Thank you for coming to Samsbiblestories.com and for taking a look at the lessons I have added. These lessons are the result of years of teaching Sunday school at an Elementary level. God has richly blessed me in being able to share His Word with thousands of young people. It is now my privilege to share them with you. Please feel free to use them with your class, wherever God has planted you. The only think I ask is that you drop me a line and let me know who you are and how the lessons are working for you. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. God Bless you, Sam God Bless

Bible Story-time Let’s guess who our story is about this week…

Truth Is … There’s a guy in the Bible who knew all about encouragement. We have talked about him many times. Here is a hint: He was a tent maker by trade… Who was it? Who knows how many books of the Bible that Paul wrote?

Here are the books Paul wrote… Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon And many people think he wrote a 14 th book, the book of Hebrews. The Apostle Paul wrote all of these books for two main reasons… He was trying to encourage the early Church to stay strong and keep living the way God wanted them to. And the second reason is so that you and I can read Paul’s letters today and see how he encouraged his friends along the way. AND his letters can encourage us too!

Sword Drill Let’s see who can be the first Person to find this verse Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Sword Drill Let’s see who can be the first Person to find this verse Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the L ORD, saying, ‘The L ORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’”

Sword Drill Let’s see who can be the first Person to find this verse Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house

Sword Drill Let’s see who can be the first Person to find this verse In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

Now I’m going to give you a clue about one of Paul’s friends. Let’s see who can guess the name of this friend first. This guy traveled with Paul on some of his journeys, telling people about Jesus. One time he was arrested along with Paul and thrown in prison. Then, in the middle of the night, they were praying and singing to God, and there was a HUGE earthquake, the prison doors flew open, and their chains came loose. Who was that friend?

Paul had many other friends who helped him during his many travels. This second guy also traveled with Paul, telling people about Jesus. The Bible says he sold a field and brought the money for the apostles to use. His name was Joseph, but the apostles called him something else—a name that meant ‘son of help’

Okay, I’ve got one more for you These next two were actually a married couple. They were tentmakers, like Paul. I mentioned that was how Paul made his living as he traveled around. This couple, with very uncommon rhyming names, went on journeys with Paul and told people about Jesus, and they even hosted a church in their house. Priscilla and Aquila! Do you guys see how important it was for Paul to have this web of encouragement all around him? He had all these great friends who would risk it all to help him spread the word about Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but for me, sometimes I can get pretty frustrated with the people I am supposed to love. When you find yourself getting frustrated with your friends, then pause, take a breath, maybe even count to three to calm yourself down, and remember this: