This topic is for posting VARIOUS WORKSHOP Lessons and Ideas for teaching the stories of the Early Church in Acts.
Please note that we have other topics already started on similar Early Church stories, such as Peter Heals the Lame Man in Acts 3, and Peter Escapes from Prison in Acts 12.
Here's a great overview of the Book of Acts and the Early Church from the creative and generous people of Crossroads Kids Club...
Here's a fun video about the Early Church from Crossroads Kids Club...
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This is a wonderful lesson teaching about the early church's practice of the Agape Feast. But more importantly, it demonstrates BEING a Fellowship that Feasts together.
Acts 2:42-47
Major Impressions:
The early church, filled with the Holy Spirit, saw God work in amazing ways. They were filled with holy fear, awe, and wonder at the miracles and provision of God. Community and Koinonia led to sweet magnetic joy. The Pentecost flames seemed to spread as 3,000 new believers joined the Church. When God’s people come together and follow God (through prayer, worship, agape meals, Lord’s supper?, and teaching), Christ is glorified and made known.
Then and There:
History of the birth of Christianity, it was an exciting time to be a Christian, the Holy Spirit was at work, people were being baptized, turning to God, and joining into the community of believers. The church was growing stronger through prayer, fellowship, breaking of bread (Lord’s supper?) the apostles’ teaching, sharing, hospitality, and worship. But the Jews were not open to the new religion (so they met in both the synagogue and homes) and it would soon become illegal. The church was small and in the minority but growing. The Acts 2 church seems to be in the honeymoon stage (with no major persecution and no major sin issues in the church) And God was at work: miracles, joy, goodwill, and new believers daily.
Here and Now:
The same Holy Spirit at work in Acts 2 still dwells in the believers hearts and is still in control of the church today. Often this passage makes me feel disheartened (why is the church not growing and living in fullness like in the beginning), but it should give hope because God is unchanging. God can (and does) work through his church, despite the mess Western Civ and sin has made. The message has not changed: Christ crucified and risen, bringing the gift of new life. We need to return, I need to return, to the basics of the apostles’ teaching, prayer, fellowship, prayer, worship. Hopefully the same results will follow: joy, goodwill, and new believers to the glory of God. The Church as a bride instead of a whore.
Week One: Better Together
Acts 2:42-47
Hook: Start by talking about birthdays. The excitement of new babies (Show picture of new nephew). Do any of you have little siblings or cousins? How did you feel when they were born? Pentecost is called the “Birthday of the church.” Today we are going to learn about the exciting time when the church was brand new!
Book: Our passage takes place in Jerusalem, a big city with a lot of different people. While the church started out small it will soon be making a big impact. The church grew from a few followers of Jesus to 3,000 in one day! Think if next week at Kingdom Klub we had 3,000 kids! It would be very exciting.
Read Acts 2:41-47 (together?)
Look and Took: Love Feast!
The following "tables" are like "stations" the kids move to. Each has a guided lesson.
Teaching Table
Food: Milk
Why do we drink milk? Who else does? (babies)
Like Milk is essential to grow, learning about the Bible is essential to grow as followers of Jesus.
What are ways we can learn about God and the church?
(during this time my group will be getting a take-home kids devotional book for the unit)
Fellowship Table
Food: "M and Ms"
What is fellowship?
M and M Icebreaker (each kid picks on M and M and answers the question for their color)
R: What is your favorite subject?
O: What is your favorite sport?
Y: Where was your favorite vacation?
G: Who is your favorite singer?
B: What is your favorite season?
Br: What is your favorite color?
Breaking Bread -The Lord's Table
Food: Bread
Do you have family dinners?
Eating is a great way to know people. Talk about communion and how this might be what the passage is talking about. Either way, disciples shared their lives with one another.
Prayer Table
Food: Pretzels
What is prayer?
Tell the kids the legend of the pretzel (reminder to pray)
Share prayer requests
Pray together
Sharing Everything Table
Food: Nothing
Some people do not have enough food, people in the church shared so everyone had enough.
Draw a picture (5 mins) of something you could share or give away to help others…or some way to help other people.
Worship Table
Food: Chips and Salsa (Or Cheese and Crackers or PB and J)
What is worship?
The early church meet at the synagogue and at homes. Chips are great and so is salsa (eat a big spoonful of salsa if you are feeling adventurous), but together they are amazing! As Christians it is important to worship God at both home and church.
Share one thing you thank God for.
Praising God Table
Food: Pop Rocks
Who has had pop rocks? What do they do?
People were so excited about what God were doing they couldn’t keep it inside!
Sing a worship song
FRUITS Table
Food: Chocolate bar, Fruitbar
The very sweet results of the church was the Goodwill of the people, Joy, and more people coming to know Christ. What are the "fruits" of our labor?
A lesson by Sarah Morehouse and Susan Brunk from: Covenant UMC,
Lancaster PA
A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.
Editor's Note:
"The Tables" --what a great concept! But they need fleshed out more, and more content. Please post your suggested improvements HERE BELOW.
I took the above lesson and added more discussion/activities:
[The following "tables" are like "stations" the children move to. Each has a guided lesson. Spend no more than 5 minutes per table.]
1. Food: Milk
ASK: Why do we drink milk? (to grow strong, to make our bones grow, to be healthy) Who else drinks milk? (babies)
Just as milk is necessary for babies to grow, learning about the Bible is necessary for us to grow as followers of Jesus.
What are ways we can learn about God and the church?
[Come to Faith City every Sunday, come to Wednesday night classes, read the Bible every day, watch Bible movies, read Bible story books, listen to Christian music, attend VBS, talk with your parents about God]. Encourage discussion—ask the children to give examples of what they do. Encourage them to do one new thing this week to learn about God.
2. Fellowship Table - Food: "M & Ms"
ASK: What is fellowship?
M & M Icebreaker (Each student picks one M & M and answers the question for their color. You may need to substitute different questions for the younger children.)
R: What is your favorite cartoon?
O: What is your favorite sport?
Y: Where was your favorite vacation?
G: Who is your favorite singer?
B: What is your favorite season of the year?
Br: What is your favorite color?
SAY: As each child answers the question according to the color of M&M he/she chooses, try to remember their answer. This is part of fellowship—when someone tells you something about herself, you should try to remember that fact. When we get to know each other better, we know how to be a better friend to that person. For example, if I know that you have a dog, then I can start a conversation with you by asking about what tricks your dog can do. The more you know about a person, the better friends you will become. Fellowship is about being a friend.
After each child has chosen an M&M and answered the question, pick people at random and ask who remembers what answer that student gave to their question. [You may need to write down the question they answered so you can lead this discussion. Be prepared to prompt students, in case they don’t remember—be careful not to embarrass the student about whom the question is being asked.]
3. Breaking Bread Table (Fellowship) - Food: Bread (use whole-grain loaf bread—consider having an olive oil/spice mixture for the students to dip their bread into)
READ Acts 2:46. “They broke bread in their homes every day.” What do you think that means? “Breaking bread” is a way of saying that they ate together. Eating is a great way to get to know people. And notice the second part of the verse—they were “happy to share their food with joyful hearts.” They invited each other over for dinner! Don’t you enjoy it when you have friends over for a meal? The early Christians did this every day. When you’re eating your meal, you’re usually relaxed and can have a really nice time. Do you have family dinners? It’s very important for families to eat together every day, too.
4. Prayer Table - Food: Pretzels (find “The Legend of the Pretzel” via a search engine)
ASK: What is prayer? [encourage answers] READ Acts 2:42.
ASK: What is a legend? [a story that has been handed down through the ages; it tells a story, although it cannot be proven to be absolutely true.] SAY: I have a legend to tell you today, about a pretzel and how it reminds us to pray. Read/Tell the story.
5. Sharing Everything Table - Food: Nothing
READ Acts 2:44. Remember—people had come to Jerusalem from all over the world for Pentecost, and some of them just didn’t go home after they became Christians. Some of them did not have enough food; Christians who had plenty shared so everyone had enough.
Draw a picture (5 min.) of something you could share or give away to help others…or some other way to help needy people. [While the children are drawing, talk about our clothing pantry and food pantry; talk about the backpacks that we stuff for the children in Honduras. Ask if any of the children have ever gone with their parents to serve food at the St. Francis House, the Ronald McDonald House, or the Hope Lodge.]
6. Worship Table - Food: Unleavened Bread (several recipes online—make your own, or buy matzoh)
READ Acts 2:42 and 2:46a, and Luke 22:19
What is worship?
The early church met at the synagogue and at homes, and they worshipped together every day. As Christians it is important to worship God at both home and church. Some families have a special evening devotional, they read the Bible together, they pray before meals, and they pray before they go to sleep at night.
The phrase “break bread” can mean eating together at a family meal, but it can also mean the Lord’s Supper—the special meal Jesus told his followers to eat to remember him. We sometimes call it “Communion.” The bread that we eat in the Lord’s Supper is called “unleavened bread,” which means it is a flat bread that doesn’t have yeast or anything else to make it rise up and get fluffy. Jesus took this kind of bread at the Passover Meal the night before he was arrested. He broke off a piece for each disciple and gave it to them to eat.
As we eat our unleavened bread, I’d like each person to share one thing you are thankful to God for.
7. Praising God Table - Food: Pop Rocks
Who has had pop rocks? What do they do?
People were so excited about what God was doing they couldn’t keep it inside! Singing is one of the BEST ways to praise God, and we have so many wonderful praise songs. Today I’m going to play a song, which you probably already know—“Lord, Reign in Me.” Do you know what the word “reign” means? [spell it] “Reign” means “rule,” or “be in charge.” A king “reigns” over the country. Jesus “reigns” over the church. We want Jesus to be in charge of us.
[Play the song “Lord, Reign in Me.” [CD and player available in City Hall. Play Track 14.] Encourage the children to sing along—play it more than once so they learn the song.]
8. FRUITS Table - Food: Fruitbar or pieces of fresh fruit
READ Acts 2:47. The very sweet results of the love in the early church was the Goodwill of the people—“all the people liked them.” But even better, more and more people were being saved every day. That is the real fruit of Christian service. Remember—Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world.” The people in the early church did this—they talked about Jesus to everybody they met. We’re supposed to do that today also. Who can you talk to this week about Jesus? [Encourage students to name someone, but do not pressure them to name someone aloud if they are hesitant.]
Closing
Close with a prayer: Dear God, Help us to be like the early Christians—help us to have agape love for each other—to share, to pray together, to eat together, to have fun together, to truly love each other. Help us to share the good news with our friends. This is our prayer in His holy name, Amen.
TheSunScool Bible App for Kids has MANY Book of Acts lesson presentations in it for kids ages 5 to 15.
The App is free, ecumenical, and can be downloaded for use on tablets, smartphones, Windows, and Mac! 
Get the download link and look up the story you need in our Outline of all 170+ stories in SunScool. That page also includes app helps.
The app has a lot of Level 1 and 2 stories in it for younger children, but for stories from Acts, only Pentecost and the story of Peter and Cornelius have Level 1 and 2 options. Fortunately it has nearly a dozen Acts stories for grades 2/3 and up!
The app has four age levels that you preselect when you open the app. That selection affects what stories you see and how they are titled, as well as the age level of narration and activities. Level 3 is the sweetspot for grades 3-5. A teacher can help younger children get through a Level 4 story and activities.
Here are excerpts from Rotation.org's Outline of the App's menu:
Level 3:
Level 4:
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