VERSES: Acts 18:18-28
MEMORY VERSE: Acts 18:26 "...they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Philemon. Write "Philemon" on small slips of paper and hand out to the students at the end of the Bible class to take home and memorize another New Testament book.
PRAYER: Pray that we all do the best we can and always accept kind criticism with the right attitude.
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day (see Read, Read Every Day - February 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #1 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.)
VISUAL AID: Bible map, whiteboard, Activity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- After Paul had stayed in Corinth a good long while, he said goodbye to the church in Corinth and set sail to Syria. He sailed on to Ephesus with his good friends, Aquila and Priscilla, who were also members of the Lord's church and hard workers in the kingdom of God. When they arrived in Ephesus, Paul left Aquila and Priscilla and guess where he went? That's right! Paul went to the place he usually went when he came to a new city--he went to the synagogue and preached to the Jews.
- The Jews wanted Paul to stay longer and talk to them, but Paul had planned to be in Jerusalem for the feast, so he left Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus and set sail for another city named Caesarea. When Paul arrived in Caesarea and had checked on the church there, he went farther down to Antioch. After staying in Antioch a while, he went all around Galatia and Phrygia and strengthened the disciples by preaching and teaching to them the Word of the Lord.
- Meanwhile, Aquila and Priscilla were still in Ephesus. In that city, there was a Jew whose name was Apollos. Apollos had been born in Alexandria and was eloquent which meant that he spoke very well. Another very important thing about Apollos was that he was mighty in the scriptures. He knew God's Word and told others about the things he knew. Since he could speak well and knew the scriptures, he was an excellent preacher. What made him even a better preacher was that he was instructed in the way of the Lord and he was fervent in the spirit. He was very serious about preaching and teaching the things concerning the Lord.
- However, there was one thing that Apollos did not know. He did not know or teach about the baptism Jesus which was authorized in the great commission and found in Matthew 28:19, 20. John did baptize, but since the cross of Christ, there is now only one baptism and that is the one that is authorized by and is in the name of Jesus (Ephesians 4:5; Acts 19:1-5). In our next lesson, we will see that there were about twelve men who were baptized in John's baptism and what they did about it. When Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos boldly preaching John's baptism in the synagogue, they quietly took Apollos aside and taught him the way of God more perfectly.
- When Apollo was planning on traveling through Achaia, the brethren of the Lord's church wrote letters for him, encouraging other congregations to receive or accept him and listen to his preaching. Apollos helped many of the disciples believe by preaching Jesus and convincing the Jews that Jesus was the Christ by showing them scriptures.
- Read Acts 18:23. Paul begins his third missionary journey, stregthening the churches and converting souls.
- There are many cities mentioned in this lesson. Beginning in Corinth, find those cities on a Bible map that were mentioned in Acts 1818-28. Follow the steps of Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, and Apollos.
- Read Acts 18:24-28 and write on the whiteboard the description of Apollos.
- Alexandria, which was in Egypt and the birthplace of Apollos, was known for its grand library at a time when there was not a library in many cities.
- It is interesting to note that Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos aside privately to talk about important matters. Apollos, also, accepted their instruction.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" tan construction paper, pencil, marker, crayons.
- Hand out tan paper.
- Towards the bottom of the paper, students traces one hand, stopping just short of finishing the hand at the little finger.
- The student places their little finger on the paper again, next to the already traced little finger.
- Trace extra little finger. This should be a hand with six fingers!
- With marker, trace over all six fingers and the hand.
- At the top of the paper, write "6 Things We Know About Apollos."
- At the bottom of the paper, write "Acts 18:24-28."
- In the middle of the hand, write "APOLLOS."
- Beginning with the extra little finger, write "born in Alexandria."
- On the next finger, write "spoke well."
- On the next finger, write "Mighty in the scriptures."
- On the next finger, write "Instructed in the way of the Lord."
- On the next finger, write "fervent in the spirit."
- On thumb, write "Aquila and Priscilla taught him the way of God more perfectly."
- Color.
- In case the student writes something incorrectly on a finger, simply trace that exact finger again on a scrap of tan paper, write the words correctly on the finger, cut out the finger, color again, and glue on top of the incorrect words. Saves time and energy by not needing to re-create the whole project. (I made a mistake on the "mighty in the scriptures" finger. Can you tell?)
- If students' fingers are too small to write words, perhaps the Bible teacher can type or write the words on paper in advance, then cut and paste on fingers.
