Spread the Good News! Children’s Sermon Lesson on the Bible Story of Paul and Lydia in Acts 16:9-15
Use this free sermon for kids to share the story of Paul’s calling to Macedonia and how he shared the good news of Jesus Christ with a woman named Lydia. Download the PDF teaching notes below, gather your object lesson supplies, and watch our children’s sermon demonstration as you prepare to share this message in your Sunday School, kids church, or children’s ministry.
Object Lesson Materials: Food coloring, glass of water, coffee filter or thin paper/paper towel, stained item or something that would stain (variable options; select one or two).
Children’s Sermon Summary: It Doesn’t Take Much…Spread the Good News – Children’s Message on Paul and Lydia. This message describes how God uses His people to share the good news of Christ with others. All people have opportunity to tell others about God’s love—it’s contagious! The object lesson uses items such as staining dye or food coloring drops to demonstrate how just a small amount of something can spread out over a wide area. In the same way, it only takes one or two people to start a ripple effect that can communicate the Gospel to people everywhere!
Law/Gospel Theme: The Holy Spirit is powerful, and He lives within us! It’s wonderful to recognize that God provides us with opportunities to tell others about Him, but we also understand that it’s not only about us. God uses us as His instruments, but the Holy Spirit does the work! When we know how great God is and how much He gave to remove our sin, we should naturally want to share His love with others. What a blessing to know that we can spread the good news, and that God will take over to bring faith to fruition!
Bible Passage: Acts 16:9-15
More Bible Lesson on Paul Shares the Gospel with Lydia in Macedonia
- Watch this children’s sermon lesson and related Bible craft ideas
- Compare our full Acts 16:9-15 Sunday School Lesson on Lydia and Paul
- Compare another Children’s Bible Lesson on Paul’s Journey to Macedonia
- Download the Paul preaching coloring page for children
- Read about the Macedonian Call Bible Verse Acts 16:9
Children’s Sermon (Acts 16:9-15) Paul and Lydia
Greet children, apparently upset about a stained item.
Hello, children of God! Wow, this is tough. I’m not sure if this stain will ever come out… I spilled just the tiniest bit of coloring on it, and now the whole thing is spreading. I’m afraid to even put it in the laundry! You know, there was one time that I put a stained item in the laundry, and it turned all of my clothes pink! It really doesn’t take much for a whole lot of things to be impacted when it comes to dyes…
For instance, (hold up glass of water or other liquid) how much color do you think I need to put into this glass to change the water? (Hold up dye) Let’s try it out and see how many drops we might need. (Slowly add a drop or two at a time of dye, and observe the change in the liquid). Wow! It didn’t take much for that color to spread around. Just a few drops and the whole thing changed! And you know, I’ll bet if I put a few drops of this colored water onto something else… (Hold up paper, tissue, or coffee filter, and place some water on top. Observe how it spreads out) Wow! It just takes a few drops of this to spread all over the place, too!
Well, this can be a frustrating phenomenon when it comes to getting stains out of clothing or spilling something. However, have you ever thought of how this relates to us as people?? I mean, sure, we can spread things like germs, or get each other messy I suppose. But we can spread positive things, too. We can share God’s love and the good news of Gospel hope!
In the early days of the Christian church, there was a lot of rapid spreading of the news of Jesus. What started out with just a handful of Christians quickly grew and grew. The apostles were sent to tell everyone about God’s love. One of the first Christian missionaries was Paul. Paul traveled around to tell everyone about Jesus. He started churches, and he later wrote letters to encourage the people in what they did. One of the places he went to was called Philippi, which was a city in an area called Macedonia. While Paul was there, he met a woman named Lydia. Now, speaking of dyeing things, Lydia worked with purple cloth. In those days, purple cloth was very tough to make, and reserved for important people. Anyway, the Bible tells us that God “opened her heart” and she listened to what Paul had to share. She and her family were baptized, and Paul stayed with them for a while. Later, Lydia was helpful in the Philippian church. She was able to influence people and spread the Gospel, because Paul had first influenced her. From just a few people, the church continued to spread out!
We have the same potential for influence. God can use you, whoever and wherever you are. He wants you to share His love and spread His word with others. It doesn’t take much! Sometimes just a kind word or smile can really impact someone. And, of course, you can also tell others about Jesus, and how He has changed your life! It’s sort of like dominos: one movement can spark a lot of other activity. So be that first domino, or that first drop of dye! Allow God to use you. You might not thing you have much influence, but in God’s hands, anything is possible. Offer yourself to Him and ask the Lord to use you to spread His love and Word.
Why don’t we say a prayer about that right now?
Children’s Prayer Moment:
(Have kids repeat each line)
Dear God,
Thank you for opportunities to share your love
And spread your good news to others
Help us to be bold in proclaiming our faith
Thank you for being with us
Thank you for your love
We love you, God!
In Jesus name, Amen!
Bible Verses/story to Reference: Acts 16:9-15 ESV
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
English Standard Version: Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
–Acts 16:9-15