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NT6.11 Peter Escapes from Prison © Beverly Wilson 2015

Unit 6 Early Church--Lesson 11

NT6.10 Peter Escapes from Prison

Scripture: Acts 12: 1-18

Lesson Goal: This lesson is about Peter the Apostle who preached about Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. In this lesson we will see how God miraculously saved Peter from prison. We will learn how God miraculously answers prayer even when things look completely hopeless.

Introduction: This is the eleventh lesson in Unit 6: The Early Church. This unit covers Acts 1-12 and tells the story of the apostles spreading the gospel in Jerusalem and Samaria. In this lesson we will see how God miraculously saved Peter from prison. This lesson comes from the book of Acts. Acts is the fifth book in the New Testament. This book was written by Luke the Apostle. The first four books of the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- tell about the life of Christ. The fifth book--Acts--tells about the beginning of the church. Let's say the first five books of the New Testament together--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.

Attention Getter: When we work together we know that we can also do so much more. Have you ever tossed your ball into the air and it got stuck in a tree. You could try to get the ball down by yourself but that would be very difficult. Another way to solve this problem is to get some friends to help you shake the tree. Then the ball might fall out by itself. Bu working with others you can solve problems that you might not be able to ever do alone. Did you know that when Christians face a problem that God tells us to pray together. Praying together is much more powerful! God hears when His people pray together about a problem. In our lesson today the Christians in the early church faced a big problem. We will learn what happened when they prayed together about it.

Opening Prayer: Dear God, thank You for giving us the gift of prayer. We’re glad You hear every prayer. Please help us to

remember to pray. Teach us to know the importance and the power of prayer. Help us to have total confidence in

Your ability to help us even in hard times. Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Memory Verse: Our memory verse is James 5: 16 "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and

effective."

Lesson Video: http://youtu.be/wixn0Djdaaw Just before Jesus went back to heaven he told the disciples that they should “Go into all the world and preach the good news about Jesus.”. Jesus promised that after He left He would send the Holy Spirit to help the disciples tell others about Jesus. Ten days after Jesus left for heaven the Holy Spirit came like tongues of fire on the disciples. Miraculously the disciples had the ability to speak many different languages. All the people heard about Jesus in their own language! Many people believed in Jesus as their Savior. They were baptized. One day there was three thousand that believed. Another day there were five thousand people! The church grew and grew! The believers were to tell people in Jerusalem first, then in Samarian and the Judea, and finally to the whole world.

At first Peter and John were the main preachers in Jerusalem but soon they were traveling to other cities. As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he healed a crippled man. Then Peter was called to go to Joppa where a woman named Dorcas who helped the poor by sewing and making clothing had died. Peter prayed and the Lord raised Dorcas back to life! After staying in Joppa for a while Peter was told by God to go to the house of Cornelius. God used a sheet full of animals to help Peter understand that God loved everyone and wanted them in His family. Peter obeyed the Lord and went to the house of Cornelius and preached about Jesus. Cornelius' family even though they were not Jews believed and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then Peter returned to the city of Jerusalem.

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NT6.11 Peter Escapes from Prison © Beverly Wilson 2015

After this many Gentiles were hearing the gospel especially in the city of Antioch. They were also believing in Jesus. Both Jews and Gentiles were being baptized. The church was growing and growing just like Jesus had commanded the disciples to do.

But not everyone was happy with the growth of the church especially the Jewish people living in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was ruled by a very wicked king named King Herod Agrippa. The Romans had appointed Herod to be king because they knew that he would do all he could to please the Jewish priests and rulers. King Herod had already put many of the believers in prison. He also had arrested James one of the twelve disciples who had followed Jesus. King Herod had him executed with a sword. He also had killed many believers. So King Herod was a very evil man!

When Peter returned to Jerusalem, King Herod also decided to arrest Peter. He planned to kill Peter just after the Passover Feast. King Herod wanted to kill Peter because he was telling others about Jesus. Peter had not done anything wrong. The people in the church knew that King Herod had arrested Peter. They knew that the king planned to kill Peter. So they began to pray. The Christians knew that prayer changes things. They prayed constantly every day for Peter even though the possibility of rescuing Peter from Herod seemed hopeless. King Herod wanted to make sure that no one tried to help Peter escape. He had four squads of four soldiers each guarding Peter. That is sixteen soldiers guarding Peter! In addition to that Peter had chains around his arms and legs! It looked like Peter would be killed!

One night while Peter was in prison, he was SLEEPING between two soldiers in the jail. Peter was obviously trusting God to take care of him even when he faced great danger. Suddenly Peter's jail cell was bright with light. God had sent an angel to help Peter! The angel woke Peter. "Quick, get up!" the angel said. Peter looked down. The chains around his arms and legs fell off! The angel told him to get dressed. Peter quickly put on his clothes and shoes and followed the angel. The gates to the jail opened. The guards were asleep, so they didn't stop Peter and the angel!

When the last big iron gate opened up, Peter must have thought he was dreaming! Suddenly the angel was gone. Peter said, "Now I know God sent that angel to rescue me!"

Peter walked down through the lonely dark streets in Jerusalem. He went right to his friend's house where the other believers were gathered together to pray for him. He couldn't wait to tell them that God had helped him! Peter knocked at the door. A servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Before she opened the door, she asked, "Who is it?"

"It's ME!" said Peter. Rhoda was so excited she left Peter outside and ran right back to tell the people who were praying."Peter is at the door!" she shouted. Everyone looked up at her in surprise. They thought Rhoda had made a mistake! They were sure that Peter was still in jail.

All this time Peter was still knocking at the door! Finally his friends opened the door. Peter then motioned for them to be quiet while he told them all about how the Lord had brought him out of prison. He told the believers to tell the others about what had happened. Then Peter left the city and went to another place.

They were so happy to see Peter! Peter told them all about the angel, the gates that opened, the guards that didn't stop him--everything! Peter's friends were amazed. They were so happy that Peter was free from jail. They knew that God was all powerful and so they began to give thanks to God. Later God brought judgment to King Herod Agrippa for being so evil. One day when the king was claiming to be god, the Lord sent an angel and struck him dead. King Herod got what he deserved.

God was with Peter all the time-- even when he was in prison! God showed His love to Peter in a wonderful way. Did you know that God promises to be with you, too? His Word tells us to be strong and courageous and not to get discouraged because He will be with us where ever we go. Sometimes God allows hard times to come into our lives. He doesn't keep difficult times from coming into our lives because He knows that our faith grows when

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we go through trials. He wants us to trust Him. If Jesus is our Savior then we can trust in God. And if we are going through a trial, instead of getting angry, worried, or upset, we can trust Him for quietness and peace on the inside. Remember, He is with you every minute and will cause everything to turn out for good. Remember Let's pray and ask God to help us!

Review Questions: Bible Jeopardy Since this is the last lesson in the unit, it is a good time for review of the Bible stories in the Unit. Bible Jeopardy is a great way to review. Choose questions from the stories in this unit and write them on a 3"x5" cards and place in the Bible Jeopardy game pockets. To make the Bible Jeopardy wall hanging, use an old sheet or quilt. Cut out the letters for Bible Jeopardy and zigzag stitch them to the top of the wall hanging. Sew different colored pockets in rows to the quilt to make the Jeopardy game board. The top pocket of the row is for the category (name of the story.) The 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 pockets are for the questions. A simple form of this game is to use sticky notes attached to a dry marker board. Just use a marker board, small and medium sized sticky notes. Write questions on the smaller sticky notes and place under the larger sticky notes with the value of the question. Use larger sticky notes for the category. Try to choose questions based on difficulty in answering for the different valued pockets. The game board can be used with any unit as a review! Questions for "Peter Escapes Prison" lesson: 1. Who did Herod have put to death by a sword? (James the brother of John)

2. Why did Herod arrest Peter? (Because he saw that the Jews were pleased when James was put to death)

3. What feast were the Jews celebrating? (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

4. What were the believers doing while Peter was in prison? (Urgently praying) 5. When Peter was sleeping in his prison cell, who tapped him on the shoulder and released him from prison?

An angel 6. How did the angel get Peter out of the prison past all of the guards? It was a miracle- the angel walked with

Peter and they just walked by all of the groups of guards. The iron gate to the city just opened all by itself and they walked through it. After that the angel “suddenly left him.”

7. How did God change Peter’s impossible situation? (An angel rescued him from prison) 8. Who answered the door of the house where the believers were praying? (Rhoda)

9. Why do you think the believers were not expecting Peter to be at the door? (They were praying but did not

really fully believe because the situation seemed impossible. They were probably very discouraged about the

death of James earlier and felt that Peter's release was impossible.)

10. Why did Herod die? (He allowed people to praise him as though he were a god)

11. What continued to spread even though believers faced difficulties? (God’s Word)

12. Which person in the story are you most like? Are you like Peter and the believers who trust God despite difficulties or are you like Herod who allowed sin to control his life?

13. What changes will you make in your day to day life after hearing this story? Will you spend more time in prayer and Bible reading? Will you pray for others you know are having a difficult time?

Bible Memory Verse Activity: Praying Hands Our memory verse is James 5: 16 "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." We need to learn to talk to God and ask Him to give us peace about the situation and trust that He will make everything work out for the best. God will hear and answer our prayers in a powerful way. Help students look up the scripture in the Bible. Have a student read the verse. Repeat the verse together.

Today we are going to make some praying hands. Use a 81/2" X 11" piece of white cardstock for each child. Place the child's right hand on the left hand

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side of the card. Make sure there are no spaces between any of the fingers. Trace. Place the child's left hand to the right of the right hand. Make sure the little finger and complete side of the hand are touching the tracing of its counterpart. Trace as above. Cut out the two hands except down the middle where the two hands meet. Fold in half so that they look like praying hands. Write the memory verse in the middle. Decorate as desired.

Group Learning Activity: Power of Prayer

Spread a blanket on the floor. Have children stand around the edges of the blanket without touching it. Have an adult or large child lie on the blanket, then say, "Let's see if any of you can carry the person on the blanket by yourself." Let one or two children try to lift the blanket and carry the person. Then say, "Carrying someone on a blanket isn’t easy to do by yourself. But what happens when lots of people join in? Let’s see!" Encourage everyone to hold an edge of the blanket, gently lift the person, and carry him or her a few feet across the room. Say, "See? When we all join together, we’re stronger!" Gently set the blanket and the person down. When we work together, great things happen. Prayer is just like that. When lots of people pray together, wonderful things happen."

Group Learning Activity: Paper Chains (Gr. K-3) Peter was put in chains when he was put in prison. Talk about how Peter got out of jail. Pass out strips of paper approximately 1" x 8". Use colored construction paper or white drawing paper to make paper strips. Have students glue or staple the strips together to make a paper chain. Act out the story of the putting chains on Peter and then the angel breaking the chains! This is a fun way to help students remember the story!

Craft Activity: "God is With Me" Necklace (Gr. K-3) Supplies: 3" poster board circles, markers, hole punch, yarn, scissors, uncooked rigatoni Or you can use small wooden spools or drinking straws cut into 1" pieces. Print "God is With You" on each of the 3" poster board circles. Cut yarn into 3 foot lengths. Wrap tape around one end of the yarn to make a pointed end. Children are to thread three to six pieces of rigatoni (uncooked large macaroni) onto half of the yarn. Add the circle, and then add three or more pieces of rigatoni onto the remainder of yarn. Tie ends together to form necklaces. Hint: To make colored rigatoni, use about 1/4 cup of alcohol for every one or two cups of pasta. Use large ziploc bags (gallon or quart size) that seal very tightly. Use a different bag for each of the colors you want to make. In the plastic bag add 1/4-1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol and 10-12 drops of food coloring you want that bag of rigatoni to be. Swish alcohol and food coloring until well mixed. Add the rigatoni and squish the bag several times to move the pasta around in the bag. Lay bags on cookie sheets to catch any spills. Allow the pasta to sit in the ziploc bags. Flip them over every 30 minutes for a couple of hours. The longer you let them sit the more vibrant the colors. When you have the pasta the desired color, drain the colored alcohol out of the bag and set the pasta out to dry on newspaper. Generally you need to let the pasta dry overnight. Pack by color to take to children for craft activity. Say: "The Bible says, "God is with you where ever you go." Today we're going to make necklaces that you can wear where ever you go." Ask children to name places that they go. Ex. home, school, park, store, library. Emphasize that where ever they go, God is with them!

Craft Activity: "Wherever We Go" Thumbprint Art God was with Peter and the early disciples wherever they went preaching the gospel. God is with us wherever we go. Today we are going to make an art picture of help us think about God being with us." Have students use marking pens to draw a road or path across the paper. Give students stamp pads to make fingerprint foot prints on the road.

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Say: "Let's make some roads and paths that take us places. You can use different forms of transportation: walking, trains, cars, buses, airplanes. Use you markers to form the backgrounds. Then make fingerprint drawings on the picture. Say: "When you leave church today, where will you go? God is with you. God loves us all the time. I am glad that God is with me on a plane trip. Your fingerprint is your unique design. God made you and is with you everywhere!"

Craft Activity: J-O-Y Mobile Give each of the students three cardboard letters J-O-Y and a wire coat hanger. Explain. "Today we learned about a time when the whole church prayed for Peter. Some amazing things happened when the church prayed together. Praying together has great power! We are going to make a mobile that we can hang in our rooms to help us remember how we should pray. We should pray about J-- Jesus (and the good things He has done) first because He is most important. Then we can pray about O--Others next so that God can help them. Lastly, you can pray about Y--Yourself and the needs that you have. At the end of class we can all pray together." Have students decorate the JOY letters with markers, glitter, or other decorations. Punch a hole at the top of each letter. Using strings of yarn, tie the letters to the bottom of the wire hanger at various lengths.

Craft Activity: Peter At the Door (Gr. K-3) Give each student a copy of the craft pages of Peter at the Door below. Have them color and decorate the pictures. Depending on the age of the students, cut the door along the top, bottom, and left edge so that it opens and closes. Have the students glue the page with Peter to the back of the page with the door. When the student opens the door, he or she will be able to see Peter.

Group Learning Activity: Peter's Escape Have the children run a relay race using Peter’s escape from prison as a model. To play this game, bring to class two pairs of adult sandals, two large t-shirts, and two bathrobes. The children should be divided into two teams of the same number of children. Each team will need a helper, who will play the part of the angel. When the game begins, each “angel” will direct the first child from their team to put on the shirt, sandals, and bathrobe (like Peter putting on his clothes) and then will direct the child through an obstacle course as quickly as possible (like Peter escaping from prison). When the child finishes his course, he should return to his team and take off the sandals, T-shirt, and bathrobe. The helper can then direct the next child to do the same thing. When all the children on one team finish the course, that team wins.

Group Learning Activity: Five Finger Prayer Use your own hands to demonstrate the following way to remember how to pray. Have children follow your demonstration by imitating the actions. Say: "Today, I want to show you a way to remember how to pray. It is called the "Five Finger Prayer."

First, I want you to put your hands together in front of you as if you are praying. Keep your eyes open so that you can see your hands. You will notice that the closest finger to you is the thumb. Since it is the closest to you, the thumb reminds you to pray for those that are closest to you. Pray for your parents and your brothers or sisters.

The next finger is called your index finger. It is used for pointing. Let this finger remind you to pray for those that point you in the right direction. Pray for your teachers at school, your Sunday School teacher, and your pastor.

The next finger is the tallest finger. This finger reminds us to pray for our leaders. Pray for the president and other leaders in our government and those who are leaders in our town.

The fourth finger is the called the ring finger. Did you know that this is the weakest of all the fingers? Just ask anyone who plays the piano and they will tell you that is true. Let this finger remind you to pray for those who are sick.

The next finger is the smallest finger. The Bible says, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought." Let the little finger remind you to pray for yourself.

J O Y

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So the next time you are talking to God, and you can't think of anything to say, let the "Five Finger Prayer" help you. Lead the children in prayer: "Dear Lord, we thank you for prayer. It is good to have a friend to talk to, but even friends sometimes have trouble thinking of something to say. Help us to remember this "Five Finger Prayer" to remember those who need our prayers. Amen.

Group Learning Activity: Bible Sword Drill Distribute Bibles to every student. Say: "Today we are going to find scriptures that are about God's power and ability to do anything. Let's see you can find the scripture reference first in their Bible." Help students find scriptures. Allow students who have more difficulty in finding the scriptures read also. Use Jeremiah 32:17; Exodus 14:31; Joshua 4:24; 1 Chronicles 29:12; 2 Chronicles 25:8; Job 5:15; Psalm 18:17; Isaiah 40:10; Matthew 19:26

Snack Learning Activity: Pretzels

Pretzels were first made by monks who gave them as rewards to children who had learned their prayers. The special twisted shape looks like the folded arms of a child praying. The word pretzel means reward. Pass out purchased or the home baked pretzels for students to eat during the activity period of your class. Home baked Pretzels: Ingredients: 2 loaves (16oz) frozen whole wheat bread dough, thawed; 1 egg white; 1 tsp water; Coarse salt, optional. Thaw dough in refrigerator overnight. Roll into 24 balls (12 each loaf). Roll into ropes and shape into pretzels by forming a knot and looping ends through. Place 1 inch apart on well greased cookie sheet. Let stand 20 minutes. Combine egg whites with water and brush on pretzels. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Group Learning Activity: Dramatic Play Use Bible times costumes. Help each child choose a Bible story character to be: Peter, soldiers, angel, Peter's friends and Rhoda. Briefly tell the story, guiding the children to act out the story. Children can knock on the wall or table at the appropriate time. Provide black paper strips made into a chain for Peter's chains. Children can twist the black paper chain around Peter's wrists and ankles. Then the angel can pull the chains off! Give simple directions so children can know how to act out the story. "Today in our Bible story, Peter was put in jail, even though he had not done anything that was wrong. God helped Peter escape from jail. Soldiers guarded Peter but an angel came and led Peter out of the jail. Peter went to a friend's house and knocked on the door. When a girl named Rhoda came to the door, she was so excited that she left the door closed and ran to tell Peter's friends. Peter's friends were praying. Peter kept knocking at the door. Finally Peter's friends realized it was Peter and they were surprised. God was with Peter in jail. God is with us wherever we go, too."

Group Learning Activity: Discussion (Gr. 3-5) Have students read Acts 12:1-19 together. Lead students in a discussion using the following questions: 1. Why did God allow James to be killed with the sword and yet miraculously save Peter? (Acts 12:2) (Life is full

of difficult questions like this. Why is one child physically disabled and another child athletically gifted? These are questions we cannot possibly answer in this life because we do not see all that God sees. He has chosen to allow evil in this world for a time. But we can trust God’s leading because he has promised to destroy all evil eventually. In the meantime, we know that God will help us use our suffering to strengthen us and glorify Him. You can have confidence in God even in hard times.

2. Why do you think Peter was able to sleep when he knew Herod was planning to kill him the next day? (Acts 12:6) Look up John 21:18. Peter had Jesus’ promise that he would live to an old age. God always keeps His promises. Peter knew God is in control of every situation. You can have confidence in God even in hard times.

3. Even though the possibility of rescuing Peter from Herod seemed hopeless, what did the believers do? (Acts 12:5) (They prayed. Prayer changes things, so you should pray often and with confidence. You can have confidence in God even in hard times. )

4. Why did the believers think Rhoda was out of her mind? (Acts 12:15) (They didn’t believe it was really Peter! The prayers of the group of believers were answered, even as they prayed. But when the answer arrived at the door, they didn’t believe it. We should be people of faith who believe that God answers our prayers. When

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you pray, believe you will get an answer. And when the answer comes, don’t be surprised; be thankful. Remember our Memory verse, James 5:16.

5. In verse 17, Peter tells the believers to "Go tell these things...to the brethren." Can you imagine what the other believers did when they heard how God had delivered Peter from prison? (They no doubt realized the power of prayer, understood that God is all-powerful, and gave thanks to God. Seeing God work in this hard situation in such a great way strengthened their faith, gave them joy and renewed their courage. So you should always share with others the great things that God does for you! It will encourage people to put their trust in God, even in hard times.)

Life Application Challenge: Prayer Notebook Ask students if they have ever experienced a really big prayer being answered. Begin with a recent time the Lord answered a prayer for you. If possible, you can share about someone they know in such a way that they can see that the Lord answered the prayer. Ask them to share a time they prayed for someone and how the Lord answered their prayer. Discuss how God answers prayer with yes, no, and wait. Help students understand how important it is to trust God. Help them express their feelings about why it’s so hard when they get a “no” or “wait” answer. Talk to the children about the fact that a “no” or “wait” is because the Lord always knows what is best for us and it might not be the right time for us to receive it. Personally take time to pray specifically for a child's needs. Give out a small spiral bound notebook to each child. Have students write My Prayer Journal on the front cover and their name. After talking about prayer have students write down specific requests. Encourage the students to pray daily for their requests. This will help the children see how God answers prayers.

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Peter Escapes from Prison

Acts 12: 1

James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

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