Lesson Learned: Peter has a dream that God loves everyone.
Materials Needed: pillow case, several small stuffed animals
Bible Verse:
Acts 11:4-10
4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
Acts 10:34-35
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
Talking Points: A long time ago, God had given people rules that they should only eat certain foods. Any of these foods that they were allowed to eat were called “clean” foods and any of the foods they were not allowed to eat were called “unclean” foods. God did this to separate His people, the Jews, from those around them. He wanted them to be different so people would know they followed Him. In the same way, He wants us to act differently so others can see that we are different from people around us that don’t love God. When Peter was alive, people thought God only loved Jews, and that only Jews would get tot to Heaven and be with God. In this dream that Peter has, he sees a sheet come down from Heaven full of all the animals God has made and God tells Peter that is now okay to eat all foods because everything He made is good. God make all these animals and God is telling Peter that it is now okay to eat these foods. God is telling Peter in this dream that He loves ALL people not just Jews.
Questions: What were the foods called that the people were allowed to eat? What were the foods called that they were not allowed to eat? What did all the animals riding on?
Activity: Hold one end of a pillow case and have your child hold the other side. Put several small animals in the pillow case and have fun shaking the sheet together. Then, see if you can carry the animals around without having any of them fall off.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You made each one of us and You love all people, Jew and Gentile alike. Guide us in loving others the way You love us. Amen!