Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

This continues the lessons from Acts for preschool. Philip teaches the man from Ethiopia and baptizes him. There is a scroll project, of course, but with a twist!

Background: 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 a Christian that taught others about Jesus. An angel from God came to Philip and told him to go to Gaza (Gah'-Zah), which is the desert.

Philip went and he saw a man riding in a chariot from Ethiopia. The man had been to Jerusalem to worship God. He was sitting in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is found on our Old Testament Bibles.

Philip ran to him and heard him reading from the scroll. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. He told Philip “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. The man really wanted to learn more about Jesus!

They came down the road and the eunuch saw water. The man 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 he believed 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.)

The man continued on his way very happy! Acts 8:26-40

I decided on a scroll for this (again). But, for something different, I added the fact cards so the student can put them in order. Or the cards can be stapled and attached into a book onto the scroll. An envelope or library pocket can be glued to the back to hold the cards. Click here to download.

I found this 12"x18" manila Tagboard Lightweight paper at my local teacher's supply store. I cut it in half long-wise and glued these pre-cut dowel rods to each end to make a scroll.

These scrolls are another idea I have used. One of my students had told me about these for our second grade class and they really enjoyed making them.

Click here to download 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.)

Click here to see the lesson & more for early elementary ages.