Readings Luke 10 v 38-41.
It was very hot and dusty walking along the road, and Jesus was so thirsty and tired. But he didn’t have much further to go. Jesus and some of his disciples were nearly at a town called Bethany. There some of their friends were, and they would give them food, drink and a place to stay.
Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived here and when they saw Jesus approaching there was great joy. Lazarus went out to meet and welcome his guest and friend, while Martha set about arranging a meal and tidying the house. Mary just wandered outside and when Jesus sat down, she also sat down at his feet and prepared to listen to him talking and sharing truths about God. Jesus always shared with them about God, heaven, how he had to die and rise again, and how we should live and act.
It was fascinating for Mary. She loved to listen and learn all she could. And Jesus explained things so clearly.
But Martha was not happy. Martha was very busy trying to clean the house, and cook the meal, and fuss around to have everything perfect. She was also grumbling..... ‘All this work to do. Where’s Mary? Sitting and relaxing I suppose, while I do all the work. I never get time to do that. She should be here helping me.’
In the end Martha sent a message out to Jesus – ‘Why do you let Mary just sit around and listen. Don’t you care that she has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me.’
But do you know what Jesus replied? He said ‘Martha, you are worried about so many things – but really only one thing is important – and Mary has chosen that one thing.’
What do you think that one thing was? (listening to what Jesus says)
That is one of the most important things for us to remember too. If it was best for Mary and Martha it is best for us too. We should always listen to what Jesus says.
Well now, how can WE listen to Jesus. He is not here for us to sit beside. He is not here on the earth now as He was then, so how do we listen to Him? (reading the Bible) – Jesus, who is God, speaks to us through the Bible. So that means it is very important to read our Bibles doesn’t it.
What sort of things does Jesus tell us in the Bible? (ask another leader to write on a card or board their answers – help mum, be kind to others, obey parents, don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t kill, be trustworthy, be fair and honest, love God etc)
To God you are very special. He loves you. And He has so much to share with you. The best way to learn about God is to sit and listen to stories about Him like you do at Rally or church, and to read your Bible or to get Mum or Dad to read it to you. That’s the way God talks to you, and that really pleases Him.
Crossword
1 down – What did Mary do when Jesus came? (listened)
2 across - How can we show Jesus we love Him? (obeying)
3 down – Where do we find Jesus advice and instruction? (Bible)
4 across – Who should we always listen to? (Jesus)
5 down – What was Mary’s sisters name? (Martha)
5 across – Who does Jesus want to have listening to Him? (me)
6 across – Who was Mary’s brother? (Lazarus)
LYDIA
Acts 16 v 11-15, 40.
A woman walked quickly out of the city to a spot by the river where a prayer meeting was going to be held. Her name was Lydia and she was a fairly wealthy and important person. She owned a business and had a large home with many servants. Lydia was called a ‘seller of purple’. Thyatira was the name of the city where Lydia was born, and it was famous for it’s scarlet and purple dyes. Maybe Lydia’s father was a seller of purple too and she learnt how to dye cloth from him. But she now lived in Philippi, and probably imported the purple cloth and sold it in her shop. Purple was the colour that kings and rich men wore, so Lydia would be an important business woman if she sold those things, and well known by them. Although she had a big house and many servants, and she would have worn the best of clothes, she wasn’t snobby. Instead she was very friendly and hospitable. She loved having folk in her home.
She worshipped God, but yet she didn’t know much about Jesus. It was because she wanted to please God that she was off to this prayer meeting now. The Jews apparently needed 10 men who worshipped God in a town, before they could build a synagogue (That’s a temple or church).
Maybe there weren’t 10 Jewish men here yet that loved God, so that could be why the prayer meeting was being held outside by the river.
Lydia arrived and sat down. Some strangers were there. The apostle Paul and his 3 friends had arrived from a town called Troas that very day, and they wanted to speak to the people about Jesus and God. Paul told them all how Jesus, God’s son, had come to earth as a baby, then grown up and died on the cross. He also told them all how Jesus had come alive again and by this, shown that death had no power over him. Then Paul explained that Jesus was punished for all the sins of the world. We should be punished for the things we do wrong, but Jesus was willing to be punished instead of us because he loved us so much. And that if we trust in Jesus, we can have our sins forgiven and belong in God’s family. Lydia listened very carefully. She was interested to hear all this and she believed all that Paul said. After the meeting she went and asked Paul heaps more questions. “How can I have my sins forgiven, be sure I belong to God?” So Paul explained – “all of us have sin in our heart. And sin isn’t allowed in Heaven. Also sin and wrongdoing has to be punished. But God loves us and wants to save us. So He sent His Son Jesus to be punished instead of us. It gives us the chance to choose to pray to God and ask Him to forgive our sins and come and live in our hearts. That way we become His child, and when we die we go to Heaven.”
Lydia understood it all. And she wanted to belong to God’s family, so she asked God to take away her sin and He did. What do we call a person who has done that? (a Christian)
Lydia was now at peace in her heart. She wanted everyone to know what God had done for her. Up she jumped and away she hurried, back home. She met a few people on her way and stopped and told them about God. Then she hurried on to her house. There she gathered all her servants together and shared with them about God and what she had learned. The Bible tells us that that all in Lydia’s house believed in God too.
Do you know what a missionary is? (tells people about God)
Lydia was a missionary in that she told people about what God had done for her. We don’t have to go to another country to be a missionary, or stand up and preach in church. We too can be missionaries like Lydia. We can tell our families and friends about God. We can be missionaries at school, or home, playing or working. We have to carry on with our normal life, but we can tell others how to be Christians and act in a way that pleases God. School will still be the same – but the difference is that Jesus will be living in us and helping us with our work and play.
Although Lydia was rich and important, she was also friendly and helpful. We should always be friendly and helpful to everyone too. That pleases God and shows others how Christians should act.
CROSSWORD
1. Where did Lydia come from? (Thyatira)
2. Where was she living now? (Philippi)
3. Who came and spoke at the meeting? (Paul)
4. What did Lydia sell? (Purple)
5. Where was the meeting held? (River)
6. Who did Lydia sell material to? (Rich)
7. Who did Paul talk about? (Jesus)
8. What did Lydia become? (Missionary)
PRISCILLA
How many of you want to get married when you grow up? (hands up) Well, that is a very special thing to aim for. We all think we are going to be happy every day of our lives if we fall in love with someone. They will be absolutely perfect! But not every day is perfect – even if you have the most wonderful husband and you are the best wife. Many days you feel sick or tired or unhappy for some reason. But we all want to do our best don’t we. Tonight we are going to look at a lady called Priscilla and see what her marriage was like.
Priscilla was married to a man named Aquilla. Every part of the Bible that talks about them, has both their names together. This is because they always did things together. They shared the same values and interests, and they even worked at the same job.
Priscilla and Aquilla were both Jews and they lived in the city of Rome. They studied the Old Testament books of the Bible and learned all about the special person God was going to send to earth – who was that? (Jesus)
Yes. And then one day Priscilla and Aquilla heard about Jesus and how he had come to earth, that he died on the cross and then amazingly how he had come alive again. They heard the stories the disciples told about seeing Jesus alive again and then watching him float up in the clouds to Heaven. They accepted Jesus into their hearts and became what we call Christians. This made them even more determined to live in a way that would best please God. They did their best to consider each other and try to be kind and helpful in their marriage – what else might they have done to live the way God would like? (ask for ideas).
Yes, Priscilla and Aquilla tried hard to do all these things. But then one day the Governor of the land said “All Jews must leave the city of Rome. We don’t want you here any more.” Wow! That was their home. What will they do? Well, they may have been a bit frightened at first – but they would have prayed and asked God to guide them. Then, along with many other Jews, they packed up their possessions and left Rome.
They had to leave behind their houses and land. They might have bought 2 bullocks and a cart and travelled a long slow trip with their possessions on the cart – just like many people still do in some countries today – to the coast. There they would get on a boat, and travel to some other place. Priscilla and Aquilla decided to go to Corinth. This was a big city in Greece. Here they settled down and began working again. They both did the same job. It was making tents. Maybe they even went to the edge of town and lived in one of their tents. They would have had to get specially cured goatskins, cow skins and camel skins and sew them together into large tents. Some people still live in tents like this today too – but back then there were lots of people who lived in tents, so they would have had plenty of work to do.
One day the great apostle Paul came to Corinth. The Bible talks a lot about Paul. Paul began preaching and teaching people all about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquilla heard him speak, and after he had finished they asked him to come and stay at their house with them. Paul was a tentmaker too so he could help them in their business while they helped him with shelter and food. Together they all made tents, and also told people about Jesus and God. Paul lived with them for 1 ½ years. They all worked hard together, loved God and helped each other.
But now it was time for Paul to leave Corinth and Priscilla and Aquilla decided to go with him. They travelled to Ephesus in a country called Turkey. Paul didn’t stay long here, but Priscilla and Aquilla did. They began a church there and shared Jesus with the people. One day a very clever man called Apollos came to Ephesus. He preached about God and was so interesting that everybody wanted to hear him – even if they weren’t interested in God they still wanted to hear Apollos talk. But although Apollos spoke about God, he didn’t know about Jesus and that Jesus was God’s son. He knew God had promised to send someone to save people from their sins, but he didn’t know he had already been.
So Priscilla and Aquilla took Apollos home with them and had him stay at their place. There they talked to him and shared from the Bible all about Jesus and how he was the one God had promised to send. So when Apollos preached again he knew more about God and Jesus, and so lots of people gave their hearts to Jesus and promised to follow him.
Priscilla was a female. In those days many ladies and girls were badly treated. If a man got tired of his wife he was allowed to divorce her. If he saw someone else he liked or even if she burnt his meal he could tell her to go. There were very few people in those days who stayed married to one person all their lives, but Priscilla and Aquilla did; and they showed others how to be happy and loving.
Remember the hard times they faced? They had to leave their country, their home, and their job and start again all over. But they didn’t lose their faith in God or their commitment to each other.
The Bible tells us about ordinary people like Priscilla and Aquilla so we can learn from them.
QUIZ (in teams)
1. Name the three cities that Priscilla lived in. (Rome, Ephesus, Corinth)
2. What was the name of Priscilla’s husband? (Aquilla)
3. What was their job? (making tents)
4. Who lived with them for a long time? (Paul)
5. Who didn’t Apollos know about? (Jesus)
6. What nationality were Priscilla and Aquilla? (Jews)
7. Who told them to leave Rome? (Governor)
8. What country is the city of Corinth in? (Greece)
9. What country is the city of Ephesus in? (Turkey) |
