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Essential Teachers notes:
This passage tells two stories, one about Paul and his confidence in preaching the gospel, the other about a hard working couple whom this story focuses on. As always this story is provided as a guide, do use the idea and specifics woven into your own words.
Main Passage : Acts 18
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As you look around the church you may find people with lots of types of jobs. Perhaps you know somebody who is a nurse or a doctor, somebody who teaches or works on computers, somebody who works in a shop or perhaps somebody works out in the gardens and farms.
Having a job is very important for adults. Not everybody has a job and often people get very sad when they can’t find a job. Why do you think having a job is important?
(pause to elicit answers such as : filling time – respect – responsibility – money….. etc)
Paul had a job, his job was to tell people about Jesus, but that wasn’t his only job. Before Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus he had been a religious leader, and before that a tent maker. Whenever Paul was low on money he would go and make tents. Paul knew that God would provide for him, but sometimes God provided work for him to do rather than money. When Paul arrived in the city of Corinth he met an Italian man called Aquila. Aquila and his wife Priscilla were tent makers just like Paul.
Priscilla learnt a lot about God from Paul, Aquilla learnt a lot too. They let Paul stay in their house and while they made the tents they would listen to Paul speak about Jesus. There were a lot of people in Corinth for Paul to talk to and with Priscilla and Aquila’s help they set up a church. Many many people joined the church. Soon Paul didn’t have time for tent making but Priscilla and Aquila made sure he always had enough money. After a year and a half Paul told Priscilla and Aquila that it was time for him to leave Corinth. Priscilla and Aquila asked Paul if they could travel with him and help him spread the good news about Jesus.
The three travellers got on a boat headed for Syria, they travelled from one place, to another place, to another place, telling people about Jesus as they went. When they reached Ephesus they decided to stop. Priscilla and Aquila bought a house and
joined the church in Ephesus, helping to teach the people more and more about Jesus.
One day a man named Apollos came to the church. He knew a lot about God and about Jesus but he only had heard some of the story. Priscilla and Aquila decided he should hear the whole story and invited him to their house. Apollos went on to become a great preacher thanks to Priscilla and Aquila’s help.
We still have people like Priscilla and Aquila in our churches today. People who choose to spend their lives helping spread the good news of Jesus, but have a job unconnected to church too. These people are sometimes called tentmakers, just like Priscilla and Aquila – but not a lot of them actually make tents!
Today’s heroes are Priscilla & Aquila because they shows us the gift of Employment
