‘God Sends the Holy Spirit’ Sunday School Lesson (Acts 2:1-15)

AIM: The ‘God Sends the Holy Spirit’ Sunday School Lesson (Acts 2:1-15) aims to show the children the importance of the holy spirit; who he is and why we need him. The children will learn about the power of the holy spirit and how he can be active in their everyday lives. This is the eleventh session in the Mission:Possible teaching series or VBS.

BIG IDEA: GOD HAS GIVEN US THE HOLY SPIRIT

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘Lean on You’ by Hillsong Kids

2. ‘This I Believe’ (The Creed) by Hillsong (This one might need explaining, especially for younger children, however, it is a great song for teaching the Trinity)

3. ‘Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here’ by Bethel (This cropped version is an instrumental made especially for children) To learn the song you can view the original longer Bethel version here.

GAME IDEAS:

1. Musical Body Parts. When the music is playing everyone dances as usual, however, when the music stops the leader calls a body part (nose, ear, shoulder blade, knee, toe, elbow etc). Players must find another player to touch body parts with. Application: Just as we all stuck to each other, the Holy Spirit is always with us, He sticks with us every minute of the day!

2. Nose Dive. << (watch the video) Contestants transfer 5 cotton balls with their nose in under one minute from one bowl into another. They do this by sticking petroleum jelly on their nose first. Application: The petroleum jelly stuck to the player’s noses really well didn’t it?! You know, today we’re learning about someone who sticks even closer to us – the Holy Spirit!

3. Sticky Situation. << (watch the video) Players attempt to bounce ping pong balls onto  a piece of peanut buttered bread on a table in sixty seconds. Application: It was quite difficult to land the ping pong ball onto the bread wasn’t it? Once it landed it was pretty stuck though! Thankfully it is not so difficult for the Holy Spirit to stick with us! He is always with us and will never leave us!

BIG VERSE: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26.

SET the Scene:

Read Acts 2:1-15 about Pentecost. You could ask the children to re-enact it in groups as you read aloud from the Bible, or if you prefer to use a video to teach these might come in handy:

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. Kid Bible Story: Pentecost (Crossroad Kids Club)

2. Pentecost (This is the What’s in the Bible version)

3.  The Holy Spirit Comes (A child’s animated version)

4. The Coming of the Holy Spirit (A lego bible reading version)

5. The Day of Pentecost (A short Beginners Bible reading and hand drawn version)

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD’S GIFT TO US

You will need accessibility to the Dad in a box video. Alternatively, you could make your own box as a present, cut the bottom out of the present, then have a leader sit inside the box. You could point the box out for the children.

Say: Wow! Did you see that?! The little girl had no idea that her dad was in the box. What an amazing gift! You know, God the Father gave us a gift too – it was the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person too… yet he is even better than the present the little girl got. Why? Because, the little girl’s dad was a soldier and he had to leave her to go and fight. But we have the Holy Spirit who is our friend and comes to live in us when we live for Jesus. He never leaves us! (Deuteronomy 31:6)

How cool is that?! The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead, the Trinity. Do you remember who the other two persons are? [get feedback] That’s right; God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. When Jesus left the disciples, He said He would leave the comforter; His Spirit. He was the greatest gift He could have ever given us. Someone that would help us and lead us and guide us. A gift of a person; a gift of God.

2) THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALWAYS WITH YOU AND ME (personal testimony would work well here too!)

Say: [Begin with a testimony that shares how the Holy Spirit has helped you.] The Holy Spirit is with us always. he never leaves us alone. He is with us everywhere we go. Can you remember what things the Holy Spirit helps us with?! [get feedback]

So let’s remember, the Holy Spirit is with us always. We have a friend that never leaves us, that knows everything about us and everyone we know (Psalm 139:1-18). That means that whatever we go through or whenever we need help, He is always there and we can ask Him to give us wisdom and to show us what to do.

3) THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US POWER TO LIVE FOR HIM

You will need to hold up a light or lamp that works/light bulb while you are talking.

Say: The Holy Spirit gives us power to live for God. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost what happened? [get feedback] Yeah, exactly. The room shook, they had fire on their heads and they began speaking different languages. Then 3000 people became Christians all at once! How cool! The Holy Spirit gives us power too. Without Him we are just like this lightbulb. It has no power because it needs to be plugged in to the electricity to do anything. It can’t light the way or help us to see because it has no power. That’s why the Christians were waiting after Jesus rose again. They were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come and give them power to live for God. When we have the Holy Spirit we are like this lamp (show lamp/ light plugged in). We have the Holy Spirit’s power to live for Him, and others can see Jesus in us just like we can all see this light.

SEARCH the Scriptures:

TEAM GAME: Who does the Bible say that the Holy Spirit is? Tape some of the names/roles of the Spirit and their Bible reference to empty plastic cups. Have the cups placed in a pyramid on a table. One pyramid for each team/player. Have children try and knock over the cups with a small ball each. Once all the cups are knocked over the teams/players take the cups and use them to find all the bible references. They will need strips of paper to mark where they have found them in their bibles. The team/player to find all the bible references first is the winner.

Names/roles to go on cups:

Comforter/Counsellor (Isaiah 11:2; John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7)

Revealer / Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:12-16)

Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2)

Convictor (John 16:7-11)

Guide (John 16:13)

Intercessor  (Romans 8:26)

Teacher (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:13)

Witness (Romans 8:16; Hebrews 2:4; 10:15)

Explain the different roles as you read the verses. Have children discuss how the Holy Spirit has been there for the children/leaders.

SENSE How You Feel:

How does it feel to know you have someone with unlimited power to help you live for Jesus each day?

Feelings Charades: Use our emotion cards to help children discuss how they would feel.

Discuss how the Holy Spirit makes the children feel reminding them that He is a source of strength and comfort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEEK God:

CRAFT IDEA:

You will need: white or black card, colored card or pens/tissue paper to make the fire. 

Have children make a reminder of the Holy Spirit’s power by creating a Holy Spirit headband (fire on the heads at Pentecost). As they create encourage children to pray for the Holy Spirit’s power in their own lives.

Pray for the children as they leave that they would not forget that the Holy Spirit is there to help:

Thank you Father God for Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, thank You that You are always here with us. You never leave us or abandon us. Help us to remember that you are with us and that you can help us everyday. We pray that we would rely on Your power each day and not to try and do things on our own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

TAKE HOME SHEET:

Why not print off this ‘What’s in the Bible’ coloring sheet as a take home sheet for the children, or use it as an introduction to the lesson as the children come in.

 

 

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