Paul and Silas Are Thrown into Prison

Acts 16:16-40

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


Our true story is about two of Jesus’ friends named Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas loved Jesus, and they told people everywhere that Jesus wanted to be their friend forever.


One day, some people got mad at Paul and Silas for telling people about Jesus . . .


. . . so they put Paul and Silas in jail.


Jail is not a fun place. But let me tell you what Paul and Silas did! Even though Paul and Silas were in jail, they began to sing! Paul and Silas chose to sing and praise Jesus with joy!


Paul and Silas knew that even though they were in jail, Jesus still loved them and was their friend forever. Jesus helped them choose joy! Wow!


But that’s not all! Later that night, while Paul and Silas were singing, the ground began to shake. It was an earthquake! The earthquake made the doors to the jail fly wide open! You would think Paul and Silas would run away as fast as they could from that jail, but they didn’t.


Paul and Silas stayed so they could tell the guard that Jesus loves him and wants to be his friend forever. 


Then the guard had joy, too! 


Jesus is so awesome! Jesus helped Paul and Silas choose joy, and Jesus can help us choose joy, too, no matter where we are!


When we are at the playground . . .


. . . at the doctor . . .


. . . at school . . .


. . . at the store—Jesus can help us choose joy!


Whether it’s a sunny day . . .


. . . a rainy day . . .


. . . a windy day . . .


. . . or a snowy day—Jesus can help us choose joy! 


We can follow Jesus here, there, and EVERYWHERE! Because Jesus wants to be our friend forever!






Bible Verse: Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us. —Ephesians 5:2, NIV

Text Truth: Jesus helps us choose joy.



Family Devotional

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
—Acts 16:25

In our Bible story, Paul and Silas chose joy and sang songs to Jesus, even though they were in a sad place. Then, Paul and Silas chose to tell the guard of the jail that Jesus wanted to be his friend forever, too! Paul and Silas knew that Jesus loved them, and He would be their friend forever. And Jesus helped them choose joy, no matter what! Jesus wants to be your friend forever, too, and give you the power to choose joy.

Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us. —Ephesians 5:2, NIV

Paul and Silas sang songs to Jesus. So, with your family, get a piece of paper and make a list of your favorite songs. Think about songs you like to sing. Have each member of your family write down their favorite song to sing. And make sure they write their name next to their favorite song.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, Thank You for giving us Jesus. Thank You that Jesus gives us the power to choose joy. I pray we will choose to sing to Jesus here, there, and everywhere, no matter what. You’re the best, God, and we love You! In Jesus’ name, amen.”

-
Some 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 license.

Some story illustrations are in the Public Domain.

All story illustrations are the property of their respective owners.
-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Early Christians Shared Everything

Image
Acts 4:32-37 Our story comes from a book of the Bible called Acts. That name is short for “the Acts of the Apostles.” The word "Apostle" is another word to describe a helper of Jesus. Our Bible story tells us about some people who loved Jesus. The people were gathered together in a room. Buzz, buzz, buzz. The room filled with talking and laughter. The people called themselves Christians because they did what Jesus Christ said to do (Christian means "follower of Christ"). The Christians knew that Jesus was God’s Son. They wanted others to know about Jesus, too. Grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, and children met together in homes. They would pray, sing, and learn about Jesus together. All these people loved Jesus. They were like one big, happy family. Because they loved Jesus, the Christians happily shared what they had more than others. Everything a person had was happily shared with the rest of the Bible-time Christians. They shared food so every
Read more

Abraham and His Family Moved to a New Land

Image
Genesis 12:1-9 Our story comes from the book, or part, of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis means "the beginning." A man and woman lived in a land called Ur. The man was named Abram and the woman was named Sarai. Abram and Sarai were husband and wife. God called Abram and Sarai and gave them new names! Abram means “nobel father.” But God changed his name to “Abraham,” which means “father of many.” Sarai” means “princess.” But God changed her name to “Sarah,” which means “mother of nations.” Now they were Abraham and Sarah, "father of many" and "mother of nations!" Abraham grew up in the land called Ur. When he was grown, Abraham moved with his family to a new land called Haran. But then, in the land of Haran, God appeared to Abraham and told him to leave his country. God told Abraham to move to a new land. God promised to be with Abraham and show him where to go. God also promised to give Abraham children, grandchildren, and many g
Read more

Jesus Knew All about Nathanael

Image
John 1:43-49 Our story comes from the Bible. It is found in the part, or book, of the Bible called John. John was one of the special helpers of Jesus. Jesus traveled to many places to help people and tell them about God. But Jesus wanted some helpers as He traveled and talked about God. Jesus was visiting a town called Bethany. He decided to go to another town called Bethsaida, near a lake called Galilee. Before Jesus left Bethany, He met a man named Philip. Philip was the kind of helper Jesus wanted. So, Jesus told Philip, "Follow Me." Philip was excited about being Jesus' helper. He went to find his friend Nathanael. Philip found his friend Nathanael sitting under a fig tree. It was a nice shady place where Nathanael could study. He liked to study the Scriptures, God's Word. Philip said, "Nathanael! I just met the person Moses talked about long ago. He's the one all the Scriptures tell about—God's Son! It is Jesus from
Read more