God is Always Working
Today in Calvary Kids, We will see some people believe but others who don’t want to believe. Some hearts are just not ready to accept Jesus and it could be for many reasons.
But whether we see people believe or not, God is always working! He can work behind the scenes. We might not see it, but we can trust its happening.
Read Acts 19:1-20
Paul ended up visiting some places on his way to Ephesus. While he was visiting, he came across people who already believed and knew who Jesus was. Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit, but they said they had not even heard of Him! They were missing such an important piece of the puzzle with not knowing who the Holy Spirit was.
Paul then asked them about baptism. They said they knew about the baptism that John spoke of. He then talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit comes upon us in such a way it covers us like water to empower us to do ministry. Paul prayed for them and they received that empowering of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I bet they were so excited and couldn’t believe what was happening! It says they even began speaking in different languages and prophesying.
Paul worked hard for a long time just talking to others about Jesus. That takes a lot of faith!
God continued to work through Paul, even though there were many people against him.
Just like for us there might be some people out that won’t listen to us but we should always keep sharing and living our lives to be good examples of Him.
At the same time God was using Paul to do really special miracles, other things were happening as well. Sceva, who were the names of leading Jewish Priests, would try to force evil spirits out by using the name of the Lord. They would say, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!” But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, “I
know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” God’s power was so strong People were trying to be like Paul and heal people. But in verse 15 it says an evil spirit
spoke to the Jews and were like yeah we know Jesus and Paul, but who are you? It didn’t work when they tried to get rid of the spirits because God didn’t give them the power to do it. He gave Paul the power, but not these other men. Only God can do a miracle like that. And He chooses to use regular people as part of His work
So after the Jews talked to the evil spirit, the evil spirit attacked them. It said it was stronger than 7 of them! That must have been a pretty crazy thing to see. But who is stronger than an evil spirit, or any man, or anything? God is!
This whole scene caused people to fear God because they found out that the True God has more power than their magic books. People were then confessing things they had done that were not good, and changing how they lived their lives. It says that they even brought books they used for magic and burned them, even though they were worth a lot
of money. (50,000 silver coins is about 1-5 million dollars today). That is a lot of money!
They gave up all that money because they knew God was worth more. They had true repentance, which meant they turned away from the bad thing they were doing and asked for forgiveness.
We all need to repent when we are doing something that God does not want us doing.
Yes, even Christians can get into trouble, and need to turn away and repent from things.
Thankfully, we have a God who forgives us and loves us! It can be really hard to give up things for God, but these people were truly sorry for the things they had been doing and wanted to show that they were done with that. They had a heart to really want to follow God.
Only God could move someone to do something like that. God is always working and He was working here in a powerful way. His word spreads powerfully because He has the power to do all things in us and through us. Allow Him to work in your life today and if there is something you need to turn away from, now is the time!
Discussion Questions:
1. What is baptism?
2. Does baptism save us?
3. Who is the Holy Spirit?
4. Why do you think some people don’t want to believe in Jesus?
5. What are some reasons we know Jesus is real and it can help show people they can believe in him?
6. What are some things that could distract us from God?
7. What could you give up to Jesus, maybe something you shouldn’t be doing?
Memory Verse:
"So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing." Acts 19:20
But whether we see people believe or not, God is always working! He can work behind the scenes. We might not see it, but we can trust its happening.
Read Acts 19:1-20
Paul ended up visiting some places on his way to Ephesus. While he was visiting, he came across people who already believed and knew who Jesus was. Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit, but they said they had not even heard of Him! They were missing such an important piece of the puzzle with not knowing who the Holy Spirit was.
Paul then asked them about baptism. They said they knew about the baptism that John spoke of. He then talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit comes upon us in such a way it covers us like water to empower us to do ministry. Paul prayed for them and they received that empowering of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I bet they were so excited and couldn’t believe what was happening! It says they even began speaking in different languages and prophesying.
Paul worked hard for a long time just talking to others about Jesus. That takes a lot of faith!
God continued to work through Paul, even though there were many people against him.
Just like for us there might be some people out that won’t listen to us but we should always keep sharing and living our lives to be good examples of Him.
At the same time God was using Paul to do really special miracles, other things were happening as well. Sceva, who were the names of leading Jewish Priests, would try to force evil spirits out by using the name of the Lord. They would say, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!” But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, “I
know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” God’s power was so strong People were trying to be like Paul and heal people. But in verse 15 it says an evil spirit
spoke to the Jews and were like yeah we know Jesus and Paul, but who are you? It didn’t work when they tried to get rid of the spirits because God didn’t give them the power to do it. He gave Paul the power, but not these other men. Only God can do a miracle like that. And He chooses to use regular people as part of His work
So after the Jews talked to the evil spirit, the evil spirit attacked them. It said it was stronger than 7 of them! That must have been a pretty crazy thing to see. But who is stronger than an evil spirit, or any man, or anything? God is!
This whole scene caused people to fear God because they found out that the True God has more power than their magic books. People were then confessing things they had done that were not good, and changing how they lived their lives. It says that they even brought books they used for magic and burned them, even though they were worth a lot
of money. (50,000 silver coins is about 1-5 million dollars today). That is a lot of money!
They gave up all that money because they knew God was worth more. They had true repentance, which meant they turned away from the bad thing they were doing and asked for forgiveness.
We all need to repent when we are doing something that God does not want us doing.
Yes, even Christians can get into trouble, and need to turn away and repent from things.
Thankfully, we have a God who forgives us and loves us! It can be really hard to give up things for God, but these people were truly sorry for the things they had been doing and wanted to show that they were done with that. They had a heart to really want to follow God.
Only God could move someone to do something like that. God is always working and He was working here in a powerful way. His word spreads powerfully because He has the power to do all things in us and through us. Allow Him to work in your life today and if there is something you need to turn away from, now is the time!
Discussion Questions:
1. What is baptism?
2. Does baptism save us?
3. Who is the Holy Spirit?
4. Why do you think some people don’t want to believe in Jesus?
5. What are some reasons we know Jesus is real and it can help show people they can believe in him?
6. What are some things that could distract us from God?
7. What could you give up to Jesus, maybe something you shouldn’t be doing?
Memory Verse:
"So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing." Acts 19:20
Posted in Calvary Kids