Paul’s First Journey - Sunday April 18, 2021

Sunday April 18, 2021 (Vol 11, Unit 32, Session 2)

Hello, and thanks for joining us this week. The following blog is here to be a tool for you to review the previous Sunday’s Children’s church lesson and 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). So, let’s have some fun and teach our kids from the scriptures. 

Parent Devotional 

Jesus’ followers preached the Gospel in Jerusalem, and the good news spread to places like Judea and Samaria. More and more people believed, and new churches began as Jews and Gentiles began to follow Jesus. 

Barnabas went to Antioch—a city about 300 miles north of Jerusalem—where he brought Paul to help teach the believers. The church in Antioch grew. 

The Holy Spirit told the believers at the church in Antioch to send Paul and Barnabas to preach the Gospel. The church obeyed, and Paul and Barnabas traveled to several cities and all over the island of Cyprus, telling both Jews and Gentiles about Jesus. 

Consider Paul—once a devoted persecutor of Christians—now a Christian missionary, devoted to obeying God’s call to tell others the good news about Jesus. This was Paul’s first missionary journey, and it wasn’t easy. Paul and Barnabas faced rejection in every place that they traveled. Some of the people believed, but some of them were angry. Many people rejected the truth about Jesus. In some areas, the Jews made plans to kill Paul. 

Paul and Barnabas never softened their message or abandoned their mission. In Lystra, Paul healed a man, and when the witnesses to this miracle began to worship Paul and Barnabas, the two men emphatically gave credit to the one true God. When Paul’s enemies attacked him and left him for dead, Paul continued. Paul and Barnabas shared the Gospel in Derbe (DUHR bih), and many people believed. 

The Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas to tell Jews and Gentiles about Jesus. If Paul had not taken the Gospel to the Gentiles, many of us would probably not be believers today. God uses people to tell others about Jesus so that people all over the world can be saved. 

Parent Guidance and Instructions

As we begin to explore this week’s lesson, take a moment to pray and 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 do not have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or perhaps 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 to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages and the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) to review the lesson so you can adjust 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 would 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 week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you!

Opening

“Blessings and Bummers”

Let’s get started. 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 bummers, encourage the kids to do the same. 

Prayer

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 to our friends as well as our families.

Most importantly, we thank you always 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 in Him. Please help us be thankful for all you do for us and 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! 

Let’s chat! 

Prompt the kids to share about a time they were entrusted with a particular task, such as being a line leader or passing out papers for a teacher.

Say • If you are ever entrusted with a particular task, it probably makes you feel good. We enjoy knowing that our leaders trust us also to be leaders. Today we will hear about Paul, who God had chosen for a unique leadership role in the church. 

Optional Session Starter Activity 

Pick one of two options or do both; this is your party. (You can find these on page 2 of the optional activity pages attached at the bottom of the page.) 

Big Picture Question

Before we get too far into the story, though, let’s review the big picture question and answer. What is our mission as Christians? Our mission is to make disciples of all nations by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our purpose is to glorify God by spreading the news of His glory and love. We do that by reaching people of all nations, and we can do that by the power of God through the Holy Spirit in us. That’s why we are here on earth!

Review

Last week we learned about Peter’s escape from prison. It wasn’t the result of a super great plan the church carried out. God rescued Peter from prison. God still had plans for Peter, and since nothing can stop God’s plans, nothing could prevent God from getting Peter out of prison. This week, we will look at another part of God’s plan that involved Paul.

Bible Lesson

Jesus was a Jewish man born in Israel, and His disciples mainly were Jews living in Israel. The early church was almost entirely made up of Jewish people living in—you guessed it, Israel! However, God’s plan was never to have a church of one kind of person living in one area of the world. God is the God of all creation, and His plan involves saving people of all nations from sin. So eventually, some Christians had to take the Gospel to the Gentiles! Paul was one of the men God chose for this job.

Paul and Barnabas told Jews and Gentiles about Jesus. Just as many Jews hated those who preached about Jesus, many of the Gentiles hated Paul and Barnabas. Some liked the miracles the Holy Spirit worked through them but thought they were gods!

The Holy Spirit gave Paul and Barnabas the power to do wonderful things as well as wisdom to know how to respond. They were never alone in the mission; they had God with them the whole time. It’s the same for us. God will be with us and help us to live for His glory. We can live boldly on mission because of God. What is our mission as Christians? Our mission is to make disciples of all nations by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ connection

Many people rejected the good news about Jesus, but God had a plan for Paul to share the Gospel with Gentiles, no matter what troubles Paul faced. Many believed in Jesus. The church grew, and the Gospel spread so that people worldwide could be saved from their sin by trusting in Jesus. 

Bible Time! 

Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help kids find Acts 13–14. Remind the kids that Acts is the only book in the History division of the New Testament. It was written by Luke and picked up after the Book of Luke ends. It tells about the actions of the first disciples and how the early church grew.

Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:

Who decided that Paul and Barnabas should go on a missionary journey? (the Holy Spirit, Acts 13:2)

How did the people of Lystra react to Paul and Barnabas at first? (They worshiped Paul and Barnabas as gods, Acts 14:11-13)

What did Paul and Barnabas do everywhere they went? (preached the gospel, Acts 13:38,49; 14:1)

How should we react to those who reject Jesus? Guide kids to see that Paul and Barnabas preached to the Gentiles when the Jews rejected their message. Help kids understand that we are called to love everyone, even our enemies, but that when people reject the Gospel, we can share it with others instead of taking it personally.

Who will accept and who will reject the Gospel? Lead kids to realize that we cannot know who will accept the Gospel and who will reject it. That is part of the reason it is so important to share the Gospel with everyone we meet. Only God knows who will and will not believe, and we cannot make people believe, only to tell them the truth, so they have the chance to.

What should we do if we are nervous or afraid to share the Gospel? Guide the kids to see that Paul and Barnabas preached no matter what hard times they faced. They were set apart for the work, and they prayed, worshiped God, and fasted before going out. We, too, can prepare for life on mission by praying, worshiping God, studying His Word, and fasting.

Say • Paul and Barnabas told Jews and Gentiles about Jesus no matter what trials they faced. And with the Holy Spirit’s power, we can boldly share the Gospel.

Memory Verse

Read the verse together. 

The Great Commission was one of the last significant commands that Jesus gave to His disciples before returning to heaven. It’s a big job, too! Thankfully, Jesus knew we would need help, and God’s plan all along was to send the Holy Spirit to give us power, courage, and wisdom to obey God.

Memory Verse Activity: 

Write each word of the key passage on separate bits of masking tape and put each bit of tape onto a different domino. Allow the kids to set up the dominoes on end in order while reciting the key passage. Then select a kid to knock over the first domino, causing all of them to fall in order. If time allows, reset the dominoes and let other kids knock them down.

Say • This key passage comes from the end of the Gospel of Matthew. This passage is often called the “Great Commission.” This is the last command Jesus gave His disciples before returning to heaven. Jesus told His disciples to go into the whole world to spread the Gospel and teach people how to obey God. This is our mission as believers still today. 

That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together: 

God, thank You for the example of Paul and Barnabas as they told people about Jesus even when it was hard. Help us have the courage to talk to our friends and family about Jesus, too. Thank You for always being with us. Amen. 

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

Thank you, Lifeway’s Gospel Project, for allowing us to publish this material.

Additional Activities and Information