Advanced Level, Block 10—Continuation and Increase
Week 91
The Twelve—Standing Together
Point to Emphasize: Would you have been jealous of Peter? Are you jealous of others?
Reference Reading: Acts 1:13-15; 2:14, 37-41
Memory Verse: For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there disorder and every worthless practice are. (James 3:16)
Sample Story
Jesus lived on earth for 33 ½ years. The people around Him saw that although He looked like them outwardly, He was very different in His living and His doings. That’s why big crowds followed Him. But eventually, only about 120 continued to follow Him closely. Now, many of you may have already learned that Jesus then died on the cross and was resurrected. After His resurrection, He appeared to some of the disciples before He ascended into heaven. For many, this was the end of the story of Jesus, but it was actually a new beginning! Beginning with the book of Acts in the New Testament, we see the continuation and increase of what this man Jesus has begun.
After the Lord’s resurrection, Jews from all nations gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate a feast. On the day of Pentecost, something miraculous happened. The crowd was amazed and perplexed not knowing what to do and some others thought that all the disciples were full of new wine. What was happening? Who would address the large crowd and explain what was happening? Acts 2:14 says, “And Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke unto them…” Peter spoke to the crowd. The twelve standing together meant that Peter did not just stand up to say something on his own. What did Peter speak? He spoke the gospel to them. Peter told them that on that day, everything that God had promised to Abraham in the Old Testament was now for all of them.
Peter did all the speaking that day. And the eleven just stood beside him while he spoke. How would you feel if you were there and Peter was the one who did all the speaking? Probably no one would even remember that you were there. They would only remember Peter.
Here are three examples for us to consider. [Discuss each point with the children as you go.] First, let’s say you have an acting part in a school play and another student gets the speaking part. Your acting part is just to stand next to the other student without saying a word. Second, how would you feel if you were on a sports team and another child, not you, was chosen as team captain? Third, how would you feel if your mother gave your brother a bigger piece of the cake than the piece she gave you? Think about it. You might shrug and say, “I don’t care.” Do you really not care?
There was a boy who was running to be the next student body president at his high school. He thought he would be the clear winner. But two weeks before the election, he found out whom he was running against, and it hit him. “I might not win. I might not get enough votes. I might be vice president and not president. Or I might not win at all.” So his mom asked him, “What are you going to do?” He shrugged and said, “Well, I don’t care if I win or not.” His mom looked him in the eye and said, “I think you would be jealous of the person who wins. You say you don’t care, but I think you do.” After a long pause and some thought, he admitted the truth and said, “Mom, yes, I would be jealous of the winner. I should be the winner.” [Storyteller, please share your own example of admitting jealousy.]
I want you all to know that none of the eleven disciples were jealous of Peter that day. But I also want to point out the truth that there are times when each one of you can be jealous of someone else. Some of you get jealous of the student who gets the speaking part in the school play. Some of you get jealous of the player who gets chosen to be the team captain. And ALL of you are surely jealous when your sibling gets the bigger slice of the dessert from mom. You might be totally fine with not having a speaking part in the play, but for sure you have a problem if your brother or sister gets a bigger slice of cake from mom. Do you know why? Because jealousy is in our nature.
I must tell you what jealousy can do to each of you. Jealousy damages your heart toward God and damages your relationships with others. When you are jealous of someone, you start to dislike that person, you resent him, you are unhappy and slightly angry with that person, and you wish you had what that person has. If you try to hide the feeling of jealousy or if you pretend that you are not jealous, that feeling will grow. What do you think we should do about our feelings of jealousy? [Discuss this with the children.] When you are in a situation and you realize that you are jealous, you should first admit it to yourself. Then you should talk to God and tell Him about these feelings. Finally, you can go and talk to your parents or older ones who can help you know what to do about your jealousy.