Philip & the Ethiopian Eunuch

Review: Last week we studied about Stephen and how the early Christians taught others about Jesus. They had to leave Jerusalem because of persecution, which means they were harassed because of what they believed and because they told others about Jesus. They were killed for teaching about Jesus. Stephen was stoned and the witnesses laid their clothes at Saul’s feet. That is the first time Saul is introduced to us in the Bible.

Lesson: Today's scripture is Acts 8:9-40. Our lesson is found in Acts 8:9-40 today. But first I had them read a little background on Philip. This is not Philip the Disciple. This is a selected Philip. One of the seven chosen found in Acts 6:1-7. There was a need for men to take care of the widows, so the Apostles picked seven men that had a good reputation, were wise and full of the Holy Ghost to assist them in Jerusalem.

Philip is another Christian that listened to God and taught others about God. (Acts 8:12) He preached to men and women and baptized them. He baptized a man named Simon, and he traveled with Philip.

Simon used to do magic in the city, and he was amazed at the miracles that Philip was doing! (Acts 8:13) The apostles that were in Jerusalem, sent Peter and John to Samaria. Simon was with them, and he saw that they were laying their hands on the sick and could heal them. 

Well, he wanted that power, so he offered money to the apostles. Peter told him that his money would die with him because "You can’t buy the gift of God with money." He said, “Your heart is not right with God.” Simon asked Peter to pray for him for forgiveness.

After they preached about Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem. An angel went to Philip and told him to go south to Gaza (Gah'-Zah), which is the desert. (That is a 60–70-mile trip, with 20 miles being the ability to normally travel in a day) Philip went and he saw a man from Ethiopia. He was a eunuch that was in charge of Queen Candace’s treasury. He was responsible of all the queens’ money. That means the eunuch had a lot of power in Ethiopia. Candace is the title, not the queen's name like Pharaoh is the king of Egypt, but that is not his name.

The eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship. He was sitting in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah. Philip ran to him and heard him reading from the scrolls. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. He said, “How can I understand it if no one explains it to me?”

The eunuch asked Philip to come up to the chariot and sit with him. So, Philip sat down with him and taught him about Jesus. They came down the road and the eunuch saw water. The Eunuch said to Philip “Here is water, what is stopping me from being baptized?” He wanted to be baptized right away!

   

Philip told him that if you believe in Jesus, then he could be baptized. The eunuch said he believed. They stopped the chariot and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. All the way under! (Original Greek word 'baptizo' in the scriptures means burial or to submerge.)

If sprinkling or water being poured on someone is all that God wanted us to do, then Philip would have used water from a water jug that the Eunuch would have been carrying, especially since he was traveling across the desert. But the Bible clearly states that they went down into the water. Also, the Eunuch was old enough to read and understand why he was being baptized. He made the decision because he wanted to obey Jesus.

When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away and the Eunuch didn’t see him again. The Eunuch continued on his way very happy & rejoicing because he had been baptized.

Download updated worksheet here.

I used these Scripture Posters when I came to Philip talked to the Eunuch about what Isaiah wrote. Isaiah was a prophet in the Old Testament. A prophet is a speaker for God. Isaiah wrote about the Savior that was coming and this is one of the passages. I printed the Scripture Posters for the students (page 3), cut in half (each page is for 2 students) and folded it in half. They could look at it with me. We discussed sheep, but mostly discussed Jesus doing what God wanted Him to and His purity and that He never sinned. The Isaiah poster has verse listed because that is the main corresponding verse to Acts, although there are other verses added. The worksheet was used last. Since Philip taught the Eunuch about Jesus, the application can provoke thought for the students learning and teaching about Jesus. Click here to download. 

For our project today, I used teabags to dye white cardstock for scrolls. These scrolls look more authentic (to me) if you scrunch the paper up, then tea dye it. I don't know if you can tell from the pics above, the first was not crumbled, and the second was. I purchased round dowel rods in a pre-cut package at Wal Mart. These are the 3/16" size. I used Aleene's Tacky glue to glue the dowel rods to the scroll, and I laid oversize books on them to dry since the cardstock is wavy. The ribbon is cut about 24". After writing the scripture, I let the kids add appropriate Bible stickers.

Print the scrambled words (on cardstock suggested) here.

Or, you can print this sheet with today's scripture that mixes up the scripture and has different font/sizes. Let students cut and glue in order on the scroll. Roll and tie with ribbon. I would glue the dowel rods on first and let them dry first.

Bible Verse:  Acts 8:38

Click here to print the lesson.

Click here to download the updated visuals as shown.

All visuals are not shown.

(These are not included in the application pack.)

Click here to download the pictures to color.

(These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.)

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