Title: Giving Together- Stewardship Lesson
Scripture: Acts 2:42-47
Target Age Group: 3rd-5th grade
Main Point: God (point upwards) uses his church (point at yourself and the kids) to spread blessings (spread arms in front of you.)
Supplies: Bibles, paper and markers, giving coloring page
Lesson Opening
Ask: What are some ways that you care for your friends? How do your friends care for you?
Ask: If you were in need, how do you think a good friend might help you?
Say: In today’s story we’re going to hear about how the early church cared for each other during times of need.
Pray that God would open their hearts to his word today and thank Him for the truth of our resurrected Savior!
Tell the Story
Ask: Have you ever experienced something so awesome that you just couldn’t wait to tell someone else about it?
Say: That’s exactly what our story is about today! Our main point today is: God uses His church to spread blessings.
Say: After Jesus rose from the dead and was taken up into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples. For the first time, God’s spirit actually dwelt within people! How amazing is that?!
Say: The disciples were so excited about Jesus that they couldn’t wait to start sharing the good news.
Ask: Have you ever gotten good news that you wanted to share with others?
Ask: What good news did the disciples want to share?
Say: They wanted to tell people about how Jesus died and rose from the dead to be the payment for sin. The disciples also wanted to share how Jesus wanted to welcome others into God’s Kingdom so they could experience a real relationship with God. That’s definitely good news!
Say: In the Bible, God’s Word to us, we can read about the early church. It didn’t look much like our church building today. Let’s read from God’s Word together, and as I read, listen for the description of the early church.
Read Acts 2: 42-47: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.”
Ask: What did you hear about the church?
Say: The early church wasn’t about a building! It was all about a community of people who believed in and were following Jesus. The people loved God and they loved each other.
Ask: What are some ways that the people took care of one another?
Ask: What were some things that they did together when they gathered?
Say: That reminds me of our main point: God uses His church to spread blessings.
Say: God used the early church to spread blessings to others, so the church could continue to grow. The Bible tell us that more and more people were believing in Jesus everyday! God uses the church today for the same purpose! God wants His people to love Him and share His love with other people.
Ask: What are some ways that we might spread blessings to other people?
Say: Let’s pray together now and ask God to show us ways each day to love others and spread blessings to them!
Pray
Review Questions
- What was the main point from our lesson?
- What was our story about?
- What do we learn about God from this story?
- What do we learn about how God wants us to live as followers of Jesus?
- How can we practice generosity this week?
Learning Activity 1: Scattered Blessings
Supplies: Paper and markers
- Ask: Do any of you have any trees in your yard? What happens to the trees in the fall? (The leaves fall off.)
- Say: At first it makes me sad to think of my beautiful trees losing all their leaves. But you know what else is happening? As the leaves fall, so do seeds that make it possible for new trees to grow. If my lovely tree never gave up its leaves, we wouldn’t have any new trees that come up. Our giving is a lot like that tree in my yard. When we give, we scatter our blessings to others and in turn, those people are able to bless others.
- Pass out paper and markers to the kids. Encourage them to draw a large tree with leaves or seeds on the ground around it. Have them write in leaves/seeds gifts that God has given them that they can use to bless others with.
- Say: God hasn’t given us gifts so we will keep them to ourselves. We are to use everything God has given us to bring Him glory!
Learning Activity 2: What is Christian Fellowship?
Supplies: Bibles for each child
- Divide the class into smaller groups, each teacher leading one group. Pass out Bible to the kids.
- Help the kids look up Acts 2:42-27 in their Bibles. Go around the circle letting each child read one verse.
- Ask: What four things do we read the apostles devoted themselves to in verse 42? (Teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer.)
- Ask: Have you ever experienced any of these things in your own life?
- Ask: How did the early Christians care for those in need?
- Ask: What do you think the impact of the Christian’s generosity was on unbelievers at the time?