A Telling Truth

By Karla Schettenhelm, Children's Ministry

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised a gift from God.  This lesson will tell of this special gift.

Here is a guessing game. There is a clue about a person who helps in a certain way. Can you guess who the person is and how the person helps us.

• I wear a special coat and big boots and a hat. I ride in a red truck and use a big hose to spray water.
  • Who am I? (A firefighter) 
  • How do I help? (I put out fires.)
• I sit in a tall chair high above the water. I wear a bathing suit and help people in trouble. 
  • Who am I? (A lifeguard) 
  • How do I help? (I rescue people who are in trouble in the water and keep them from drowning.)
• I do not wear a uniform. I work with a room full of people. The room is a classroom. I work with children.  
  • Who Am I?  (A teacher)  
  • How do I help?  (I teach children.)
• I went to school for a long time. I might work in a hospital. I help people who are sick.  
  • Who am I?  (A doctor)  
  • How do I help?  (I treat sick people and help them get well.)

God gives us lots of helpers. This lesson tells about a very special helper Jesus promised to send us.

The account below is taken from the Enduring Faith Bible Curriculum Unit 3, Lesson 9.

Acts 2:1-24
Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, Jews from all over the world had come to Jerusalem for the harvest festival of Pentecost. In God’s perfect timing, He would use Jesus’ disciples all gathered together in one place, along with all these people in Jerusalem at the same time.

On Sunday morning, suddenly, a loud sound like a fast-blowing wind came from heaven and filled the house where the disciples were.  They saw what looked like tongues of fire spread out and rest on everyone.  All the people there began speaking in a language they had never studied or learned before.  The Holy Spirit gave them power to understand and speak different languages!

Many of the Jews who were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost heard the sound and rushed over to see what was going on.  Suddenly, they heard the disciples speaking the Good News about Jesus in their own languages – the languages they had spoken since they were children.

But some of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem made fun of the disciples and said they were drunk. When Peter heard this, he stood and raised his voice to speak to them.  He explained that the disciples were not drunk, but that God had poured out the Holy Spirit, who gave them the ability to speak in the different languages of the people gathered together in Jerusalem.

Peter told them this is exactly what the Old Testament prophet Joel had said would happen in the last days when God poured out His Spirit. Then, Peter explained why it had happened:  because God had sent Jesus Christ, His Son, the promised Savior to them. Instead of believing in Him, however, they had rejected Him and killed Him on the cross, but God had raised Him from the dead. The disciples had seen Jesus many times after He had risen from the dead, and now they were urging everyone who heard them to be baptized. That day, three thousand people were baptized and became disciples of Jesus and members of the Church.

Today, the Bible has been written down in many different languages so people all around the world can know how Jesus came to save them.

For children watch

• God Sends the Holy Spirit (animated)
• Kid Bible Story: Pentecost (kids telling the story)

For youth and adults watch

• What is Pentecost?

What did the people see on Pentecost?
What did they hear?
Who sent the Holy Spirit to help them?
What news did Peter tell the people?
Who made Peter brave?

What would it have been like to be at this Pentecost?
Consider you are each of the following people.

• One of the disciples in the house
• A devout Jew staying in Jerusalem
• One of the people who mocked the disciples
• Peter

Answer these questions about each person.

• What did you experience?
  • How did it make you feel? 
  • Were you scared or excited? 
  • Were you happy or nervous? 
  • Why?
• What did you do? 
• What did other people do?
• What did you think was happening? 
  • Did you think it was important? 
  • Why or why not?

Before Jesus went back to heaven, He promised to send His friends a gift. The Bible words for this lesson tell what the gift was.

• Bible Verse - Acts 2:38: You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit is God.
• He is one of the three persons of the Trinity.

This event really shows how interconnected the Trinity is. God the Father sent His Son to die and rise for us. The Son ascends to heaven and sends us the Holy Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit is from eternity—He was there at the creation of the world (Genesis 1:2).

The Holy Spirit brings us to faith through the Gospel.

• 1 Corinthians 12:3
• Ephesians 2:8–9
• Romans 10:17

The Holy Spirit sanctifies believers, strengthening faith and enabling us to do good works.

• 1 Corinthians 6:11
• Galatians 5:22–23 (fruit of the Spirit)
• Ephesians 2:10

The Holy Spirit keeps us in the true faith by pointing us to the works and promises of God in Christ Jesus.

• John 8:31–32
• Philippians 1:6
• 1 Peter 1:5

The Third Article section in Luther’s Small Catechism is a great resource for learning about the Holy Spirit.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy Christian church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen.

What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.
But the Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith.

In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.  In this Christian church day after day He fully forgives my sins and the sins of all believers.

On the last day He will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life.
This is most certainly true.

Galatians 5:22–23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

When we walk with the Holy Spirit these fruits are the things we see in our lives. These things grow in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Some fun songs about the fruit of the Spirit:
Fruit of the Spirit
Fruit of the Spirit Children’s Song
Fruit of the Spirit (Go Fish)
 
Choose one of the fruits of the Spirit and think about how you can produce it in the upcoming week.

God used the Holy Spirit to open people’s ears and hearts as they heard the Gospel message spoken to them in their own languages. This miracle of the languages shows us that God wants to include all nations and all people in the new covenant.

Holy Spirit in different languages:

Jesus loves you in different languages:

• “Jesus is lief vir jou” (Afrikaans)
• “Jesús te ama” (Spanish)
• “Jésus t'amie” (French)
• “Yesu ai ni” (Chinese)
• “Iisus lyubit tebya” (Russian)
• “Yesu anakupenda” (Swahili)

Listen to the song Jesus Loves Me in several languages.

There are about 6500 languages spoken in the world today.
The complete Bible has been translated into 670 languages.
You can find out more about translating the Bible into other languages from Lutheran Bible Translators.

When the Holy Spirit came down from heaven it sounded like strong wind and appeared like fire. These two elements can be combined by paint blowing with red and yellow paint.

• Put drops of paint on the paper – the paint should be fairly watery. 
• Take a straw and blow the paint around the paper.
• A variation on this is to tape a dove stencil on the paper and blow paint around it.  When the paint is dry, remove the stencil.

A strong wind was heard when the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. We can feel the wind when it blows, but we cannot see it. In a similar way, we do not see the Holy Spirit, but we can feel it and see it working in our lives.

Make a Wind Sock 
You can use a variety of materials to make a wind sock.
The top can be paper, a tin can, paper plate, etc.
The streamers can be crepe paper, ribbon, vinyl, etc.To make the wind sock, decorate the top part, attach the streamers with tape, glue, or staples, and attach a hanger.

For more Pentecost crafts look at this, Craft Ideas for Pentecost

Music is ordered from songs for younger children to those for older children and adults.
Holy Spirit Fills Me Up
Holy Spirit to the Rescue (Fun Kids Praise Theme Song)
Spirit of God
Holy Spirit (Francesca Battistelli)
Come Holy Spirit (Matt Maher)
Holy Spirit Light Divine (The Hymnal Project)
The Doxology (CU Wisconsin)

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You that the Holy Spirit helps us hear and understand Your Word every day in our lives. Help us show Your love for others and tell them about You too.
In Your name we pray, Amen.