Lesson 9.2: Joseph of Cyprus (Barnabas) - Friends and Heroes€¦ · Summary of resources required this lesson • Friends and Heroes Episode 9 • DVD player • Quiz questions (Printable

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Objective• To explore the theme of being generous.

Summary of resources required this lesson• Friends and Heroes Episode 9• DVD player• Quiz questions (Printable resources – page 5)• Monopoly® or other play money• Pictures of need and poverty (from magazines, newspapers, Internet etc.)• A “share what you have” take-home card for each child (Printable Resources – page 6)• Coloured pens or pencils, scissors and glue sticks

Summary of Friends and Heroes storyDiana has been arrested and detained by the Romans. In the jailhouse Diana explains to her Roman guard that she has been distributing food not only because it is the Jewish festival of Purim, but also because she and her family are followers of Jesus. She tells the guard about the generosity of the early Christian believers who willingly gave what they had to people in need. The guard recognises that she is a good woman and releases her. However, Brutacus and some other Romans meet her on her way home and he insists that they go along with her. Diana realises that there is a very real risk that the Romans will discover the refugees who are following a trail laid by Diana and Miriam to the Delta Quarter. Fortunately Sollie and others cause a huge noise, which the Romans take to be

an earthquake – and so the Romans flee the area, allowing the refugees to find their safe-house undetected.

Prepare yourself – Remember to pray first!Watch Episode 9: Diana is not only generous with her possessions (the food she is distributing), she is also generous with her time and commitment to others in need (the refugees, who need a safe passage and shelter).

Lesson 9.2: Joseph of Cyprus (Barnabas) (Acts 4:32-37)

Episode 9 – Doing Our Part [Timing: 14:06 to end]


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Starting off

Quiz and attitudes towards money

Materials• Episode 9 and DVD player• Quiz questions (Printable resources – page 5)• Monopoly® or other play money

Watch the second part of Episode 9 together, from the scenes of Diana in the jailhouse until the end (start point = 14:06).

Afterwards, do the quiz (Printable Resources – page 5) with your children. You can do it in whatever way is most appropriate for your group, for instance asking the questions generally and then taking the answer from the first person to raise their hand, or addressing individual questions to individual children in turn. You may even seek an answer before you give the multiple choice options. Whichever way you choose to do it, you need to reward correct answers with plenty of Monopoly® money (but make sure you keep some back).

After you have finished, see who has won the most money. Give the winner(s) the rest of the play money. Your aim is to get a real imbalance in the distribution of the money. One or two children may be very rich; others will be significantly poorer.

Now ask the rich children – if the money were real money, what would they spend it on? How much would they give away (if any), and how much would they like to keep for themselves?

Widen the questions out to the rest of the group. If they had all this money what would they do? Do they agree with the other children’s answers? If not, why not?

If you find a child who would be quite selfish and ungenerous with the money, collect a huge amount together and give it to them. Ask them if it makes them feel good to have all of this. After they have got used to possessing it for a few moments, ask them to imagine it is real money – and then ask them to give ALL of it to the person with the least amount in the group. How do they feel doing this? Is it difficult?

After you have explored their personal reactions to the possession of money and the giving away of money, remind the children of the Joseph of Cyprus story. Joseph (who was nicknamed Barnabas, meaning “Son of Encouragement”) was a rich man, who became a believer in Jesus and felt sorry for the poor and hungry people he saw around. He therefore acted generously and sold a field that was important to him and gave ALL that money away to the apostles to give to the needy.


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In deeper

Discussion: A needy world; and playing my part in it

Materials• Pictures of need and poverty – both national and international (from

magazines, newspapers, Internet etc)

Remind the children how the believers at Antioch helped the people in Jerusalem at a time of famine. Even the poor at Antioch gave what they could, as the people in Jerusalem were so much in need. Also point out that in this episode Diana was helping people in different ways: she was giving food to the hungry and homeless, and she was trying to keep the refugees arriving in Alexandria safe from the Roman authorities.

Now ask the children what they know about people in need across the world today. Cover national and international issues. Use the pictures you have gathered, and let the children explain how they feel about these.

Draw the discussion more and more to local issues. It might be that there are particular issues and charities that your church is especially involved with. Start focusing on what ordinary people can do, and actually do, to share what they have with those in need.

Bring the discussion down to the children’s own personal life experiences. They might not have any money for giving, but they can do other things to help others. They might be able to share sweets with a friend who hasn’t got any. They might be able to give a pen or a pencil to someone who has lost theirs. They might simply spend time with someone who is new at school and doesn’t have any friends yet. Encourage the children to identify needs that they may encounter, and what they could do about it.

Round off the discussion by pointing out that the Bible stories we have seen in this episode are about Christians, in the early days of Christianity, who wanted to share what they had to help people. In the adventure story Diana told these stories to the Roman guard who had arrested her; and when she did so, she explained that she too was a follower of Jesus. Christians, followers of Jesus, should want to help others. It should come naturally to us, to share what we have with others. We should strive to be caring, sharing Christians throughout our daily lives. There are big things in the world that need sorting out, and there are small things. We should be prepared to play our part whenever we come across someone in need.


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Prayer time

Craft activity

Materials• A “share what you have” take-home card for each child (Printable

Resources – page 6)• Coloured pens or pencils, scissors and glue sticks

Distribute a copy of the “share what you have” take-home card to each child (Printable Resources – page 6). If possible, print the cards on reasonably stiff paper/ light card.

The children should colour in the words, and then cut, fold and stick the card so that they have a two-sided picture card at the end.

At a suitable point, pray a prayer similar to the following:

Dear Father God

We thank you for all the things that we have.

We pray that we do not become selfish about these things.

Help us to recognise opportunities to share what we have with people who are less fortunate than us.

Amen


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What is the filling of Diana’s Purim biscuits?

MarmaladePrunesStrawberry jam

What colour are Diana’s earrings?

GoldRedBlue

In the story about Barnabas, what did he sell to raise money?

Some cattleHis fieldTwo lambs

What was the problem in Jerusalem?

A famineAn earthquakeA plague

In the story about Barnabas, where did Agabus travel to?

Jerusalem Rome Antioch

In the story you’ve just seen, how did the believers take the gifts to Jerusalem?

On a donkeyBy cartOn foot

What did the believers all agree to send to Judea?

As much as they could …5 pieces of silver Food

What colour is Macky’s belt?

GreenBrownPurple

Who is the more senior officer – Brutacus or the soldier who releases Diana?

BrutacusThe soldier who releases Diana They’re both the same rank

What is marked on the ground for the rebels to follow?

Some arrowsThe sign of a fishA yellow line

What does Sollie use to build his giant noise machine?

Dishes and pansDustbin lidsTin cans

What does Brutacus think is causing the noise at Nathan’s house?

SollieAn earthquakeSome drums

• Read these questions out to your group, together with the multiple choice answers. The correct answer is underlined, for your information.

• Reward right answers with lots of play money!

Some of these questions and others like them can be found in the DVD extras from Episode 4 onwards, and in Diana’s quizzes on the children’s website at www.friendsandheroes.tv/quizzes.html

Printable Resources Lesson 9.2 – Quiz


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Printable Resources Lesson 9.2 – Share what you have take-home cards

• Colour in the letters• Cut out the whole shape, fold in half, and then stick, so that you have a double-sided picture card.


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APOSTLE

BARNABAS

BELIEVERS

CYPRUS

ENCOURAGEMENT

FIELD

GIVING

JOSEPH

MONEY

POSSESSIONS

SHARE

SOLD

I gave out pastries, Joseph was even more generous!

Joseph of Cyprus was just one example of somebody in the Bible who sold his possessions (in this case, a field) to give the money to the apostles for those in need. In fact Joseph was given the nickname “Barnabas”, which means “Son of Encouragement”. What a nice nickname! See if you can find the words from his story in Acts 4 below.

Extra, extra!Lesson 9.2 – Generosity to those in need

Documents

Lesson 9.2: Joseph of Cyprus (Barnabas) - Friends and Heroes€¦ · Summary of resources required this lesson • Friends and Heroes Episode 9 • DVD player • Quiz questions (Printable