H s O F T H E r o f a i t H Ordinary Mn and Womn... Supr Ordinary Powr 40 S t p h n - F a i t h f u l U n t i l D a t h H r o s o f t h F a i t h C u r r i c u l u m 2 0 1 2 www.missionarlington.org No part of this curriculum may b rpublishd without prmission. Plas fl fr to copy for classroom us.
40 S t p h n - F a i t h f u l U n t i l D a t h Mmory Vrs: Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis in a way that honors God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NCV) Lsson Goals: #1 - Undrstand how ordinary Stphn was #2 - Discovr what obdinc ld Stphn to do #3 - Dsir to lt God do xtraordinary things in th lif of th ordinary studnt Audinc: Young, un-churchd larnrs Adaptabl for all ags, including adults (S For mor training on Activitis pag) Scriptur to Study: Acts 6:1-8:4 S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 2
40 S t p h n - F a i t h f u l U n t i l D a t h Acts 6:1-8:4 Who can tll m what a hro is? A hro is somon who is couragous and brav and compassionat. Thr ar hros and hroins in th Bibl. All of thm ar brav and couragous and mor, but not in th way you would xpct. Our hro: Stphn His Hroic Fat: Full of Faith and th Holy Spirit Bing full of faith and th Holy Spirit may not sound vry hroic, but lt s look at th facts and s what you think whn you hav hard th whol story! Aftr Jsus dath, rsurrction and rturn to havn, mor and mor popl wr choosing to follow Him, vn many of th prists. Th community of blivrs bgan to hav a problm, though. Thr wr mor and mor widows to tak car of and th twlv discipls couldn t stop taching God s word to srv food. Thy suggstd choosing svn mn to b in charg of srving th widows. In that way th discipls could continu to pray and to tach th word of God. (Acts 6:4 NCV) Th svn mn thy wr looking for ndd to hav a good rputation. Thy also ndd to b mn who wr full of th Holy Spirit and of wisdom. (Acts 6:3b NASB) Thy found svn mn and thy placd thir hands on thm and prayd for thm as thy bgan this nw ministry. On of thos mn was namd Stphn. Stphn was full of faith and th Holy Spirit. Stphn was richly blssd by God who gav him th powr to do grat miracls and signs among th popl. (Acts 6:8 NCV) Thr wr som popl, though, who wr against him. Thy argud with Stphn, But th Spirit was hlping him to spak with wisdom, and his words wr so strong that thy could not argu with him. (Acts 6:10 NCV) That wasn t th nd of it, though. Th popl who had argud with Stphn found othrs who would li about him. Stphn was grabbd and takn to th council of rligious ladrs. Thy brought in mor popl to tll lis about him bfor th council. Stphn wasn t furious with angr, though. Th popl had bn watching Stphn closly and saw that his fac lookd lik th fac of an angl. (Acts 6:15 NCV) But th high prist was dtrmind to continu qustioning Stphn. H wantd to know if th accusations against Stphn wr tru. It was thn that Stphn bgan a long xplanation. H startd with thir forfathr Abraham, thn Isaac and Jacob. Thn Stphn bgan to talk about Moss. As h talkd, h xplaind how Moss had bn mistratd by th popl of Isral, how thy had rsistd what God was doing through him. Stphn vn accusd ths rligious ladrs of doing th sam thing! H said, You stubborn popl! You hav S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 3
not givn your harts to God, nor will you listn to him! You ar always against what th Holy Spirit is trying to tll you, just as your ancstors wr. Your ancstors trid to hurt vry propht who vr livd. Thos prophts said long ago that th On who is good would com, but your ancstors killd thm. And now you hav turnd against and killd th On who is good. You rcivd th law of Moss, which God gav you through his angls, but you havn't obyd it. (Acts 7:51-53 NCV) Th council was furious. What Stphn had said was tru, but rathr than rpnt, thy chos to lash out. Stphn, though, was full of th Holy Spirit. And at that momnt h was abl to look right into havn. H saw God s glory and h saw Jsus standing thr to th right of God, which is a plac of honor. H said, Look! I s havn opn and th Son of Man standing at God s right sid. And that did it. Th council didn t want to har anything Stphn had to say. Thy shoutd and rushd at him and ran him out of th city. Thn thy did th unthinkabl, proving that thy truly wr against what th Holy Spirit was tlling thm. Thy pickd up rocks and bgan to throw thm at Stphn. Whn thir coats got in th way, thy handd thm to a young man thr namd Saul. But Stphn, who was still snsitiv to th Holy Spirit, prayd, Lord, do not hold this sin against thm. (Acts 7:60 NCV) Thr was not an ounc of rpntanc or mrcy in his accusrs. Thy continud throwing rocks at Stphn until h was dad. Som godly mn burid Stphn s body. Thy crid for him. But throughout Jrusalm somthing vil was happning. On that day th church of Jrusalm bgan to b prscutd. (Acts 8:1b NCV) Excpt for th discipls, all th blivrs wr scattrd throughout Juda and Samaria. What th vil rligious ladrs in Jrusalm couldn t prdict was that, whrvr thy wr scattrd, thy told popl th Good Nws. (Acts 8:4 NCV) Thir lack of snsitivity to th Holy Spirit didn t xtinguish what Stphn was willing to di for. God s word would b sprad whrvr His popl wnt, from Jrusalm to Juda and Samaria... vn to th nds of th arth! N x t W k Paul Y O U c a n b a h r o, t o o! Whn you liv a lif of faith in Jsus Christ, you don t hav to lap tall buildings to b a hro. Stphn was full of faith and th Holy Spirit. Ar you? Our mmory vrs says, Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis in a way that honors God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NCV) Hav you dcidd to giv your lif to th Lord and follow Jsus? If you havn t, but you ar intrstd, that s th Holy Spirit at work. B snsitiv to what H wants to do for you. Onc you dcid to surrndr your lif, you rciv th Holy Spirit into your lif. H guids and tachs. Ar you snsitiv to th work of th Holy Spirit in your lif? Won t you follow Stphn s xampl? S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 4
p r - s c h o o l l s s o n! Who can tll m what a hro is? A hro is somon who is couragous and brav and compassionat. Thr ar hros and hroins in th Bibl. All of thm ar brav and couragous and mor, but not in th way you would xpct. Our hro: Stphn His Hroic Fat: Full of Faith and th Holy Spirit Bing full of faith and th Holy Spirit may not sound vry hroic, but lt s look at th facts and s what you think whn you hav hard th whol story! Aftr Jsus dath, rsurrction and rturn to havn, mor and mor popl wr choosing to follow Him. With mor and mor followrs thr wr mor and mor popl who ndd hlp. Th twlv discipls couldn t stop taching God s word to hlp, but thy could choos mn who would do th job. Thy chos svn mn with a good rputation. Stphn was on of thos mn. Stphn was full of faith and th Holy Spirit. God blssd Stphn and gav him th powr to do grat miracls. Thr wr som popl, though, who wr against Stphn. Thy argud with Stphn, but th Spirit was hlping him to spak with wisdom, and his words wr so strong that thy could not argu with him. (Acts 6:10 NCV) So thy mad up lis and took Stphn bfor th council of rligious ladrs. Stphn was clos to God and knw what God wantd him to do. Stphn was obdint. Th rligious ladrs, who wr supposd to b obdint, wr far away from God. Th mor Stphn talkd to thm th angrir thy got. Thy ran Stphn out of town and killd him. Som godly mn burid Stphn s body. Thy crid for him. But somthing vil was happning in Jrusalm. That vry day th church of Jrusalm bgan to b prscutd. (Acts 8:1b NCV) Excpt for th discipls, all th blivrs wr scattrd throughout Juda and Samaria. What th vil rligious ladrs in Jrusalm didn t know was that, whrvr thy wr scattrd, thy told popl th Good Nws. (Acts 8:4 NCV) God s word would b sprad whrvr His popl wnt, from Jrusalm to Juda and Samaria... vn to th nds of th arth! S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 5
a c t i v i t i s! Mmory Vrs Activity - Trac ach studnt s body outlin onto butchr papr. Encourag thm to draw in facs. Print th mmory vrs in larg lttrs across th body. Continu adding hros nams and hroic fats to your Hros Bannr. Sing th Swt, Swt Spirit, (This is th Air I) Brath, Touch Through M, Opn th Eys of My Hart, As W Sk/Jsus Draw M Clos, On Pur and Holy Passion or othr prais songs rlatd to th lsson. Print Fathr forgiv thm. on small stons. On th rvrs sid, print Acts 7:60. For mor training: Rad Acts 7:2-53. This is information that all Jws knw, spcially th rligious ladrs. Discuss thir raction in light of what Stphn said to thm. Thy wr rpating th pattrn. Also discuss th disconnct btwn thir hypocrisy and Stphn s holinss. For mor training: Rad Acts 8:1-4. Thn rad Acts 1:8. Discuss th two togthr. For mor training: Rad and discuss Acts 7:59-60 and Luk 23:33-34. S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 6
Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit?... So us your bodis in a way that honors God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 7
Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd Him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis in a way that honors God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 8
H s O F T H E r o f a i t H Ordinary Mn and Womn... Supr Ordinary Powr H r o i n T r a i n i n g Stphn - Fai thful Unti l Dath H r o s o f t h F a i t h C u r r i c u l u m 2 0 1 2 www.missionarlington.org No part of this curriculum may b rpublishd without prmission. Plas fl fr to copy for classroom us.
h r o t r a i n i n g! Scriptur: Acts 6:1-8:3 Mmory vrs: Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis in a way that honors God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NCV) Our Hro: What did our hro do that was so hroic? What can you do to b a Hro of th Faith? HS What powr do Hros of th Faith possss? Do you hav th powr? In your own words, rwrit th mmory vrs in th spac blow. S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 10
h i d d n m s s a g! Can you crack th cod to find th Hiddn Mssag? Bginning at th arrow of ach circl, cross out vry othr lttr. Writ th hiddn mssags in th blanks blow. Don t you know that your bodis ar? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis _. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NCV) S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 11
w o r d s a r c h! S N L F J A T B O M F H B N E H P E T S D E N O T S O E R R N E V E S R R E T L D G S N S Y R L Y G H D D H W P S N W E T M I T E O E E H S A W G N A V I S T L I A H C N N F G E A H S P T R D N A A D N N F B T I R I P S Y L O H E F W E J E S U S E I O L S O F P B V E P O T C O E S L L H A V E M O N N Y N L L K E E S S S T A U F E O U S N H D U L S E O L L O F N B S W O R G H C R U H C G - church grows - nd hlp - svn - Stphn - full of faith - Holy Spirit - council angrd - stond Stphn - forgivnss S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 12
h i Answr Pag d d n m s s a g! Can you crack th cod to find th Hiddn Mssag? Bginning at th arrow of ach circl, cross out vry othr lttr. Writ th hiddn mssags in th blanks blow. Don t you know that your bodis ar tmpls of th Holy Spirit? Th Spirit is in you. You hav rcivd him from God. You do not blong to yourslvs. Christ has paid th pric for you. So us your bodis in a way that honors God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NCV) S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 13
w o r Answr Pag d s a r c h! S N L F J A T B O M F H B N E H P E T S D E N O T S O E R R N E V E S R R E T L D G S N S Y R L Y G H D D H W P S N W E T M I T E O E E H S A W G N A V I S T L I A H C N N F G E A H S P T R D N A A D N N F B T I R I P S Y L O H E F W E J E S U S E I O L S O F P B V E P O T C O E S L L H A V E M O N N Y N L L K E E S S S T A U F E O U S N H D U L S E O L L O F N B S W O R G H C R U H C G - church grows - nd hlp - svn - Stphn - full of faith - Holy Spirit - council angrd - stond Stphn - forgivnss S tphn - Fai th fu l Un til Dath / pag 14