VERSES: Acts 4:32-5:11
MEMORY VERSE: Acts 4:32 "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review the 39 books of the Old Testament.
PRAYER: Pray that we will always be truthful and honest because we know that God is truthful and honest. We want to be Hid children.
SPECIAL SONG: Be Careful Little Eyes What You See (see March 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.)
VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below) on paper or on the whiteboard
LESSON POINTS:
- In the early days of the church, all of the believers were united in heart and soul. In fact, everyone shared everything, even their possessions. No one lacked anything. The ones who owned land or possessions or houses sold them and gave the money to the apostles to distribute to those who had need. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts in which we are studying this lesson, spoke of one man named Barnabas, who was a Levite and came from the land of Cyprus. Barnabas owned land, sold it, and brought the money to the apostles, so the apostles could help other people who were in need.
- But there was another man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, who had a piece of land, sold it, but they did not do as Barnabas did. They kept back part of the price for themselves.They did not give all of the money to the apostles, but the big problem was that they said they did. Ananias and Sapphira lied!
- Peter asked Ananias, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit about keeping part of the price of your land for yourselves? Wasn't the land yours to keep? After you sold it, wasn't it still yours to keep? Why have you thought this up in your own heart? You have not lied to men, but have lied to the Holy Spirit." When Ananias heard Peter's words, he fell down right then and died! Young men who were close by, stood up, wrapped Ananias up, carried him out, and buried him.
- Three hours later, his wife, Sapphira, came in, but she had not heard what had happened to her husband. Peter asked her, "Did you sell your land for so much money?" She said, "Yes, For so much." Peter said to Sapphira, "Why have you agreed together to tempt the Lord? The ones who have just buried your husband are at the door right now and will carry you out as well." Then immediately Sapphira fell down and died. The young men came in, found Sapphira dead, carried her out, and buried her, too.
- When everyone heard how Ananias and Sapphira had lied and died, the church was greatly afraid. Should we lie and pretend to others that we have done something that we have not? No! We should be very, very careful to always tell the truth.
- Talk about how God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), but the devil or Satan is the father of all lies (John 8:44). There is no such thing as a "little white lie." A lie is a lie. Discuss.
- Ananias and Sapphira did not need to lie. They could have kept their land and not sold it at all or they could have told the apostles that they had kept a portion of the sale money. Their trouble began when they conspired to tell a lie and then told the lie. As Peter said, "they did not lie to men, but they lied to the Holy Spirit."
ACTIVITY: Ananias and Sapphira
Materials needed: 9" x 12" light blue construction paper, marker, crayons.
- Hand out blue paper.
- Fold the paper down 2 inches.
- Fold the bottom of the paper up 2 inches.
- Unfold.
- Trace lanes with black marker or crayon.
- Draw a line down the middle of the middle panel.
- In the top panel, write "ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA."
- In the middle panel, on the left, draw Peter talking to Ananias. Write "Ananias, why did you lie and keep back part of the price of the land?" and "He lied" with an arrow pointing to Ananias.
- In the middle panel on the right, draw a picture of Peter talking to Sapphira. Write "3 hours later" in the left of corner of Sapphira's panel. Write "Did you sell the land for so much?" and "Yes." Also, write "She lied" with an arrow pointing to Sapphira.
- In the bottom panel, write "...and they died." and "Acts 5:1-11."
- Fold bottom panel to the back of the paper before sending the papers home.
