Choose Five - Teach Them



Time

30 minutes

Description

This lesson makes the case to prove Jesus’ resurrection by stressing the commitment of the apostles to defending it as truth. Aside from Judas, they were all eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, and ten of them died a martyr’s death because they wouldn’t renounce it. (All the gory details about the martyrdom of the Apostles is provided in this lesson, but care should be given to the age of the children when deciding how much information to share.)

Scriptures

• Acts

Materials

• The following supporting materials can be found at on the Lesson and Material Downloads page.

o "Would You Die for a Lie? – Apostles Faces” (Pictures of the Apostles that volunteers can hold up while you tell about them.)

o "Would You Die for a Lie? – Where the Apostles Preached” (A PowerPoint slide that shows a map of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and all the places that the Apostles took the Good News.)

• Computer, LCD projector and screen (to show the map)

• Paint stir sticks or large Popsicle sticks (12)

• Paper plates (12)

• Glue

Preparation

• Print apostle face pictures.

• Glue pictures to paper plates and then to paint stir sticks to make handles.

• Put these face pictures near the front of your teaching area, where you can easily reach them.

• Set up projector and screen and get the map ready to project.

• Practice the script.

Procedure

Use the following script, or modify to suit your needs:

• “Do you ever wonder what happened to the twelve apostles who followed Jesus?”

• “Well, the Bible only tells us about a few of them.”

• “Most of what we know comes from historians who wrote about the time of Jesus and the beginning of the Christian Church.”

• “So, here’s what we know.” (Project the map in the file, “Would You Die for a Lie? – Where The Apostles Preached.” Invite 12 volunteers to come up, and hand them the face signs you created. Have them hold the signs up to cover their faces. Line them up in this order: James (the Greater), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon, Thaddeaus, Judas, John, Peter. As you tell about each man’s martyrdom, have the volunteer take a seat.)

• “It all started in this tiny piece of land, called Israel.” (Indicate Israel on the map.)

• “Can you believe how small that is?” (Point out Africa, Europe and the Middle East on the map so that the kids will get an idea for where Israel is in relation to them.)

• “Jesus trained 12 Apostles to take the good news (the Gospel) to all the world.”

• “The Apostles took their job (the Great Commission) seriously, as you will see!”

• “Let’s start with James – he was one of the ‘Sons of Thunder’ and one of Jesus’ closest friends on earth, but he became the first Apostle to become a martyr – which is a person who dies for what they believe.”

o “Herod Agrippa I had James arrested, and when he saw that the Jewish leaders hated James, he had him beheaded.”

o “This made Herod so popular that he thought he might do the same thing to Peter, but Peter was freed from Herod’s jail by an angel.”

o “So, James didn’t travel to any of the other places on the map.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “But then there was Andrew – he was the Apostle who was always bringing people to Jesus.”

o “He brought Peter, he brought the young boy with the loaves and the fishes, and he brought some Greeks to Jesus.”

o “After Jesus rose to heaven, Andrew took the Gospel (which is the “good news” about Jesus) north into Russia and then into Scotland.” (Advance slide.)

o “After angering a Roman governor by leading his wife to Christ, he was crucified in Greece on an X-shaped cross.”

o “Instead of nailing him to the cross, they tied him to it so that it would take longer for him to die.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Philip – he publically doubted that Jesus could feed the 5,000.”

o “Eight years after James was put to death, Philip was stoned to death at Hierapolis in Asia Minor.” (Advance slide, and have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Bartholomew – he ministered in Persia, India and Armenia, and tradition says that he was tied up in a sack and thrown into the sea.” (Advance slide, and have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Matthew – he was a tax collector and the most hated of all Jews, but after following Jesus, he wrote his Gospel for the Jewish people.”

o “Though we don’t have reliable records, it is believed that Matthew ministered in Ethiopia, Persia, the kingdom of the Parthians, Macedonia and Syria.” (Advance slide.)

o “We think he was burned at the stake.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Thomas – he was the Apostle who doubted that Jesus had returned from the grave and said he would have to put his finger into the nail scars before he believed, but when Jesus appeared to him, he made the strongest proclamation that Jesus is God. (“My Lord and my God!”)”

o “Thomas carried the Gospel to India, and he died when he was run through with a spear.” (Advance slide, and have volunteer take a seat.)

• “James, the Less – we think that James took the Gospel to Syria and Persia, but we are not entirely sure how he died.” (Advance slide.)

o “It was either by stoning, beating or crucifixion.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Simon, the Zealot – he started as a dangerous terrorist, who probably participated in attacks on the Romans and on tax collectors, but after following Jesus, his heart was changed.”

o “He took the Gospel to Egypt and as far as the British Isles and was killed for his beliefs, though we don’t know how.” (Advance slide.)

o “Some say crucifixion; some say beheading.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Thaddaeus - his name means something like “momma’s boy,” but he really grew up while following Jesus.”

o “We think he took the Gospel to Mesopotamia, near Turkey, and he once healed the king of the city of Edessa.” (Advance slide.)

o “He was also said to have preached in Iran, and he was clubbed to death for his faith in Beirut, Lebanon.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “Judas, the Traitor – He never believed that Jesus was God, so Judas has the saddest story of all.”

o “He sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and then had an attack of his conscience.”

o “He hung himself from a weak tree limb that broke and dropped him on some jagged rocks, where his guts spilled out.”

o “Out of the Twelve, he was the only one who died for his lack of faith.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “John – he was James’ brother and another ‘Son of Thunder.’”

o “He, too, was one of Jesus’ closest friends on earth.”

o “He is actually the only apostle who wasn’t killed for his faith in Jesus.”

o “He lived many years, but it had to be sad for him to hear that all his closest friends were killed.”

o “John pastored a church in a city called Ephesus in Asia Minor, but then the Roman Emperor Domitian got angry with him and sent him to live on an island for prisoners (Patmos off the west coast of Turkey).” (Advance slide.)

o “He had to live in a cave, but there he was able to do some writing.”

o “During his lifetime, he wrote one of the Gospels, three letters that we find in the Bible and the last book of the Bible (Revelation), which tells about when Jesus will come again.”

o “John eventually died of old age.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “And finally, there was Simon-Peter – he had the most dramatic transformation after following Jesus.”

o “Simon eventually earned his name that means ‘listens and obeys.’”

o “And he also earned his name of Peter, which means ‘rock,’ because Peter became a solid leader who led the early church.”

o “Peter preached powerfully at Pentecost (a Jewish holiday celebrating the harvest of the crops) and led 3,000 people to the Lord.”

o “He was so powerful spiritually that people were healed when just his shadow fell on them.”

o “He raised Dorcas from the dead, introduced the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) to the Gospel and wrote two books of the New Testament.”

o “He eventually went to Rome, Italy, and witnessed to the Roman emperor, Nero.” (Advance slide.)

o “Peter and his wife were both crucified for their beliefs, but Peter begged to be crucified upside down, because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same way Jesus did.” (Have volunteer take a seat.)

• “So, that’s what became of all of them.”

• “John was exiled; Judas killed himself and the other ten were put to death because they claimed that Jesus is God.”

• “Don’t worry, though. God isn’t asking all of us to die for our faith.”

• “The Apostles were so powerful that God’s enemy, the Devil, fought very hard against them.”

• “God protected each of them for a long time, but there came a time in each of their lives that they had completed the work God had for them to do.”

• “When it came time, they each decided that they wanted to give God as much glory as they could when they died.”

• “By dying for their belief in Jesus, they told the world that He is really God.”

• “Let me ask you a question. If you told a lie, and someone powerful said that you either had to admit you were lying or they would kill you, what would you do?” (Listen for response.)

• “You wouldn’t die for a lie, would you?”

• “Touch your neighbor and say, ‘I wouldn’t die for a lie!’”

• “No, just like me, you would admit that you had lied so that you could go on living.”

• “Well, the people who killed these men accused them of lying about Jesus.”

• “They demanded that the Apostles admit they were lying about Jesus being God or else they would be put to death.”

• “But these men chose to let people kill them rather than admit they were lying about Jesus.”

• “Why do you think that was?” (Expected response: “They weren’t lying!”)

• “Right! They weren’t lying!”

• “These men didn’t die for a lie.”

• “Nobody is dumb enough to do that!”

• “They died for the Truth!”

• “Touch your neighbor and say, ‘They died for the Truth!’”

• “They let themselves be put to death, because they knew that death was not the end of their story.”

• “They knew that it was just the beginning!”

• “They knew that death was just the end of their physical life on earth, and they were looking ahead to what Jesus promised them – eternal life with Him in heaven.”

• “Probably none of us will have to die for the Truth that Jesus is alive and Lord of all creation.”

• “But there are sooooooo many people out there that don’t know the Truth.”

• “We’ve got to be like the Apostles and tell them about Jesus.”

• “Don’t let them die believing a lie!”

• “Tell them the Truth – Jesus is alive! He loves them, and if they will follow Him, they can live with Him forever in heaven!”

• “So don’t let them die believing a lie.”

• “Touch three people and say, ‘I won’t let them die believing a lie.’” (You can use the Rhyme Time below to reinforce the lesson’s teaching point.)

Rhyme Time

The Apostles died,

But we don’t grieve.

They gave their lives

So we’d believe!

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