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Book of Acts - for young children - part 1

Key events in the early church.
Contributed by Didier Martin
CC BY-NC-ND
Personal & teaching use permitted Personal & teaching useCommercial use prohibited Commercial useDerivative works prohibited Derivative worksA.I. adaptations prohibited A.I. adaptations
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The Gift of the Holy Spirit. <br/>Before Jesus returned to heaven to be with His Father, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for a special gift from God, the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the disciples, along with many other believers, waited in a large room in Jerusalem for the promise to be fulfilled. <br/>On the day of Pentecost, while they were all gathered together in prayer, there was a great noise from Heaven, like a strong wind blowing that filled the whole room and they saw what appeared like small flames of fire resting on each person there. All of the believers who were present were filled with the Holy Spirit. <br/>Many people from diverse parts of the world had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. After hearing Peter explain about Jesus, approximately three thousand people accepted Jesus as their Saviour. – Slide 1
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Healing the Lame Man. <br/>Peter and John went together to the Temple to pray. By the Temple gate sat a man who was paralysed in his legs since birth, who daily begged at the gate. As Peter and John pass by, he asked them for some money, but Peter answered: ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet.’ Immediately, the lame man was healed! He jumped up and went into the Temple with Peter and John, praising God for the miracle. <br/>A huge crowd gathered, and Peter preached Jesus to them. As a result, over 5,000 people received Jesus that day. – Slide 2
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The Apostles Meet Opposition. <br/>The high priest and his officials were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, ‘Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!’ So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. <br/>The high priest and his officials convened the high council. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, ‘The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!’ <br/>Then someone arrived with startling news: ‘The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!’ – Slide 3
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Stephen Preaches to the People. <br/>One of the leaders among the first followers of Jesus was a man named Stephen. Everyone respected him. The Holy Spirit gave him much power and wisdom. Stephen did many miracles. Many people believed him when he taught them to trust in Jesus. <br/>One day, when Stephen was teaching about Jesus, some Jews who did not believe in Jesus came and began to argue with him. They became very angry, so they went to the religious leaders and told lies about him. – Slide 4
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Stephen is Arrested. <br/>The religious leaders arrested Stephen and brought him to the high priest and the other leaders of the Jews. More false witnesses came and lied to them about Stephen. <br/>The high priest asked Stephen, ‘Are these men telling the truth about you?’ Stephen began to say many things to answer the high priest. He said that God had done many wonderful things for the people of Israel from the time when Abraham lived to the time of Jesus. But the people had always disobeyed God. Stephen said, ‘You people are stubborn and rebellious against God. You always reject the Holy Spirit, just as our ancestors always rejected God and always killed his prophets. But you did something worse than they did! You killed the Messiah!’ <br/>When the religious leaders heard this, they were so angry that they dragged <br/>Stephen out of the city and threw stones at him in order to kill him. As Stephen was dying, he cried out, ‘Jesus, receive my spirit.’ He fell to his knees and cried out again, ‘Master, do not hold this sin against them.’ Then he died. – Slide 5
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Philip, the Evangelist. <br/>Philip was one of the seven deacons chosen by the apostles to help with the care of the people of the early church. One time, while Philip was in Samaria telling the people about Jesus, he was visited by an angel who told him to go to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. <br/>On the road, Philip saw a man sitting and reading in a chariot. The man was the treasurer of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, and was returning home after worshipping in Jerusalem. As Philip approached the chariot, he realised the man was reading Isaiah 53, a prophetic chapter about Jesus. Phillip asked the man, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ <br/>‘No, I don’t,’ the man answered. ‘Can you explain the text to me?’ <br/>Philip told him about Jesus and the great gift God had given to all. Then the Ethiopian man asked to be baptised. After performing the baptism, Philip was suddenly taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the man from Ethiopia ‘went on his way rejoicing.’ – Slide 6
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The Road to Damascus. <br/>Peter and John and the other apostles continued to preach the Good News about Jesus to all in Jerusalem. Many people believed and were added to the young Church. However, jealous enemies began to persecute the Christians in Jerusalem. One man was set on arresting as many believers as possible, and even asked for letters of recommendation to go to Damascus to arrest and bring back believers to Jerusalem. His name was Saul of Tarsus. <br/>Saul was interrupted on his journey to Damascus, when suddenly a light from heaven shone around him that was so bright it caused him to fall to the ground. And he heard a voice saying ‘Saul, Saul! I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ When Saul got up, he could not see. His friends had to lead him into Damascus. – Slide 7
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Saul Escapes in a Basket. <br/>Saul miraculously recovered his sight and a great transformation took place in his heart. He was baptised and became a follower of Jesus. But many were quite shocked from this change in Saul. Those of the Christian community in Damascus had difficulty believing that Saul, their enemy, had become a follower of Jesus. Also, many of those who were Saul’s former friends turned against him and plotted to kill him. It becomes so dangerous for Saul that he had to secretly escape from the city. This wasn’t easy to do, because his enemies were watching the city gates day and night. So, Saul’s friends helped him escape by lowering him down from the wall of the city in a basket. – Slide 8
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Peter raises Dorcas from the Dead. <br/>There was a believer in Joppa named Dorcas. She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. Then she became ill and died. The believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, ‘Please come as soon as possible!’ <br/>So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. <br/>Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, ‘Get up, Tabitha.’ Dorcas opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive. – Slide 9
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To eat or not to eat? <br/>In Caesarea, lived a Roman officer, by the name of Cornelius. Cornelius and his family believed in God, and generously helped the poor. One day an angel appeared to him saying, ‘God has heard your prayers and has seen all that you have done to help the poor. Send some men to Joppa and ask for Simon Peter to come to see you.’ <br/>Cornelius obeyed the angel’s command and sent men to Joppa. When the men were on their way to the house where Peter was staying, Peter had gone to the top of the house for prayer. While waiting for the food to be ready in the house, Peter saw a vision from heaven. A large sheet was being lowered by its four corners containing many different kinds of wild animals, and a voice told him, ‘Get up, kill and eat.’ Peter refused saying that as a Jew he could not eat unclean food. But the voice explained to him that what God had sanctified was now clean. – Slide 10
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Good News for Everyone. <br/>Until this time the disciples had been sharing the Gospel with the Jewish people only. <br/>Through this vision, God was showing Peter that the good news of the Gospel was for everybody. <br/>God used this vision to prepare Peter for sharing the Gospel with Cornelius and his family. – Slide 11
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