD NEWS CLUB AGENDA LIFE OF PAUL #2 The Stoning of Stephen WEEK OF: MAIN THRUST: It is God the Holy Spirit who will help you love your enemies. TO DO AS THE CHILDREN ARRIVE: 1. Greet the children; make them feel w elcome. 2. Take attendance. 3. Listen to previous w eek s memory verse. 4. Have children put money in missions bank. PRE-SESSION ACTIVITY: 1. OLDER CHILD: Being Accepting Every Day 2. YOUNGER CHILD: Faithful Stephen SONG: (2 minutes) PRAYER: (4 minutes) 1. Prayer song: 2. Ask the children to share any Thank You Prayers or Please Prayers they have. 3. Lead the class in Thank You Prayers and Please Prayers. MEMORY VERSE: (7 minutes) Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, love your enem ies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them.... (The underlined portion o f the verse indicates w hat the younger children should memorize. See Involvement Helps for Younger Children for helps in teaching the verse to the younger children.) Ping Pong After reading the verse from your Bible, explaining what it means, and repeatin g it at least two times, you may begin this drill. Divide the class into two teams. Each team says one word as you point to them. This can also be done betw een tw o people. If they miss a word, another child is chosen as a replacement. You can repeat this several times. HYMN FOR LIFE OF PAUL: (2 minutes) BIBLE LESSON: (20 minutes) LIFE OF PAUL #2 The Stoning of Stephen (See Involvement Helps for Younger Children for w ays to involve the children in the Bible lesson.) COUNSEL TIME: (If you have a helper, hostess, or Teacher Junior Grade, let them do the review time while you counsel those who responded to the invitation. Otherwise, at the end of club, be sure to remind the children who responded to the invitation to stay after club for a few minutes.) QUIET TIME NOTEBOOK/TAKE TIME TO REVIEW: (1 minute) Highlight what was learned from las t w eek s Quiet Time / TT Review. Ask the children to do one per day before the next club. Remind them to show you their QT Notebook next week.
LEARNING ABOUT THE BIBLE & THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS: (5 minutes) Teach information for Week #18. MISSIONARY TIME: (13 minutes) 1. Sing God s Way while child comes to look in the Go and Tell Box. 2. Share missionary information for Week #19 using the Go and Tell Box. (See attached page.) 3. Pray for the missionaries. (See attached page.) 4. Show goal chart and mention the amount given so far. (Remind children to return the love offering.) 5. Missions song: 6. Story: Until the Letter Cam e. Teach the part of the story for Week #9. REVIEW ACTIVITY: (6 minutes) Use the activity below or the Bible Learning Game from Involvement Helps for Younger Children. Love Your Enemies Divide your class into two teams and choose a captain for each team. Make 20 yellow faces ten smiley faces and ten sad faces and place them in a paper bag. (See attached page.) After a child answers a review question, he pulls a face from the bag and gives it to his team captain. If he gets a smiley face, his team earns 100 points. If he gets a sad face and can share one way to show love to an enemy, his team earns 150 points. Have each team captain add up the points at the end of the game. The team with the most points wins. - Rita L. Lobdell. Review questions for LIFE OF PAUL #2: 1. What angered the religious leaders? (Peter said they were the ones w ho crucified Jesus.) 2. How did the religious leaders punish the apostles? (Put them in prison.) 3. What did Gamaliel say to the religious leaders? ( If this is of God, you can t overthrow it. ) 4. How did the persecution help others hear about Jesus? (The believers scattered to other countries.) 5. What kept the apostles so busy they hardly had time to pray? (Giving of food to the poor.) 6. Seven faithful men were chosen to look after the poor. What were they called? (Deacons.) 7. Which deacon was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit? (Stephen.) 8. Why were the Jewish leaders angry wit h Stephen? (They could not disprove what he said about Jesus.) 9. What lies were told about Stephen? ( He s aid th at Jesus w ill destroy the Temple and change their customs. ) 10. What happened as they told the lies? (Stephen s face became radiant as the face of an angel.) 11. What did Stephen see just before they took him outside the city gate to stone him? (Heaven.) 12. Who stood watching and listening as Stephen was stoned? (Saul of Tarsus.) *COUNSEL TIME: (*Only if you did not counsel with the children earlier.) SEND HOME WITH THE CHILDREN: 1. Pre-session papers for older and younger child 2. Memory verse token 3. Quite Time Notebook 4. Take Time to Review CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP OF EASTERN PA, INC. P.O. BOX 4375 HARRISBURG, PA 17111-0375
PRE-SESSION, Older Child LIFE OF PAUL #2 Being Accepting Every Day Value Builders, Accepting & Peaceful, Copyright 1995 David C. Cook Publishing Co.
PRE-SESSION, Younger Child LIFE OF PAUL #2 Faithful Stephen But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.... Matthew 5:44 Copyright 1996 Communication Resources, Inc.
MEMORY VERSE HELPS MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 5:44 LIFE OF PAUL #2 The Stoning of Stephen But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them.... (The underlined portion of the verse indicates what the younger children should memorize. See Involvement Helps for Younger Children for helps in teaching the verse to the younger children.) INTRODUCE THE VERSE: When someone treats you wrong, or hurts you, or says something mean or unkind to you, the natural thing to do is to get mad or even. But, the Bible verse for today gives a better way. READ THE VERSE: Read the verse from the Bible or have an older child read it; then have all the children read with you from the verse visual. EXPLAIN THE VERSE: Matthew 5:44 This is where this verse is found in the Bible. We call it the address. It is found in the book of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 44. The dots at the end of the verse mean there is more to this verse that we are not going to memorize. But I say unto you, Jesus was speaking to His people, the Jews, and also to those who know Him as their Saviour. love your enemies, It is easy to love those who love us, but we are to love those who don't like us and are unkind to us. bless them that curse you, We are to speak well of those who speak evil about us. When we talk to these people, we should speak kindly, not answering back in anger. do good to them that hate you, We should always be ready to do something to show kindness to those who hate us. and pray for them.... Jesus prayed for those who mistreated Him, and that is exactly what He wants us to do. REPEAT THE VERSE: Ping Pong After reading the verse from your Bible, explaining what it means, and repeating it at least two times, you may begin this drill. Divide the class into two teams. Each team says one word as you point to them. This can also be done between two people. If they miss a word, another child is chosen as a replacement. You can repeat this several times. CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP OF EASTERN PA, INC. P.O. BOX 4375 HARRISBURG, PA 17111-0375
INVOLVEMENT HELPS FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN by Linda D. Ruth MEMORY VERSE: Shortened verse LIFE OF PAUL #2 The Stoning of Stephen Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.... Sing to the tune of It s a Small World. Stay on say and on love for two pitches each. Put up a finger as you sing each of the three commands. BIBLE LESSON HELPS: Throughout Card 2-1 Card 2-3 Card 2-4 Card 2-5 The Main Thrust statement is It is God the Holy Spirit who will help you love your enemies. Each time you use this, at love, have children move hands to make a heart shape. At enemies, children make a fist. Have one child stand as Peter and boldly announce, By the name of Jesus Christ. Rest of group as Jewish rulers, rise and shake fists in anger, saying to one another, We must do something! Give several children, one at a time, the opportunity to repeat the name Gamaliel. Choose seven children. Put your hand on each head as you say each child s name. Count them. The seven then pass out food to others. Everyone, being Stephen, stands calmly, looks upward and says together, I see Heaven and the Son of Man with God. Have one child stand as Saul. Several others pretend to take off coat and place it at his feet, saying, Here, watch my coat for me. They pick up a stone and throw it. BIBLE LEARNING GAME: (adapted from London Bridge ) Choose two children to be the bridge as in London Bridge. Children form a line and keep walking under bridge while everyone sings to London Bridge tune: God wants you to love your enemies, Love your enemies, love your enemies. God wants you to love your enemies. He will help you. Bridge falls. Ask caught child, How do we know God wants you to love your enemies? Let s help (child s name) say the verse from God s Word. Everyone repeats today s memory verse together. Caught child then exchanges places with a child who was a part of the bridge. Repeat several times. CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP OF EASTERN PA, INC. P.O. BOX 4375 HARRISBURG, PA 17111-0375
LEARNING ABOUT THE BIBLE & THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS WEEK #18 (Place figure #1.) Before starting today, we need to review the first six books of the Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. (Place figures #39 and #40.) Today, we are going to learn a little about the books of Nahum and Habakkuk. (Place Nahum wordstrip.) About 150 years after Jonah was there, the city of Nineveh had returned to doing sinful things. God used Nahum to predict the coming destruction of this city. This time there would be no mercy for them. (Place Habakkuk wordstrip.) Habakkuk is the next book of the Minor Prophets. He predicted the coming invasion and capture of Judah, the two southern tribes of Israel, by Babylon. He also wondered why God allowed a wicked nation such as Babylon to do such a terrible thing. Let s say the names of Nahum and Habakkuk twice. Now let s repeat the first eight books of the Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk. CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP OF EASTERN PA, INC. P.O. BOX 4375 HARRISBURG, PA 17111-0375
GO AND TELL BOX Week #19 Great Commission #1 INFORMATION PRAYER (Suggested item to put in the Go and Tell Box word GO.) What do you think this word has to do with going and telling? (Let the children share their ideas.) GO Just before the Lord Jesus went back to Heaven, He said some important words to His disciples,... Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature (person) Mark 16:15. We call these words the Great Commission, which is God s c o mmand to share the Gospel of Christ with every person. God loves each person in the world, and He wants everyone to hear about His Son, so they can have the opportunity to receive Jesus as their Saviour. Christians have been telling others the Good News about Jesus for almost 2,000 years, but are we reaching every person? Today, the total world population is over seven billion. That s the number 7 with nine zeros after it. Seven billion is a lot of people. Let s begin by thinking about America where we live. There are about 325 million people in America. You and I know some of those people who do not understand that Jesus came to be their Saviour from sin. They may be a neighbor, a friend you play with, or someone in your family. You can share with them the things you learn in Good News Club (Released Time Class) so that they can learn about Jesus. Perhaps you can invite them to come with you next week. Adapted from: THE GREAT COMMISSION MISSIONS (Original content from William Carey Library) THANK God for sending Jesus to be your Saviour. ASK God to help you to be willing to tell those you know how Jesus can be their Saviour. NOTE: It would be good to have permission slips for club for those who want to invite a friend or a tract they can share with their friend. CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP OF EASTERN PA, INC. P.O. BOX 4375 HARRISBURG, PA 17111-0375
the Holy Spirit who will help you love your enemies. LIFE OF PAUL #2 It is God
-... Lord, lay not this sin to their charge - Saul watched them stone Stephen; he would never forget what he saw - Stephen was first one to be a martyr, one who is killed for preaching about Jesus - Stephen died with a holy light on his face S P, E L BOW HEADS RESPONSE CHALLENGE - Already received Jesus G Go over MT LIFE OF PAUL #2 Acts 4:1 8:1 - Ever been laughed at, made fun of, or called a name? - What should you do? - The followers of Jesus were laughed at many times - Listen carefully. Let s see what happens to them FLASHCARD PA2-1 - Apostles worked awesome miracles from day to day - Still some religious leaders refused to believe in Jesus O - Priests, By what power do you do these things? - After Stephen was killed, God took him to Heaven - Stephen believed in Jesus, Saul didn t believe in Jesus - How about you? Do you believe Jesus can save you? INVITATION John 3:36 He that (if you) believeth on the Son (believe that Jesus is the Son of God) hath everlasting life; (you will live forever in Heaven) and he that believeth not the Son (if you refuse to believe in Jesus as Saviour) shall not see life (you can t go to Heaven to live with God).... IT IS GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WILL HELP YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMIES R Review PAS verse Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them.... (M.V.) O Overview PAS examples 1. 2. 3. W Will you do it? FLASHCARD PA1-1 (Use again) - Before Jesus went back to Heaven, He told disciples to go into all the world to preach - There was already a huge group of believers in Jerusalem - They didn t leave Jerusalem for surrounding tow ns! - So, God allowed some persecution to come - Persecution = making people suffer for what they believe in - As persecution came... -... many believers moved out of Jerusalem - Peter, By the name of Jesus, whom you crucified - Jewish rulers were angry! - We must crush this new teaching or all will follow! - Twice they arrested and locked apostles in prison - They wanted to kill the apostles - Gamaliel, respected as great teacher, Don t kill them... -... If their teaching is of God, you can t overthrow it! - So Jewish rulers warned Peter not to preach again!
- But they didn t have the right to keep Peter from preaching FLASHCARD PA2-2 - Jewish rulers beat apostles cruelly; then, let them go - Apostles rejoiced that they were able to suffer for Jesus MT IT IS GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WILL HELP YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMIES - Apostles kept on preaching; persecution increased - God used this to cause believers to move from Jerusalem and spread Gospel FLASHCARD PA2-3 - The number of believers grew and grew - God changed their hearts; they had love for the poor... -... for widows, orphans, etc. G - God gave them a genuine concern for others - Apostles started giving out food to the poor; soon, no time to preach God s Word - Apostles decided to appoint special men to care for poor - Picked seven who were wise, honest, filled with Holy Spirit to care for needy - The believers liked the idea; men were called deacons - Apostles prayed for God s blessing on their work FLASHCARD PA2-4 - One of deacons was named Stephen; full of faith and the Holy Spirit - Stephen was great speaker - So good, no one could win argument against him - When he spoke about Jesus, it made Jewish rulers angry! - They were so mad that they hired men to lie about Stephen S, PAU Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 1. 2. 3. - Some believed the lie; brought Stephen to trial - When lying witnesses spoke, everyone watched Stephen - His face shone! He had peace, and he had love for enemies MT, PAS IT IS GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WILL HELP YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMIES Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them.... (M.V.) 1. 2. 3. - Even when they lied, Stephen was not angry with enemies - When Stephen spoke, he reminded leaders of their sin - You killed Jesus Christ! P, E Hebrews 9:22... Without shedding of blood is no remission. - They hated Stephen more! They made ugly threats - Then God let Stephen actually see into Heaven - I see Jesus standing on the right hand of God FLASHCARD PA2-5 - Lies, they cried, and they covered their ears to Stephen s words - Mob dragged Stephen outside city to be stoned - They laid coats at the feet of a man who stood watching them. His name was Saul - Stephen s courage never failed; he said, Jesus, receive my spirit...