In this lesson, the children will discover that faith is the key to receiving the gift of Salvation, and out of faith we are to trust in Christ alone, confess His Holy name before others, be repentant of our sins, and finally in obedience to His Word, be baptized.
 

Work Folders: Have the children's work folders available as they arrive.

Verse Worksheet 2 Click Here  [PDF]
Have the children take Verse Worksheet 2 from their folder, and have them paraphrase the last three verses (John 3: 36; Romans 10: 9; and Acts 2: 38. When finished, ask for two or more volunteers to share their paraphrases for all six verses. Then have them place the worksheet back into their folders to take home.
   

After prayer, ask the class about their homework assignment. They were to read about the time Jesus calmed the storm from Matthew 8: 23-27.

Discuss the following question:
1. Why did Jesus tell the disciples they had little faith? (They were putting their faith, in their own abilities rather than in Jesus. They knew they had no power over the storm, but also did not fully believe that Jesus did.)
2. How is faith related to not being afraid? Afraid of what? (Fearful things will still exist, but having faith in Jesus will help keep us from becoming powerless because of fear)
 

Faith can be described in this way.(Write the following acrostic on the board and encourage all the kids to copy it somewhere on their folder.)

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10: 32

Have everyone find this verse in their Bible, and read it together several times.

Jesus is speaking these words. "Acknowledge" in this instance means to announce before others that Jesus is who He claims to be, and to accept his power and authority over your life. In other versions of the Bible, the verse may read, "Whoever confesses me before men..."

Have everyone read the verse again, but this time replace the words acknowledges and acknowledge with the words confesses and confess. Have everyone recite the verse one more time after discussion of the following:

Discussion Questions:
1. Who should we acknowledge Jesus to? (Other people)
2. Who does Jesus acknowledge us to? (God)
3. Why do you believe Jesus says that we must acknowledge or confess him before others?
4. What may happen if we don't acknowledge or confess Jesus? (He will not acknowledge us before God)
5. Is it enough to simply state that Jesus is who he says he is? (no, we also must put our trust in him, and
   accept his power and authority over our life.)
 

Introduction:
In our Bible study today, we will be picking up just after the Disciples received the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Shortly after that, Peter addressed the crowds, and preached the Good News to all of them about who Jesus really is and what He accomplished on the cross. Let's pick up the story in Acts 2: 37.

Read Acts 2: 37-47 

Discussion Questions:
1. Why does Peter say "repent" in verse 38? What does "repent" mean? (To turn from - to change directions. Peter says we must turn from our sin and turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior.)

2. What else does Peter suggest the people do besides repenting of their sin? (Be baptized)

3. What is promised to the people if they do what Peter suggests? (Their sins are forgiven and they will received the gift of the Holy Spirit)

4. Peter lets the crowd know who can be saved. Who? (Those hearing, their children, people far off, all who the Lord calls)

5. Do you believe the Lord is calling you?

6. What changes took place in the lives of the new believers? (Allow the class to look through verses 42-47 and list them on the board)

My Prayer of Faith
Have the children take "My Prayer of Faith" completed during lesson 2 from their folders. Suggest each student take some time to review their prayer of faith, and then allow time for each student who is ready, to actually pray their prayer to God. Afterwards, have those who prayed their prayer of faith to raise their hand, so you will know who is ready to make a commitment to follow Jesus.
 

We covered quite a lot of information during this lesson series. We learned that no matter how hard we try, we will never be good enough to get to heaven on our own. Yet, it is a free gift. We also learned that we are sinners. Sin will keep us from having a relationship with God in heaven, and God is just. He must punish sin, which is eternal death. However, God is also merciful. He loves us and does not want to punish us.

In order to save us, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus to die for us. Jesus was completely without sin. He got what he did not deserve, to keep us from getting what we do deserve, death. Finally, we learned that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we can take hold of the Grace of God, and receive eternal life.

By praying the prayer of faith, we turn our lives over to the Lordship of Jesus. By confessing His name before others, we show that we acknowledge that He alone is Lord, our Lord and Savior. We can then take hold of the promise, that Jesus forgives our sins and gives us the Holy Spirit. In obedience, we repent of our sins, meaning to turn away from them and live a new life in Christ, and express this in baptism.