Main Objective: The story of Philip and the Ethiopian is a fascinating encounter among many in the book of Acts. Through it we see how the Holy Spirit guides us and equips us to carry out His work. It is important for us to have the courage and willingness to share the Gospel with others, and God helps us do that! This message tells the story of Philip’s meeting with the foreign man and reminds children that God uses us to teach others about Him. Just as we learn when others show and teach us things, we can pass along what we know about Jesus.
Law/Gospel Theme: God loves us and has done remarkable things in our lives. Knowing that good news should inspire us to pass it onto others. With Philip and the Ethiopian, we see how the contagious enthusiasm of good teachers helps us to understand and inspires us to continue to spread the Gospel message. The great news is that we are not alone in these efforts. The Holy Spirit promises to help and guide us, just as He did with Philip.
Optional Materials: Instruction manual or guide of some sort; Bibles
Bible Passage: Acts 8:26-40
Learn to Teach: Children’s Message on Philip and the Ethiopian
Message: As with most messages, the details of how you choose to communicate this are adaptable and should cater to timing as well as to your audience and student needs. Use your judgment and ideas to serve students best.
Greet the children, and discuss methods of learning…
Hello, children of God!
How do you learn? Let’s say you want to make something or put something new together. Where can you go to find out how to do it? A lot of things come with some sort of instructions or direction manual. But sometimes those are challenging. For instance, I have a guide here for how to use something. Show written instructions for something that are difficult to follow (IKEA furniture, for instance…), or maybe even in another language. But I can’t figure out what these things are telling me to do. What’s it supposed to mean? So maybe the manual doesn’t help so much. Where else can you turn? Maybe YouTube has the answer! You can always look for a video of someone else walking through instructions. Then again, even those are not always so simple. And they have all of the equipment and skill already, not to mention the magic of video editing to make things look easy! What about having someone teach you? Isn’t it easier to figure out how to do something when someone else is walking you through it and explaining it? I guess this is why we have school, after all. We need someone who knows and understands more than we do and can guide us.
The same is often true when it comes to understanding God’s Word and His ways. We don’t just automatically know everything we need about our faith. Of course, it’s important to read the Bible and pray, but there are times when we might still find things that confuse us or are difficult to comprehend. We need other people who can come alongside us and teach us. The great thing about our lives as Christians is that God uses us to help one another. He gives us leaders and teachers to aid us in understanding. He also leads us to teach others! The Holy Spirit guides and equips us with the tools we need to share our faith and pass on the good news to other people. In this way, we continue to spread the Gospel throughout the world, just as Jesus commanded.
Throughout the Bible we see people sharing God’s love and grace to others. This is especially prevalent in the book of Acts, which tells the story of the early Christian church and how it spread. One interesting account describes a man named Philip and an encounter he had with an Ethiopian. Philip was traveling from Jerusalem to a place called Gaza, and was actually led by an angel to do so. As he was going through the desert, the Holy Spirit told him to go talk to a man in a chariot. This man was an Ethiopian who worked for the queen.* Philip approached the man and noticed he was reading something. He asked if the man knew what he was reading about, and the Ethiopian responded that he needed help understanding. Philip had the opportunity to explain to him who Jesus was. The Ethiopian noticed there was water nearby, and decided to be baptized! In fact, he was so excited that he wanted to tell everyone else he knew about the good news. The Holy Spirit helped Philip pass on the good news, which helped many others as well.
This is an amazing story, and it reminds us that we, too, are called to share the Gospel with others. God helps us to learn about who He is. He enables us to know and share with those around us. The Holy Spirit guides us to find other people who need to hear about the Lord. We can trust Him and give thanks for His work in our lives. We can also help other people understand who He is so that they can have His love and peace in their lives. God helps us learn, and He helps us teach others about Him, too!
Why don’t we say a prayer and ask God to help us share His good news?
*Note: Feel free to skip over the “Eunuch” element, unless working with older students. It might only inspire awkward questions…
Prayer:
(Have kids repeat each line)
Dear God,
Thank you for helping us teach others.
Please guide us to share your good news with those around us
And help us to understand your word.
Thank you for your love
We love you, God!
In Jesus’s name, Amen!
Bible Verses/story to Reference:
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. –Acts 8:26-40