Paul and Barnabas Sunday School Lesson -
The Apostles Forgive Saul
Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach students about forgiving others.
Needed: Bibles, To Forgive or Not to Forgive cards, writing or drawing paper, pencils, crayons or colored pencils
Intro Game: Saul the Persecutor
Divide students into two teams. One team is the Christians, and the other team is the Persecutors. Choose one member of the Persecutors to be Saul.
Saul directs the Persecutors to chase a certain Christian. When they tag a Christian, the Christian is out.
The game is over when only one Christian is left. Have the teams switch roles. The last Christian who was left in the game becomes Saul.
Lesson
Ask students, Has anyone ever done something wrong to you?
Is it ever hard to forgive someone when they do something wrong to you?
Last time, we met Saul, who was going to the city to arrest anyone who believed in Jesus. But then, Jesus talked to Saul from Heaven, and instead of hating Jesus and everyone who believed in Jesus, Saul started believing in Jesus himself! Now, let’s see what happened next in Saul’s life.
(Read Acts 9:20-23.)
When Saul started preaching about Jesus, what did the Jewish people want to do to him? (Kill him.)
Why do you think they wanted to kill him for talking about Jesus? (They didn’t believe in Jesus and wanted to keep everyone else from believing in Him too.)
Back then, it was illegal to believe in Jesus. It’s still that way in many countries today. It is illegal to believe in Jesus, and people are still being put in jail or being killed for believing in Jesus.
(Read Acts 9:24-25.)
How did Saul escape from the Jewish people? (Other disciples of Jesus lowered him out of the city in a basket, and he ran away.)
(Read Acts 9:26.)
When Saul met the other disciples of Jesus, like Peter, did they trust him? (No.)
Why not? (They remembered that Saul used to be one of the people who was trying to kill them. They were afraid of him and thought that maybe he was just tricking them so that he could arrest them.)
(Read Acts 9:27-28.)
Did the other followers of Jesus eventually trust Saul? (Yes.)
Sometimes, it’s hard for us to trust someone again when they do wrong things to us, but as followers of Jesus, we have to forgive people for their wrong things and be willing to give them another chance.
Game: To Forgive or Not to Forgive
Print out or write the words Forgive or Don’t Forgive on a set of index cards. You should have an equal number of cards that say Forgive as Don’t Forgive.
Divide students into two teams, and have the teams line up on separate sides of the room in single file lines. Mix up the cards and give each student a card that says Forgive or Don’t Forgive. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes, depending on how many students you have. When you say, “Go!” the first two students run toward each and show each other their cards.
If one says Forgive and the other says Don’t Forgive, the student with Forgive scores a point for their team. The person with Don’t Forgive does not score. If both say Forgive, both score a point and if both say Don’t Forgive, neither does. Both return to the back of their lines and trade their cards for a new card.
As soon as they leave the center, the second two players run up and do the same thing. Play continues until the timer runs out. The team with the most points at the end wins.
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