1 Unit 6 Early Church--Lesson 5 NT6.5 Early Church Faces Trouble Scripture: Acts 4: 1-37; Acts 5: 14-25 Lesson Goal: From the very beginning the early church leaders faced trouble. Peter and John were persecuted for preaching the good news about Jesus. This lesson is about how we can have the courage to tell others about Jesus even when people may try to stop us. If child has not accepted Christ, that they will trust in Jesus' name for salvation. Introduction: This is the fifth lesson in Unit 6: The Early Church. This unit covers Acts 1-12 and tells the story of the apostles spreading the gospel in Jerusalem and Samaria. This lesson is about a time when Peter and John were persecuted for telling others about Jesus. It is described by Luke in the book of Acts. Acts tells about the history of the church. Let's say the first five books of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Attention Getter: Is there someone who has treated you cruelly because you are a Christian? Has anyone ever been mean to you because of what you believe? Has anyone ever laughed at you because you wanted to do the "right" thing? Has anyone tried to make you feel weird for not wanting to laugh at a dirty joke or join in a mean trick? Do other children make fun of you, laugh at you, call you names, or even hit you when you try to tell them about the Lord Jesus? Have you ever been left out of an activity because you ve let others know you believe in Jesus? That is called "persecution." To be persecuted means to be treated with meanness or cruelty because of what you believe. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." This is a promise! You can expect it to happen sometime in your life. Today s lesson is about a time when Peter and John were persecuted for telling others about Jesus. Opening Prayer: Let's pray. Father, we pray that nothing will discourage us from telling people about You. Help us to remember that everyone is born a sinner and in need of a Savior. If we don t tell people about You, they may never hear about Your wonderful plan of Salvation. Fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit like you did Peter and John so that we might have the courage we need to be bold for You. Amen. Memory Verse: Our verse is Matthew 5:44" But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," Lesson Video: http://youtu.be/zghnxnpqk5u We ve been learning about the early Christians. First, we learned how the Holy Spirit came down upon the believers like tongues of fire. Then the disciples began to speak in other languages so that everybody could know about Jesus. Then, we learned about how the Holy Spirit gave Peter and John the power to heal the lame man. Next, we learned that even though the Holy Spirit had come and given the people special powers and gifts, they were not protected from Satan s temptations. Ananias and Sapphira were tempted by Satan to lie. In this lesson we will learn that just as people hated Jesus and wanted to kill Him when He was here on earth, so people hated the early Christians. Peter and John were threatened when they continued to tell people about Jesus. Peter and John taught that Jesus is the Son of God and many people believed in Jesus. Everyday people were being baptized and added to the church. The religious rulers were jealous and tried to stop them. But, the apostles kept preaching and God showed that He approved of their message. Many people were healed. Through God's power Peter and John could make the lame to walk and the blind to see. These miracles were great signs from God. And so more and more people turned to the Lord. NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
2 One day when Peter and John entered the temple, Peter told a man who was over forty years old and who had been lame since birth, to get up and walk in the name of Jesus! The man entered the temple courtyard leaping an praising God. This caused everyone to be amazed! Crowds gathered and watched as this man jumped and gave thanks to God! Peter told them that this man had been healed in the name of Jesus and reminded them that they had handed Jesus over to be crucified. Then Peter told them that God had raised Jesus from the dead! Peter then urged them to turn back to God and have their sins forgiven. He said "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out! Jesus is the One that was promised to all your forefathers--moses and Abraham." The religious leaders and rulers were very angry about this. They knew they had killed Jesus but they could see that His power was in Peter and John. More people than ever were following Jesus NOT them! They were very jealous! So the religious leaders decided they needed to stop Peter and John. They seized Peter and John and put them in prison. They had their ankles and wrists changed to the wall. However, so many people were convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead that the number of believers grew to over 5,000. The next morning Peter and John were brought before Annas the High Priest, the elders and teachers of the law. These officials began to question Peter and John. They ask, "By what power or what name do you do this?" They were demanding an answer! Those listening were astonished at the courage of Peter and John. Peter told them that the healing was "By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead! Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved! Since the healed man was standing right there before them and he was healed, they were at a loss for words! The temple officials could see that God had healed the man! So they ushered Peter and John out while they discussed what to do!` "What can we do?" they asked. "Everyone has seen them perform this miracle so we cannot deny it. We must stop them from speaking about Jesus and doing things in His name. So Peter and John were brought back in. The Jewish leaders commanded Peter and John not to teach in the name of Jesus. But they just replied, "Which is right in God's eyes, to obey you or to obey God? You be the judges! We cannot help but speak about what we have seen and heard." The temple leaders issued more threats. They warned Peter and John that they were not to speak about Jesus again! They could not decided how to punish them. The temple leaders knew could not Peter and John in prison because the people were praising God for what had happened! And the man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old. So they released Peter and John. Peter and John returned to the believers and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. When the believers heard this, they all began to pray together. They prayed that Peter and John would be even more bold to continue telling others about Jesus and do miracles in His name. When they finished praying, the building they were in shook! They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking even more bravely about Jesus to everyone! The believers were united. None of them viewed their possessions as their own but shared what they had with each other. From time to time those who owned land and houses sold them and gave the money to the disciples to distribute to the poor and needy. One such man was Barnabas, whose name means "son of encouragement." He sold a field he owned to help those in need. He brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. God's power was seen in many miracles the Apostles did among the people. People brought the sick out into the streets and crowds gathered from all the surrounding towns. All of them were healed. More and more people believed in Jesus. The church was growing daily, Many were being saved. NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
The High Priest and his associates became very jealous of the popularity of the Apostles. So them had them arrested and put in prison again! During the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and let them out! Then the angel instructed Peter and John, "Go into the Temple courts, and tell the people all about this new life!" At day break the apostles obey and started teaching in the Temple courts. When the high priest arrived at the Temple, he called for the whole assembly of religious leaders. But when they went to the jail to get Peter and John the prison was securely locked with the guards outside! But the Apostles were not inside! When the captain of the guard heard this, he was puzzled and wondered how this could happen! Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. The high priest was very angry. He said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus. You have filled the city with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty for the death of Christ. Peter and the other apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than men." Peter then said, "God has raised Jesus from the dead and has exalted Him as Prince and Savior so that he might give us repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things!" When the Jewish leaders heard this they were so furious they wanted to put the Apostles to death. However a respected Pharisee, named Gamaliel, who was a teacher of the law and was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and asked that the Apostles be taken outside for a little while. Then he said, "Men of Israel, be careful what you do to these men! Some men in the past have claimed to be the Messiah and have even gathered followers but none of them have succeeded. If these men are using human power, they will fail, but if God is behind them you will not be able to stop them." Gamaliel's speech persuaded the Jewish leaders not to kill the Apostles. Instead the Apostles were brought back in and severely beaten with whips! Then the apostles were ordered once more, "Do not speak in the name of Jesus!" The Apostles left, not feeling sorry for themselves, but happy they had been worthy to suffer for Jesus. Every day they continued to tell others that Jesus was the Savior, the Messiah. They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ! God did not keep the apostles from persecution, but He did give them courage as they suffered. God tells us that we, too, may be persecuted if, as Christians, we speak for Him. When someone makes fun of you or laughs at you, show love to him instead of acting as he does. If someone says mean things to you or calls you names, then answer him kindly. Then compliment him for something he does well. Let God show His love to them through you, Pray for those who are unkind to you and ask God to give you courage to continue telling them about Jesus. They may begin to listen to what Jesus can do for them and trust Him as their Savior. You may face persecution but don't be discouraged. Remember that God promises that your reward in heaven will be great. Think about the apostles--peter and John. They were not discouraged even when they were beaten. God gave them courage and joy in their suffering. Remember to be kind to those who mistreat you. Review Questions/ Game: Question Matching Write questions and their answers on separate cards. Place the answers around the room. Split the class into two teams. Taking turns, pull a question card from a bag. Let the team find the answer. A right answer is worth 500 points. If they can t find the answer, let the other team try to find it. Team with most points wins. 3 NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
4 1. What does it mean to be persecuted? (To be treated with cruelty.) 2. Has anyone ever tried to make you feel weird for being a Christian? 3. Can you be happy when someone makes fun of you for doing good? (God says you can.) 4. Why did the religious rulers persecute Peter and John? (Because they were jealous of their popularity.) 5. About this time how many people had heard the message of the gospel and had believed? (5,000 people had been added to the church.) 6. When the council asked Peter and John about which power they had that healed the man, what did they say? (Peter answered that it was by the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.) 7. What did the religious rulers do to Peter and John? (They threw them into prison.) 8. What amazing thing happened to Peter and John when they were in prison? (An angel brought them out.) 9. What scary thing did the angel tell Peter and John to do? (Go speak about Jesus, the very thing that got them sent to prison in the first place.) 10. If you had been Peter and John, would you have started preaching to people about Jesus again, knowing you could be sent back to prison? 11. What did Peter and John do? Did they obey the angel or not? (They went to the temple first thing in the morning! They were so excited to tell others about Jesus, they didn t care if they were persecuted.) 12. Why was the council surprised to learn that Peter and John were back in the temple preaching? (The jailer said that the jail was securely locked and the guards were standing at the doors, but no one was inside.) 13. What laws or rules are OK not to obey? (One s that tells us to disobey God. Then we must obey God and be willing to pay the penalty human rules demand.) 14. What did the religious rulers do when they heard Peter preach? (They were furious and made plans to kill him.) 15. What Pharisee convinced the counsel not to kill Peter and John? What logic did he use? (Gamaliel said that if the healing was of human origin, then their preaching would be in vain and would fail on its own accord.) 16. What warning did the council given to Peter and John? (They warned them not to teach or preach about the gospel of Jesus.) 17. What are you supposed to do if someone makes fun of you or laughs at you? (Show them love instead of acting just like him. Answer him kindly. Let God show His love to them through you. Pray for those who are unkind to you.) Bible Memory Verse Activity: Our verse is Matthew 5:44" But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," God can give you courage to tell others about what Jesus did for us on the cross even if you are persecuted. If you know it is the truth, nothing should stop you from telling others. Look up the scripture in the Bible. Have a student read the verse. Repeat the verse together. Review the memory verse until your students are familiar with it and can say it on their own. Then, play Gossip. Instruct your students to sit in a circle. Pick a student to begin and encourage the student to think of something "good" that you could do for others. Have them whisper to the second student, who whispers to the third student, and so on. Give each student a chance to share. Alternate idea is to think of some way that God helps us in dealing with persecution. Ex. courage, boldness, patience, kindness, goodness, perseverance, joy, peace, endurance, etc. Group Learning Activity: Freeze Tag Have children play a game of freeze tag with one child being it and one child being Jesus. After a child is tagged, only "Jesus" can set them free. Related this to the story of how the council put Peter and John in prison. Only God's messenger angel could set them free from prison. NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
5 Craft Activity: Sack Puppets of Peter and John Students will make Peter and John puppets to remind them that these disciples continued to preach the good news of Christ even though the ruler, elders, and teachers of the law wanted them to stop. As students are working on their puppets remind them that Peter and John were great examples of speaking the truth about Jesus. Encourage students to share their faith with those around them. After making the puppets, have the students use their puppets to practice sharing about Jesus. Make copies of the Peter and John Puppet patters on cardstock for each child. Have students color the heads of Peter and John. Have students cut out the heads on solid black lines. Glue the heads to the bottoms of paper lunch sacks. Craft Activity--Jesus' Name Bookmark Have each child make one bookmark using a variety of materials. On one side have the children write the name JESUS. On the other side have them write the Bible verse Acts 4:12. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Decorate with stickers, colored markers, etc. Punch hole in end and tie with yarn or ribbon for string. Encourage students to give their bookmark to a friend as a way of sharing Jesus with them. J e s u s Group Learning Activity: Guest Missionary Speaker Invite someone you know that has witnessed to others in adverse circumstances to come and share their experience with the class. You may know someone who has done short or long term mission work. Allow the children to ask questions about their experience. Explain to the class that not everyone we share the gospel with will follow Him. But we are called to be faithful to tell and allow God to complete the work of sharing God's Word with them. The Holy Spirit will give us boldness to share with others. Group Learning Activity: Basketball Game--BOLDNESS Set up a small bucket or trash can on one end of your classroom. Have students line up in a line to take turns trying to toss a small rubber ball into the trash can. Play "H-O-R-S-E" the basketball game but instead of "Horse" spell "BOLDNESS" Talk about boldness. Look it up in the dictionary. Encourage your students to pray for boldness when sharing Christ with others. Group Learning Activity: Strengthened by God's Spirit Give each student a craft stick and ask them to break it. It's OK if you cannot break the craft stick. We are not testing your strength but how strong the stick is. Now give a second stick to each child in your group. Ask students to place the two craft sticks together and try to break them at the same time. Allow a few seconds for students to try this activity. Now give each student three craft sticks. Place the three sticks together in a stack and try to break all three of the sticks at once. Final test of the craft sticks is to place four of the sticks together and try to break them. Allow students to try to break four sticks at once. Say: "What was more difficult to break: one, two, three or four sticks at a time? The more sticks we add the harder and harder it became to break the stick. The sticks got stronger and stronger when they were together. Who is stronger? One person working alone or three or four people working together? Why? The more people work together the stronger they are because they can support and help one another. We could let these craft sticks represent us, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When we try to do something alone, we are not always strong enough to accomplish the task. When we depend on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to help us then we are stronger. In this lesson we learned that Peter and John depended on God's Spirit to help them and give them strength. We can depend on God's Spirit to help us too. NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
God s Spirit gives us strength to do things we might not be able to do on our own. The Holy Spirit might help us to be kind when we want to be angry. The Holy Spirit might help us to obey when we want to disobey. One of the things God s Spirit strengthens us to do is tell others about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a counselor and guide to us. God s Holy Spirit lives inside us and gives us strength to do good things that please God. Let s say thank you to the Holy Spirit for giving us courage and strength. Bible Challenge: (older students) Meaning of Names Have students look up the meaning of their name in a Baby Name Book. Make name tags. Have students write their name and under it the meaning of their name. Explain: Names have always been important in the Bible. People in Jesus day believed names were powerful and took them very seriously. That s possibly why the religious leaders asked Peter and John this question in Acts 4:7"By what power or what name did you do this?" Names are important because they represent who you are. A name identifies you. When your name is called you will become attentive. When your name is spoken to others you know your character traits will come to their mind. In Acts 4:12 Peter said, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Why is the Name of Jesus so important and why is His Name the only way a person can be saved? While my name and your name might only have one meaning, the Name of the LORD is filled with many. Just a few words that represent what the Name of the LORD means are: Holy, Creator, Powerful, Most High, Strong Tower, Eternal, Love, Salvation and Good. When Jesus Name is mentioned His many character traits come to mind. When I say the Name Jesus to you does liar come to mind? Cheater? Disobedient to authority? None of these character traits are part of who Jesus is. Jesus is God and all the character traits of God are found in Him. As the Son of God Jesus alone can save a man, woman, boy or girl from sin. There is power in the Name of Jesus. The crippled man was healed by faith in the Name of Jesus. That is One Powerful Name! Skit: Boldness to Witness Pose a skit to demonstrate courage in sharing the gospel. In the skit, a student begins to share the gospel with one of his friends but is very shy and fearful. Afraid of what his friend might think the student is unable to finish sharing the truth about Christ. Yet the friends salvation is at stake. If he does not hear about Christ he will go to hell. Knowing this, the fearful student stops and prays, asking God for boldness to share the gospel. Once having prayed, the student receives boldness from the Lord and is able to finish sharing Christ with his friend. This would be a great opportunity to share the gospel with the student yet again, and to demonstrate similar way believers prayed for boldness in today s lesson. Life Application Challenge: Discussion Questions Ask these questions to help kids apply the lesson to their lives: 1. Was there ever a time when you had to decide between obeying God and obeying someone else? 2. When is a time you were tempted to disobey in order to fit in? 3. How can we gain strength to obey? How can we help each other? 4. Have you ever told a lie just to stay out of trouble? 6 NT6.5 The Church Faces Trouble Beverly Wilson 2015
7
8
9
10
11
12
13