Lydia--Woods

Scripture: Acts 16:13-15

Memory Verse for this rotation: “Be good soil. Good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and spread them to others who will soon believe.” Luke 8:15

Concepts to be learned by children:
* Baptism is a key component to our relationship with Christ.
* Lydia is good model of Godly behavior.

Materials:
• Doughnuts, Water, Glasses, & Napkins (found in the kitchen)
• Journals (with Shepherd)
• Pencils (with Shepherd)
• Bibles—one per student for grades 3-6th.
• Costumes
• Blue fabric for water
• Doll to baptize.
• Water for baptizing.
• Copies of baptism service
• Memory Verse Prompts

Objectives:
* Students will consider the important of Baptism in their relationship with Christ.
* Students will act out the story of Lydia’s baptism.
* Students will participate in a reflection/closing prayer time.

Presenter Preparation:
Prior to Sunday Morning:
1. Read the scripture passage and do the Leader’s Bible Study
2. Read through the lesson plan provided and ask Stacy about any questions you have.
3. Plan your opening and closing prayers, if you decide not to use those provided.
4. Consider the age group you’ll be working with each week and any adjustments you’d like to make to the lesson.

Sunday Morning:
1. Get cups, doughnuts, and pitcher(s) of water from the kitchen.
2. Be sure the room is set up as you desire.
3. Look through supply box to familiarize yourself with its contents
4. Do any other preparations you feel necessary.
5. Know that we are thankful you are teaching!

Procedure:
A. Welcome & Introductions at approximately 9:50 a.m.
1. Have the appropriate number of snacks available for each of the participants prepared before they arrive.
2. Greet the children and introduce yourself, wear a name tag if possible. Shepherds have name tags for the children in their bags. If necessary, ask the shepherd to supply children without tags with a temporary badge.
3. Explain that today they’ll be acting out the story of Lydia.
4. Open with a brief prayer. An example might be: God, we want to follow you, and listen closely to what you teach. Please help us to be like Lydia; having an open heart to learn. Amen.
5. Give the students their snack

B. Story Review/Telling at approximately 9:55 a.m.:
1. Prep for Learning—
How many of you have been baptized? When? Do you remember it? Have you ever seen someone get baptized? Why are we baptized? Today we’re going to explore baptism and act out the baptism of Lydia and her household. Before we get started, let’s review the story.

2. Read the story
a. PreK through 2nd graders: you may read from the Bible.
b. Grades 3-6th—You can determine if you’ll have enough time for them to look up the story AND get through the rest of the lesson. In the interest of time, you may simply read it to them. If they do follow along, you may pause to allow them to chime in on key words as they follow along.

C. Application:
1. What prompted Lydia to be baptized? The Lord opened her heart and she had greater understanding. That understanding led her to desire to be baptized.
2. Why are we baptized? Accept answers. Really, we’re baptized for the same reasons that Lydia was; we want to get closer to God. By being baptized, God does three things: 1. Keeps us safe from evil and our sins. 2. Gives us a new life with Jesus. 3. Adopts us into the family of God; making us part of the church. The Order of Holy Baptism states: “In holy baptism the triune God delivers us from the forces of evil, puts our sinful self to death, gives us new birth, adopts us as children, and makes us members of the body of Christ, the church.” Discuss with the students this concept. Encourage questions and do your best to answer the question…”Why are we baptized?”

3. Let’s take a look at what happens at a baptism here at our church. OLDER STUDENTS: Read through the provided copy of the service. What points do they think are important?
YOUNGER STUDENTS: Perform the Baptism portion for them using a doll..if you have time take a walk to the sanctuary and look at the font. Ask them if they have ever seen that in church. Which parts do they think are important?
Being baptized is one of the ways that we get closer in our relationship with God. One way to think of it is like this…when we are born we are loved by God…he made us! That is like being in the beautiful garden outside of an amazing house. The garden itself is wonderful. However, when we’re baptized we become part of the family of God and we’re invited out of the garden into the house.
5. Let’s act out the story of Lydia.
i. Give the students roles…you’ll need a Paul, Luke, Lydia, and other people to be household members and other disciples. They may put on costumes.
ii. Lay the blue fabric down as the river, or have to people hold it and move it slightly up and down to give the impression of a moving body of water.
iii. Let the students act out the story
One Sunday Paul and his friends decided to walk outside the city gate to the river, where they expected to find a place to pray. Paul and his friends walk around the room and go to the river. When they got to the river there were women who were already gathered there. The women should all be sitting around the river..the “men” will come up and sit down by them. They began to speak with them and tell them about Jesus. They sit down by them and can ad lib information they know about Jesus. One of the women who was listening was Lydia. Lydia was a seller of purple cloth. While she was listening the Lord opened her heart and made her respond to Paul’s message. Lydia can show that the her heart has been opened by raising her arms or acting super happy! She took what she had learned and told Paul that she wanted to be baptized, so she and her whole household were baptized. Lydia and her household can act out being baptized by Paul and his men. After the baptism she said to Paul, “If you consider me a believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house”. So, the m en went with Lydia and stayed at her home. Everyone walks away, presumably towards Lydia’s home.
iv. If there is time, let them switch to different roles.
v. Put away the “river” and costumes.

D. Reflection:
1. Pass out the journals and ask shepherds to pass out pencils.
i. Younger Students: Draw Lydia being baptized.
ii. Older Students: If you haven’t already been baptized, why would you want to be? If you have been baptized, would you make that decision to be baptized if you were older? Why or why not?

D. Closing:
1. Ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly.
2. Recite the Bible memory verse: “Be good soil. Good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and spread them to others who will soon believe.” Luke 8:15
3. Close with a prayer. Encourage children to offer petitions. An example might be: God, we are thankful for the many stories your Bible holds that help us to learn the right way to live. Please help us to be obedient children. Amen.

E.Tidy and Dismissal:
Ask children to help clean up before they go. Be sure that they find a responsible person and that everyone has found one such person before you depart. Please take all supplies and put them in the cardboard box and return the box to the white cart.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FAITH WITH OUR YOUNG PEOPLE!