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Book of Acts - for young children - part 2

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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A Miraculous Escape. <br/>While the Good News of the Gospel was being preached, persecution was growing against the young Church in Jerusalem. King Herod arrested James, the brother of John, and had him killed. Then he had Peter arrested and thrown him into prison, intending to also kill him. However, because it was at the time of the Passover Feast, Peter was to be kept overnight in prison. <br/>The brethren prayed earnestly and continually for Peter, asking God to deliver him, and God mightily answered their prayers. While Peter was sleeping, chained between two soldiers, an angel came, freed him and led him out of the prison, without the guards even noticing. – Slide 1
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The prayer meeting. <br/>Peter went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. <br/>When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, ‘Peter is standing at the door!’ <br/>‘You’re out of your mind!’ they said. <br/>Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. ‘Tell James and the other brothers what happened,’ he said. And then he went to another place. – Slide 2
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A Man Made Blind. <br/>While the Good News of Jesus was being preached in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas started on their new adventures. After leaving Antioch, they journeyed to the island of Cyprus and travelled toward the city of Paphos, preaching the Word of God. <br/>In Paphos, the Roman governor, Sergius Paulus, summoned them to come and see him. But while talking to the Governor, a man, a sorcerer called Elymas started to mock Paul and opposed his teaching. <br/>Empowered by the Spirit of God, Paul rebuked Elymas and immediately the Lord temporarily blinded him. Astonished by the power of God, Sergius Paulus became a believer. – Slide 3
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Next Paul and Silas. travelled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia. Then they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. <br/>That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!’ <br/>So they decided to leave for Macedonia at once. God had called them to preach the good news there. – Slide 4
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Opening of Prison Doors and a Jailor’s Heart. <br/>When Paul freed a fortune-teller from the demon that possessed her, the woman's irate masters stirred up a mob against the Christian teachers, dragged them before the local authorities, and brought false charges against them. The officials had them stripped, beaten, clamped in irons, and tossed into prison, disregarding their rights as Roman citizens. <br/>That night there was a massive earthquake that shook the prison so violently that the walls crumbled and the doors flew open. But after Paul and Silas saved the jailer's life by not fleeing the scene, the jailer took them to his own house, set a meal before them, tended to their wounds, and listened to what they had to say. That very night, he and his entire household came to believe in Jesus. <br/>The next morning Paul and Silas were released from custody, with the apologies of the court. – Slide 5
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Sleeping in Church. <br/>After leaving Greece and on his way to Jerusalem, Paul stayed several days in Troas. Paul preached the night before he left and his talk went well past midnight. <br/>Many came to listen, amongst them a young man name Eutychus, who sat by the window sill. The poor young man, tired from the long day, fell asleep and fell out of the window. Everyone rushed out; and found that Eutychus had died from the fall. <br/>But Paul threw his arms around Eutychus and prayed for him and young Eutychus rose, shaken, but alive. Then Paul returned to finish his teaching until daylight. – Slide 6
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The Apostle Paul’s Nephew. <br/>While Paul was in Jerusalem, a mob seized him and would have done him great harm if a Roman patrol had not come to his rescue. The Roman patrol kept him prisoner and took him to the Roman authority to answer these (false) accusations. <br/>The religious leaders were so angry that they wanted Paul killed. They devised a plan to trick the Roman commander to bring Paul from prison to the Jewish council, so they could kill him on the way. But a lad, Paul’s nephew, overheard a conversation about these plans. He right away went to see Paul to tell him of the plot. Paul then sent his nephew to tell the Roman commander, who believed the lad. The commander called for a strong escort of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to transport Paul to another city in the middle of the night. – Slide 7
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Paul Stands Before King Agrippa. <br/>During the time Paul stayed in Caesarea, King Agrippa came to visit the Roman proconsul, Festus, and demanded to hear Paul. <br/>After listening to Paul, King Agrippa and Festus found Paul innocent of the false accusations. However, because Paul had earlier appealed to Caesar, he was to be taken to Rome to defend his case at Caesar’s court. – Slide 8
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Peace in the midst of the storm. <br/>Shortly after his meeting with King Agrippa, under the care of a Roman centurion named Julius, Paul embarked on a journey to Rome along with several other prisoners. <br/>It was a long and dangerous journey. At one time during the journey, a violent wind blew so strong that for several days they didn’t see the sun or the stars. All the men were losing hope of surviving this storm, when Paul stood amongst them and said, ‘Be of good courage! An angel of the Lord appeared to me and said that no life will be lost. Let’s eat and get our strength back.’ <br/>And sure enough, though the boat suffered extensive damage, all crew and passengers were able to safely reach the island of Malta and not one life was lost! – Slide 9
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The Viper’s Bite. <br/>The local people were very friendly and made a fire to warm those who had just come ashore. Paul had gathered some wood and was putting in on the fire when a viper, a poisonous snake, crawled out and bit him on the hand. <br/>When the local people saw the snake hanging from Paul’s hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer! He didn’t drown in the sea, but the goddess of justice will kill him anyway.’ However, Paul shook the snake off into the fire and wasn’t harmed. <br/>Later, Paul was able to visit the governor of the island and pray for his sick father, who was immediately healed. After this happened, everyone on the island brought their sick people to Paul, and they were all healed. – Slide 10
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‘I have kept the faith.’ <br/>After a long and dangerous journey, Paul finally arrived in Rome. Paul then stayed in Rome for at least two years, still a prisoner but allowed to live in his own rented house under the supervision of a guard. Paul was also allowed to receive visitors and to continue teaching about Jesus. <br/>Paul also wrote letters to the Christians he had witnessed to on his travels. Many of these letters became books of the Bible. – Slide 11
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Timothy. <br/>While Paul was being held in a Roman prison, he wrote a letter to Timothy, a young man whom he had sent to Ephesus to strengthen the church. Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, had taught him as a boy to read and understand the Scriptures. Paul wrote to Timothy acknowledging their loving influence on him: <br/>‘Continue in the things which you have learned and have faith in, remembering who you learned from. From the time of your childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which has given you the wisdom of salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.’ <br/>Even though the task ahead for Timothy was not easy, Paul commended him and encouraged him: ‘Let no man despise your youth; but be an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.’ – Slide 12
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