Paul's Travels

Puppet Station

Workshop-specific Goals

• Understand that God worked through Paul to perform the miracle of healing the crippled man
• Give God the glory for what He does, just as Paul did.

For scripture and background - see above.

Preparation

1. Review Background notes. The Bible story is from Acts 14: 8-20.
2. Gather the materials.
3. Refer to schedule and decide how you will make adjustments for the different ages.
4. Each of the students has their own passport, which is kept in the teaching box for the summer. At the end of class, you or the guide should hand out the passports. The students will have the opportunity to write/draw on the passport page. There is also a space for you to put their passport stamp. Check the supply list for the proper stamp (the stamp applies to the lesson).
5. Look at the passport page for your “city” for the background information and question of the day that the students will be getting (copy at end of lesson).
6. Tape the map onto the wall and locate the city/region you are teaching about today so you are ready for the first part of the lesson. so you are ready for the first part of the lesson
7. Set up puppet stage before class

Materials List:

• Bibles (supplied in teaching box)
• Large map of Paul’s journeys (tape to the wall)
• Construction paper star to place on the map
• Tape
• Passport stamp of a crutch
• Inkpad
• Pencils, markers, crayons
• Student passports (kept in teaching box for the summer)
• TV/DVD player
• “The Visual Bible: Acts” DVD
• Large sheet of paper
• Tape
• Puppets and costumes
• Rope and blanket to make puppet stage
• (optional) props: crutch, wreaths, bull, stones (soft of course!)

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Make sure you have your nametag on. Introduce yourself to the students.

Open with a prayer .

We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please start the class by having everyone make the sign of the cross and say: “We make our beginning in the name of God the Father—and God the Son—and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dig:

Introduction & Bible Story:
Please make sure that the students hear and “get” the Bible story as well as the application of that story to their lives. The Bible story is the MOST important part of the lesson—it is much more important than the activity associated with this station!

Say: This summer for Sunday School we are going on a Mediterranean cruise with the Apostle Paul. Every week we will visit a different port and learn something about Paul’s life or his teachings. This week we are visiting Lystra. Locate this city/region on the large map and put the construction paper star with the appropriate name on the map. After the first week, you could ask the students some of the other places that they have “visited” and what they did and learned.

Our story today takes place during Paul’s first missionary journey. He and Barnabas stop in the town of Lystra. They see a man who was crippled and God works through Paul to heal the man. The people looking on—who are not people of God—think that Paul and Barnabas are the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes and start to worship them. Paul and Barnabas are very upset about this because they know that they are just men, and that they were able to do this miracle only because of God. They tell the crowd this. But then things change—and much to the worse. Some Jews who don’t like Paul come into town and turn the crowd against Paul. In fact, the crowd stones Paul and leaves him for dead. Fortunately, he was not dead—as his friends later discover. (Note to teacher: the stoning scene could be scary for younger students. It shows men throwing stones. Paul has blood stains on his clothing and face. I suggest warning the students about this beforehand. I would stop the video before this point for the PreK class. For the older children, I would give them the option of closing their eyes and not watching this part if they so desire).

We are going to watch a video of this story. It is taken word-for-word from the Bible. After we watch the DVD, we will put on a puppets show. This video will take about 5 minutes.

1. From the DVD menu, choose chapter 14. Forward as close as you can to verse 8 and start the DVD there.
2. Pause the DVD after verse 13. Explain that the people of the town are coming to offer animal sacrifices because they think Paul and Barnabas are gods. The 2 men are so upset about this that they are going to rip their robes to show their distress.
3. Restart the DVD. Pause after verse 19. The stoning comes next—let the students know this is coming and then restart the DVD (do not show this section to PreK). Stop after 20. (This should take about 5 minutes0.

Talk with the class about the story—the characters and the main action in the story. Write these down on the large sheet of paper taped to the wall.

Who are the main characters: Paul, Barnabas, crippled man, crowd, priest of Zeus, Jews from Antioch

Activities:
What are the main actions in the story: Paul heals a crippled man; priest of Zeus brings bulls and wreaths to sacrifice, while the crowd wants to worship Paul and Barnabas; Paul tells the crowd about Jesus; Jews from Antioch turn the crowd against Paul; the crowd stones Paul; Paul’s friends find him still alive

Puppet Show
Assign the various parts to the students. If there are a lot of students, some could be audience and some could be puppeteers—then switch and perform the story again.

Use this “script” to provide narration prompts to the students:

• Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra and saw a man crippled from birth (students act out the story with puppets)
• When the crowd saw this healing miracle, they thought Paul and Barnabas were Greek gods (students….)
• Paul and Barnabas realized what was happening, tore their clothes, and began to speak to the crowd (students…)
• Some Jews came from Antioch and turned the crowd against Paul. (students….)
• The crowd stoned Paul (students…)
• Paul’s friends found him and saw that he was not dead (students….)

Reflection:

Pass out the passports to the students. Have each student write their name on the cover. Read the key point and the question for the day. Give them a few moments to write/draw in their passport. While they are doing this, go around and stamp in to each passport.

Closing Prayer:

We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please end the class with this benediction from Numbers 6: 24-26 (CEV). Make the sign of the cross and say:
I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you, and that He will show you mercy and kindness. May the LORD be good to you and give you peace. Amen.

Age Adaptations:

1. Older students: They may need less narrator prompting with the skit.
2. Younger students: Give them the option of not watching the stoning scene on the DVD.

A lesson by Cathy Walz from: St. John Lutheran Church

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