K-GRADE 3 LESSON: Paul Teaches in Athens

Good morning!
In Bible days, Athens was a famous Greek city. The people of Athens loved to talk about religion and important ideas. They had many books and they liked to study them. Studying and learning were very important to them. They also made many idols and worshiped and prayed to those idols.
• What are idols?
(anything people worship that’s not God; statues.)
• Why do people worship idols, or false gods?
(they don’t know about God; they look for something important.)
• What are some idols people worship today?
(money; movie stars; music; being popular.)
I do want you to realize that worshiping an idol doesn’t necessarily mean bowing down, singing, or praying to it. It means spending more time and paying more attention to created things rather than God, the creator.
Think about some things that might be an idol and why people might spend more time paying attention to that thing than to God. For example, if I showed you a dollar bill, you could say that it’s an idol because people spend a lot of time trying to earn money instead of focusing on God because they rely on being rich. Think about other items and the reasons why people might spend more time paying attention to that thing than to God.
• What’s wrong with worshiping idols?
(we would forget to worship God; idols can’t really help anyone.)
• What do you think Paul did when he saw the idols the Athenians worshipped?
(he felt bad for people; he told the people not to worship them.)
The Bible says that the people even worshiped one object that said, “to an unknown god.” When Paul traveled to Athens and saw all the idols, he was upset. When he saw the one to the unknown god, he knew that the unknown god was really the true, living God and that he was supposed to tell the Athenians about God.
• What do we know about God that we could tell other people?
(God loves people; God made people; God forgives our sins.)
Paul told the people that God created the world and everything in it. He explained that God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Paul explained that God proved he is God when he raised Jesus from the dead. He explained that God is not like silver or gold or stone — not an image made by man’s design and skill. Paul told the Athenians that they needed to repent and believe in the true living God.
Many of the people listened to Paul and became Christians. But that meant getting rid of their idols. Some were happy to do that; some were not.
But God is alive, and he is much better than any created thing.
During worship today, we closed our eyes and thought about whether or not there are things in our lives that are more important to us than God. I’d like you to sit quietly where you are and think some more about what’s important in your life. Close your eyes now and think of whatever in your life is most important to you. Now, talk to God. Give him what you thought of, and make God number one in your life. If this is hard for you, tell God that it’s hard and then ask him to help you. If God is already number one in your life, thank him for loving you and ask him to help you know him better.
God is alive, and he created everything around us. We don’t need manmade gods because we have the true, eternal God living in us!
It’s good to celebrate the fact that God is our creator. Let’s learn why it’s so important that we have a living God.
What makes our God different from the gods of other religions is the fact that Jesus died for our sins and then came back to life. The Resurrection proves that God is alive.
Some people don’t believe that Jesus actually came back to life. Some people who lived when Jesus was on earth thought the Resurrection was a hoax. They thought Jesus’ friends stole his body. But Jesus appeared to his disciples several times after he rose from the dead. Those appearances prove that Jesus came back to life. Let’s look at a Bible passage that also shows that Jesus really was alive again after he had died.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
• How does it help to know that all these people saw Jesus alive after he died on the cross?
(we can know it’s true.)
• Why is the Resurrection so important to Christianity?
(it means Jesus has power over death; it means Jesus is alive to help us every day.)
• What is some evidence in your life that God is alive?
(Jesus helped me not be afraid when I started at a new school; Jesus answered my prayer when my dog was lost.)
Because Jesus rose from the dead, we know he is God. God is alive! And he wants to be involved in your life and in mine.
Think of something that is evidence to you that God is alive. It could be spectacular, such as someone being healed or someone becoming a Christian. It might be something not as noticeable, such as a change in a bad attitude or choosing to obey our parents or an answered prayer. It could be something as simple as the sunrise at dawn or blustery storms in the spring. It could be something that you heard about in the news.
All those things are evidence that God is alive and working in our lives. When you think of something, I’d like you to make a drawing of it, or write words on a piece of paper that describe what you’re thinking of. As you are drawing, thank God for being alive.
After Jesus came back to life, his disciples risked their lives because they knew that God is alive. They knew it was OK to die for what they believed because they were absolutely sure that they would be with God in heaven.
Hundreds of people joined them in starting the church. We’re part of this church today because we believe in the living God. This is further evidence that God is alive!
There are so many ways we can see God alive and at work in our lives every day. Be sure to look for others this week and then give praise to God.
? Thank you, Lord, because you’re alive! We praise you today and thank you for being powerful and mighty. Thank you for being involved in our lives. You are the God who loves us and takes care of us! We love you, Lord.
In Jesus name,
Amen.