PreSchool
Jesus is Alive
Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:36-53; Acts 1:1-9
BIG IDEA: Jesus promised to care for His friends.
GET TALKING
- How did Jesus surprise His friends? (He showed up in the room where they were all talking.)
- What did Jesus tell His friends to do? (God tell everyone about me.)
- What did Jesus promise them? (That He would always be with them, even when they couldn't see Him.)
- How did Jesus return to Heaven? (He went up into the sky. God covered Him with a cloud.)
- What did Jesus' friends do after Jesus left them? (They went to the Temple to praise God.)
- ACTION PLAN: Identify ways Jesus cares for you.
PRAYER: Thank God for the good news that Jesus is alive and cares for us.
APRIL MEMORY VERSE:
How good it is to sing praises to our God. Psalm 147:1
Elementary
Paul Meets Jesus
Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-22
BIG IDEA: When I acknowledge who Jesus is, He helps me live in a new way.
GET TALKING:
- How did Saul act before he experienced Jesus' power on the road to Damascus? (He didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah. He wanted to arrest, hurt and keep Christians quiet. He approved of the people killing Stephen.)
- What happened after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus? (He couldn't see for 3 days. He finally believed in Jesus and started telling people about Jesus!)
- What job did God give Ananias to do? How do you think he felt about that? (God told him to go to Saul and pray for him. He might have been afraid that Saul might hurt him. Maybe confused.)
- When we choose to believe in God, He helps us live in a new way. What are some changes God might make in a person's life? (Help us to be kind. Help us to forgive. Help us to make good decisions and do what is right. Help us not to be afraid because He is with us.)
- CONNECTING TO JESUS: Saul was committed to hurting people that followed Jesus, but he could not stop God's love and plan for his life. God wanted him to share the good news about Jesus to others. When Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus, He stopped Saul in his tracks and turned his life around. He was now an instrument to share the gospel, not stop it! This is an example of how the power of Christ can change anyone, even the meanest of people! God can change us, too, and help us to live right and in a way that makes God happy!
ACTION PLAN: Describe changes that God makes in the lives of people who believe in Him. Talk about some that we might need to work on in our own lives and ask God to help strengthen us in those areas.
APRIL MEMORY VERSES:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32