Ananias and Sapphira- Sunday January 10, 2021

Jan 10

Sunday January 10, 2021 (Vol 10, Unit 29, Session 1)

Like all of you I am stunned, saddened and concerned by the events that have transpired over the last week in our country. Through all of this, I am thankful for the assurance of Jesus' love and God's control, as well as the community of Christians that I am connected with, during this troubling time in our history. If you are looking for a place to connect and maybe have some of the questions and doubts settled in your heart, I encourage you to join us. If you are local, we meet in person with children's classes at 10:30am on Sunday mornings. If you are not local or are not ready to return to meeting in person then our streaming options may be right for you. We stream on Facebook, Youtube, and directly from our website every Sunday at 10:30am as well. I know our hearts may be troubled, but Jesus tells us to take heart because He has overcome the world! Now, onto this week’s blog post.

Welcome back! Or if you're new here, welcome! The following blog is here to be a tool for you to help your kids grow in their faith. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20).

Parent Devotional: This week’s lesson is found in 1 Peter 1-2.

If you would like to join us in person, we are excited to announce that Children's Church for Kindergarten through 5th grade and Preschool has resumed and is meeting during the 10:30 service. We would love to see you and your kids there!

Parent Devotional: This week’s lesson is found in Acts 4 & 5.

Something amazing was happening among believers in the early church. Not only was the Holy Spirit changing people’s hearts to believe in Jesus, He was empowering them to live differently. We see the evidence of God’s grace among the believers in Acts 4:32-35. The believers shared everything they had. If one person had a need, someone else gladly gave what he had to meet that need. As a result, “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).

Joseph (also known as Barnabas) was one of the disciples living in this way. He sold a field and gave the money to the apostles. But trouble arose when Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold some land. Perhaps they wanted to appear as generous as Barnabas without feeling the full cost of such generosity. They secretly kept back some of the money, and Ananias brought the rest to Peter.

When Peter confronted Ananias, he didn’t tell him he was wrong to only bring part of the money. In fact, Peter said Ananias could have been honest about how the money was divided. Ananias and Sapphira’s sin was pretending to be generous when they were actually greedy. They had tried to deceive the apostles, but Peter pointed out that they were guilty of trying to deceive God. Ananias dropped dead, and a few hours later his wife did too.

As you teach this story to kids, avoid using Ananias and Sapphira as a warning to be generous or die. As sinners, we struggle with the temptation of greed. Point kids to Jesus, who forgives our greed and changes us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts to want to share with those in need because Jesus generously gave all He had so we can share in His riches and have forgiveness and eternal life.

As we begin to explore this week’s lesson, take a moment to remember the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:9 says: "You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Maybe you don't have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or maybe your children are too young to sit for that long. Consider the key points of the lesson and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day to day. Be blessed this week my friends!

Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, memory verses and possibly a craft or 2. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson so you can read directly from it or change it up to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages as well as the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) also to review the lesson so you can make adjustments as needed. I have included the Bible and Discussion questions along with a breakdown of the Gospel in the Older Kids Activities pages and loads of activities and crafts on the Preschool Extra Activity Pages. Once you are ready,go ahead and start with these songs if you'd like or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the course of the week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. I'd love to hear from you!

So, let's get started. I like to begin each week with Blessings and Bummers. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest challenges?

Parents share your blessings and bummer and encourage the kids to do the same.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we don't deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for our friends as well as our families. Most importantly, we thank you always, but especially during the Christmas season, for sending Jesus to live a perfect life and die to pay for our sins. Thank you for raising Him from the dead and promising us life with you forever if we believe. Help us to appreciate all you do for us and to look to you in all that we do. In Jesus name, Amen. (please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)

Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers!

Prompt kids to discuss a time they did something generous.

Say • Generosity is a wonderful character trait. God is generous toward us. He gives us wonderful gifts, the most incredible of which is Jesus. Today we will learn about two people who wanted to seem very generous without being very generous.

Optional Session Starter Activity Pick one of two options, or do both, this is your party. These are found in the activity pages attached below.

But what is the church? It’s not a building, though sometimes people speak as though it is. The church is all Christians everywhere, who gather together in their communities to worship and serve God. That means the church is people! People who love God and want to obey Him. There are local churches who gather together in specific communities where the members live, and there’s also the global church, which is every single believer across the world—and even throughout history!

Speaking of the church throughout history, we have been learning about the very early days of Jesus’ church. The Holy Spirit came to live with believers, and right away they began preaching the good news and living on mission. They gave generously, worshiped God, took care of the poor, and taught others how to obey God. But the early church had some problems too. Let’s hear a story about that.

Bible Story Video

There are two main ideas I want us to think about from that story: how Ananias and Sapphira sinned, and what it means to fear God.

Ananias and Sapphira were not sinning by keeping some of the money from the land they sold. Peter even told them the money was theirs to do with what they wanted. Their sin was lying about the money they gave. They said they were giving all the money from their land, while secretly keeping some of it for themselves.

That brings us to the next idea: What does it mean to fear God? When the Bible speaks about fearing God, it’s not the kind of fear you might be thinking of, where you dislike something and don’t want to go near it ever. Fear of the Lord is about understanding His power and holiness.

We fear the Lord when we love and respect Him, and desire to honor Him with our lives. God is powerful and hates sin; people who try to oppose Him will fail and be separated from Him. God will protect His people from their enemies. Fearing God means understanding how dangerous it is to be an enemy of God. Fearing God means we want to be His children by having faith in Jesus. Ananias and Sapphira lied to God, and their deaths spread fear of God through the early church, strengthening believers.

Christ connection

Ananias and Sapphira wanted to look generous, but they were greedy. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts to want to share with those in need because Jesus generously gave all He had so we can share in His riches and have forgiveness and eternal life.

Giving generously is an honor and a great source of joy. God isn’t interested in forcing us to give away money that we don’t want to give away. God wants us to see the beauty of His generosity and understand that He will provide for all our needs. God wants us to be generous as the Holy Spirit grows us to be more like Jesus. Our generosity should come from our love of God and our desire to see His mission fulfilled.

Bible Time!

Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Acts 4–5. Remind the kids that Acts is in the History division of the New Testament. It is the only book in that division. Explain that Acts was written by Luke, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. In some ways, Acts is like the sequel to all the gospels, but especially to the Gospel of Luke.

Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:

Who sold his land and gave all the money to the church? (Joseph, also called Barnabas; Acts 4:36-37)

When Ananias and Sapphira sold their land, did they give all the money? (No, Acts 5:1-2)

Why did Ananias and Sapphira die? (They lied to God, Acts 5:3-4, 8-9)

Why does God want us to give money to the church? Help kids see that God doesn’t need our money. Remind them that all of creation belongs to Him. He created us and needs nothing from us. Help them see that God’s desire for us is to experience the joy that comes from generous giving. He allows us to be a part of His wonderful mission to save sinners, and He wants us to be cheerful in the way we participate, including by giving generously.

What are some ways we can give generously? Guide kids to think beyond just giving money. Help them think about ways they can give time or talent by serving the church. Explain that generosity is not about the amount you give but the attitude of your heart when you give.

Do you think we should give even if we don’t want to? Encourage kids to answer this question honestly. Remind kids that sometimes the act of giving can help change our hearts to want to give. Help them see that refusal to give usually reveals sin in their hearts, even though not giving isn’t itself sinful.

Say • Ananias and Sapphira lied about their gift to the church. They wanted to appear generous without actually allowing the Holy Spirit to make them generous. Giving doesn’t save us, and we don’t have to give; but when we love God, He helps us want to.

(Read the new verse together)

Paul’s letter to the Roman believers contains one of the clearest explanations of the gospel. Our key passage comes near the end of the Book of Romans, where Paul reminds believers what it means to be part of the church. The church is united as one body, working together for God’s glory and our good. Even though individuals are all created uniquely by God to be wonderful and special creations, we all work together as one church.

Memory Verse Activity:

Write each word of the key passage on a separate index card. Read the key passage through a few times with the kids. Then shuffle the cards and challenge the kids to put them in the right order. Play again as time allows.

Say • God wants Christians to live together in community, loving and supporting one another. This key passage, from Paul’s letter to believers in Rome, helps us remember that truth. The church is made up of individual Christians, but we need one another in the same way a healthy body needs all the individual parts of a body. What is the church? The church is all Christians everywhere, who gather together in their communities to worship and serve God.

That's it for this week!

Let's pray:
Father God, You are the giver of all good gifts. Everything we have comes from You. Lord, we confess that we are greedy. We think of our own desires before the needs of others. Change our hearts to be generous like Jesus. Give us joy in giving to others. Amen.

Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!

Additional Activities and Information

PreK Options

K-2 Options

3-5 Options