unit 7: paul the apostle nt7.14 paul’s arrest in jerusalem · 2018. 12. 1. · unit 7: paul the...

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NT7.14 Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem © Beverly Wilson 2018

Unit 7: Paul the Apostle

NT7.14 Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem

Scripture: Acts 21-23

Lesson Goal: Paul was an Apostle chosen by God to take the gospel to the world. He was the first missionary and the greatest preacher of all time! In this lesson we will see how Paul had great courage when he was arrested in Jerusalem.

Introduction: This is the fourteenth lesson in Unit 7: Paul the Apostle. Paul was an Apostle chosen by God to take the gospel to the world. He was the first missionary and the greatest preacher of all time. This lesson is about how Paul had great courage when he was arrested in Jerusalem. This lesson comes from the book of Acts. Acts is the fifth book in the New Testament. This book was written by Luke. The first four books of the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- tell about the life of Christ. The fifth book--Acts--tells about the beginning of the church. Let's say the first five books of the New Testament together--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.

Attention Getter: “Courage” What does it mean to have courage? Courage is having confidence when you face difficult situations. God’s strength can help us be brave. Courage is trusting God when it is hard. Sometimes we think that being brave means being a superhero. A person has courage when they save someone’s life from drowning. But it also takes courage to face bullies! In this lesson we are going to learn how the Apostle Paul was very brave in going to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit told him that he would be arrested and yet he bravely followed God’s plan. God gave Paul great courage in facing a very difficult situation.

Opening Prayer: “Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for this lesson about the arrest of Paul. Help us to face difficult situations like Paul did. He trusted in you to give him courage to face the opposition of the Jewish leaders. He was willing to obey you even when he did not understand everything that was happening to him. Thank you for giving to us the gift of salvation. Help us to be faithful in sharing it with others no matter how difficult the situation maybe. Thank you for promising to always be with us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

Memory Verse: Our memory verse is Matthew 5: 10-11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/RkICfoXZvpA Paul was an Apostle chosen by God to take the gospel to the world. Jesus had appeared to him on the Road to Damascus and revealed that He was really the Son of God. Paul believed in Jesus that day and he was a changed man. God called Paul to be the Apostle who would bring the gospel to the Gentiles and to suffer much for His name. Paul made three Missionary Journeys to Greece and Syria. On his first Missionary Journey Paul and his companion Barnabas visited the major cities in Cyprus and Galatia. Despite much opposition they preached the gospel and several new churches were established. The gospel spread throughout the region and many Gentiles believed in Jesus as their Savior. It was not

https://youtu.be/RkICfoXZvpA

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easy to start churches. Some Jews who were jealous and did not believe in Jesus would stir up riots and try to stop them. Paul and Barnabas were thrown into prison and run out of towns but they kept on preaching about Jesus. On his Second Missionary Journey Paul and his companions Silas, Timothy and Luke revisited the churches in Galatia before moving into Macedonia. Led by Paul these men taught God’s Word. Many Jews and Gentiles were saved and new churches were established in Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus. This second missionary trip ended when Paul returned to the church in Antioch to report about the progress they had made in preaching the gospel to the world. The Christians were glad that many people in other lands believed in Jesus--not just Jews but Gentiles too. On Paul's Third Missionary Journey he left his home church in Antioch, and once again visited the all the churches in Galatia and encouraged them. For two years Paul preached in all the area around Ephesus. Many people were healed. They turned from the worship of idols and magic, and were saved. Next Paul revisited the churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. While in Corinth Paul wrote a letter to the church in Rome. Paul wanted very much to visit Rome, the capital city and he planned on coming to see them. After hearing about the persecution of the church in Jerusalem, Paul began to take up an offering to help these suffering Christians. Paul and his companions headed back across Macedonia stopping along the way to say farewell to the churches. Paul told them that the Holy Spirit was leading him to return to Jerusalem. Paul realized that the trip was dangerous and he would not be returning to see them again. All along the way Paul had been warned by the Holy Spirit that he would face much persecution in Jerusalem. The believers pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But when they saw Paul’s determination to follow God’s Spirit they cried and prayed as they hugged Paul goodbye. They were sad because they knew that they would never see Paul again. Traveling by ship Paul and his companions arrived in Caesarea just a few miles from Jerusalem. Paul did not know what lie ahead but he knew that God was in control and that He had a plan for his life. At Caesarea Paul stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist. Philip was one of the seven men who had been chosen to be deacons in the early church. While Paul was staying at Philip’s house, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. He took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands with it. He then said, “The Holy Spirit declares that the owner of this belt will be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.” When Paul’s traveling companions and the local believers heard this, they begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But Paul replied, “Why are you all weeping? I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” Paul refused to be persuaded so they gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” Paul and his men then packed up and went to Jerusalem. They were accompanied by some of the believers who lived in Caesarea. When Paul first entered Jerusalem, he went to see the Christians who were in the church there. He got a warm welcome from the Christians there. Paul had brought the offering that had been collected from the Gentile churches to give to the church leaders in Jerusalem. The Christians were so grateful to receive the money because many believers were very poor. A famine was in the land and food cost a great deal of money. Everyone praised God for the generous help! The next day Paul met with James, and all the elders or leaders of the Jerusalem church. He gave them a detailed account of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry in Greece and Syria. He told them how many Gentiles had believed in Jesus as their Savior. After hearing this, the leaders of the Jerusalem church praised God, but James warned Paul that many Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were spreading false rumors that Paul was teaching Jews who live among the Gentiles to ignore the Jewish customs. They were very angry and wanted to discredit him.

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James had a plan for Paul to prove that these rumors were false. He suggested that Paul go to the Temple along with four of his men and take the Nazarite vow of purification. All of the men would join Paul in this Old Testament ceremony of dedication to God. James thought that if they did this then everyone would know that they were living in obedience to the Law. Paul agreed and the next day went to the Temple with the four men. He publicly announced the day when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them. The men shaved their heads for the ritual. Seven days later some Jews from Asia saw Paul with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they mistakenly assumed that Paul had taken him into a part of the Temple that Gentiles were forbidden to enter. They started a mob riot that spread throughout the whole city. They grabbed Paul, yelling, “Men of Israel help us! This is the man who preaches against our people and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple and even defies this holy place by bringing in Gentiles. “ Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple and immediately the gates of the Temple were closed behind him. As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul. The commander arrested Paul, had him bound with two chains and ordered that he be taken to the fortress. The crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!” As Paul was about to be taken inside, the commander asked, “Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion and took 4,000 rebels out into the desert?” “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia. Please let me talk to these people.” The commander agreed and the crowd went silent. Paul then explained how he had been brought up and educated in Jerusalem and educated under the famous Jewish teacher Gamaliel. He told them how he had been such a zealous Jew that he had even persecuted and killed those who were Christians. Then Paul told them about how he was converted. He told them how Jesus had appeared to him on the way to Damascus and how he had called on the name of the Lord to forgive his sins and had been baptized. But when Paul went on to say that God had sent him to bring the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles there was uproar. The enemies of Paul did not want the Gentiles to go to heaven. They thought they were the only ones that were righteous. They wanted the Gentiles to obey the Jewish Law. Then they began to shout, "Get rid of this man from the earth! He is not fit to live!" As they were shouting and throwing off their coats, they began to throw dust in the air. The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him to be lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. Paul said to the officer nearby, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?” Paul knew that under Roman law citizens of Rome could not be punished without a trial. When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” The commander went over and asked Paul, “Are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied. “I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and I had to pay a lot of money to get citizenship!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!” Paul was untied immediately.

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The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, and brought Paul before them. Paul began, “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!” Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. “What kind of judge are you to break the law by ordering me struck like that?” Paul asked. Paul knew that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!” Paul knew that this would cause the council to be divided. God was giving Paul a way to cause these angry people to turn against each other. Sure enough the council began arguing among themselves. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believed in all of these. In the uproar that followed the commander was afraid for Paul’s safety and ordered his soldiers rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress. That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.” The next morning a group of Jews got together and made an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot. They came to the chief priests and elders and said, "Ask the Roman commander to bring Paul down here tomorrow and pretend that you want to question him. We will be ready to kill him before he gets here." But Paul's little nephew who was the son of Paul's sister heard the 40 men plotting against Paul. Bravely Paul's nephew went into the barracks and told his Uncle Paul about the plot against him. Paul called to one of the centurions that was guarding him, and told him, "Take this young man to the commander, he has something important to tell him." The officer took Paul’s nephew to the commander. The young man told the commander about the Jews' plot to kill his Uncle Paul. The commander told the young boy not to tell anyone that he had reported the secret plot to him. After hearing about the plot, the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. Provide horses for Paul to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix.” He gave them the following letter for Governor Felix: “This man was seized by some Jews who were about to kill him when I arrived with troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety. Their accusations against him are about their religious law but nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. I was informed of a plot to kill him so I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.” That night the soldiers escorted Paul to a town outside the city. They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took Paul on to Caesarea. When Paul arrived in Caesarea, the letter from the commander was read to Felix. When Felix found out that truly Paul was a Roman citizen he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace. “I will hear your case myself when you accusers arrive,” the governor told Paul. Here in prison Paul would be safe until his accusers arrived. In this lesson we can see that Paul was willing to stand up and tell others about Jesus no matter what! That is what God said we should do. If you are a Christian, there might be some times that people make fun of you for believing in Jesus. They might say, "Oh, there goes that kid who thinks he is better than everyone else. He goes to church and reads His Bible. What a waste of time!" It would be hard not to get mad and punch them in the

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mouth, wouldn't it? But God does not want us to return evil for evil. He wants us to be like Paul and continue to do right even when others don't. Or how about when you are faced with a bully? What do you do? Even though it may look like he is winning--God will not forget. He will be on your side. He promises to be with us and to help us and to give us strength. Let's be like Paul and be strong when we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus. Even in this difficult situation of being imprisoned God protected Paul from the angry Jews. When the Jewish men plotted to kill Paul, God was working to protect Paul. In His divine plan the Roman commander ordered Paul to be sent to Caesarea. Moving Paul to Caesarea made it difficult for Paul’s enemies to reach him and carry out their plot to kill him. God’s plan was to protect Paul. He also promises to protect us in difficult times if we are willing to trust Him. God’s way is much better than going our own way. An interesting fact in this lesson is the reference to Paul’s little nephew. We are not given his name but we are told that he was a very brave little boy! He was willing to go to the prison and visit his Uncle Paul. He even had courage to go talk to the Roman prison commander. This young boy played an important part in protecting Paul’s life. Sometimes people think that children are not old enough to do much for the Lord. But that is NOT true! God can use anyone regardless of their age who is willing to yield to him. Jesus made it clear that children are important and that He loves them very much. Remember to trust God and ask for courage in difficult situations!

Review Questions: “Megaphone Answers” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a megaphone for each team of students. You can use a toy megaphone or one you have made from rolling a sheet of cardstock. Say: “In this lesson we learned that Paul bravely proclaimed the gospel to everyone even those who were persecuting and beating him. We are to also be willing to endure hardship to tell the others the message of salvation. Our witness should be loud and clear like that of a megaphone. Today we are going to use a megaphone to answer our review questions.” Procedure: Divide class into two teams and provide each group with a megaphone. Have the teams take turns answering the following questions. The team must answer the question correctly by using the megaphone.

1. What special mission did God give to the Apostle Paul? (God chose him to be the first missionary to the world and to be the one who would bring the gospel to the Gentiles and to suffer much for His name.)

2. On the first Missionary Journey who traveled with Paul and what churches did they establish? (Paul traveled with Barnabas and led Gentiles to believe in Cyprus and Galatia. Churches were established in Antioch of Psidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.)

3. Who traveled with Paul on the Second Missionary Journey and to what places did they first go to visit? (Silas traveled with Paul to the churches that were first established in Galatia on the First Missionary Journey.)

4. During the third Missionary trip in what city did Paul preach for over two years? (Paul preached in Ephesus for over two years.)

5. While Paul was preaching in Corinth, what letter did he write? (Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to tell the church that he planned to visit the Roman believers. This letter explains that salvation is for all people and that it comes as a free gift from God through our faith in Christ. In the book Paul also explains the relationship of the Jews and Gentiles to Christ and how they were to be united together in the church.)

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6. What warning did the Holy Spirit tell Paul about going to Jerusalem? (All along the way Paul had been warned by the Holy Spirit that he would face much persecution in Jerusalem.)

7. At whose home did Paul visit in the city of Caesarea on his way to Jerusalem? (At Caesarea Paul stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to be deacons and distribute food. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.)

8. What warning did the prophet Agabus have for Paul? (Agagus took Paul’s belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. He then said, “The Holy Spirit declares that the owner of this belt will be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.”)

9. Where did Paul and his companions go as soon as they entered into Jerusalem? (When Paul first entered Jerusalem, he went to see the Christians who were in the church there. He got a warm welcome from the Christians there. Paul had brought the offering that had been collected from the Gentile churches to give to the church leaders in Jerusalem.)

10. What idea did James have for Paul to avoid conflict with the Jewish leaders? (He suggested that Paul go to the Temple along with four of his men and take the Nazarite vow of purification. James thought that if they did this then everyone would know that they were living in obedience to the Law.)

11. What happened when some Jews from Asia saw Paul and Trophimus in Jerusalem? (They mistakenly assumed that Paul had taken Trophimus a Gentile into a part of the Temple that Gentiles were forbidden to enter. They started a mob riot that spread throughout the whole city.)

12. Who kept Paul from being beaten and killed by this mob? (The Roman commander arrived and broke up the mob riot and arrested Paul.)

13. What happened the next day when the commander called the Jewish leaders in to discuss why they were so angry at Paul? (Paul preached to them about Jesus and his conversion but they rejected the message and called out for Paul to be killed.)

14. How did Paul get the Jews to turn on each other? (Paul told them he was a Pharisee and that he was being accused because he believed in the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees and the Sadducees then began to argue of this with each other.)

15. Why did the commander take Paul into prison again? (He was keeping Paul from being killed.) 16. When the commander started to whip Paul what did Paul tell the guard? (He said that he was a

Roman citizen and how could they beat a Roman citizen without a trial.) 17. How did the Lord encourage Paul while he was in prison in Jerusalem? (That night the Lord

appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”)

18. What plot did 40 Jewish men make against Paul? (A group of Jews got together and made an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.)

19. Who heard the men plotting? (Paul’s nephew heard about the plot and bravely went into the prison and told Paul. Paul told the guard that his nephew had some important news to tell the commander.)

20. What did the commander do when he heard that Paul’s life was in danger? (After hearing about the plot, the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. Provide horses for Paul to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix.”)

21. What lessons can we learn from this account? (God will take care of us when we yield to His divine plan for our life. We should boldly tell others about Christ just as Paul did in Jerusalem even when we face persecution. No one is too young to be used by God.)

22. What is the memory verse? (Matthew 5: 10-11 says "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven."

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Bible Memory Verse Activity: “Scoop and Skip” Our memory verse is Matthew 5: 10-11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven." Have students locate the verse in scripture and read it orally together several times. Say: “Jesus said that people who believe in him will sometimes be the object of ridicule by others. But instead of getting back at them we are to treat them kindly. We are going to play a game to help us learn the verse.” Preparation: You will need Bibles, ice cream scoops, Ping Pong balls, permanent marker, cupcake liners, 3 ounce cups, cardboard tubes, scissors, four baskets and masking tape. Print the Memory Verse on the ping pong balls (one word/reference per ball). Make two sets of ping pong balls so each team can put the words of the verse in order. Procedure: Place two baskets and two ice cream scoops by the wall. Fill each basket with an assortment of cupcake liners, 3 ounce cups, and cardboard tubes. Make a “start” line several feet away on the floor with the masking tape. Put one set of ping pong verse balls into two more baskets. Place the baskets by the other baskets near the wall. Form two even teams of students. Line up each team behind a different start line. Say: When I say “go: the first person from each team will skip to the wall and pick up an ice cream scoop. They will use the scoops to pick up one Ping Pong ball from the basket and dump it inside something from the other basket. Then they will skip back while carrying their “ice cream” inside its container.” Guide the students to hold on to their “ice cream” while in line. Then have the team place their ping pong balls in order to form the verse. Read the verse aloud. The first team to complete the task is the winner.

Group Learning Activity: “Interview with Paul” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a microphone. It can be a toy microphone or an old broken microphone. You can also make a “fake microphone by gluing a foil covered ping pong ball on top of a cardboard tube to make a pretend microphone. You will also need to invite a guest speaker to be Paul. Give the following script to the adult prior to the class so he can prepare his answers to the interview. Have the adult study Acts 21 so he can answer the questions in an interview. Have the adult dress in a Bible Times costume. Procedure: Ask the students to sit in a semicircle. Tell the Bible story briefly and then introduce Paul. Mention that in Acts 21 Paul told about something that happened to him. Explain that today you will interview Paul and ask him some questions about what he told people in the Bible. Hold the pretend microphone as you interview Paul. Use the script below. Thank Paul for answering the questions.

Teacher: Is it true that a crowd of people wanted to hurt you? Paul: Yes, that is true, but soldiers came to calm down the crowd of angry people. Then they started to take me away. Teacher: What did you do? Paul: I asked the soldiers if I could speak to the crowd. The leader of the soldiers said I could. Teacher: What did you say?

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Paul: I told them I was born in Tarsus and grew up in Jerusalem. I told them I went to school in Jerusalem and learned about God’s rules and laws. I told them I wanted to do what those rules said. Then I told them about the day when the bright light shone from the sky and I heard Jesus talking to me. Teacher: Yes we learned about that earlier. Paul: Oh, good. I told the people about how I was blind and could not see when the light went away. Then Ananias helped me and told me that God had given me a special job to do. Teacher: What is your special job? Paul: God told me to go to people everywhere and tell them about God and Jesus. Teacher: What did the crowd of people do when they heard all of the things you told them? Paul: The crowd was angry so the leader of the soldiers decided to take me to the Jewish leaders. But God helped me know what to say. Teacher: How else did God help you? Paul: I knew that God would be with me and help me not be afraid when I told people about Jesus. God also appeared to me when I was in prison and told me that I would preach in Rome about him. Teacher: What did the angry Jews want to do to you? Paul: Yes, there were 40 of the angry Jews who wanted to kill me. They plotted with one another and said they would not eat or drink until they had committed the crime. Teacher: How did you escape from that? Paul: My little nephew heard them plotting to kill me. Bravely he came into the prison where I was being held and told me about their plans. I called the guard and told him to take my nephew to the commander so he could tell him about their plans. Teacher: What did the commander do when he heard about the plot to kill you? Paul: He sent for 200 soldiers and told them to take me to Caesarea during the night. They also took 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. The soldiers provided a horse for me to ride. We arrived safely at the palace of Governor Felix. Teacher: What happened to you there? Paul: Governor Felix read a letter from the commander of Jerusalem and promised to keep me safe from the men. Teacher: Wow! God really protected you! Paul: Yes, God promised that I would be able to continue to preach about Jesus even from prison. I eventually would go on to Rome and preach about Him there. Teacher: Thank you Paul for coming to our class today and sharing how you bravely told others about Jesus.

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Conclusion: Have students open their Bible to Acts 21 and read the account of Paul being arrested in Jerusalem.

Group Learning Activity: “Mud Man” (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Draw a large gingerbread type man to fill up and 12”x18” piece of construction paper. On one side draw or paste on a big smile and happy eyes, or cut out a happy, rejoicing face from a magazine and paste it on. Attach him to the wall with his back facing out; do not let the kids see his happy face. Procedure: Give the children 1/2 sheets of black or brown construction paper, instructing them to cut out “mud splat” shapes. Give them glue sticks or little tape rolls to attach the mud splats to the man. While the Children cut out the shapes, explain that mud-slinging is saying all kinds of evil against someone. After they have put on the “mud” ask how they would feel if someone did that to them. Remove the man and ask why they think he is so happy. Say: “In this lesson we learned about Paul’s response to terrible persecution. In the face of terrible rejection, Paul was faithful to declare God’s message of salvation to all men no matter whether they were Jews or Gentiles. There is no room for prejudice in the Christian life because Jesus died for all men.” Say: “Paul was falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple. Paul had gone to the temple as part of an agreement he had made to walk four young men through a seven-day purification ceremony. He had gone past the outer court into the inner court. When anyone went through the door to the inner court they would observe a sign. The sign said that no foreigner could enter without taking his life into his own hands. The punishment for doing so would be execution. The Jews believed that this polluted the holy place of the temple. Anyone who brought a foreigner into the holy place would also be put to death. The attitude of the religious Jew was that God would only save the Jews and not the Gentiles. Paul would write in his letter to the Romans, chapter 3, verse 29 "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also." Say: “Paul did not believe that God loved one man more than another. He knew that God loves all men equally. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever (anyone, regardless of race or creed) believes in Him would have everlasting life." (John 3:16). We are not to have prejudice against others. We are to share the gospel with everyone.” Have students share the names of individuals they know who need to hear the gospel. Pray that the students will have an opportunity to share the good news about Jesus with them.

Group Learning Activity: “Witness Walkabout” (Grades 1-5) Preparation: You will need a CD or DVD music video and player, construction paper, markers, stopwatch, or watch with a second hand. Procedure: Distribute the construction paper to students. Say: “What kinds of people could you talk to about Jesus? (Examples include parents, brothers, sisters, older neighbors, younger kids, grandparents, grocery store workers, etc.) As students name specific people students take turns writing people’s names or categories on separate sheets of paper. Make a list on a single paper for your own reference. Continue printing specific people on papers until there are enough papers for each student. Say: “What are some of the ways we can tell others about Jesus? (Examples include showing them a video about Jesus, answering their questions about Jesus, telling what you have learned from reading the Bible or from Sunday School, giving them a book about a Bible story, and writing a letter about when you chose to believe in Jesus.)

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Play a game like cakewalk with students. Place people papers in a circle on the floor. Play the music video or CD for 30 seconds as students move around the circle. When the music stops each student stands on the paper closets to him or her. Before looking at the students, name one of the people from your list. The student standing on that paper says something about Jesus he or she can tell that person. If a student has already given an answer, the student chooses another student to respond. If student needs help in thinking of things to tell others, ask the following questions: Say: “Who is Jesus? (Son of God; Messiah, the Promised One) What did He do for all people? (Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sin.) Why is that important? (Without Jesus death we could not receive the gift of salvation.) What is the most important thing you know about Jesus? (Jesus loves us and wants us to go to heaven to be with Him.) “When did you first learn about Jesus? Who talked to you about Jesus? Why do you want others to know about Jesus? (So they can go to heaven and have the peace and joy of knowing Jesus in this life.) What do you want others to know about Jesus? (He loves them and wants to give them peace and joy.) What could you say or do to obey Acts 22:15? Acts 2215 “You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.”

Group Learning Activity: Grades 3-5) Preparation: Each student will need a pencil and Bible and their spiritual notebook. You will also need a 4 sheets of poster board, glue sticks, and markers. If your group is large print extra Paul action pictures. Print the pictures of Jerusalem places below. Procedure: Form groups of no more than 3-4 students. Give each group a figure from “Paul Action Pictures,” a Bible, a glue stick, and a sheet of poster board. Lead the groups to find the scriptures listed on their action figure. Have the group glue the picture of Paul on the poster board and draw the rest of the scene. The Bible verse printed on each Paul figure will help kids determine what to draw. Have students select the picture of the appropriate Jerusalem picture to use as a reference. When the students finish their posters, call for each group to display their work. Ask group members to describe how Paul honored God, acted wisely, or showed self-control. Use the following discussion points and summaries for each action figure:

Paul (Acts 21:35-36) 35

When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.

36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!” Paul

showed self-control by not panicking or fighting back when the crowd tried to hurt him. Picture should be of the Jerusalem temple and its steps. Paul (Acts 21:40)

40 After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and

motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic.” Paul showed self-control by speaking respectfully and honestly to the Roman commander and the soldiers. Picture should be of the steps outside of Jerusalem wall. Paul (Acts 22:25-26)

25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing

there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” 26

When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” Paul acted wisely by revealing that he was a Roman citizen. This gave him an opportunity to speak to the Jewish council. Picture should be of the prison cell. Picture should be of the barracks. Paul (23:6)

6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees,

called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” Paul acted wisely by stating his faith in Jesus’ resurrection. This divided the council’s opinion and caused Paul to be removed from the trial. Picture should be of the room with the Sanhedrin.

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Say: “Paul’s self-control and sound judgment gave him the opportunity to tell many people how to receive Jesus’ gift of salvation.” Review the ABC’s of Becoming a Christian (A—Admit to God that you are a sinner) (B-Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross to pay the debt of our salvation.) (C-confess to God that you are a sinner and ask for the gift of eternal life. Confess to others that you believe in Jesus as your Savior.) Encourage students who are thinking about accepting Jesus that they are welcome to ask you questions or share their concerns with you. Let them know where and when you will be available to speak to them privately.) Pray that people who hear the message of the gospel will believe in Jesus as their Savior. Pray that as believers we will have many opportunities to share the message of the gospel with others.

Group Learning Game Activity: “Missionary Mobile” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: You will need Bibles, world map or atlas, a large sheet of paper, markers, large index cards, hole punch, string, scissors, and a wire hanger. Contact your church office or a missions organization to obtain information about one or more missionaries (name, family members, location, prayer requests, recent letters, pictures, job, etc.)

Say: “Just like Paul went to different countries on his trips to tell others about Jesus, missionaries tell people

about Jesus in countries all over the world.”

Say: “A missionary is a Christian called by God who obeys and goes to tell another

group of people the good news about Jesus. Missionaries may face persecution and be hurt or even killed for sharing the gospel. When Paul was arrested God protected him so he could preach about Jesus. Even today, missionaries risk their lives to tell others about Jesus. In this activity we are going to learn about missionaries that our church supports.” Procedure: Ask a volunteer to locate (Kenya) on the map or in atlas. Show and tell the information you collected about the missionary. List facts about him or her on large sheet of paper and describe ways the missionary helps others learn about Jesus.

Say: “We can help (the Meyers) and the people they talk to about Jesus by praying for them.” List missionary’s

prayer requests on the large sheet of paper. “What are some other ways we can pray for (the Meyers)?” Assign each student a different piece of information about the missionary (family information, job or country facts, prayer requests, etc.) to write on an index card. Students decorate cards. Talk about what difficult things these missionaries may face as they share Jesus with others. Guide students to pray for these missionaries, asking God to protect them and give them courage to honor Christ in all they do. Ask students to find Acts 22:15 in their Bibles and write it on cards. As students work ask the following questions: “What do you know about Jesus that you could share with others? How have you learned about Jesus? Why do you think it’s important for others to know about Jesus? How might you tell people about Jesus or help them learn about Him?” Encourage children to tell a friend what you learn in Sunday School. Ask a friend to come to Sunday School with you. Directions for Making Missionary Mobile: Students punch a hole at the top of the index card they used to write information about the missionary from activity above. Have students tie a string through the hole to attach the card to a hanger. Students may punch holes on the bottom of cards and tie string to hang additional cards. Hang mobile in classroom as a reminder to pray for missionaries. Pray for missionary’s needs together.

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Group Learning Activity: “Triangle Tag” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: No preparation needed. Procedure: Form groups of four players. Three of the four should hold hands in a triangle. The fourth player is outside the triangle. He is It. Choose one of the three players holding hands to be the “runner” or the person to be tagged. The player outside the triangle or “It” will try to tag the “runner.” It may not go inside the triangle and may not lean on the arms of those forming the triangle. The players holding hands should turn their triangle to keep the runner away from “it”. If “it” catches the runner, the players should switch roles and play again. Say: “What made this game easy or hard? (Allow students to respond.) Like the runner had teammates to protect him or her from being tagged, Paul had friends who helped protect him from those planning to kill him. Who helped Paul when he was in prison? (Paul’s nephew overheard the plot and reported it to Paul in prison and told it to the commander.) Paul believed that God can be trusted. God loves and cares for us.”

Group Learning Game Activity: “Edible Spelling” Books of the Bible (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need Bibles, index cards, markers, paper plates, and pretzel sticks. Print the names of the books of the New Testament History and Letters on separate index cards. (Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.) Pour a large amount of pretzels on two paper plates. Set the paper plates on a table at the side of the room. Say: “In which book did we find today’s lesson about Paul going to Jerusalem? (Acts) What are the names of some of the books that come after Acts? (Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, etc.) The names of the some of these books are hard to spell because they are the names of towns and people. The books are letters from Paul and others that tell people how to know and follow Jesus. We are going to play a game that will help us know and spell the names of those books.” Procedure: Show the cards that you prepared with the names of the books of the Bible. Review the spelling with students. Volunteers should find the books in the Bible. Use the Table of Contents in the front of the Bibles, if necessary. Mix the cards up. Divide the class into two equal teams. Teams stand in single file lines at opposite sides of the classroom from the table with the pretzels. Volunteer from each team stands near paper plates with pretzels next to them. Give half of the cards to each volunteer. At your signal the first two students from each team run to the paper plate nearest the volunteer from their team. Each volunteer reads for his or her team the book name on the first card in his or her pile. Students spell the name of the book using pretzels, breaking the pretzels to form letters as needed, and then return to team. Next two students in line repeat action with the book named on the next card. Continue until all the students have had a turn. Students eat pretzels that they used to spell out the book names. If students have problems spelling book names students may refer to Bible contents paper.

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Group Learning Activity: “Marble Roll” Books of the Bible Preparation: You will need Bibles, marbles, and empty toilet paper roll tubes (1 per student), Procedure: Distribute Bibles and guide the students to find the New Testament division of Paul’s letters (Romans through Philemon). Name each of the following Bible books and lead the group to tell whether it is one of Paul’s letters or not: Revelation (no—prophecy) Philemon Philippians

Matthew (no—gospel) Titus Galatians

1 Corinthians James (no—General letters)

Give each student a toilet paper tube. Lead the group to form a circle. Place a marble inside the first player’s tube and challenge her/him to roll the marble carefully to the player on his/her right while saying the first book of Paul’s letters (Romans). The next player should transfer the marble to the next player’s roll while saying the next book (1 Corinthians). The goal is to transfer the marble 13 times without dropping it. If a player drops a marble, the next player should begin with Romans again.

If the students master the activity you can add one or more of the following variations:

Hold the toilet paper rolls with your opposite hand (left if you are right-handed).

Hold the toilet paper rolls flat on the palm of your hand, with your other hand behind your back.

Say the books in reverse order.

At any time the leader can call out “Switch” and require the player to reverse the direction in which the marble is passed.

Craft Learning Activity: “Sticky Collage” (Grades K-2) Preparation: You will need a Bible, copy of the facial expressions template below, transparent contact plastic, chenille stems, craft sticks, pom-poms, felt shapes, foam shapes, paper scraps, yarn, cut up straws, ribbon, sequins, scissors, and tape. Procedure: Cut long strips of contact plastic to cover the length of the table. Peel off the back and lay the strips (sticky side up) on the top of the table. Tape the contact plastic down around the edges. Have the students make designs with the items by sticking them to the contact paper. Have student make places or people they can tell about Jesus. Remind the students that they can tell what they know about Jesus. Challenge them to look at the “facial expressions” pictures and think of something they know about Jesus that could help someone who is sad, confused, surprised or happy. Challenge the students to make an abstract picture of Paul. Display the Bible story picture below for inspiration. Allow students to work together to make one large collage or individually on several smaller collages. You can place other pieces of sticky transparent contact paper on top of the collage to preserve. .

Craft Learning Activity: “Foam Visor Hat” (Grades K-3) Preparation: Each student will need a craft foam visor cap. These are available at craft stores. You will also need stickers and markers to decorate the hat. Say: “In this lesson Paul was in a very difficult situation of being imprisoned. God protected Paul from the angry Jews. When the Jewish men plotted to kill Paul, God was working to protect Paul. In His divine plan the Roman commander ordered Paul to be sent to Caesarea. Moving Paul to Caesarea made it difficult for Paul’s enemies to reach him and carry out their plot to kill him. God’s plan

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was to protect Paul. He also promises to protect us in difficult times if we are willing to trust Him. For this lesson we are going to make a craft to help us remember that God protects his children. It is foam visor cap.” Procedure: Distribute the plain foam visor hats. Have each student write on their hat across the band or on the visor “God protects us.” Have students decorate their visor caps as they desire.

Life Application Challenge: “Measure Up” Preparation: You will need a ruler or paint stick. Wrap 1/3 of the ruler in red electrical tape, 1/3 in yellow tape, and 1/3 in green tape. Procedure: Show the students the marked ruler and call for a volunteer to stand opposite you while you toss the ruler at eye level. Challenge the volunteer to catch the ruler between his thumb and fingers. Based on the color the volunteer’s thumb is touching when he catches the ruler ask him to describe one of the following: Red—a situation in which it is very difficult to share the gospel with a friend Yellow—a situation in which you can share the gospel but you have to overcome a difficulty Green—a situation in which you can share the gospel easily Say: “No matter what kinds of situations that we face whether they are hard, easy or we have to overcome a difficulty, God wants us to share His love with others. We need to pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as to how, when and where to share the gospel with others.” Conclude in prayer for students as they share the gospel this week.

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Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem

Matthew 5: 10-11

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven."

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unit 7: paul the apostle nt7.14 paul’s arrest in jerusalem · 2018. 12. 1. · unit 7: paul the...

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