Hello CH Kids Families,
I hope everyone had a very Happy Mother’s Day yesterday! I have uploaded the lesson plans to our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook page to hopefully make it easier on you guys Sunday morning by looking there instead of your inbox. This coming Sunday we will learn the story “Paul is Changed” from Acts 9:1-19.
Though born in Tarsus, a major center for Greek education and culture, Paul was a Jew and had studied in Jerusalem with Gamaliel, a leading teacher of the Law of Moses. Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul, was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group of Jewish leaders who believed the best way to serve God was to strictly obey the Law of Moses.
When we are introduced to Paul in the ninth chapter of Acts, he is described as a man who was living out his beliefs. Paul’s strong beliefs as a Pharisee resulted in his determination to make trouble for the followers of Jesus, who did not follow the Law of Moses the way he thought they should. Paul travelled to Damascus, armed with letters addressed to the leaders of the synagogues there. He wanted the leaders to arrest Jesus followers so that Paul could take them back to Jerusalem for trial.
Paul knew what he believed, and he was determined to act on those beliefs. However, on the way to Damascus, Paul had an encounter that changed his life—he met Jesus. Paul was blinded and had to be led into Damascus by others. It was not the entry into Damascus that he had planned! As a result of his meeting with the risen Christ, Paul was changed, not immediately, but over time. Paul ultimately showed the same determination in recruiting followers of Jesus as he had previously shown in persecuting those followers.
Paul’s conversion story is an example of God’s ability to use anybody to carry out God’s work. With his history of persecuting Christians, Paul seemed an unlikely candidate to spread God’s word. When Ananias, a follower of Jesus, received instructions to go and talk to Paul, he countered this directive, saying, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem” (Acts 9:13). But God had a plan to use Paul to spread the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles, and to kings, and to the people of Israel. God was able to use Paul’s zeal and determination in a positive way.
Join us this Sunday, May 17th at 10:30AM on Zoom for music with me, and Godly Play with Pastor Lisa. I think we are unable to meet without using a password going forward. The password is CHKids2020.
MAY MEMORY VERSE
“As for us, we can’t stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:20)
DEEP BLUE ADVENTURES APP
While I was looking for all the new material to share with you about our new unit, I stumbled across this app. I downloaded it for free, and it has all the videos to go along with the Bible story each week. There is a trivia game, a fun scripture game and another maze game that reinforced the verse of the month. It isn’t anything fancy, but I thought I would share if you were looking for new ways to engage your kids with our weekly Bible stories at home. GET IT HERE
MIDWEEK MUSIC MEET-UP – WEDNESDAYS @ 6:00PM –
Click HERE to join us! Password: CHKids2020