Backyard Bible Clubs: Lystra

This week at club, we learned that God wants us to tell others about Him even when it is hard. Last week, we had left Barnabas in Jerusalem and Saul/Paul in Tarsus. The church in Jerusalem heard a large number of people in Antioch were coming to put their trust in Jesus. So they sent Barnabas to check out the situation. Barnabas found many new believers in Jesus. He realized quickly that he needed help to teach these new believers about Jesus. So he went to Tarsus to get Paul to help him. They spent a year in Antioch.

One day as Barnabas, Saul and three other church leaders in Antioch were praying God, the Spirit, told them "to set Barnabas and Saul apart for the work that God had for them to do." So the church in Antioch prayed and sent them on their way.

Directed by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul set sail for the island of Cyprus. Immediately upon landing, they began to preach the gospel. The gospel is the good new of Jesus Christ. (God loves you. Jesus never sinned, but you have. Jesus died and rose again. You can put your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. You can live for Jesus.) Many people believed as they listened to Barnabas and Paul. If you have put your trust in Jesus, God wants you to tell others about Him too.

In the city of Paphos, they met a Jewish man who was the governor's helper. His name was Elymas. When the governor of Cyprus sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear their message, Elymas tried to convince the governor not to put his trust in Jesus. Paul then turned to Elymas and inflicted temporary blindness on him. Seeing this miracle, the governor decided to put his trust in Jesus. Satan, God's enemy, doesn't want anyone to hear and believe the gospel. But Jesus has given you (like he did Paul) power to tell others of Him.

Next Paul and Barnabas sailed for Perga. From their they traveled to Pisidia Antioch. Everywhere they went they shared the gospel to whoever would listen. Because the Jews in Pisidia Anioch were jealous of Paul and Barnabas' popularity they first argued with them and finally tried to hurt them. Paul and Barnabas left and went to Iconium. And then to Lystra.

After Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra, a man who never walked in his life believed in Jesus and was healed. The crowd seeing this miracle, believed Paul and Barnabas were gods and tried to worship them. The crowd did not worship the true and living God. They didn't know or believe the good news of Jesus. After telling the crowd that "they are men just like them", Paul and Barnabas urged the crowd to turn to the true and living God - Jesus.

Stirred up by the jealous Jews from Pisidia Antioch and Iconium, the crowd turned from trying to worship Paul and Barnabas to stoning Paul. When they though Paul was dead they dragged his body outside the city. When the believers in Jesus gathered around Paul, he got up from the ground and walked back into the city of Lystra!

The next day, Paul and Barnabas continued onto Derbe. They didn't give up preaching the gospel. (God loves you. Jesus never sinned, but you have. Jesus died and rose again. You can put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. You can live for Jesus.) After Derbe. They went back through some of the towns they had recently been at and then sailed for Antioch. Returning to Antioch, they gave a detailed report of all God had done through them. Very likely Satan will try to stop you from telling others about Jesus. But God wants you to tell others about Him, even when it is hard! So be a Paul and Barnabas.

Here are some pictures of week 2.

Here they come. . . I love it when the kids come running with smiles on their faces.

Many of the kids answered last week's essay question. Why would God still love a man like Saul/Paul? I was really pleased how the kids answered this question. For answering the question, each kid received 10 Bible Bucks.

Katelyn is all ready to sign the kids in this week at Newmanstown! It was raining when we arrived so we set up inside. Then it stopped so we set up games outside and everything else inside. Didn't know if we would have many kids due to the weather, but we had only one less than last week.

Gaga ball fun! We had some sibling rivalry in the pit.

This week, we made string backpacks during craft time. They turned out very cute. The one boy told me, "Finally a cool craft." They only glitch in the craft is that they didn't dry by the time club ended. So I will be handing out most of them next week.

Kids in line to go inside for Bible Time. See how hot and sweaty they are from playing gaga ball?

This week's Bible verse is Romans 5:12. We played a neat game to help us learn the verse. As long as the "Go" sign was showing, we said the verse. But when the "Stop" sign came out, no one could talk until the "Go" sign came again. The kids loved taking turns controlling the signs.

Because my South Annville Club is very large. I split the kids into two groups (K-3 and 4-6). Half the time the kids played Nine Square in the Air and half the time they played gaga ball. The younger kids enjoyed playing gaga ball. It was a much slower game than when the older kids played.