Lesson 8 Down the Wall - Trinity United Methodist Church

1 Today s Bible StoryActs 9:20-31 ObjectivesHChildren will connect with the biblicalstory of Paul s escape down the wall. HChildren will recognize that sometimeswhen we follow Jesus, we are asked to dodifficult things. But God will always bethere during those times to help we find ourselves needing to getoff the fence, stand up for what we believe,and take risks. Sometimes we are required todo difficult things. Such is the case with theapostle in our story today. Today s storyfollows the conversion of Saul, who was alsoknown as Paul. Saul, like many new to theirfaith, was filled with excitement and the desireto share his faith with others. He spoke withboldness to anyone who would hear , his words were not well received byeveryone. In fact, the Jewish Christians werevery suspicious of his motives. After all, theysaid, Saul was the very one who had beenpersecuting them and was responsible forplots to extinguish Christianity. Why, then,would he take this radically opposing position?

2 Could he be sincere? Saul continued to teachand preach with boldness, in spite of thesuspicions and opposition that was mountingaround him. When Saul became aware of plotsagainst him, he knew that escape was the onlyoption. His supporters lowered him out of awindow in a basket, and Saul was able toescape and go on with a ministry that wouldbecome the foundation of all sometimes are afraid that what theyare asked to do is too difficult. They fearridicule and embarrassment. Help them tounderstand that, even in difficult times, God isnearby. God hears our quietest prayers andprovides us with the courage we need indifficult times. In our story, Saul had thesupport of those closest to him. His escapewas assisted by his friends. The support ofgood friends becomes important to each of us,in both good times and in bad. As you prepare today s Lesson , think about thedifficult things you have faced in your have you had to stand up againstopposition? Have you ever felt everyoneagainst you?

3 This is not an easy position inwhich to find oneself, but this is just where ourstory takes us. The activities in today s lessonprovide opportunities for the children to makedecisions about when to stand firm and whento walk (or run) away. They will learn aboutcourage and how to find their own them to the nearness of God andthe presence of the Holy Spirit each andevery 8 HDown the granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. Lesson 8 July 24, 2011 July s IdeaWe believe that we can live and act with love and couragebecause God is always with s Bible VerseThe LORD will keep your going out and your comingin from this time on and 121:8 July s ThemeCome, Live the AdventureJuly 24, 2011 One Big Room97 Permission granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. Everyone at The Station brings in items fora care basket. Then Liz comes in feeling betrayedby a friend on her soccer team. Ana recalls the Biblestory of Paul, whose life was turned upside down in aninstant.

4 Suddenly, his old friends wanted to hurt him, andhis new friends were helping him escape from harm bylowering him to safety in a basket. This segment will helpyour children realize that, when we re in trouble, it s ourreal friends who come to our rescue. DVD Summary: The StationActivityTimeSaverEcoFriendlyTimeS aver Activities that require little or no planningand only basic Activities that encourage responsible earthstewardship by providing options to use recycledor repurposed them in .. (15 minutes)Hidden-Words Puzzle Saul s Strip Puzzle Bible Verse BasketsCan t Catch Me! .. Into the Bible (30 minutes)Escape! A Gentle DropPaper Baskets Make a Friendship Web .. Into Life (15 minutes)The Sound Woven BookmarkComfort BasketClosing Worship TimeSaverEcoFriendlyInvite them in .. Lesson 8 July 24, granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. The IdeaWe believe that we can live andact with love and couragebecause God is always with us.

5 Choose one or more activities to introduce your children to the Bible PuzzleSupplies: Leader page 105, pencils, crayons or colored pencilsPrepare HPhotocopy Hidden Words (Leader page 105)for each :Sometimes we have difficulty understanding what is happeningright in front of us. This happens when we are too focused on onething and do not notice other people s reactions. In our story, Saulneeded friends to notice that others were planning to kill him. Theyhelped Saul escape. Let s see how observant we are when we lookat this out the Hidden Words picture (Leader page 105). HHave the children find the hidden words and circle them. Then havethem color the remaining picture. Live sends friends to help us when we are in s Strip PuzzleSupplies: Leader page 107,crayons or colored pencils, scissors, resealableplastic bagsPrepareHPhotocopy Saul s Strip Puzzle (Leader page 107)for each each child a copy of Saul s Strip Puzzle (Leader page 107).HHave the children color the picture.

6 HInvite the children to cut the picture on the solid vertical each child put his or her puzzle pieces in a resealable plastic bag. HTake one puzzle out and divide the pieces among the :Each of you has one (or more) pieces to the puzzle. You all mustwork together to put the puzzle back together. HEncourage the children to work together to put the puzzle together. HSay:In our Bible story today, the main character relies on his friends tohelp him out of a tough situation. We relied on our friends to helpput the puzzle back together. Take your own puzzle home and havefriends and family help you put it together this are God s gift to 24, 2011 One Big Room99 Permission granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. Bible Verse BasketsSupplies: Leader page 106;scissors; five spring-loaded clothespins, two pulleys, andrope for every four childrenPrepareHPhotocopy Bible Verse Baskets (Leader page 106). Make one copy of the pagefor every four the baskets apart, keeping each group together but separate from the up the pulley systems using the ropes and pulleys across your room.

7 Set up onesystem for every four :When we share God s Word with other people, we help them know that Godloves them too. Let s work on learning our Bible verse so that we can tellothers about God. HDivide the children into groups of four. HAssign each group a pulley system. Give each group five spring-loaded clothespinsand a set of Bible Verse Baskets (Leader page 106).HHave two children stand on each end of the pulley system. One pair has the BibleVerse Baskets, and the other pair has the clothespins. HSay: Your challenge is to use the clothespins and the pulley system to transfer theBible verse from the pair that has it now to the other pair, and end up with theBible verse in order on the floor by the other pair. The team who does this thefastest, a signal to start and let the children work in their teams on the all teams finish the challenge before announcing the winner. Live Bible helps us remember that God is with t Catch Me!Supplies: large open area without furnitureDoHSay:Today we will learn a story about a daring escape.

8 We will play a game to getus in the mood for a great escape!HHave the children form a circle, standing at an arm s length from one one child to be Saul, and have that child stand in the middle of the child who is Saul will try to escape the circle by running between two people inthe circle. Those two people may shift together to try and prevent the escape. HWhen Saul escapes, the two children whom Saul ran between must chase Saularound the circle and back to the point of escape. The last person around thecircle becomes the next Saul in the the game for several :Our escapes were fun. But Saul had to escape Damascus because the peoplewho were after him wanted to kill him. Let s find out more about Saul s gives us the energy we need to escape from .. Into the Bible Lesson 8 July 24, granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. The IdeaWe believe that we can live andact with love and couragebecause God is always with us. Choose one or more activities to immerse your children in the Bible !

9 Supplies: Leader page 104, DVD, DVD player, televisionPrepare HPreview The Station (DVD).HPhotocopy Escape! (Leader page 104)for each child. DoHGive each child a copy of Escape! (Leader page 104). HRead the story, Escape! (Leader page 104). HSay:Saul s friends helped keep him safe. One of the ways they helpedhim was by using a basket to lower him over the wall and down tosafety. Let s watch Ana and the kids at The Station as they alsouse a basket to help The Station (DVD).Live helps us to help Gentle DropSupplies: balloons, water, art supplies found in classroom, playground slide orother safe high place from where water balloons can be droppedDoHSay:In today s Bible story, Saul s friends had to lower him down a wallto escape. They had to be very careful not to drop Saul andprobably wanted him to be protected in case he did fall. Theydidn t have a lot of time, either, because there were people aroundwho wanted to hurt Saul. Let s try lowering a friend withoutletting him get the children into groups of four.

10 HGive each group a water balloon. HSay:We are going to take our friend balloons to the top of the slide(or other high place) and drop them. Each group must use thesupplies they can find in our classroom to provide a safe journeyfor their balloon friend from the top of the slide to the ground. HEncourage the children to be creative in thinking of ways to drop theballoon and have it stay protected. HTake the balloons to the slide or other high place, and let the childrentest their can work together to help 24, 2011 One Big Room101 Permission granted to photocopy for local Church use. Abingdon Press. Paper BasketsSupplies: DVD, DVD player, television, newspaper, scissors, gluesticks, tape, craft paintsand brushes, smocksPrepareHPreview the July 24 Demonstration on the July Teacher Tips (DVD) to see how tomake the :People who lived in Saul s day made baskets out of reeds that were used formany purposes in everyday life. We will make a basket out of newspaperreeds that will be similar to baskets they may have the children use the following directions to make the newspaper a reed out of a 131 2-by-22 sheet of newspaper.