Paul’s Shipwreck - Sunday July 11, 2021

Sunday July 11, 2021 (Vol 12, Unit 35, Session 2)

Hi there, 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 – Paul’s Shipwreck

Acts 27 & 28

Paul was in Roman custody because of unfounded accusations brought against him by the Jews. Paul had stood before rulers in Caesarea and invoked his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. So, Festus the governor arranged for Paul to go to Rome.

Paul got onto a ship going toward Rome. As if Paul’s journey to Rome had not already been delayed and complicated enough, the ship was caught up in a terrible storm. Paul had warned the crew not to sail from Crete because they would lose everything and die. But they didn’t listen. Paul pointed out the error of their ways, but he still gave them hope. An angel had appeared to Paul. He said Paul would make it to Rome and all the people with him would survive.

Paul urged everyone on the ship to eat so they would have energy. They planned to run the ship ashore on an island, but the ship got stuck on a sandbar. The waves battered the ship, and it broke into pieces; however, all the people survived and made it safely to shore.

Paul suffered for Christ. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul listed the kinds of things he faced: beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, various dangers, hardship, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, nakedness, and other daily pressures. (See 2 Cor. 11:24-29.) Again, and again, Paul saw evidence of God’s control over his life and the gospel was advanced.

As you teach kids, emphasize that Paul trusted God to keep His promise to rescue them from the storm. He also encouraged the sailors to trust God too. God calls us to trust in His Son, Jesus, who died to rescue us from sin and death, and to tell others this good news. We can encourage others to trust God because we know He is good and in control. 

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 do not 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 kids to talk about a time they rode in a boat.

Say • Traveling in a boat can be a lot of fun. However, if there’s a severe storm while you are on the water, it can be quite dangerous—even deadly! Today we will learn about a time Paul faced a dangerous storm that wrecked the ship he was traveling aboard.

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 post.)

Big Picture Question

Paul continued to follow Jesus and trust God to protect him. Paul kept his eyes focused on the future. That brings us to our big picture question and answer: What will happen for all Christians in the future? One day all Christians will see Jesus in His glory and live with Him forever. That means that every person who trusts in Jesus for salvation is guaranteed the prize of a perfect life spent with God for all eternity. Our lives will certainly be hard at times. For some people, there may seem to be more hard times than happy ones. But that doesn’t change the hope we have for the future. Believers will all be perfected by God and live in His perfect presence. 

Review

Every story we’ve learned about Paul includes God’s protection over Paul’s life. God protected Paul through so many difficult, and sometimes scary, situations because Paul sharing about Jesus was part of God’s plan. Paul was willing to do hard things to share the gospel when he told rulers and kings about Jesus. In today’s Bible story, God will continue to protect Paul in a hard situation.

Bible Lesson

Storms can be frightening even when you are on land inside a building. Can you imagine how much more frightening it would be to face a dangerous storm outside on a moving ship? That’s exactly why the people on the ship were terrified.

As always though, God used the difficult circumstances to show His goodness. An angel reminded Paul of God’s plan for him and promised that no one on the ship would die. Paul trusted God to rescue him. Because Paul trusted God, he was able to help the people survive the storm.

I bet when the ship struck the sandbar and began falling apart in the rough waves, many people doubted that Paul was right to stay on the ship. But in the end, even though the ship was destroyed, the people all made it safely to shore while clinging to the wreckage.

We are often a lot like the people on the ship. It’s pretty easy to say we trust God when life feels easy and comfortable. However, for many of us, as soon as life gets hard or we face a scary situation, we want to abandon the ship to save ourselves. God wants us to trust Him. No matter what we face, God can use it for His glory and our good.

Remember though, that doesn’t mean there won’t be situations where we lose things that are important to us. A ship would have been very valuable and important, especially to the captain and sailors who needed it to do their jobs. The ship was destroyed by the storm. We all will face loss; but God’s promise is that whatever loss we face will be tiny compared to the wonderful future we gain. What will happen for all Christians in the future? One day all Christians will see Jesus in His glory and live with Him forever. 

Christ Connection

 Paul trusted God to keep His promise to rescue him from the storm. He encouraged the sailors to trust and obey God too. God calls us to trust His Son, Jesus, who died to rescue us from sin and death, and to tell others this good news.

Bible Time!

Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Acts 27–28. Remind them that Luke wrote Acts to tell about the Acts that the Holy Spirit did through the early church. Explain the division Acts is in. (New Testament History)

Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:

·       How was Paul traveling to Rome? (on a ship, Acts 27:1-2)

·       What happened on the journey to Rome? (a storm caused a shipwreck, Acts 27:14-44)

·       What did Paul tell the other people on board? (“Take courage,” Acts 27:22)

·       Why do you think God allowed Paul to go through such a dangerous storm? Help the kids see that God’s plans are always for His glory and our good. Remind them that Paul used the storm as an opportunity to show that he trusted God. By saving everyone on the ship, God proved His power and love though the storm.

·       Why did Paul trust God to rescue him from the storm? Point back to God’s promises to Paul. God told Paul that he would preach in Rome. God sent an angel to remind Paul of God’s promise and encourage him with a promise of protection through the storm. Paul knew that God keeps all His promises, so He trusted God even in a difficult time.

·       What promises can you remember in hard times? Guide the kids to think about the promises God has made to all believers through His Word: promises to be with us—Matt. 28:20; promises of power—Acts 1:8; promises of transformation—2 Cor. 5:17; promises of our future with Him—John 14:2-4; and so forth. Help the kids understand that our future is secure in Christ, even if our present feels unstable.

Say • Paul trusted God to rescue him. Paul trusted God to keep His promise because God always keeps His promises. We can trust and obey God too.

Key Memory Verse

Read the verse together.

This key passage teaches us about sanctification. We are not made perfect until the day when Jesus returns to make all things new. Every day, the Holy Spirit will continue working in our hearts to make us more like Jesus. God started the good work by calling us to salvation. God will keep us until that good work is complete in the future. 

Memory Verse Activity:

Before the session, write words or phrases of the key passage on pieces of craft foam or slices of pool noodles with permanent marker. Put a couple of inches of water in a large shallow tub. Stick the foam pieces in the tub. Challenge the kids to put the verse in order in the water. If you have a large number of kids, make three or four water stations and divide into smaller groups. Provide a couple of towels for wiping up spills and drying hands.

Say • This key passage is so comforting for us as believers. God will keep us and keep working in our hearts. God kept Paul safe in all kinds of dangerous situations. God used every situation to help continue the good work in Paul’s heart. Paul learned to trust and obey God more and more. God will do the same for us. We can obey and trust God in every situation.

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

God, thank You for sending Jesus to rescue us from our sins so we can live with You forever. Thank You for Your Word. In the Bible, we see that You are trustworthy. Help us when we doubt Your plans. Calm our fears and give us strength to trust You as we follow Jesus. 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