Everywhere
WELCOME TO WEEK 4
What’s the farthest place you have traveled to? What’s the shortest trip you have ever taken? Paul traveled to far distances in all directions to spread the good news of Jesus. Once Paul was a believer in Jesus, we wanted to share that good news with everyone all over. This week we will see how God’s message can go everywhere by any believer.
BIBLE STORY
I am going to tell you some clues and I want you to guess the vacation location I’m describing.
-The Eiffel Tower, eat croissants, Versailles Palace (Paris)
-Large Canyon, trails leading to Colorado River at the bottom, colorful orange and red layers of rock (Grand Canyon)
-Cluster of 3 large waterfalls, the falls span 2 countries, boat rides near the Falls. (Niagara Falls)
-see roaming bison, watch Old Faithful geyser, hike on the trails of the National park. (Yellowstone)
-largest coral reef system, more than 600 islands, go scuba diving to see over 1,500 species of ocean animals. (Great Barrier Reef)
Wouldn’t it be fun to visit all of those places? God has created so many wonderful places for us to see His creations. The gospel of Jesus can go everywhere. There is no limit to where God is able to send His message of hope. After Paul was converted he shared the gospel farther than his hometown. He traveled wherever God sent him, to share the gospel. We can share the gospel everywhere we go. Let’s read our passage for this week to see where Paul traveled and who he shared the gospel with.
Read or listen to the scripture Acts 16:9-15
What dream did Paul have? (That a man from Macedonia was standing begging him to come and help them.
What did Paul do after the vision? (He got ready to go because he believed God was sending him there to preach)
On Sabbath where did Paul go? (Outside the city to a river to find a peaceful place to pray)
Who did he find there? (A group of women )
Who was one of the women gathered there? (Lydia who was a believer of God)
What job did Lydia have? (She sold purple cloth)
What did the Lord open her heart to do? (Responded to Pauls message and was baptized with her entire household)
What did she convince Paul and the others to do? (Come and stay at her house)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
Activity
Think of all the things you know that are the color purple. Let’s have a race to see who can list the most things with purple. You can name songs, books, objects or foods that contain purple. Divide in two teams and take turns calling out things that are purple. Each team gets 10 seconds to shout out their purple item and gain a point before it is their opponents turn (they only give one answer even if they don’t need the full 10 seconds). If an answer was previously given by the other team or the current team, it can not be given another point. Have a scorekeeper record a tally for each answer given until neither team can come up with any more answers. Lydia sold purple cloth, imagine how many customers she met selling such a prominent color. She would have met lots of customers and had an opportunity to continue to share the good news that Paul shared with her. Our message that we share with one person can reach many more people as we all continue to share the Gospel of Jesus.
Materials: writing utensil, sheet of paper
Alternate
Look at a world map or print the following world map. First have your child identify where you currently live, and then have your child point out a place they know on the map, city, state, country or whatever they know. Ask “Can the gospel be shared to this place? Yes!” Place a small purple dot or star on the place they found. Continue to find other places on the map they can identify and mark them with a star after determining the gospel can reach to that place. Decide and find any places on the map where you think the gospel may not have already been preached there yet.
Materials: Globe or printed map, purple marker or crayon or stickers
Independent activity:
Design your own purple quilt. Using scraps of purple cloth cut in various shapes to make a larger rectangle. Sew the pieces together with a simple stitch. Alternatively, use paper with different shades and textures of purple and glue the pieces together by placing them on a larger sheet of construction paper.
Materials: purple scraps of paper, thread and needle Alternate: purple paper, coloring tools, glue
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Make a watercolor earth. Color a coffee filter with large sections of green and blue using washable markers. One the filter is filled with green and blue with no white showing, spray the filter lightly with a spray bottle of water. The colors will run together. Allow time for it to dry before glueing the colored filter to a larger sheet of blue construction paper.
Materials: white paper coffee filter, washable green and blue markers, spray bottle filled with water, blue construction paper
Craft 2
Coloring page
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
FOLLOW-UP
Listen to these company mottos and see if you can determine whose motto it is.
“The happiest place on earth” (Disney)
“Just do it” (Nike)
“Where’s the beef” (Wendy’s)
“Think Different” (Apple)
“Melts in your mouth, not in your hand” (M&M’s)
“The breakfast of Champions” (Wheaties)
“You’re in Good hands” (Allstate)
“What’s in your wallet” (Capital One)
Where you able to guess some of those mottos? Why do companies have mottos? It’s kind of their mission statement, what they want their company to represent. Jesus gave the disciples a mission as well, to present the gospel to the world. Read or listen to Matthew 28:18-20, we call this the Great Commission, because Jesus called His disciples to this mission. He equipped them with the Holy Spirit so He did not leave them alone to accomplish this great task. God has called all of us to spread the gospel to all of the world, wherever we go we can take the gospel news with us.
What did Jesus tell the disciples to do?
Does Jesus call us to do the same thing as the disciples?
How can you follow God’s call to spread the gospel around the world?
How did Lydia spread the gospel to others?
If Jesus had a motto, what do you think it could be?
Practical Application at Home
This week we’ve learned that we can spread the good news of Jesus to everyone no matter where we are. Paul shared the gospel of Jesus with Lydia who then began a home church just by inviting others to her home. She was willing to listen and then share what she learned with others. It didn’t take any special job, a lot of money, or any special skill for Lydia to bring others to Jesus. God doesn’t need us to have a special job or skill either, He just wants us to listen and then share what we’ve learned with others! We can do that from anywhere! Think about what you would like to be when you grow up. You can carry out the Great Commission in whatever future career God has for you.
Complete the following activity sheet by writing in the job you think you might like to have one day, then completing the statements of how you can show God’s love with that job.
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Enjoy the cool weather and take a nature walk. Observe the things God created and how they work together in His plan. What part do each of us play in God’s plan for us?