Saul
is lowered in a basket – Acts 9:19-25, 2 Cor.11:33
This is the third lesson in a series of three Bible stories that were
selected because of their “rope connection” to ropes course activities planned
for 8-14 year olds at a weekend retreat. These lessons can also be adapted to
suit younger classes. Please note the craft and activities ideas located
at the end of this lesson.
Remind
the children about the conversion of Saul, later renamed Paul:
Saul was on his way to Damascus to capture the
followers of Jesus and take them back as prisoners to Jerusalem. He thought he
was honoring God and doing the right thing, but he was terribly wrong! When he
got near Damascus, a blinding bright light flashed around him and he fell to
the ground. A voice called his name and asked why he was persecuting Him. Saul
asked “Who are you, Lord?” The voice told him it was Jesus whom he was
persecuting. Saul was told to get up and go to Damascus where he would be told
what to do next. When Saul got up and opened his eyes, he was blind! He had to
be led by the hand to Damascus, where he spent 3 days in the house of a man
named Judas. During that time, he didn’t eat or drink anything. He just prayed.
God then told a disciple named Ananias to go and restore Saul’s sight. At
first, Ananias was reluctant, knowing Saul’s reputation. But the Lord told him
that Saul had been chosen to tell both Gentiles and Jews about Jesus, and that
Saul would suffer for the name of Jesus. Ananias then obeyed. Saul’s eyes were
healed, he received the Holy Spirit, was baptized, and ate some food.
Our theme story begins at this point. After Saul’s
amazing conversion, he remained with the disciples in Damascus for several
days. During that time, he immediately began preaching in the synagogues that
Jesus is the Son of God. Everyone was astonished! Wasn’t Saul the man
who captured the Jesus followers and took them to Jerusalem as prisoners?
Wasn’t he the one who was coming to their city to do that very thing? It made
absolutely no sense that he was preaching that Jesus is the Son of God! But the
more he talked, the bolder Saul got. His words had great power as he proved to
the Jews in Damascus that Jesus is the Messiah, their Savior, the One for whom
they had been waiting all those years.
After a while, the shock of seeing the change in Saul
wore off. The Jews who hadn’t believed in Jesus just wanted Saul gone. But they
realized he had already grown so powerful in his preaching that they couldn’t
just send him away from Damascus. They would have to kill him! And so, with the
help of the governor of Damascus, they began keeping a watch on the city gates
so they could capture Saul if he tried to leave the city.
But somehow, Saul found out about their wicked plot.
Those who believed Saul’s preaching came up with a plan too. One night, when
everyone was sleeping and the gates of the city were closed, Saul’s followers
tied some ropes on a basket, put Saul in it, stuck the basket out of a window
in the wall, and lowered Saul down the side of the wall to the ground. Saul
hurried away in the dark of the night.
What other “ropes” story does this remind you of? Let the kids discuss the similarities and
differences between this story and the one about Rahab helping the spies escape,
such as in both cases, a plan was devised that involved a rope, a window, and a
wall!
In
the case of Saul, several people worked together to devise and implement the
escape plan. Compare this to the ways in which the kids had to formulate and
implement plans to help each other in the team- building activities. For the
younger class, you may wish to use props to illustrate the account of Saul
being lowered in the basket. You could tie ropes on a crate or box, put a
stuffed animal or doll in it, and have two kids lower the box from a chair or
table.
After Saul escaped from Damascus, he headed to
Jerusalem to visit the other disciples, but they were all afraid of him and
didn’t believe he was a real follower of Jesus. They probably thought he was
fooling them so he could find out who the Jesus followers were and later
capture them. But one man was not afraid. His name was Barnabas. Somehow he
realized that Saul was for real. Maybe the Lord spoke to him, or he understood,
through the Spirit, that the things Saul was saying could only be from God. Whatever
the reason, he befriended Saul and personally took him to visit the other
disciples. Barnabas told the disciples the story of how Saul came to know
Jesus, and how that Saul was boldly preaching about Jesus to everyone.
This
is a good opportunity to remind the kids that they can, and should, be the
person to reach out to someone who others are ignoring or treating unkindly.
The easy thing is just to hang with your friends because you’re comfortable
around them. But they can be the ones to befriend others at school, church,
retreats, camp, and elsewhere. Tell them to look around the room. There is
surely at least one person here today who they don’t know very well, or who
doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. Include them in whatever you are doing.
You never know how God may use you in that person’s life, just as Barnabas was
used to befriend Saul and introduce him to others. Barnabas had no way of
knowing how instrumental Saul was going to be in furthering the gospel, but he
took a chance on him!
Finally, the other disciples were convinced that Saul
was a true follower of Jesus and accepted him. Saul stayed with them for some
time and went around preaching to the Jews about Jesus. Soon some of the
unbelieving Greek Jews tried to kill him too! When the other Jesus followers
found out, they helped Saul escape from the city and go back to his own city of
Tarsus.
Because Saul was no longer a huge threat to all the
believers in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, the Christian church experienced a
time of peace. They grew stronger in the Lord, were encouraged by the Holy
Spirit, and more people got saved, living in the fear of the Lord.
Perhaps
once more present a brief gospel message at this point.
Some
suggestions for crafts and/or activities for the 3 rope lessons:
Older
class (ages 8-14): This age group was involved in a ropes
course at the camp where the retreat took place. The lessons were taught on
site.
Younger
class (4-7/8): Since
the older group will be doing team-building activities at the ropes course, the
teachers of the younger class may also want to do some team-building activities
with the younger children. Part of the object of these activities is to get the
kids to work together to come up with ideas, and then work together to
implement them. Those who are on the sidelines at any given time can be the
encouragers. This is merely a suggestion.
If you choose to do this, here are some ideas. Depending on the size of the
class, you may wish to divide the class into two or more teams, or keep them
all together. You can have the teams keep score, or not. You may want to spread
out the activities over the two mornings of lessons. To do the following
suggested activities, you will need the following items:
6-10 feet of rope
A board about 4-6 feet long, but light enough for the
kids to pick up. (Can be plywood)
A coffee can or box about the same size
One bed sheet
Large cooking spoon or set of tongs
A couple of dimes, quarters or pennies
Very small toy, rock, or piece of coal
2 clean flyswatters
2 balloons
2 laundry baskets or crates
1 box
6-10 ball-pit balls or other light balls such as ping
pong balls
2 small stuffed animals
Lay all of these items in a corner of the room.
Activities
(removing shoes is suggested):
1) Walk
the tightrope: lay the rope in a straight line on the floor. Each child must
walk the tightrope without falling off. If he falls off, he must go back to the
beginning. However, he is allowed to have help from the others. The kids must
figure out how best to help. They may, for example, have one child on either
side of the tightrope, who walks along with the tightrope walker for him to
hold on to them as he moves forward. Or, all the kids could be lined up on
either side along the length of the rope for the walker to grab on to as he
moves forward.
2) Lay
the rope in a straight line on the floor. This is supposed to be a deep river.
A group of kids stands on each side of the river, far enough back that they
cannot reach across and touch each other. The first group has the coins and the
group on the other side needs them, but the two groups are not allowed to reach
across and exchange the coins. The water is too deep and the current too strong
to walk or swim across, and there is no way to walk around to the other side.
The group which has the coins must figure out how to get them to the other
group, using the supplies in the corner. (The suggested solution is for the first
group to get the board and the tin can, put the coins in the can, and put the
can on one end of the board. They can help each other to hold and reach the
board across the river to the other side. They could also use the board as a
bridge to walk across, but you can make it more difficult by telling them
that’s not option because the board is not strong enough to hold them, and/or
is too narrow for them to safely walk across.)
3) Make
a tunnel using some of the chairs with the sheet draped over them. Each child
must crawl through the tunnel as quickly as possible. If divided into two
teams, someone can time how long it takes for each team to get through the
tunnel, and give points to the winner.
4) Pretend
that the small toy, rock, or piece of coal is a burning hot coal. Someone on
the other end of the room needs the coal to light a fire. The kids must figure
out how to get the hot coal to the other side by using the supplies. They
cannot hold it in their hands or kick it because they would get burned. The
suggested solution is to use the tongs or large spoon to pick it up and then either
carry it by the tongs\spoon or put it in the can and carry the can over. This
can also be a relay race once they figure out how to carry it.
5) The
kids must figure out how to get a balloon across the room without touching it
with any part of their bodies, using the supplies. The suggested solution is to
hit it with the flyswatter. This can also be a relay race once they figure out
what to do.
6) Laundry
basket skee ball – see http://frugalfun4boys.com/2015/12/08/laundry-basket-skee-ball-with-ball-pit-balls/
for directions. Points can be added to each team if the teams are competing.
7) The
kids must figure out how to get two stuffed animals across the room without
carrying them or “hurting” them (i.e. kicking them). The suggested solution is
to put the stuffed animals in the crates and push the crates across the floor.
Another relay possibility.
8) Have
the kids come up with their own ideas for team building and/or relay
possibilities, using the supplies.
Craft
idea with the rope theme: (This could be done during one of the
sessions, if you prefer, rather than the above activities)
Thin rope, twine, or brown yarn
Tacky glue
Small cups to hold glue
Sponge paint brushes
Aluminum cans (top lids removed with a can opener that
doesn’t cause sharp edges) and/or flower pots
Assorted cloth flowers/ribbons/lace/ fake gemstones
For this simple craft, pour glue into the cups. Use
the sponge brush to coat the can or flower pot with glue; then wind the
rope/twine/yarn around the container until it is completely covered on the outside.
You will probably want the kids to add the glue in sections so it doesn’t dry
out or get all over their hands while they wind the rope around the container.
For decoration, add flowers, ribbons, lace and/or gems. The can could be used
as a pencil holder.
