VERSES: Acts 1:1-3
MEMORY VERSE: Acts 1:1 "...all that Jesus began both to do and teach."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Zechariah. Write "Zechariah" on small slips of paper and hand out to the students at the end of class, so they memorize another Old Testament book at home. We are almost through memorizing the Old Testament book. It might be a good idea to sing "The Books Of The Old Testament" (see The Books Of The Old Testament - March 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.)
PRAYER: Let us pray for others around the world who are also studying from the same bible that we are. While we are studying in a peaceful time, they may not be, so let us keep them in our prayers.
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day (see February 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #1 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.)
VISUAL AID: Write "The Book Of Acts" on the whiteboard or chalkboard. Also, a large activity (see below).
LESSON POINTS:
- The fifth book of the New Testament is called "Acts." The book of "Acts" is short for "The Acts of the Apostles." It is the only New Testament book that tells about the establishment and the history of the church and the things that the apostles did during that time. This book is written by a doctor named Luke who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. Luke was not an apostle, but he was a follower or a disciple of Christ. The book of Acts begins right where Luke's Gospel stops--with Jesus ascending or going up into heaven.
- Luke addressed both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts to his friend, Theophilus. In the book of Luke, Luke told all that Jesus did and what He taught up to the point where He was taken up into heaven. The book of Acts continues the story and tells how Jesus continued to show Himself alive to others for forty days after He died on the cross, and how Jesus spoke about things concerning the kingdom of God. In Acts, Luke tells how the church began, how people were added to the church, and how the apostles went around to many countries and cities and preached about Jesus.
- Later in the book of Acts, we find that Luke actually traveled around with the Apostles because, as he writes, he changes the word "they" to "we." Luke was with the Apostles as they traveled from city to city (Acts 16:10). Luke accompanied the Apostle Paul on many of his journeys. We will be studying many exciting lessons from this historical book of Acts.
- It is interesting to notice that Luke mentions 32 countries, 54 cities, 9 Mediterranean islands, 95 people (62 people of which are not named anywhere else in the Bible), including Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius Caesar, the Herods, Felix and Festus. Everything Luke mentions is historically correct compared to today's history. He made no mistakes and the cities, people, etc. can be proven that they existed by other books that were written, besides the Bible.
Materials needed: five 6" x 9" pieces of different colored construction paper, crayons, stapler, staples.
- Hand out one piece of paper. This is the cover.
- Write, "The Book of ACTS" on the cover.
- Turn page over. Write, "5th book of the New Testament."
- Hand out another piece of paper.
- On one side, write, "Written by Luke who was a doctor."
- Turn paper over. Write, "Acts begins where the Gospel of Luke stops--with jesus going up into heaven."
- Hand out another piece of paper.
- On one side, write, "Acts is a letter Luke writes to his friend, Theophilus."
- Turn paper over. Write, "Acts tells how the church began."
- Hand out another piece of paper.
- On one side, write "Acts tells how people are added to the church."
- Turn paper over. Write, "Acts tells about the history of the church.
- Hand out another piece of paper. This is the back cover.
- On one side, write, "Everything in the book of Acts is true. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17."
- Nothing is written on the back side of the paper.
- Put pages in order. (Numbers may be written as the pages are written or when everything is done, if desired.)
- Staple book.
- Read before leaving classroom.
