Teaching 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5

3-5s

Aim: That they see how much Paul loved the church

Theme: That they love to see each other keeping going too.

Intro:

• Simple board game to get Paul/Timothy to Thessalonica by answering simple questions.
• Get the children to colour some of the characters you will use for the story

Teaching:

[You will need a crowd of Thessalonians, a Paul, a Timothy and a Satan possibly on Lego wheels]

[Two faces - one happy, one sad] When do you feel happy? When do you feel sad? Do you feel sad when you miss someone? Maybe when mummy or daddy goes away?

Paul was feeling sad because he missed the people in Thessalonica. He longed to see them again and was very sad that he couldn't. Do you remember why he left? [Put Paul with the crowd] The leaders in the town chased him away because they didn't want to hear about Jesus. [move Paul away] Here is how Paul felt: read 2v17. He was so sad that he had to be parted from them.

He tried to return to be with them, to help them keep following Jesus, because he loved them. But he says he couldn't. [read v18]. [move Paul towards the crowd but have Satan move in front of him]. Someone kept blocking his way. Paul called him Satan, and Satan is God's enemy, the one who stops people loving and trusting God. He was there in the garden with Adam and Eve and tricked them and now he was stopping Paul seeing the Thessalonians. Paul tried again and again to get to see them but Satan kept stopping him.

So here's what Paul did: read 3v1-2. Paul sent Timothy instead [move 'Timothy' to the crowd]. Paul wanted them to keep following Jesus even though it was really hard for them. People were attacking them and laughing at them and doing horrible things to stop them loving Jesus, so Timothy went to tell them to keep going, keep loving Jesus.

Paul loved the other followers of Jesus in Thessalonica and wanted them to keep going, to keep following Jesus. We should love each other too; we should be helping each other to follow Jesus.

We can do that by

Pray

Stick a heart on the old letter

Craft:

• Stick red paper on cut out hearts
• Pray cards - get the children to colour a card which says 'Dear ____, we prayed that you would keep following Jesus.'

Songs:

• He overflows with Love (from J is for Jesus)
• Jesus loves the little children

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5-11s

Theme: Paul loved the church and loved to see them keep following Jesus

Aim: That they love the church and encourage each other

Intro

• Encouraging one another - get them to write encouragements on post-it notes and stick on each other
• Get to Thessalonica - they have to go from Corinth to Thessalonica. Leaders try to stop them by tagging them.

Teaching

[You will need: one child to be Paul, one Timothy, a crowd of Thessalonians and a leader to be Satan]

Have you ever really missed someone? Maybe Daddy or Mummy have gone away on business? [spend some time chatting, but be careful as this could raise some big issues]

Paul really missed the Thessalonians. Do you remember what happened? [Recap Acts 17 and remind that he was sure they were genuine Christians from 1 Thess 1-2]

Paul carries on writing his letter. [Get Paul to read 2v17-20]. Paul is desperate to see them. [Act out Paul trying to get to Thess but Satan stopping him]. He really loved the church in Thessalonica and was desperate to get back and encourage them and make sure they were still going following Jesus. But God allowed His enemy, Satan, to stop Paul. We don't know why or how, but somehow Paul couldn't see them again, even though he really wanted to.

Did you hear how Paul describes them? Our hope [attach 'hope' to the crowd], joy [attach 'joy' to the crowd], our crown [put a crown on the crowd]. When Jesus returns Paul will be so excited that they are standing with him, loving Jesus.

Paul is so desperate to find out how they are going on that he sends Timothy to find out. Paul reads 3v1-2. [Timothy goes to the Thessalonians and asks them how they are going]. We will find out next week what report Timothy brings back to Paul, but Paul tells us why he is worried: Paul reads 3v3-5. They were being badly treated for following Jesus just as Paul was and he's worried that they will have given up. [Act out - one or two children say 'this is too tough, I'm stopping following Jesus.']

Paul loved them too much to see this happen. He wanted to encourage them, to give them a spiritual kick in the bottom to say, 'Keep going! Its worth it.'

Do you love the church as much as Paul did? Remember its not the building, its the people. Do you love the older folk and care for them? How can we encourage them?

Do you want people to keep loving and trusting Jesus? How can we keep them going?

[Could have time here for testimonies from leaders who have been encouraged by the care of others to keep going.]

Pray

Table time: [younger ones - have a board game where they have to get Timothy to Thessalonica by answering the questions]

Knowledge

• Why did Paul not go back to Thessalonica? (2v17-18)

• Who did Paul send instead? (3v1-2)

• What was Paul worried about? (3v3-4)

Understanding

• What did Paul want to know about the Thessalonians?
• Why did this matter to Paul?

Application

• What encourages you to keep following Jesus?
• How can you encourage others to follow Jesus?
• How can you love other followers of Jesus more?

[If the first game wasn't played, it could be played at this point]

Stick a heart on the old style letter

Pray for the persecuted church

Memory verse

Teaching 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

3-5s

Theme: Paul was real and not pretend so keep following Jesus

Aim: That they listen to Paul and God's Word and so keep following Jesus

Intro:

Have some dressing up outfits eg superheroes, police, princess, etc. Dress the children up in these outfits. Ask them - 'Are you really a policeman? But you're dressed as a policeman?'

Have a picture of Paul. This is Paul, who told the Thessalonians about Jesus. But was he really God's special messenger, or was he just pretending?

Teaching:

Recap - only in Thess for 3 weeks then was attacked and had to leave. People were wondering, 'Was he only pretending about Jesus? Was he really God's special messenger?'

Paul says he is definitely a real messenger from God and so he shows them that he is not pretend.

Firstly, he says that God is the most important person to Paul. Paul has only been trying to make God happy. (Could read 2:4)

So, when people laughed at Paul, he kept telling them about Jesus.

[Act out with other leader. Other leader laughs at teacher and leader one pretends to stop talking.] Paul didn't do that; he kept telling them because he was a real messenger. (Could read 2:1-2).

Paul didn't lie or trick them. He told them the truth. [Act out with leader. 'If I follow Jesus will I have loads of toys.' 'Oh, yes, of course!]. Paul didn't do that, because he was a real messenger from God. (Could read 2:3)

Paul didn't try to get all their money or toys. [Act out with leader. 'Now that you're a follower of Jesus, you've got to give me all your favourite toys!' Leader hands over toys looking sad.] No, Paul didn't do that, because he was a real messenger from God.

Then Paul says that he loved the Thessalonians. He wasn't really strict and harsh, like this: [Act out with other leader - be really strict, telling them what to do harshly and telling them off]. Instead Paul was gentle and kind. (Read 2:7-9). He was a good leader and definitely God's real messenger.

That means that we should listen to Paul's message and keep listening to Paul's message because it helps us keep following Jesus. Read 2:13. How good are you at listening? [Could play a listening game here - eg record some animal noises or people's voices for them to recognise.] We should keep listening to God's message from Paul as carefully as that.

Pray: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your message through Paul. Help us to listen because he is your real messenger and not pretend. Amen

Stick pictures to old letter - ears

Craft:

• Ear craft - on pipe cleaners or hair bands
• Picture of Paul - stick on white cloth as clothing

Songs:

God gave me two eyes and God knows (from J is for Jesus)

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5-11s

Theme: Paul was God's real messenger, only seeking to please God and love them, so listen to Him

Aim: That they trust Paul's message from God and listen to Him

Intro:

Play a game (eg Captain's Coming) - two leaders are running; one is strict and harsh and lies, the other is kind, gentle and honest.

Ask them after who they were more inclined to trust?

Teaching:

Recap  - Paul was in Thess for 3 weeks. Last week he wrote to tell them that they were real Christians, genuine. This week he wants them to know that he, Paul, is a real, genuine, messenger from God. What do you think people might have accused him of?

How do we know Paul is a real messenger from God? He gives us two reasons - firstly, he only wanted to please God; secondly, he loved the Thessalonians.

Paul only wanted to please God, to make God happy [have a male leader dressed up as Paul. Have a card with 'Please God' on one side and 'Please People' on the other.]

So let's have a think about how Paul might have behaved:

• People were attacking Paul because he was talking about Jesus [have 'Paul' talk about Jesus, while the 'crowd' boo]. If Paul wanted to make people happy (and they weren't happy with him), what might he have done? [stopped talking about Jesus]. Did he? Read v1-2. [Attach 'suffered' to 'Paul'] This shows us Paul was a real messenger who only wanted to please God.
• If Paul wanted he could have tricked the Thessalonians into trusting Jesus. [Have Paul say, 'If you follow Jesus you will have loads of sweets'] That would be 'Pleasing People'. Paul didn't do that. Read v3-4. He was a real messenger who only wanted to please God.
• Paul could have said, 'Don't you look lovely, I love your new jumper, come and follow Jesus!' [Get Paul to say] But he didn't. Read v5. He was a real messenger who only wanted to please God.

This means we can trust Paul and his message about Jesus. But are your leaders like that? Are you like that? Is it more important to you that you make your friends happy than making God happy?

Secondly, Paul only loved the Thessalonians. [Have a card with 'Love' on]. He didn't demand things from them. [have Paul demand sweets from them]. Instead Paul was gentle among them. Read v7-8.

He didn't demand money from them. [Paul demands their pocket money]. Instead read v9. He worked hard among them. And he cared for them like a father. Read v10-12.

This means we can believe Paul's message and follow Jesus like him. Are your leaders like this? Are you like this?

How good are you at listening to Paul's message? Read v13. The Thessalonians were brilliant at listening to Paul's message about Jesus. [could play a listening game at this point by blindfolding one and seeing if they can guess who is speaking.]

Sum up - Paul is God's real messenger so we must listen to him! It will help us keep going following Jesus.

Table Time [younger ones could have a big picture of Paul and write on words they come up with. Also, stick on next picture to their letter: ears - we must listen to Paul.]

Knowledge

• What was Paul like? What was Paul not like?

• How did Paul behave? How did he not behave?

Understanding

• How does this help us to know Paul is God's real messenger?

• What did the Thessalonians do because he was real?

Application

• Do you think Paul was God's real messenger? Why/Why not?

• How good are you at listening to Paul?

• How could you listen to him better?

• Do you try to please God like Paul, or are you more worried about what others think of you?

Memory verse

Pray for persecuted church

Teaching 1 Thessalonians 1

3-5s

Theme: Paul says thank you that they are real Christians, not pretend

Aim: That they know whether they are real or pretend Christians

Intro:

Have some real objects and some pretend objects. They have to separate into each. How do we know this is pretend and this is real?

[Introduce Terry the Thessalonian] How did Terry know that he was a real friend of Jesus and not just a pretend friend?

Teaching:

Do you remember last week? Paul spoke to the people in Thessalonica 3 times and then had to leave. Some people became friends of Jesus, but they hadn't heard very much.

So how did they know they were real and not pretend friends of Jesus?

Paul writes them a letter to tell them that he is sure that they are real friends of Jesus and not pretend friends! He tells them three things. Hands, ears and eyes. Here is what he writes:

Read v3 - Paul says that being Jesus' friends has changed them. Its made them love and help people more and more. [Give Terry some hands] If we are friends of Jesus then we will love and help people more and more.

Here is the second thing Paul says: they had listened carefully to what Paul had said and really believed it. [put a pair of ears on Terry]. Do you love listening to Bible stories and really believe them? Then you are definitely a friend of Jesus!

Here is the third thing Paul says: everybody all around had seen how they had changed (read v8-9). [put on a pair of glasses] Can everyone see how much you love Jesus?

[At this point stick a picture on our old letter from last week and recap. The picture could either be a real apple and a pretend apple, or hands, ears and eyes.]

Pray - 'Thank you that we really are your friends, Jesus. Help us to love others, listen to you, and show others we love you. Amen'

Craft:

• Have a colour in Terry - stick on hands, ears and eyes
• Real and pretend sticking - they have to stick the right ones in the right boxes

Songs:

God gave me two eyes and God knows (from J is for Jesus)

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5-11s

Theme: Paul says thank you that they are real Christians, not pretend

Aim: That they know whether they are real or pretend Christians

Intro:

Real or fake - bring in some branded goods and some supermarket copies. They have to guess which is which.

Teaching:

Recap from last week about Paul and Thessalonians.

This week Paul wants to help them to be really sure that they are friends of Jesus. He gives them three ways in which they can really know.

[Have one up as Terry the Thessalonian and introduce]

Read v2-3. Here is the first way they could know they were real and not pretend friends of Jesus: their love for Jesus and faith in Him meant they worked hard for him. [diagram 'Love & Faith -> work' and stick 'work' on Terry] Their hope in Jesus meant they kept being strong and trusting Him. [diagram 'Hope -> Strong' and stick 'strong' on Terry]. What was going on inside them, their love, faith and hope, showed on the outside in their love for each and how they kept going. Is the same true of you? We can know we're really friends of Jesus if we keep loving each other and keep going!

Here's the second thing:

Read v4-5. They really listened to Paul and it made a difference in their lives. [Stick some big ears on Terry]. Do you love to listen to the Bible? Do you love to read it? Or would you rather be off doing something else?

Here's the third thing:

Read v6-10. Everybody could see that Terry and the other Thessalonians had changed! They had begun starting to copy Paul and Silas and live in a way the pleased God. They had given up worshipping statues and had started putting Jesus first. Everybody could see that. [put some glasses on Terry]. Can people see that you are a friend of Jesus? Do people at school know, and can they see the difference that makes in your life? If so, then you are definitely a friend of Jesus!

Pray

Table time: [in younger groups stick three pictures onto Terry the Thessalonian]

Knowledge

• What three things did Paul tell the Thessalonians?
• What had Paul seen and heard about them?

Understanding

• Why was Paul telling the Thessalonians these things?
• How did Paul know they were 'real' friends of Jesus?

Application

• Are you ever unsure whether you really are a friend of Jesus?
• What has Paul said today that has been helpful?

Learn memory verse

Pray for suffering church