THINK TOGETHER.
What do you think, is there anyone who can’t be saved by Jesus?
READ TOGETHER.
Acts 8:14-17. 14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
There’s a famous story in the Gospel of John about Jesus going to Samaria. You might remember that Jews and Samaritans didn’t really like each other (OK, they hated each other), so for a Jew like Jesus to intentionally travel through Samaria was a pretty big deal.
While in Samaria, Jesus met a woman at a well. While they were talking, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that it didn’t matter WHERE you worship God, but HOW you worship God. Here’s how Jesus said it to her in John 4:
John 4:21-24. 21Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Now read Acts 8:14-17 again. In Acts 8 the Samaritans have believed the truth, but they did not yet have the Spirit. When Peter and John heard that Samaritans were trusting in Jesus they went to check it out. What did they find? They found Samaritan Christians who knew and trusted the truth about Jesus but they had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Did Peter and John try to keep the Holy Spirit to themselves? Did they refuse to give the Holy Spirit to the “wicked” Samaritan Christians? Did they think that the Holy Spirit was for the Jews only, and no one else?
Nope. They probably remembered what Jesus had said to that woman at the well years earlier. Jesus knew that one day even the Samaritans would trust in him and be part of the Kingdom of God. One day even the Samaritans would worship God in Spirit and in truth. And now, Peter and John, and all the Apostles knew it too.
Hopefully you know it too! Anyone can be saved. Anyone can trust in the truth about Jesus. And when they do they receive the Holy Spirit too. Not really from Peter and John, but from Jesus himself. He’s the one who really gives us the Spirit. And the Spirit is the one who gives us everything we need to worship God.
Because of the Holy Spirit anyone can trust in Jesus.
With the Holy Spirit we can worship God through Jesus.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look at a map of unreached people groups around the world (https://joshuaproject.net/resources/maps). Talk to your children about how God wants everyone to hear about Jesus and be saved.
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, I want to worship you in Spirit and truth. Thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit so I can. Amen.
TLICfamily 