Paul’s Third Journey - Sunday June 6, 2021
Sunday June 30, 2021 (Vol 12, Unit 34, Session 1)
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 Third Journey
Acts 18–21
Paul’s third missionary journey was unlike his first two because he didn’t set out to plant churches. Instead, his mission was to encourage and strengthen existing churches. Paul wrote letters to the churches, but he knew some guidance was best given in person.
Paul’s journey began when he traveled to the city of Corinth. To make a living, Paul was a tent maker. Paul became friends with two other tent makers in Corinth: a man named Aquila and his wife, Priscilla. In his business dealings, Paul was able to share the gospel with many people. The church in Corinth grew.
Paul took Aquila and Priscilla with him to Ephesus. Ephesus was a thriving city in the Roman Empire. Aquila and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus while Paul traveled to other churches and encouraged the believers. While Paul traveled, Aquila and Priscilla interacted with a Jewish believer named Apollos. Apollos was a leader in the early church, and Aquila and Priscilla helped him better understand about Jesus and the Scriptures. Apollos went on to greatly help other believers by showing through Scripture that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Holy Spirit led Paul to go to Jerusalem. This wasn’t an easy call to obey. The Spirit revealed to Paul that imprisonment and suffering awaited in Jerusalem. (See Acts 20:23.) Hadn’t Paul done enough? He had spent years preaching the gospel, and many people believed. Wasn’t now a good time for Paul to retire comfortably on a beach somewhere?
Emphasize to kids that Paul did not cling to his own life. He used every opportunity to tell people the good news about Jesus and to help the church. God helped Paul preach with courage even when he was in danger. Paul was dedicated to Jesus, who called him to do the work of sharing the gospel. Paul boarded the ship to Jerusalem, uncertain of the future but certain of the goodness and grace of the Lord Jesus.
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 kids to discuss a time someone encouraged them.
Say • We all need a little encouragement sometimes. Paul traveled many places telling people about Jesus. Some people were quick to hear and believe in Jesus. Some people did not want to hear what Paul had to say. Some people were even violent toward Paul. But God helped Paul to be encouraged in his work and to keep going until it was complete.
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
I have a new word for us to learn today. Has anyone ever heard of sanctification? Sanctification is a big word. It has to do with the amazing transformation that God causes to happen in the lives of Christians. We’ll learn a lot more about it over the next few weeks. What is sanctification? Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Review
We’ve been studying a lot about Paul the last few months. God used Paul for some amazing things. We can read about Paul’s missions in the Book of Acts. Paul spent time persecuting the church before God saved him. After Paul put his faith in Jesus, he was a missionary and traveled around planting new churches. Let’s watch this week’s video to learn more.
Bible Lesson
Paul had already been on two other missionary journeys where he planted new churches. This journey was different. Paul was going to encourage churches that already existed. Sometimes Paul wrote letters to encourage and teach churches, but he also liked to help these churches in person.
Paul began his journey in the city of Corinth where he met and stayed with Aquila and Priscilla. Paul stayed and worked with them making tents. Did you know that Paul was a tent maker? Since Paul used every opportunity to share the good news about Jesus, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath days. He tried to help the Jews and Greeks believe in Jesus. Some people believed and the church grew.
One night, Paul was eating and talking to a group of people. One man name Eutychus (YOO tih kuhs) got sleepy and fell out of the window. He fell three stories all the way to the ground! Everyone ran down to help him, but he was dead. Paul put his arms around him and Eutychus was alive again. Can you imagine seeing someone come back to life? It wasn’t Paul’s own power that brought him back to life. It was the power of God in Paul, and this miracle encouraged his friends in their faith in Jesus.
Paul knew that God wanted him to go to Jerusalem. He didn’t know what would happen to him there, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy or safe. Paul told his friends that he did not care about his own life. He only cared about doing the work of telling others the good news about Jesus. Paul’s friends prayed for him and sent him on a ship to Jerusalem.
Christ Connection
Paul did not put his own life ahead of following Jesus. He used every single opportunity to tell people the good news about Jesus. Paul helped the church to grow and encouraged churches to continue following Jesus. God helped Paul as he shared the gospel and preached even in dangerous situations. Paul trusted God to protect him and he obeyed God even in uncertain times. Paul was dedicated to following Jesus and doing the work of sharing the gospel.
Bible Time!
Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Acts 18–21. Remind kids that Acts is in the New Testament and comes after the Gospels division. Consider using the New Testament Mediterranean Map to show some of the cities Paul visited—like Corinth and Ephesus —and Jerusalem, where Paul knew he had to go next. (D5, D6, G10)
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:
· With whom did Paul stay and work in Corinth? (Aquila and Priscilla, Acts 18:1-3)
· What happened to Eutychus while Paul taught a group of people? (Eutychus fell out of the window and died. Paul put his arms around him and Eutychus came back to life; Acts 20:7-10)
· What did Paul know would happen to him when he returned to Jerusalem? (Paul knew that trouble and jail waited for him in Jerusalem; Acts 20:22-23)
· What can be scary to us about following Jesus? Guide kids to answer honestly about times they have felt nervous to share their faith. Ask if they have ever been made fun of for trusting in Jesus. Be prepared to share examples from your own life of times you felt nervous about sharing your faith.
· How can we share the good news of Jesus with others? Use The Gospel: God’s Plan For Me to walk through the gospel and help kids understand how to share the gospel. Remind the kids that if they have a plan of what to say, it will help them feel less nervous. Explain that praying for courage and wisdom is a great place to start if you want to share your faith with a friend.
· Why does God want us to share the gospel? Help kids think through God’s goodness and love for people. Remind them that He wants people to know Him and be saved from sin. Help them see that His choice to include us in His plan is part of His love for us. It’s not a chore, but a blessing.
Say • Paul used every opportunity to tell people about Jesus. God calls us to join the mission too.
Key Memory Verse
Read the verse together.
Paul wrote this letter to Timothy to share with the church in Ephesus. The letter of 1 Timothy is found in the New Testament. 1 Timothy comes after 2 Thessalonians. This letter is written to Timothy to encourage him to keep fighting the good fight of faith in Jesus. It’s not always easy to follow Jesus in this sinful world, but we can keep pressing on to know Jesus fully.
Memory Verse Activity:
Write each word of the key passage on a separate sheet of paper. Tape the papers to the floor in a path. Invite the kids to take turns hopping on the path. Encourage the kids to say each word of the key passage as they hop. Cover some papers so the key passage word is not visible. Challenge the kids to hop through the path again reciting the key passage filling in the blanks on their own. Continue hopping through the path and saying the key passage until most of the kids can say it easily.
Say • Fighting the good fight of faith means that there will be times when we go against what our friends are doing. God has called us to put our faith in Jesus and fight to keep trusting Jesus every day.
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
Lord, thank You for saving us and then calling us to join in the work You are doing here at home and around the world. Help us obey when You call us to do something. Let us use every opportunity to tell others about the salvation You give through Jesus. May You be glorified through our lives. 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
