Lydia, a woman of faith in action
key words
biblical reference
Acts 16:11-15
lesson objective
To help children share the message of salvation with their friends and family through a method of evangelism
memory verse
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:27, NIV*)
prepare yourself to teach
God is continually reaching out. God prepares people's hearts to receive salvation. The story of the Bible is the story of God reconciling the wolrd to him, and ultimately through Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). The Church is sent into the world to participate with God in this ministry of love and reconciliation through evangelism, compassion, and justice. The Holy is the Master Evangelist in the world. While we speak to a person's ears what Jesus means to us, the Holy Spirit speaks to the person's heart.
Acts 6:11-15 talks about a woman named Lydia who lived in Philippi and was the first person in Europe who converted to be a Christian. This story is about a businesswoman who was very influential in a prosperous town in northern Greece. Even though she held a great economic position, she still needed a large influx of money to establish another business of purple thread (which was very expensive in that day).
Lydia was a gentile woman who adored the God of the Jews. She learned of him in her native land of Thyatira; however, there was not a Jewish synagogue in Philippi where she could learn more about the Lord.
When there was not a synagogue, the Jews would come together on the river shore to carry out their washing ceremonies. So, Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke walked to the shore to look for a place to praise God one Sabbath day, and they found a group of women praying.
They sat with them and started to preach and evangelize to them about Jesus. Lydia was sensitive to the voice of God and she believed. And even though the Bible does not specifically say, we believe that she preached this message to her family, because it does say that her whole family believed and was baptized.
We do not know who exactly her family was, and it does not mention that she had a husband or children, etc. Perhaps she was a widow or was a single woman; or maybe her family included her children, parents and other adults, like servants and slaves. But as the head of her house, without a doubt, she exercised profound influence over them. Because of her testimony and her change of life – all of them began to believe in Jesus too.
After being baptized, Lydia begged Paul and the other missionaries to stay in her home. It is believed that it was there that the Philippian church began. It was a very evangelical and generous congregation. Paul spent a lot of time with them, until he felt they were established enough in the stories of Jesus and their faith in him. From there, he left with Silas, but Luke stayed in Philippi to continue to minister to them. When we read the letter to the Philippians, we can see that Paul felt great appreciation for this church, and he mentioned them often in his ministry.
Lydia was a woman of great sensitivity towards the Gospel. From the first time she heard about Jesus, she believed and her life changed. From then on, she was a faithful disciple and helped convert her family. We also believe she converted many others – people that came to her business, other friends and other family members.
We should be brave like her and witness to others about Jesus Christ. We should not worry about our family members, friends, or coworkers. Economic levels, education, or any other things like these do not matter. Those who do not know Jesus need a message of hope and love; and we can be the ones that God uses to preach that to everyone around us.
introduce the lesson
Start the session by asking your children if they shared their testimony with any of their neighbors or friends. Let a few of them tell their stories.
Give each child Student Activity Sheet #264-A entitled “I’ll tell them” and have the students write the names of their friends and family members that they are closest to who do not know Christ inside the heart. Tell them: “Today we are going to learn about a woman who loved her family and friends very much, just like we love our friends and family.”
Give the students Student Activity Sheet #264-B.
teach the lesson
Lydia’s wise decision
There was a woman named Lydia who lived in Philippi. She dedicated her life to selling a very special kind of fabric that was purple. (Try to find a piece of purple fabric or something else that is purple to demonstrate.) Explain to them the importance of this color in biblical times. Tell why this tint was so expensive is because they extracted it from sea mollusk that were very difficult to find. Note that only people who had a lot of money were able to buy fabric of this specific color, like royalty and other rich people.
One of Paul’s friends said, “There is no synagogue here and it is the day of rest. Where should we praise and worship God?” Paul answered, “In cities that do not have a synagogue, the people go to the river to praise Him. Perhaps we could find one near here to worship.”
They all left the city and went to the shore of the river to join with other Jews to praise God. They hoped to teach them the truths about Jesus, the Messiah that all the Jews waited patiently on who had already come and gone.
“There! There is a group; it looks like we came to the perfect place!” said one of Paul’s disciples.
Paul and his friends sat near a group of women. They wanted to hear what Paul and his friends said. One of them was Lydia, a businesswoman from the city of Thyatira (she sold very expensive purple cloth). Lydia and her friends listened to Paul’s words while he told about how Jesus came to earth and died on the cross. Also, how God resurrected him on the third day.
Lydia thought about it. “It is possible that the Messiah has already come! It is everything I have been hoping for forever! I believe in Jesus! Can I be baptized? Also, I want my friends and my family to know about Him.” When her family heard the message, they also believed and they were baptized.
Lydia did not want Paul and his friends to leave because she wanted to know more about Jesus Christ. So, they stayed for quite a while at Lydia’s house.
connect the lesson
ACTIVITIES
Give your children Student Activity Sheet #264-C and #264-D entitled “Do you know my friend?” On the activity sheets, they can see the most important events of Jesus’ life. Let several children explain the illustrations. Afterwards have them cut out the pages along the solid lines, fold the pages in the middle and make an eight-page book. (Bring one already completed so the children can follow your example.) Staple the pages together in the middle. Next, have them write the corresponding Bible verse on each page. Explain to them that this book is called, “Do you know my friend? His name is Jesus.” They can use it to share the gospel of Jesus with their family members and friends who they love.
Show them how to use it by asking the following questions:
Cover: Do you know my friend? His name is Jesus.
Page 2. Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do, you are celebrating my friend Jesus’ birthday. (Luke 2:7)
Page 3. God became a man, and was born as a baby. He grew up and was an obedient child of God and His earthly parents. (Luke 2:40)
Page 4/5. My friend Jesus taught people to love God; He healed the sick, fed the hungry and brought the dead back to life. (Matthew 5:1-2)
Page 6. My friend Jesus died on the cross because there were people who did not like him. He knew that he had to die to pay the ultimate price for our sin. He did it because he loves us so much. (Mark 15:25-26)
Page 7. My friend Jesus, even though He was dead, was resurrected on the third day; He conquered death and sin! He lives forever! (Luke 24:6)
Page 8. My friend Jesus wants to be your friend too. He went up to Heaven, but he also wants to be in your life. He can forgive you for all of the bad things you have done. If you believe in him and repent of your sins, he will forgive you and make you a child of God. (Acts 1:9-11)
If your friend accepts the story of Christ and wants to have a relationship with Jesus, pray for them that Christ will forgive them of their sins and they, too, can become a child of God.
Let the children test out their new method of evangelizing so they know how to use it. Ask the children to remember the people that they noted on their worksheet; and put a star next to the name of the friends or family that they want to talk to about Jesus. Challenge them to use their new book to help them share with their friends and family about Jesus.
practice the memory verse
Write the verse on a piece of poster board and cut it up. Mix up the pieces so that the children can put it back in order. You can do this several times. Remind them that this Bible verse invites us to be sure of our faith in Christ Jesus. (Give some sort of incentive to the children who have learned their memory verse.)
wrap-up
Pray
Finish with a prayer, thanking God that he helps us to be brave witnesses, even when we feel afraid. Intercede for any prayer needs.
Encourage
Also, encourage the children to be ready in the next session to share their experiences of witnessing to the others.
Invite
Thank your children for their attendance and announce something about the next unit and lesson to spark interest in them. Challenge them to invite their friends.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™