All the King's Men

That phrase sounds very noble, doesn't it? All the King's Men. However, if you had to stand before the king and all of his men for the purpose of convincing them that you shouldn't stay in prison for forever, it might not sound so noble after all.

This was Paul's dilemma (after already spending 2 years in prison) in front of King Agrippa and his men. And this is what we talked about in Kids Church on Sunday. Here are the main points:

Question: How can I tell others what I believe about God?
Bottom Line: I can tell others about God by what I say and do.
Memory Verse: Psalm 33:4
Bible Story: Acts 25:23-26:32

As we've been following Paul's journey and his experiences, we've discovered that Paul is a pretty determined dude. He's not going to let much stand in his way of telling others about Jesus. We used this story this week so we could look at Paul's example of exactly HOW he told others about Jesus. For kids, talking about Jesus can be intimidating sometimes, especially if they're faced with the consequences of possibly being made fun of or being labeled as weird. Most of the time though, we think that telling others about Jesus only involves our words, and that's not necessarily true. Yes, Paul did "say" many things about Jesus, but he also lived out his Christian faith. This is the most important thing. We discussed how it's so important to not only talk about Jesus using our words, but "talk" about Him using our actions. If we go and say that we're a Christian, then let somebody cheat off of our math test or start making fun of the guy in the cafeteria that wears funny glasses (these are kid examples, of course :) ), then we're not speaking much about the love of Jesus to those people.

One of Paul's main ways of telling others about Jesus was by telling others about his own personal testimony. This is what he did in front of King Agrippa. He told them about Jesus by telling them about his own personal experiences. But he didn't just say it, in those two years of being in prison, he lived it too. He had been accused of starting riots, but he hadn't caused any problems while in prison. The example of his actions added to the words of his testimony was enough to convince King Agrippa that Paul was telling the truth, and that maybe there was something to this Jesus guy after all.

It's pretty easy to talk like a Christian. It's alot more difficult to live like one. But thankfully, this is where the amazing grace of God comes in. Talk to your kids this week about what it means to really tell others about Jesus Christ -- by what we say AND do.