The first Christians is a simple story about sharing and meeting together. It’s based on Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37. These two Bible passages aren’t really a narrative (as in a straightforward story with a beginning, middle and end). They are more of a selection of facts about the first Christians in the early church – what people did and where they went. Consequently it’s a bit more of a challenge when telling to very young children.
Pictures help! For each piece of information about what the first Christians did or where they went I printed a picture onto A4 card. You could just as easily use props.
Just a couple of things to note – doing these things didn’t make people Christians, they did them because they were Christians. Kindness and sharing are things that are good for all people and often qualities people share and are not the preserve of Christians alone.
God helped the first Christians to share story
Have some dolls/puppets to represent the first Christians
Jesus had gone back to heaven and had sent the Holy Spirit to help his friends. Now lots and lots of people believed in Jesus. But what did they do every day? How did they care for each other? Where did they go? The Bible tells us…
They spent time learning more about God from the Bible.
They went to each others homes and spent time together.
They remembered how Jesus had died for them by sharing bread and wine together – just as Jesus had asked.
They prayed together – talking to God, saying thank you to him and asking for his help.
They went to the temple together.
They shared what they had with each other.
And every day more and more people believed that Jesus was the Saviour sent from God.
Sharing craft ideas
A group craft idea as simple as having a long roll of paper and letting children decorate with crayons, pens and stickers. If you have the space display your group art.
You could also focus on sharing meals together and make a dinner plate craft.
