Scripture: Acts 12:1-19
Memory
Verse: “Don’t
worry about anything, but pray about everything.” — Philippians 4:6 CEV
Offering: PC
Concepts:
Objectives:
1. Older children will locate the story of Peter’s prison
escape in their Bibles. Younger children will learn that the story is in Acts.
2. The children will hear the story, and then play a game
to review the details of the story.
3. The class will discuss the story with emphasis on the
concepts above.
4. The children will think about their own prayer
concerns, choose someone or something to pray for and make prayer ribbons.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions: (10:00)
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. Make sure the children
are wearing name-tags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge.
Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week who
may not know you.
2.
Open with a brief
prayer (optional, as they have just prayed in Great Hall).
3. Explain the purpose of this workshop. Today we’re going to hear the story of
Peter’s escape from prison and then we’re going to play Freedom Bingo.
Scripture/Bible Story: (10:05)
1.
Grades 1-2 will
not use Bibles, but do open yours to show them where the story is. For grades
3-5, make sure everybody has a Bible. The shepherds will have extra
Bibles. Help the students to find the
book of Acts. (Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.)
2.
If necessary,
review the organization of the Bible: The Bible is divided into two big parts,
the Old and New Testaments. Each part is made up of books, which are divided
into chapters and verses. Have them figure out whether Acts is in the Old or
New Testament (it’s about events after Jesus’ life so it’s in the NEW
Testament). Show them that if they open their Bible in the middle, they’ll
usually land in the book of Psalms in the OT. Point out that the book name is at
the top of each page. After finding Psalms, if they then take the pages on the
right side and divide them in half, they’ll land somewhere near the beginning
of the New Testament. Remind them that Acts is the fifth book of the NT, after
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
After
they’ve found Acts, help them find chapter 12, then verses 1-19. Some of the
children will confuse chapters and verses. Show them that chapter numbers are
the big ones, and also are at top of every page.
3.
Read the story
from the CEV or review it using the summary below as a guide. Either way, be
dramatic! Unless this is the first Sunday of the rotation, let the children
help you tell the story. This will give you an idea of how much they already
know. Other ideas for reviewing the story in later weeks:
Story Summary
Several years after Jesus’
death, Jesus’ followers were spreading the good news and bringing people into
the church. At that time King Herod caused terrible suffering for some members of
the church. (This was a different King
Herod from the one we know about who reigned during the birth of Jesus.) Herod
ordered soldiers to cut off the head of Jesus’ disciple James, the brother of
John.
Then, while the Jews were
celebrating the Festival of Passover, Herod had Peter arrested. He put Peter in
jail and ordered four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to put
Peter on trial in public after the festival. While Peter was being kept in
jail, the church never stopped praying for him.
The night before Peter’s
trial, he was asleep and bound by two chains. A soldier was guarding him on
each side, and two other soldiers were guarding the entrance to the jail.
Suddenly an angel from the Lord appeared, and light flashed around in the cell.
(An angel is a messenger from God. We
picture a winged human-like figure in a robe, but we don’t know what the angel
looked like.) The angel poked Peter in the side and woke him up. Then the
angel said, "Quick! Get up!"
The chains fell off Peter’s hands, and the angel said, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." Peter did what he was told. Then the angel said, "Now put on your coat and follow me." Peter left with the angel, but he thought everything was only a dream. They went past the two groups of soldiers, and when they came to the iron gate to the city, it opened by itself. They went out and were going along the street, when all at once the angel disappeared.
Peter now realized what had happened, and he said, "I am sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me." Then Peter went to the house of a woman named Mary. Many of Jesus’ followers had gathered there and were praying.
Peter knocked on the gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. When Rhoda heard Peter's voice, she was too excited to open the gate. She ran back into the house and told everyone that Peter was standing there.
"You are crazy!" the others told her. But she kept saying that it was Peter. Then they said, "It must be his angel." But Peter kept on knocking, until finally they opened the gate. They saw him and were completely amazed. Peter motioned for them to keep quiet. Then he told how the Lord had led him out of jail. He also said, "Tell the others what has happened." After that, he left and went somewhere else.
The next morning the soldiers who had been on guard were terribly worried
and wondered what had happened to Peter. Herod ordered his own soldiers to
search for Peter, but they could not find him. Then he questioned the guards
and had them put to death. After this, Herod left Judea to stay in
Application: (10:10)
1. Have the shepherd pass out the bingo cards and counters.
Every card has a “Get Out of Jail” square— this is a free space, so the kids
can cover that one at the start. Then call each question and let the kids call
out the answer, then cover the answer on their cards. As in regular bingo, the
object is to cover five spaces in a row, horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally.
2. When a player covers a row, he shouts I’m Free! Don’t stop the game; keep
playing until you’ve used all the questions or everyone has covered a row (or
you run out of time. Remember you need a bit of extra time at the end of the
workshop for hanging prayer ribbons.)
Younger Children: Call out the questions in the order
given, unless it’s a later rotation and you are sure they know the sequence of
events in the story. Have the shepherd write each answer on the white board, as
some of the kids may not be able to read all the words on the card.
Older children:
Mix up the questions, especially in later rotations. OR, instead of
playing bingo, put the questions on slips of paper inside balloons. Divide the
class into pairs. Let each pair pop a balloon (stomp on it). Retrieve the
question, read it out loud and let them answer. (Do in pairs so if one player
is afraid of popping the balloon, the other can handle it. Also less chance of
child not knowing the answer and being put on the spot. If neither player
knows, let the class answer. )
Reflection Time: (10:20)
Gather the class in a circle
and discuss:
I wonder why Herod chose
Peter to put in prison. Herod was
persecuting the leaders of the church — remember he had already had Jesus’
disciple James killed — and Peter was an important preacher and leader of the
early church.
Who remembers the story we
learned about Peter a few months ago, before Easter? After Jesus was arrested, Peter lost his courage and denied that he
knew Jesus. Even though Peter failed Jesus that time, he learned from his
mistake and went on to become one of the most important leaders of the early
church, telling people about Christ and bringing new believers into the church.
While Peter was in prison,
what were the people of the church doing? Praying.
The early church community prayed for and took care of its members, and today
in our church community, we still pray for and take care of each other.
I wonder what they were
saying in their prayers. Accept all
reasonable answers, but note that they were likely praying for Peter’s life to
be saved.
If they were
praying for Peter to be saved from execution, I wonder why they didn’t believe
Rhoda when she told them Peter was at the door? Accept all reasonable answers. Encourage the kids to speculate about
why they might be surprised to have their prayer answered so dramatically.
Emphasize: God wants us to pray, and when we pray, God answers us. We won’t
always get an answer as spectacular as they did, and sometimes we don’t get the
answer we want or expect at all, but we can trust that God will be with us and
help us no matter what happens.
Recite the Bible memory verse
learned in the Great Hall. “Don’t worry
about anything, but pray about everything.” (Philippians 4:6)
Journals (10:25):
Pass out the journal pages and ask the shepherds to pass out
pencils/markers. Optional: Give the children a scrap of ribbon or some other
memento to paste on their journal page as a reminder of the workshop. Read the
prompt out loud and offer suggestions if needed. (Prayer concerns can be
personal or global —someone they know who is sick or in trouble, people who
lack food or homes, a nation at war.) If they don’t know how to spell a word,
write it on the white board. Those who finish early can turn the page over and
do the activity on the back.
At 10:35, pass
out strips of ribbon and markers. Tell the students to write one of their
prayer concerns on their ribbon — one or two words to name a person or thing
they will pray for.
Take the class outside and
let them tie their prayer ribbons to a tree near the door. If it is raining,
collect the ribbons indoors and tell the class you’ll tie them to the prayer
tree later.
Encourage the children to bring an offering next week. Remind them that
the offering from this rotation will go to help people in
Close beside the tree with a simple prayer. Suggestion: God, we lift up these prayers to you in
Jesus’ name. Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal (10:45): Bring the children back inside and ask them to help
collect Bibles, pencils, etc. When the room is tidy, dismiss the class.
Extra Activity if Time Allows:
Grades 3-5:
Have the books of the New Testament posted on the wall. After reviewing the
story, play a few rounds of "who can find the passage first." Call
out verses for the students to search and read when they find them -- do this
in pairs if you wish. Use these passages that refer to prayer:
Ephesians 6:18
Colossians 4:2
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
Philippians 4:6 (this is the memory verse for this
rotation)
James 5:13
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the
Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare opening and closing prayers.
3. Choose a prayer tree outside of the classroom
to hang the prayer ribbons.
4. Optional: Bring a CD or taped music for background music while you are
gathering, meditative music for Reflection time. A boom box is located in the
Puppet workshop cabinet.
5.
Display the
memory verse in the room.
6. Practice telling the story and become very
familiar with it..
Supply List
Extra Bibles
Dried beans or other items to use as bingo
counters
Pencils (in supply bin; the
shepherds also have pencils)
Journal pages
Dry-erase marker (in supply
bin)
Pieces of ribbon long enough to write on and
tie to the tree
Markers for writing on ribbon
References
Jan Marshall, Lord’s Prayer
lesson set, Rotation.org Ideas and Lesson Exchange. http://rotation.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/9626088121/m/2746062651
Storytelling ideas:
http://www.dennisdewey.org/Dennis8.htm
Freedom Bingo Clues
14. What Peter’s chains did — Fell off
15. What Peter thought was happening when angel woke him up—Dream
16. What the city gate was made of — Iron
17. What the city gate did — Open
18. What the angel did after leading Peter out of city —Disappear
19. Owner of house that Peter went to —Mary
20. What Peter did at Mary’s house — Knock
21. Who answered the door at Mary’s house — Rhoda
22. What Rhoda did when she heard Peter's voice —Tell others
23. What the other Christians thought about Rhoda—Crazy
24. How the Christians felt when they saw Peter — Amazed