The Conversion of Paul

Acts 9:1-20


Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called Acts. That name is short for “the Acts of the Apostles.” An apostle is someone who is sent to teach others about Jesus.

We’ve talked about how Jesus grew up to help sick people, love everyone, and do AMAZING things that only He can do. We’ve talked about how Jesus died, but on the third day, the stone was rolled away! Jesus came back! Jesus is alive!


After Jesus came back, He went to see His friends so they could see that He is alive. They told people Jesus is alive and wrote down that Jesus is alive, so everyone, everywhere 
could believe that Jesus is live!


But . . . not everyone believed Jesus is alive. One of the people who didn’t believe was a man named Paul. Paul grew up believing you had to follow a lot of rules if you loved God. I mean A LOT of rules! 


One day, Paul heard people say that Jesus taught a brand-new rule. Not a lot of rules, just one rule. Jesus’ one rule was: Love each other the way I have loved you. 


Because Jesus is God’s Son, people followed Him and did what He said. This made Paul very angry. Paul wanted people to follow all the other rules. He did not want people following Jesus. Do you know what Paul did? He started being mean to people who followed Jesus. 


One day, when angry Paul was on his way to be mean to more people who followed Jesus, he saw a bright light and heard someone talk to him. 


Who do you think was talking to Paul? It was Jesus! Jesus asked Paul why he was doing mean things. Then, Jesus told Paul to go to a house and wait.


After Paul saw the bright light, he couldn’t see anything, but he wanted to do what Jesus told him to do.


So, someone had to help him find the house. 


Some of Jesus’ friends came to the house to help Paul. They helped Paul, because Jesus had taught them the new rule: Love each other the way Jesus loves you.


After a few days, Paul could see again! Do you think Paul believed in Jesus now? He sure did! Angry Paul, who was mean to people, became happy Paul who loved people 
and believed in Jesus! 


This story teaches us that EVERYONE can believe in Jesus. And when we believe in Jesus, we love people the way Jesus loves us.



Bible Paraphrase: These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. — John 20:31, NLV

Text Truth: I can believe in Jesus.



Family Devotional

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 
— Acts 9:3-6

Our Bible story was about a man named Paul. Do you remember how the people had to lead Paul to a friend’s house? Paul didn’t believe in Jesus at first. In fact, not only did he not believe in Jesus, he was mean to people who did believe in Jesus! Then he met Jesus, he couldn’t see for a while, people helped him, and soon he believed in Jesus, too. It really is an amazing story, and it’s all right in the Bible.

Paul wrote about everything that happened with Jesus and his new friends, and how he went from not believing in Jesus to believing in Jesus. He wanted us to know that Jesus is alive so that we can believe in Jesus, too.

These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. — John 20:31, NLV

Some people may have thought a person like Paul could never believe in Jesus. Paul was mean, he hurt people, and he said bad things about Jesus. But then, Paul met Jesus, and it changed everything! Paul believed in Jesus. He started being kind to people and telling everyone the truth about Jesus. Do you know why Paul changed? Because everyone can believe in Jesus. EVERYONE!

Because everyone can believe in Jesus: With your family, make a list of people who can believe in Jesus. It can be anyone you think of, because everyone can believe in Jesus.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, thank God for sending Jesus to be everyone's friend forever. Thank God that everyone can believe in Jesus, like (read through your family's list). Acknowledge that Jesus has the power to help every person be kind, tell the truth, and believe in Him. Thank God for His love and acknowledge to God your love for him.

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Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence.
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