Lesson Continued...

Warm Up 

Have you ever gotten a letter in the mail that was addressed to you? What was it? Who was it from? What did it say?

Today, we're going to learn about many letters that Paul wrote to the churches he helped create during his missionary journeys.

Teach the Story

We learned in the Paul's Mission lesson that Paul spent much of his life after becoming a Christian traveling around to different cities preaching and establishing churches. He spent a lot of time at some of the churches (over 2 years in Corinth, 2 years in Rome, 3 years in Ephesus) and just passed through other towns. Although he was never the full-time leader of those churches, he worked very hard and raising up leaders and getting the churches established before he moved on to the next location. He also stayed in touch with the churches after he left. He wasn't the only one traveling around to these churches.

Other church leaders would visit from different towns and give him a report on what was going on. Or, Paul would write letters back and forth to the churches to encourage them and correct issues that were occurring. Some of these letters were written by Paul during his missionary journeys, and some were written while Paul was in prison. Many times, Paul would write these letters and send them with trusted members of his team. For instance, when Paul wrote one of his letters to the church at Corinth, he gave it to Titus to deliver. Most likely, he wanted to make sure he had a representative there who could handle any questions or misunderstandings right away.

Church Location

Name of the Letter(s)

Main theme of the letter

Rome

Romans

God gives us all his righteousness based on our faith, not our works

Corinth

1 & 2 Corinthians

Correcting issues in the Corinthian church concerning divisions, acceptance of sin, some who were questioning Paul's authority.

Galatia

Galatians

Obedience to Jewish laws and customs is not required to be a follower of Christ

Ephesus

Ephesians

Helping the readers understand the purpose and functions of the church

Philippi

Philippians

How to live the Christian life in joy

Colossae

Colossians

Correcting false teaching that was happening in the Colossian church

Thessalonica

1 & 2 Thessalonians

Encouraging the church in Thessalonica to persevere through persecution.

Paul also wrote letters to some of the church leaders that he left in charge of the churches. These are known as the Pastoral Epistles. "Pastoral" - because these were written by Paul in a pastoral capacity, leading these men. "Epistles" - just a fancy word for "letters".

Pastor

Location of the church

Main theme of the letter

Timothy

Ephesus

Paul encouraging Timothy to be bold and preserve the gospel in the face of opposition and heresy

Titus

Crete (among others)

Paul encouraging Titus on how to deal with false teachers, how to deal with opposition, and instructions about faith and conduct

Philemon

Colossae

Paul encouraging Philemon to welcome back a slave (Onesimus) who had run away and become a Christian.

These letters were not written to these churches and to these men just to be stuffed on a shelf somewhere. They were written to be read aloud. For instance, most people believe that the letter to Ephesus was not just to one church, but it was written specifically to be sent around to all the churches in the region and read aloud.

Some of Paul's letters reference other letters he wrote that are not part of the Bible. Also, there are other letters in the Bible that were not written by Paul, but are still important! 

Scripture for Kids to Read Aloud Colossians 4:18 

Comprehension Questions

• Who wrote most of the letters contained in the New Testament?

Paul

• Who did he write the letters to?

The churches he helped create when he was on his missionary journeys, and to some of the church leaders he left behind

• What were the main purposes of the letters?

To encourage the churches to continue in faith, and to correct problems that were occurring

• Where did Paul write these letters?

Some he wrote while he was still on his missionary journeys, and some he wrote while he was in prison

• How did Paul get these letters to the churches?

He sent them with people who hand delivered them

• What did the churches do when they received these letters?

They read them out loud in front of the whole church

• Paul wrote letters to the churches he helped establish because he wanted them to grow up in their faith. How are you growing in your faith? Are you using the Bible to help you grow up in your Christianity?

Memory Verse

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 (ESV) 

Directions

I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. Remember that I am being held by chains. May grace be with you. Colossians 4:8 

1. Have students write a letter to their class that will encourage them and challenge them to become closer to God or write a letter as a group.

2. They can write other letters to friends and people in their life if they want to as well. 

Directions

1. Give the kids a heart template and have them cut out (or precut) 8 hearts that are the same size. 

2. Glue or tape the hearts to make the caterpillar shape as seen in the picture above. There should be a heart for the face, a heart connecting the face with the rest of the body of the caterpillar, and then 6 hearts that show the order of the first 6 books of the Bible of the new testament. 

3. have them make two heart shape antanas for the caterpillar and decorate the face. 

Directions

• Write the names of the churches (and individuals, if using) on envelopes. Make a set for each team.

• Place signs around the play area with the names of the churches (Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Phillipi, Colossae, Thessolonica)

• If you have a large group, you can include the individuals that Paul wrote individual letters to. (Timothy, Titus, Philemon)

• Divide class into two teams.

• Place a sign with the name Paul a good distance from the teams.

• Place both piles of envelopes in front of Paul (should be in a different order).

• One person from each team runs to Paul and gets an envelope.

• They must run to the correct church sign and leave (deliver) the envelope then run back and tag the next teammate to get another envelope.

Directions

***Before the Lesson***

Write the books of the Bible (new testament) on Jenga blocks as shown in the picture. You need two sets to play but you can have as many as you need.

Version 1

1. Divide the kids into however many teams that you have a complete Jenga set for. Let them take turns removing one jenga block at a time. The first person will look and remove the first book of the Bible, if they succeed, then the second person will remove the second book of the Bible, etc... 

2. If the Jenga tower falls, the kids can rebuild the tower and play again!

Version 2

1. Divide the kids into two teams. 

2. Relay style, have one person from each team run down and find the jenga block that has the first book of the Bible on it and return it to their team. The next person then runs down and finds the block that has book number 2 on it and returns it to their team. As the jenga blocks are returned to their team, they will stack them on top of each other ordering the books of the Bible from the ground up.