PSS Review: God saves a jailer {Acts 16:16-34}

God saves a jailer

Scripture: Acts 16:16-34

Focus: The only way to be saved is to trust in Jesus

Lesson: Open your Bible to Acts and show the kids its position in the Bible. Keep your Bible open and tell the story in your own words. My summary went something like this:

{1} Paul and Silas were going around preaching the name of Jesus

     a – a slave girl who had an evil spirit living inside of her began to follow them around saying at the top of her lungs “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

     b – Paul got annoyed and cast the evil spirit out of the girl in the name of Jesus.

     c – the spirit left the girl and her owners became angry 

{2} Paul and Silas were brought into the middle of the city where lots of men tore their clothes, beat them with rods {big sticks} and threw them into prison

     a – There was a jailor in charge of keeping them in prison, he put Paul and Silas in stocks so that they could not move.

     b – Paul and Silas rejoiced and praised God with singing while all of the other prisoners listened to them

{3} God sent an earthquake to knock down the prison walls and open the gates

     a –  The jailor wanted to kill himself because he had failed at his job until he realized that all of the prisoners were still there.

     b – The jailor asked Paul how he could be saved and Paul told him only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Activities:

Game – London Bridges

Since we’re talking about people being in prison, I thought London Bridges would be a fitting game. We changed the words to the tune to

{v 1}The only way to be saved

to be saved

to be saved

The only way to be saved

is to trust in Jesus.

{v 2}We are all stuck in sin

stuck in sin

stuck in sin

we are all stuck in sin.

Only Jesus frees us.

Choose two children to form a bridge by lifting their arms and holding hands. All of the others sing the tune and walk under the bridge. When they get to verse two, the bridge kids lower their arms and trap the next person in line. Then the trapped person and the next person in line get to be the bridge.

Craft: Marshmallow jails

Supplies – toothpicks, mini marshmallows, paper plates

Give each child a pile of toothpicks and a pile of marshmallows on their paper plates. {Be sure to tell them that this is craft time, not snack time and they should not eat their marshmallows. If you want, you can let them have marshmallows for snack after they finish their craft.}

Demonstrate how to stick a marshmallow on each end of the toothpick without sticking their fingers and then help them to build structures that resemble jails. While they work review the story asking questions like,

Who was in prison in our story?

Were they sad or mad that they were in jail?

What were they doing? Why?

What happened to the jail while they were in there?

Why was the jailer going to kill himself?

What did he ask Paul and Silas?

Is believing Jesus the only way a person can be saved?

Memory verse: Psalm 147:5 Our Lord is great, vast in power; his understanding is infinite.

Talk about powerful things that God did in today’s story.

{1} He made the demon come out of the girl

{2} He sent an earthquake to open the jail

{3} He made the prisoners stay in jail

{4} He saved the jailer and his family from their sins

Pray: Thank God for his amazing power over sin and death.