Paul Goes Before Agrippa Acts 25:13-26:32 MEMORY VERSE ACTS 26:28 Then Agrippa Said to Paul, "You Alm Ost Persuade M E to Becom E a Christian."
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Lesson 307 Paul Goes Before Agrippa Acts 25:13-26:32 MEMORY VERSE ACTS 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You alm ost persuade m e to becom e a Christian." WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A paper crown. A nice looking jar with pungent contents, construction paper and markers. ATTENTION GRABBER! Keep Your Shoes On In our culture we are rarely ready to go anywhere without our shoes on, so in this game it is a symbol of being ready, or keeping our spiritual shoes on (“having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace”; Ephesians 6:15). Being ready to share would include knowing what to share. Ask your students what they would tell someone who does not know Jesus about the gospel. Provide some tracts for them to share with friends. Have a shoe relay by letting the kids take off their shoes and mixing them in a pile at one end of the room. Divide into two teams. Let one child from each team go to the pile and find one of his shoes and put it on (they do not have to tie laces). Then go to the end of the line. When all the team members have both shoes on that team is finished. LESSON TIME! Today we are going to learn that we should take every opportunity to tell others about Jesus. Romans 1:16a tells us "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God's salvation to everyone who believes.” Did you know that God is always placing us in situations where we can share His love with others? Maybe a friend of yours gets hurt or is going through a difficult time. These are all opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Paul was in prison and used that as an opportunity to tell a king about Jesus. AC T S 25:13-14 An d af t e r s o m e d ay s Ki n g Agr i p p a an d B e r n i c e c am e t o C ae s ar e a t o gr e e t Fe s t u s . Wh e n t h e y h ad be e n t h e r e m an y d ay s , Fe s t u s l ai d Pau l 's c as e be f o r e t h e k i n g, s ay i n g: " T h e r e i s a c e r t ai n m an l e f t a p r i s o n e r by Fe l i x ,” Paul was born to a Roman citizen who was also a Pharisee (a Jewish leader); Paul had a Jewish heritage, but he could also use his birthrights as a Roman citizen to get a fair trial. As the king and his daughter met with Festus, the new governor of the land, and all his leaders, and they began to consider the case of the Apostle Paul. AC T S 25:15-20 " abo u t w h o m t h e c h i e f p r i e s t s an d t h e e l d e r s o f t h e J e w s i n f o r m e d m e , w h e n I w as i n J e r u s al e m , as k i n g f o r a j u d gm e n t agai n s t h i m . “T o t h e m I an s w e r e d , 'I t i s n o t t h e c u s t o m o f t h e R o m an s t o d e l i v e r an y m an t o d e s t r u c t i o n be f o r e t h e ac c u s e d m e e t s t h e ac c u s e r s f ac e t o f ac e , an d h as o p p o r t u n i t y t o an s w e r f o r h i m s e l f c o n c e r n i n g t h e c h ar ge agai n s t h i m .' “T h e r e f o r e w h e n t h e y h ad c o m e t o ge t h e r , w i t h o u t an y d e l ay , t h e n e x t d ay I s at o n t h e j u d gm e n t s e at an d c o m m an d e d t h e m an t o be br o u gh t i n . “Wh e n t h e ac c u s e r s s t o o d u p , t h e y br o u gh t n o ac c u s at i o n agai n s t h i m o f s u c h t h i n gs as I s u p p o s e d , “bu t h ad s o m e qu e s t i o n s agai n s t h i m abo u t t h e i r o w n r e l i gi o n an d abo u t o n e , J e s u s , w h o h ad d i e d , w h o m Pau l af f i r m e d t o be al i v e . “An d be c au s e I w as u n c e r t ai n o f s u c h qu e s t i o n s , I as k e d w h e t h e r h e w as w i l l i n g t o go t o J e r u s al e m an d t h e r e be j u d ge d c o n c e r n i n g t h e s e m at t e r s .” As the king and the governor discussed Paul's case, it had become clear that a trial would be needed. The disagreement was based on the person, Jesus, and was between the Jewish religious leaders and Paul. The governor had originally wanted to take Paul to Jerusalem to have the matter heard. But since Paul was a Roman citizen he made an appeal to go to Ceasar. AC T S 25:21-22 " B u t w h e n Pau l ap p e al e d t o be r e s e r v e d f o r t h e d e c i s i o n o f Au gu s t u s , I c o m m an d e d h i m t o be k e p t t i l l I c o u l d s e n d h i m t o C ae s ar ." T h e n Agr i p p a s ai d t o Fe s t u s , " I al s o w o u l d l i k e t o h e ar t h e m an m y s e l f .” “T o m o r r o w ," h e s ai d , " y o u s h al l h e ar h i m ." Festus did not know where to begin looking for the truth as Jesus was crucified some 25 years earlier. Paul was unwilling to stay for a trial in Jerusalem, he requested to go all the way to the top of the Roman Empire. This account of Paul intrigued Agrippa and he called for a meeting with Paul. Perhaps Agrippa was just curious or maybe he had heard other things about Jesus and wanted to know more. He was certainly curious about what Paul had to say. There are a lot of people in the world who are curious about Jesus. How we need to be faithful to share with them the truth of Jesus whenever we have the opportunity. We should take every opportunity to tell others about Jesus. AC T S 25:23-27 S o t h e n e x t d ay , w h e n Agr i p p a an d B e r n i c e h ad c o m e w i t h gr e at p o m p , an d h ad e n t e r e d t h e au d i t o r i u m w i t h t h e c o m m an d e r s an d t h e p r o m i n e n t m e n o f t h e c i t y , at Fe s t u s ' c o m m an d Pau l w as br o u gh t i n .