Acts of the Apostles
Paul’s Journeys

4th-6th grades

This page is devoted to sharing the actual lesson plans I used while teaching The book of Acts to 4th-6th graders in a Bible class setting. I also throw in a few personal thoughts along the way.

The Jerusalem Conference — Acts 15

This morning begins our new quarter. We will finish up the study of Acts and end our study of the New Testament during this quarter. In January we will begin again our 3-year cycle of studying the Bible with Genesis.

I worked until midnight last night trying to get everything ready for the new quarter, but I didn’t get finished. So, instead of having the kids walk into a class in disarray, I decided to keep everything like it was and let them think we’re still in the old quarter.

We’ve had 4 visitors semi-regularly this past quarter. All 4 of them have asked me if I had a Bible they could have. I finally ordered10 NKJV That I’ll give to them this morning. I will also have some extra in the classroom for those kids that forget theirs.

I’ll post a list of the stations next time, but one of the things we’re memorizing is The Whole Armor of God from Ephesians 6. We will read that this morning in class. Since it talks about the word of God being the sword of the spirit and I am giving Bible out, I thought it would be a good time talk about how important the sword is to the soldier and thus the Bible is important to us.

I’ve been referring to the Acts Chapter Cards in my previous posts. I will keep referring to them in the future. I’ve had some questions asking what they were. Here is a slide show I put together of them. See if you can figure out what all the pictures represent.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Spend some time in stations. The stations are left overs from last quarter, but I’m sure there is plenty they haven’t finished yet.

Pass Out Bibles: Read Ephesians 6:13-18. Talk about the Sword of the Spirit being the word of God.

Acts cards — Introduce Acts 15

Introduction to lesson: Review God’s plan. Discuss the law and how difficult it was to follow. Also remind them about the Pharisees and how they kept making the law harder than it was intended for everyone.

Today’s lesson: Acts 15 is a difficult lesson to teach. At least for me. I’ve never actually spent time teaching it before. Preview the story with them so when we read it together they’ll understand what’s going on. I’ll do my best not to let them see hesitancy in teaching it.

Sing: Sing Faith Is The Victory.

The Philippian Jailer — Acts 16

One of the most important thing a teacher needs to learn is to be prepared. Wednesday night, I wasn’t. I could give a list of excuses to try to explain why I went to class unprepared, but none of them matter. I should’ve taken the time to be more prepared. The class wasn’t a total loss, I just didn’t feel as confident with the material as I wanted. Every once in a while, this happens and I’m always disappointed in how the class turns out.

I am much better prepared for tomorrow’s class. Not only with the lesson material (Philippian Jailer), but also with the actual classroom preparations. This is the beginning of the 4th quarter I’ve been teaching this class. There is always a lot of work to do at the beginning of the quarter. Tonight, I got it all done. Tomorrow each child will get a project folder, memory work booklet and bookmark with the Bible reading listed on it. In the next couple of weeks, I need to make a few more activities for a couple of the stations. One of the stations is brand new (God’s Plan station) and has no activities in its box.

Wednesday night we started the 2nd journey and we learned about Lydia’s conversion. Tomorrow we will continue with the events that happened while Paul and Silas were in Philippi. We will learn about the Paul and Silas being arrested, their escape, the jailer’s conversion and the Paul and Silas’ release from prison.

Three of the students that needed their own Bibles got theirs Wednesday night. Two of these students have never been a Bible class before. This is all new to them. I also bought Bibles for those kids who forget theirs or don’t have the NKJV. There was a lot of time spent finding Acts 16. I’m hoping they’ll at least learn where Acts is before the quarter is through.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: We have all new stations. They are:

 

• Bible Lesson Review
• Chapters of Acts (15-28)
• The Whole Armor of God
• 1 Corinthians 13
• The Roll Call of Faith (condensed version of Hebrews 11)
• Paul’s 3rd and 4th journeys
• God’s Plan
• Memory Work Review

span style=”font-weight: bold;”>Acts cards — Review all of the cards and Introduce Acts 16. See my previous post to see what these cards look like.

Today’s lesson: Tell the story of Paul and Silas’ experience in a Philippian jail. Then read the story from the text. I think telling the story first will help those with their new Bibles understand the story better. When I was reading the Bible first, they were spending so much energy trying to follow along that I think they didn’t hear much of what we read.

Project Folders: Look over the project folders with the students. Then read aloud together The Roll Call of Faith. Then try to say the first 2 sections by memory. Of course, they won’t be able to do this today, but we’ll give it our best shot. Ccopy the first 2 sections in their project folder. There are 16 sections in all. We’ll need to work on this every Sunday AM.

Sing: Sing Faith Is The Victory.

Paul Visits Thessalonica — Acts 17

Even thought I didn’t get a lesson plan online before class last night, I was prepared. I would’ve liked to have had the lesson plan in writing, but there’s only so much time in a day. We are well into Paul’s 2nd journey. Paul visits Thessalonica and teaching and converting souls to Christ. He also visits Berea and teaches many there as well. He leaves in a rush because his life is being threatened and heads down to Athens. We’ll get into that Wednesday night.

We had another full class last night. We had 4 of our semi-regular visitors. Wednesday PM is always a little more challenging to teach than Sunday AM. Last night was no different. They tend to bring their school day into the Bible class. We’re going to have to teach them that Bible class is a place for studying about God and the time given should be respected.

My goal for our regular students is that they become excellent Bible students and learn to apply it to their lives. My goal for the visitors is that they learn that God loves them and that I love them. I want them to know that they are wanted in class. I want them to know that the Bible is the most important book there is and that we should study it our whole lives. Hopefully all of the students will be able to learn some of the details of Paul’s journeys. They’ll also, hopefully, memorize or at least become very familiar with the passages we are memorizing this quarter.

 

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: We had several late students (our regular students — I need to talk to them about getting there on time), so we spent quite a bit of time in the stations letting them get settled in and ready for class.

Acts cards — I meant to introduce Acts 17 card, but forgot. That’s okay, we’ll be talking about the rest of Acts 17 on Sunday.

Today’s lesson: We reviewed the 1st journey and then the 2nd journey up until Paul left Philippi. I wanted the kids to see that what happened in Lystra (angry Jews from Antioch came to stir up trouble) happened on the 2nd journey as well. We covered Paul’s visit to Thessalonica and Berea.

Project Folders: We read The Roll Call of Faith (condensed version of Heb 11) and I asked them to copy the first 2 section in their project folders. We also read 1 Corinthians 13 aloud. We now have a cassette recording of myself discussing 1 Corinthians 13 at that station, so each child can listen to it on their own. There is also a cassette for The Whole Armor of God.

Sing: We didn’t have time to sing.

Paul Visits Athens — Acts 17

We’re finally to Paul’s visit to Athens. Since the kids memorized the sermon Paul preached in Athens last quarter and since we talked about it in depth, this will be a great review lesson. We’ll also have a little extra time to spend on some of our new memory work.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: All of the stations now have activities (at least 1) at them. Two of stations have cassette tapes to listen to.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards we’ve used up until now. Introduce Acts 17 card.

Today’s lesson: Review the 2nd journey and then talk about the last half of Acts 17.

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith. Talk about the next 2 verses. See if we can say the first 4 verses (or sections) from memory. Since this is such a long chapter, I chose to condense and get the main points. Here is the exact words we’re memorizing:

*Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

*By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen ewre not made of things which are visible.

*By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrfice than Cain…and through it he being dead still speaks.

*By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death…for…he pleased God.

*But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

*By faith Noah…prepared an ark for the saving of his household.

*These all died in faith, not having received the promises…but now they eesire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

*By faith Abraham…offered up Isaac. By faith Abraham obeyed…not knowing where he was going. By faith he soujourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country.

*By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

*By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

*By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

*By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

*By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents…By faith, Moses, when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter…By faith he forsook Egypt…By faith he kept the passover…By faith they passed through the Red Sea.

*By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

*By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

*And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also David and Samuel and the prophets.

Recite/read The Whole Armor of God from Ephesians 6

Sing:

Paul Visits Corinth — Acts 18

Tonight, we bring Paul’s second journey to end. He will visit Corinth where he meets Aquila and Priscilla, writes 1 and 2 Thessalonians and then briefly visits Cenchrea and Ephesus before ending the journey.

I’ve been reading Bob Waldron’s book Go Tell The Good News as we go through Acts. It is very helpful. He stops and explains the letters Paul writes when he writes them. His description of 1 and 2 Thessalonians was very helpful. I want to bring out 1 Thessalonians 4 (toward the end of the chapter) where Paul describes the end of time. And then in chapter 5 he explains what will happen to Christians that have died before this happens. I can just hear the kids, after reading the passage in chapter 4 ask, “What if you’ve already died?” And then in 2 Thessalonians Paul describes what will happen to those who are not Christians when Christ comes again.

We’ve been talking about how to be saved, what the church is, how we worship, etc. I think it will be a good time to let Paul tell us what will happen if we don’t do the things we’ve been talking about.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Hopefully we will get to spend about 10 minutes at the stations tonight.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards we’ve used up until now. Introduce Acts 18 card.

Today’s lesson: Review the 2nd journey and then read Acts 18 bringing the 2nd journey to a close.

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith. Read 1 Corinthians 13 together and try to do the first section by memory. Unlike Hebrews 11, we are doing the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. If we have time: Recite/read The Whole Armor of God from Ephesians 6

Sing:

Paul’s Third Journey Begins — Acts 18 and 19

After visiting Jerusalem at the end of the 2nd journey, Paul heads down to Antioch. From there, he begins his 3rd journey. This journey starts out much like the 2nd one. He visits the Christians he first taught in the 1st journey (Galatia) and then again in the 2nd journey. This time, he goes to Ephesus and catches up with Aquila and Priscilla. He stayed there quite a while and taught many people. We’ll talk to day about the religious error Paul corrected — those who had not been baptized into Christ’s baptism, but Johns.

Before Paul bets to Ephesus, Luke tells us about Apollos. He also only knew of John’s baptism. Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and taught him the rest of what he needed to know. He then went on to be a great influence and teacher to many in Corinth. Here is a great example of someone who thought they knew what was right. They thought they were doing what Christ wanted, but they were wrong. The Christians that were amongst him took him aside and taught him.

It is thought that Paul wrote the epistle Galatians while in Ephesus. We’ll talk about it briefly this morning. I want to read with the kids Galatians 1:6-10 where Paul tells the Galatians to not accept any other teaching than what he had taught them. I also want to read Galatians 5:19-23 that contrasts the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: We have a lot of material to cover. Assuming everyone is there on time, we’ll start our lesson pretty quickly after the bell rings.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards we’ve used up until now. Introduce Acts 19 card.

Today’s lesson: Review the 2nd journey. Briefly tell the story of Apollos and then read it from Acts 18:24-28. Briefly tell about the first part of Paul’s visit in Ephesus and then read it from Acts 19:1-20. We’ll cover the riot in Ephesus on Wednesday night. Discuss the letter to the Galatians and then read Galatians 1:6-10 and Galatians 5:19-23.

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith. Introduce the 5th and 6th parts of the Roll Call of Faith. Attempt to say the first 6 parts by memory. If there’s time quickly go over the Whole Armor of God.

Sing:

The Riot in Ephesus — Acts 19

I had a question about my last post. The questions asked about how long the class is, how do I cover so much material in the class and how do I handle disruptive children.

My Sunday AM class is just 25-30 minutes long. We do have at least 10 minutes between class and worship, so we don’t always leave right when the bell rings. I tell them to take their time and finish what they’re doing. I could really use another 10 or 15 minutes. Wednesday evening we have about 40 minutes. That’s much better, but there is no time between class and meeting together in the auditorium. We have to be ready to go pretty quick.

I do tend to cover a lot of material during the classes. Sunday’s class was especially packed with information. I want the kids to really learn the journeys, so we’re taking them pretty slow. Adding the letters in when they are written is something I’m doing as we have time. I don’t go in depth with the letters. I just want to point out one or two passages or verses that they are going to hear fairly frequently or that I think we need to discuss in class. I’m hoping they will leave the class feeling like the New Testament is something they can learn more about and that is very important to study.

I don’t have a whole lot of trouble with disruptive children. We are so busy and there are so many things to do, there is no time for disruptions. The regular visitors we’ve been having are not used to being in a Bible class that actually teaches instead of entertaining and serving snacks. They were a little restless when they first started coming, but they’re better now. Of course, Wednesday PM is the hardest. They are all tired from school. Tonight I’m going to have to really be on my toes. I’m sure some of them have been trick or treating.

The key to keeping control in the class is to keep the class moving. If they are ever given the chance to let their minds wander, they will start doing something other than what they should be doing. I always plan more than what we can do so this won’t be a problem. I don’t have any problem calling a child down bluntly and in a matter of fact manner. My 11 year old once said (after being with a different teacher in VBS) that the other teacher says things like, “Timothy, why don’t you turn around and open your Bible”. He said that I say things like, “Timothy, turn around and open your Bible!” Different teachers have different styles, but it works for me. The kids keep coming back with a smile on their face, so I guess they don’t mind.

Tonight we’ll study about the riot in Ephesus. It is thought that Paul wrote both the Corinthian letters from Ephesus. We’ll talk briefly about them. We’re already going over 1 Corinthians 13 every Wednesday night and they are memorizing it at one of the stations, so that will be what we talk about for 1 Corinthians. We’ll be talking about being a cheerful giver from 2 Corinthians 9:7

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Spend about 10 minutes at the beginning of class.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards we’ve used up until now. Introduce Acts 19 card. I was supposed to do this Sunday, but we ran out of time. Since we’ll finish it up tonight, I’ll make sure to show them the card tonight.

Today’s lesson: Give a brief review (or preview) of the goddess Diana. She was a daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and a twin sister of Apollos. She was considered a goddess of childbirth and hunting among other things. Review the events in the 3rd journey so far. Tell the story of the riot in Ephesus and then read it as the students follow along. Discuss the letters to Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 13 (see below) and 2 Corinthians 9:7 (cheerful giver)

Project Folders: We didn’t get to go over the Roll Call of Faith on Sunday AM. We’ll make sure to at least read it together tonight. We want to make sure and read 1 Corinthians 13 and check to make sure the students are doing their copywork of it in their project folders.

Sing:

Paul Brings Eutychus to Life — Acts 20:1-12

One of my students made my day Wednesday night. She said that her teacher at school was teaching them about different religions around the world. The teacher told the kids that we don’t worship all of their gods, we follow the 10 commandments. The student told me that she knew the teacher was wrong because Jesus nailed the old law to the cross and we are under the new law. I was very proud of her for understanding the error.

Today’s lesson continues the third journey. Paul goes through Macedonia and on to Corinth where he writes the book of Romans. I read Romans 12: 9-21 where Paul teaches the Romans how to treat each other. If we are doing good on time, I’ll continue reading into chapter 13 where it talks about our responsibility to the government.

After Paul leaves Corinth, he eventually arrives at Troas where he meets with the brethren to break bread. This is an excellent passage to review what the Lord’s Supper is about and when/how we’re supposed to take it. We can also see the love the Christians had for the truth since they sat and listened to Paul preach all night. Of course, this is the reason Eutychus died and we’ll get to talk about how Paul brought him back to life.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Spend about 10 minutes at the beginning of class.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards we’ve used up until now. Introduce Acts 20 card. We’ve just been running through these each week. I’ll say, “What happened in chapter 1?” and they’ll tell me and so on. I want to try getting them to think a little more about it by asking questions like, “If you had a friend that didn’t believe in God, what chapter could you read with him to tell who God is.”

Today’s lesson: Review the 3rd journey up until Corinth (Acts doesn’t actually say he went to Corinth, but it is assumed that’s where he spent the winter, since that’s what he said he wanted to do one of the letters to Corinth.

Discuss the book of Romans. Paul wrote it while in Corinth. He had never been to Rome, but was hoping to go eventually. Read Romans 12:9-21 and discuss briefly. If there’s time read Romans 13:1-7 and discuss briefly.

Continue reading to Acts 20:7. Discuss the Lord’s Supper briefly (especially about taking it on the first day of the week). We’ve talked about this in depth in previous quarters. This should all be review for them. Then discuss the story of Eutychus.

Introduce the folder activity: Interesting People We’ve Met In Acts. This activity will review some of the people we met briefly: Gamaliel, Ananias (chapter 9), Elymas, Simon the Sorcerer, Eutychus, Apollos. There are 3 cards that describe each person. They are to put the correct cards in the pocket with the person’s name on it that it matches. After they’re through they can take the cards out and turn them over. If they are in the correct pocket, they’ll be able to put them together where they show the number of the chapter that person is from.

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith and discuss sections 5 and 6.

If there’s time review another memory passage from their project folder.

Sing:

Paul Meets With The Ephesian Elders — Acts 20

This lesson plan is being posted after the fact. I had some scribbles written on a piece of paper for class this morning. Now, I’ll get to say what really happened, not what I want to happen.

We had 13 students in class this morning. We also had 3 adults. One of our new Christians wanted to come observe class this morning. Plus, I had my regular helper. It was crowded, but everyone behaved and we had a good class.

Since Paul was going to meet with the elders in Miletus, we reviewed who the elders were and what their job was. We read the passage in 1 Timothy where Paul tells Timothy how to select elders. We also read 1 Pet 5:2 where Peter talks to elders about their responsibilities. Last quarter one of our stations was devoted to the organization and mission of the church. We talked about the elders then, so this was mostly a review.

I didn’t feel like I had said everything I wanted to about the elders (no lesson plan), at the moment, couldn’t figure out what I had left out. Next week, while we’re reviewing the lesson from today, I’ll talk to them about the elders on a more personal level. We talked about who our elders are, but I want them to know how much these elders care for them. I want them to feel like they can go talk to the elders about anything. We’re a pretty small congregation, so they know the elders, so this isn’t a real problem here. I want the students to know that the elders have a special interest in their souls and want them to go to Heaven.

We added the next 2 sections of The Roll Call of Faith: These all died in faith, not having received the promises…. and Abraham soujourned in a land of promise….

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Half of the class was already there when I got to class and I was 15 minutes early. They worked at their stations until time for class to start.

Acts cards — We introduced Acts 20 card and reviewed all of the rest. Several of them are very good at knowing what happened in each chapter of Acts. That’s something they can take and use the rest of their lives.

Today’s lesson: After talking to the kids about elders, we talked about Paul meeting with the elders at Miletus. We talked about how close he was to them and how sad they all were when he left. We talked about his warnings of problems that were ahead for them. We then read the passage from Acts 20.

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith and discuss sections 7 and 8

If there’s time review another memory passage from their project folder.

Sing:

Third Journey Ends — Acts 21

Tonight, we end the third journey. It is a sad ending for Paul and his friends. He realizes that he is about to face some trying times ahead. We’ll get in to his arrest next week though. Tonight, we will just talk about the last few days of his journey and his reception in Jerusalem.

I’ll be honest, this part of Acts intimidates me. In times past, this is the part we have only gone over quickly. I’m a little anxious about how much time to spend on it. Since the only plan we’re following for this class was drawn up by my husband and he’s given me lots of freedom to do what seems best, I can go as quickly or slowly as I want. I do need to be finished with Acts by the end of December. Hopefully, I’ll finish much sooner and be able to spend time in some of the letters and a couple of lessons on Revelation.

Tonight’s lesson will not take an awful long time to finish. In fact, I had thought about covering more ground, but I don’t want the kids to be overwhelmed. Instead, I want to start the class with a review of the whole Bible story. One of our stations is dedicated to this. I want the students to be able to tell the story themselves. We’ll review it tonight and I’ll try to encourage them to be working on it at home. I also want to review a little of what we talked about on Sunday. I want to talk about the elders again and some of the specific things that our elders do for them.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Review of Bible Story: Using the timeline, review the major stories of the Bible. We will stress the promises to Abraham and the fulfillment of those promises to Moses, Joshua and finally the coming of Christ.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards introducing Acts 21

Today’s lesson: Take time to review Paul’s visit with the elders in Miletus. This is a good time to talk about the elders responsibilities and how that affects the students’ lives. Finish up the third journey by telling the story and then reading it aloud as they follow along.

Project Folders: Go over 1 Corinthians 13. If there’s time read the Roll Call of Faith together.

Sing:

Paul is Arrested — Acts 22 and 23

Oops! I forgot to post a lesson plan Sunday. It was probably for the best. I wouldn’t have followed it anyway. We had 14 students in class again. I was hoping to get further into Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, but I didn’t. It was probably for the best. We stopped just short of chapter 23.

Our lesson Sunday started in Acts 21:15. We talked about the events leading up to Paul’s arrest and what happened shortly after. We read from Acts 21:15 -22:29. When we got to Paul’s defense (chapter 22 verse 3) I asked them if they had heard this story before. Most of them shook their heads yes. When we got verse 20 where Paul talks about his part in stoning Stephen, I asked them if they remembered what chapter Stephen is found in. Most of them said chapter 7. They’re learning.

Tonight we’ll pick up in chapter 22 verse 30. This covers Paul standing before the council and causing a division between. Then we’ll talk about the plot against Paul and his trip to see Felix. We’ll read through the end of chapter 23.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards introducing Acts 22 and 23

Today’s lesson: Briefly tell the story and give them specific people and events to listen for in the reading. Read Acts 22:30 – 23:35.

Project Folders: Go over 1 Corinthians 13. Review The Whole Armor of God.

Sing:

Paul before Festus and King Agripps — Acts 25 and 26

Even thought there was no lesson plan, we did actually talk about Paul and Felix (Acts 24) last Wednesday night. Tomorrow morning we’ll talk about Paul before Festus and Agrippa. The class will be spent mostly in reading chapters 25 and 26. I will make some brief comments before the reading so they’ll know who Festus and Agrippa are. I hope they will recognize our reading chapter 26. It is Paul’s description of his conversion.

For various reasons, the attendance of our regular students in class has been spasmodic. I don’t if we’ve had a full class more than twice this quarter. Because of this the memory work is coming along a little slower than usual. I hope to give a little pep talk tomorrow and encourage them to work on one at a time. I want everyone to at least have one thing memorized. I know that they are all becoming very familiar with all of the passages and lists to memorize. That’s a good thing too.

The visitors visitors that come, are there most of the time. They are all so eager. I don’t think most of them (there are about 6 that come and 4 of them are very regular in attendance) have ever heard much of the Bible at all. They just soak it all in.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards introducing Acts 25 and 26

Today’s lesson: Briefly tell the story and give them specific people and events to listen for in the reading. Read Acts 25 and 26

Project Folders: If there’s time read together The Roll Call of Faith.

Sing:

Paul is Shipwrecked and Makes it to Rome — Acts 28

Tonight we finish Acts. We’ve been studying it for nearly 6 months. It’s been a great study. Tonight we’ll talk about Paul’s shipwreck and his arrival in Rome.

We just have 6 more class sessions before another teacher takes over this group. I’ve been teaching this class for a year in January. I think I need a break and I know they need a break from me.

 

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards introducing Acts 28

Today’s lesson: Briefly tell the story and give them specific people and events to listen for in the reading. Read Acts 28

Project Folders: Read 1 Corinthians 13. Also The Roll Call of Faith

Sing:

Salvation — A Review of the Plan of Salvation

Now that we’ve finished our study of the life of Christ and the history of the Church, I want to spend the next 3 classes on some topical material. I want to talk to the kids today about salvation. We’ve been using the word a lot. We’ve talked about how we are saved through baptism. I want to make sure they understand why we are saved. They need to know what we are saved from. Otherwise, they won’t know what the alternative to being saved is. I want to do a brief review of the whole Bible story and then use the conversions of Acts chart as a review of how we are saved.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Acts cards — Review all of the Acts cards.

Today’s lesson: Discuss savlation — why we need to be saved, what we’re saved from, who can be saved, how are we saved

Project Folders: Read the Roll Call of Faith introducing the passage.

Sing:

What Happens After Baptism

Last Sunday we talked about baptism: what it is, why we do it, etc. So, Wednesday night we spent some time talking about what happens after someone is baptized. The kids knew that their sins would be forgiven, but there’s a whole lot more that goes on. We talked about about what it means to have your sins forgiven. We talked about the angels rejoicing in Heaven. We talked about eternal life. We talked about how after baptism they could pray to God (God doesn’t hear sinners) and how important it would be for them to partake of the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week. This brought about a discussion of “not forsaking the assembly”.

Tomorrow morning we’re going to finish this discussion by talking about what they should do after they become Christians. Of course, some of this can be done now also.

I want to encourage them to study regularly like the Bereans (Acts 17:11).

I want to talk to them some more about prayer. We’ll read Phil 4:4-6 and 1 Thess 5:16-18. They need to know that they shouuld thank God and praise God when they pray. We’ll also read Luke 11:9 so they’ll learn to ask God for whatever they need. Then we’ll read James 1:5 and talk about praying to God for wisdom.

We’ll talk about loving one another (1 John 4:7-8 and verse 20)

We’ll also talk about obeying parents (Ephesians 6:1)

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Roll Call of Faith — Read entire passage together

Today’s lesson: Discuss what happens after baptism (see above)

If there’s any time left, we’ll review The Whole Armor of God.

Heaven — Revelation 21, 22

This morning was my last class for a while. I’ve been allowed a sabatical so to speak. I’ve been teaching a Bible class since my nearly 5 year old was 6 weeks old. I haven’t been in the same class all the time, but I have been teaching non-stop. I love to teach, but it’s time I sat in an adult class and got some refreshing lessons.

I’ve really enjoyed teaching this group of kids. We’ve been together for a whole year. We studied the life of Christ for the first 6 months and then the history of the church for the last 6 months. I know I have learned a lot and I hope they have as well.

Our lesson today was on Heaven. We first looked at the words to the song No Night There by Hart Danks and John Clements. The words were taken right out of Revelation 21. I read it to them as a poem.

NO NIGHT THERE

In the land of fadeless day lies the “city four-square,”

It shall never pass away, and there is “no night there.”

All the gates of pearl are made in the “city four-square,”

All the streets with gold are laid, and there is “no night there.”

There they need no sunshine bright, in that “city four-square,”

For the Lamb is all thel ight, and there is “no night there.”

God shall “wipe away all tears;”

There’s no death, no pain, for fears;

And they count not time by years,

For there is “no night there.”

It is a beautiful song and one I remember singing when I was very young. After reading the song to them and making sure they understood what all the words meant, we read most of Rev 21 and part of 22.

In the reading it talks about how those that obey the commandments will hve rights to the tree of life. We talked about where they had heard of the tree of life before. Then we went back to Gen 3 and read about what God said about the tree of life. It was very neat how the end of the Bible brings up the tree of life again. We talked about how next week they would start studying Genesis again. This time they would be old enough to remember everything we had talked about. They will know where God’s Plan is heading as they study it over again.

One of the goals for this class for each child to read through the entire New Testament on their own. I gave them a schedule each quarter and there was a place on their project folder to put stickers as they finished parts of the reading. I had 2 students that completed the assignment and a couple more that did very well with it. It was so encouraging to see these kids (ages 11 and 12) reading their Bibles so diligently. I hope it continues to be a habit throughout their lives.

My lesson plan:

Time at Stations: Work on stations before class and for the first 5 or 10 minutes.

Today’s lesson: Discuss Heaven (see above)

Roll Call of Faith — Read entire passage together

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Pictures of Posters used in Class

As usual, I have waited until the quarter was over before I took any pictures. I really hoped to get pictures of the kids working at the stations, but I kept forgetting my camera. These pictures are of the posters that were at each station. The last 2 pictures are of the New Testament Card wall and the Chapters of Acts wall. They are actually on large bulletin boards. If you’d like to see how the room is set up, click here:Life of Christ and scroll down to the pictures.