Teaching 1
Thessalonians 1:1 (and Acts 17:1-9)
3-5s
Theme: Paul tells them
about Jesus, but is only there for a few weeks so writes them a letter to
encourage them
Aim: That they
understand the need to keep trusting Jesus
Intro:
Keeping going -
give them some harder tasks eg balancing a ball on their heads, making a pencil
stand up on its end. Point - sometimes its easier to say 'It's too hard, I'm
giving up!' We're going to see today that we need to keep going, keep trying to
follow Jesus.
Teaching:
Paul is travelling around
on his horse [clip-clop with cups] telling people about Jesus. He travels to a
city called Thessalonica and tells them about Jesus. Here is what he said,
[have on speech bubbles] 'Jesus is God's King' [crown on speech bubble]. 'God's
King had to suffer and die on a cross' [cross on speech bubble]. 'God's King
had to rise from the dead' [empty tomb on speech bubble].
He told them this for
three Saturdays in a row. But that's all. That's not very long is it? We are
told about Jesus Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. But the people in
Thessalonica could only listen to Paul for three weeks.
As Paul spoke two things
happened:
Firstly, some people
became followers of Jesus. A few were Jewish people, the others were not Jews.
[put a small pile of 'people' on one side]. This was the new church in
Thessalonica.
Secondly, some people
became cross with Paul. They started a big fight and got people shouting and
being very loud. [have a big group of angry 'people'] The problem was that they
had a King already and here was Paul saying that there was a different King
called Jesus. So Paul had to be sent away at night. He could not tell them any
more about Jesus.
So he decided to send them
a letter. [have a big envelope with a letter inside] I wonder what you would
say if you were Paul? What would you say to these new followers of Jesus who
were in a place where there were a lot of people who were angry with Jesus?
[take suggestions]
Here is how he begins:
read 1v1. Paul wants them to know they belong to God the Father and His Son,
Jesus.
He wants them to know that
they are to keep trusting Jesus. We have to keep following Jesus, too. It is
sometimes easier to give up and forget about Jesus, but we should keep going
and trusting Him.
Craft
- Paul preaching - they stick on three pictures
of his message and pictures of believers and the angry crowd
- Old letter - they make a letter by staining it
with tea and coffee on sponges. This could be added to each week.
Songs
- Jesus is the Boss (from J is for Jesus)
- Easter Friday (from J is for Jesus)
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5-11s
Theme: Paul starts a
church in Thessalonica but only gets three weeks with them so writes to
encourage them to keep going
Aim: That the children
keep going, trusting and serving Jesus
Intro
Difficult challenges -
give them some hard tasks, will they persevere and keep trying or give up?
Teaching
Paul, the apostle, is
travelling around telling people about Jesus. He arrives in Thessalonica [show
on map]. Here he does as he always does, tell people about Jesus. He opens up
the OT and tells them that God's King must suffer and rise from the dead [have
in picture form - crown, cross and tomb in a speech bubble].
He does this for three
Saturdays in Thessalonica [have one dressed up as Paul]
Week 1 - Paul: 'Jesus is
the King who had to suffer and die'
Week 2 - Paul: 'Jesus is
the King who had to suffer and die'
Week 3 - Paul: 'Jesus is
the King who had to suffer and die'
Then, here is what
happened next:
First, some people believe
what Paul is saying. [read Acts 17:4]. Good news, a new church is born. [Separate
some of the children off as believers.]
Second, many people don't.
[Read v5-7]. Do you see what they're saying? If Paul is right then he's saying
we have to abandon our King, Caesar! This makes them mad and they start a riot.
[Have the others making mad faces and holding placards]
So Paul has to leave at
night time and move to the next town. But he's leaving behind a very young
church that knows very little as they've only been taught for three weeks.
So he writes them a
letter. What would you say to them if you were Paul? [take suggestions and
write up].
Read 1 Thess 1v1. Paul
wants them to keep going. Like a runner in a race, the end is in sight, but
they're to keep trusting Jesus and not give up.
Table Time:
[older ones read passage,
younger ones make an old letter using cold tea on a sponge, they can add to it
each week]
Knowledge
- What happened to the new church in
Thessalonica?
- How long had Paul been with them?
Understanding
- Why did Paul write to them?
- What would you have written?
Application
- How do you keep going as a Christian?
- What do you find helpful?
- Why do you keep trusting Jesus?
