Acts 17:22-31 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. If you haven’t read it lately, get your Bible out and read it. It is a sermon Paul preached in Athens while waiting for Timothy and Silas to arrive. He took the time to do some sightseeing. He couldn’t help but notice all the idols the Athenians placed in prominent places for all to see. He was asked to speak to the crowd and so he started where they were at. He taught them about the one true God — the God they labeled THE UNKNOWN GOD.

I have had my boys memorize this at home when studied Greek/Roman mythology. I have had m Bible classes memorize this when we were studying the book of Acts. I want the young people I come in contact with to have this tucked in their hearts so any time they are tempted to put something or someone else before God, they will be able to think about who He really is.

Below are some of the tools I have used to make memorizing this passage easier.

This first one is the one I am using currently with my two youngest, 11 and 12 year old boys. They have been doing memory work like this for a couple of years so they have a notebook that is getting quite fat with these activities. The general idea is that everyday we will see it, say it, write it. Each day we read the entire passage. We then read the specific part they are working on that week. They have boxes that are to be checked when they have accomplished their task for the day. By the end of the week they will have read the entire passage 5 times, written the particular passage they are memorizing twice and drawn a picture that will help them remember the passage. On Friday, they are to recite as much as we have memorized so far. After the entire passage is memorized, I ask them to see if they can write the passage from memory. This is similar to the other passages we’ve memorized — I AM… and The Beatitudes

Unknown God Memory Notebook PDF

While looking for some files on my computer I found this from 4 years ago. It is very similar to the one above but has different graphics and is laid out slightly different. This version is probably more appropriate for the younger ages because the copy work is broken down into smaller sections.

Unknown God Memory Work for younger kids PDF

The next activity was used in a Bible class setting but could just as easily be done at home. This is part of a project folder on the Church. The activity below can be used alone or with the entire project folder. Since this one was used in Bible class, we didn’t have as much time to spend with it. The students were expected to do some of the memorization on their own time. The activity just gives them an interesting way to copy the passage down in short segments.

 
The Unknown God Project Folder PDF

The next two activities are file folder activities. Notice, I didn’t call them games but activities. I’m not a big fan of playing games in Bible class. These file folder activities offer the student (either at home or Bible class) the opportunity to look the passage up in the Bible as well as offers kinesthetic activity to answer the questions. Click on the cover to visit the specific page about each activity.

The Unknown God Question and Answer File Folder Activity PDF

The Unknown God Vocabulary File Folder Activity PDF

Last of all are 2 envelope activities. The file folder activities and these envelope activities were used in my Bible class of 4th-6th graders. The class was set up with different stations so the students could work independently for part of the class period. I have also used them at home. While memorizing this passage, I included “Bible Activities” two days a week as independent work. The boys have enjoyed getting to choose from these and other activities.