RCCG LOWER JUNIOR ZEAL FOR 2022/2023 AGE 6-8 TEACHER’S MANUAL SUNDAY 26TH OF MARCH, 2023

[32]And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

[33]And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

[34]Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

[35]And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

[36]And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

[37]Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:1-11

[1]But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

[2]And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

[3]But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

[4]Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

[5]And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

[6]And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

[7]And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

[8]And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

[9]Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

[10]Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

[11]And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

MEMORY VERSE: PSALM 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

LESSON AIM: The children will learn to depend on God and rely on the Holy Spirit, to be honest, and truthful.

CHILD-RELATED TRUTH: Depend on Jesus to always tell the truth.

INTRODUCTION:

People tell lies for all kinds of reasons. Some may want to look good. Others may be afraid because they did something wrong. What does God think about lying? How do you think God feels when we lie? (wait for answers)

When we lie, someone always finds out and we have to suffer the consequences. Also, God knows and He is not pleased.

1. The followers of Jesus would sell their farm fields sometimes and gave the money they got from their fields to help other people.

2. One man, Ananias, and his wife, Sapphira, brought some money to the church.

3. They told the followers of Jesus that they had brought all the money that they had gotten from selling their land.

4. They only brought some of the money, not all of it.

5. They decided to be sneaky and trick the apostles into thinking they were giving the entire amount of land profit instead of only a portion.

6. But God knew everything, and Peter had a discerning Spirit within him that revealed that they were lying.

GOSPEL CONNECTION: How do you think God feels when we lie? (wait for answers) When we lie, someone always finds out and we have to suffer the consequences. Also, God knows and He is not pleased. When we lie, we sin. That means we have done something wrong. That makes God sad and it separates us from God because He is clean and pure. God cared about us so much that He made a plan for us to get back to Him and be together with Him. He knew there was only one way to clean up all the bad things we have done. He sent His son to die for all the bad things we have done. Jesus died on a cross, was buried, and came alive again on the third day. You can ask Jesus to forgive your sins by confessing them.

CLIMAX: God punished both Ananias and Sapphira with death for lying to the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION: Everyone who saw or heard what happened as very afraid.

CHALLENGE: God knew that they were lying, and He punished them. When we do wrong things, we should remember that if we lie about it to our parents or our teachers, God still knows what we did wrong. We can not lie to God because He sees and knows everything.

The great thing is that we do not have to try to lie to God. He already knows everything, so we might as well be honest with Him. And when we are honest with God and tell Him the things

that we have done wrong, He will forgive us. God can also give you the ability to be a lie detector by giving you the discerning spirit as He gave to Peter. You will be able to know what is going to happen before it does because you have the Holy Spirit which is the spirit of truth living in you.

INVITATION: God will give you the Holy Spirit if you believe in Jesus and be saved (John 5:24).