VERSES: Acts 3:1-4:31
MEMORY VERSE: Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review all 39 books of the Old Testament.
PRAYER: Thank God for the many blessings He gives us like food, good health, and a family who loves us.
SPECIAL SONG: The Family In God's Plan (see March 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.)
VISUAL AID: TV Box (see February 2014 - Visual Aids #1 TV Box on this blog. Scroll down to February 2014)
LESSON POINTS:
- About 3:00 in the afternoon, Peter and John went to the temple together to pray. As they entered into the temple, they saw a lame man begging at the gate of the temple. We don't know this lame man's name, but we do know that he had been lame or couldn't walk all of his life. Every day, someone carried the lame man to the Beautiful Gate of the temple and he sat there and asked for money from all who went inside.
- When the lame man saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them, too, for money. With John beside him, Peter looked intently on the lame man and said, "Look at us." The lame man thought that Peter was going to give him money, so he looked at and listened to him. Then Peter said, "We do not have any silver or gold, but what I have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk." Peter took the lame man by his hand and lifted him up. Immediately his feet and ankle bones were strong! The lame man didn't just stand up, he leaped up! He stood, walked, and entered into the temple with Peter and John, all the time praising God! The people saw the lame man walking around and praising God and they knew it was the same lame man that sat begging for money at the Beautiful gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement when they saw what had happened! As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, the people ran up to them on Solomon's porch. The people tremendously wondered how all this could have happened! They knew this man, they knew he had been lame his entire life, yet here he was walking around! They had no explanation.
- When Peter saw that they people were wondering about this lame man who had just been healed, he said to the people "You men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you look at us so closely as though through our own power we made this lame man walk?" Then Peter preached to the people in the temple that day. He talked about how it was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who glorified His Son, Jesus, who they had killed and it was through Jesus' name that the lame man had been made strong and could walk. Peter told the people that he knew it was through ignorance that they had killed God's Son, how God had showed through all of His prophets that Jesus had to suffer and die because it had been prophesied about in the Old Testament. But then Peter told the people that they should repent or have godly sorrow and be converted, so their sins could be blotted out or washed away. Peter then quoted Moses and Samuel and preached about how God had raised Jesus to life after He was dead. He told them how Jesus was the Christ that they had been looking for!
- Just about the time Peter was talking to the people in the temple, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John. They were all grieved and saddened that they had been preaching about Jesus and how He had been raised from the dead. They arrested Peter and John and put them in the prison until the next day. But, by Peter's teaching the people, there were 5,000 who heard and believed what Peter had said. The church was growing!
- The next day, the rulers came to see Peter and John. They sat Peter and John in the middle of them and asked them, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" Peter, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, began to preach to the important people. He said that the one responsible for making the lame man walk again was Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom God raised from the dead. Peter went on to say that there was no salvation in any other name than Jesus Christ. Did these men know the name of Jesus Christ? Yes! They had just put Him to death on the cross not fifty days earlier!
- When the important people heard Peter and John, they noticed that they were very bold, were not the least bit afraid, and knew they were unlearned and ignorant men. They also remembered that they had been with Jesus, but they could not deny that the lame man had been healed. They sent Peter and John in another room and talked among themselves. They did not know what to do with the two men. They knew a great miracle had been performed, but they didn't want them teaching and preaching to the people. So, they called Peter and John back in and told them exactly that--not to teach or even to speak the name of Jesus! Peter said they had to listen to God more than the men standing there. So they threatened Peter and John a little more and let them go because they did not know how to punish them. They were afraid of the people.
- Guess what Peter and John did when they were let go? They went back to the apostles and followers of Jesus, told them what had happened, and prayed to God. After they finished praying, the Bible says that the place where they had prayed was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.
- A true miracle is one that no one can deny. The lame man was known of the people. They knew without a doubt that he had been lame for his entire life. It was not a trick. The lame man had been healed and healed quickly! Today, we may hear that this was a miracle or that was a miracle, but few people use the word 'miracle' as it was used in Bible times. People on television sometimes say that a miracle was performed, but it is always something that is inside a person like their gall bladder or their intestines; it is never a miracle like in Bible times such as a known lame man instantly healed. A miracle was from God!
- The purpose of a miracle was to prove that the one performing the miracle was from God.
- The rulers who came to see Peter and John were the elders, scribes, Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander and many of the high priest's family--all people of authority and importance. Remember these were the people who were responsible for crucifying Jesus, trying to stop His preaching. Did it work? Had they silenced Jesus? No! Here there were two of Jesus' followers and they were now the ones who were preaching!!
- We should always obey God rather than man. We should obey the laws of the land, but when the laws go against God's laws, we must obey God first!
Materials needed: 9" x 12" tan construction paper, marker, scissors, crayons, two 1/4" round fasteners, glue.
- Note: The best time to buy round fasteners is at Back-To-School time. Occasionally, Dollar Tree or discount stores will stock round fasteners; most often they are found at stores that have office supplies like Wal-Mart, Target, or Office Depot. Fasteners usually come in a box of 100 and the cost is between $1.00 and $3.00.
- Hand out tan paper.
- Draw Peter and John standing up; Peter should have one outstretched arm.
- Draw lame man in thirds: Head and waist, waist to feet, arm.
- Label men: Peter, John, Lame Man.
- Write "Acts 3, 4" on John.
- Color.
- Cut out everything.
- Using a fastener, poke holes in lame man's arm, shoulder, and waists on each section of body.
- Insert fastener through arm and shoulder.
- Flatten backside of fastener.
- Insert second fastener through both waists.
- Flatten backside of fastener.
- Glue Lame Man's hand to Peter's hand.
- Idea of Project: Lame man is able (with help from student) unfold his legs and 'walk.'
