The Church Taught About Jesus Unit Overview Page

Every lesson in God’s Unfolding Story for Older Preschoolers fits into a unit that contains either four or five free lessons. A listing of all of the units can be found on the site along with access to all of the lessons. This page (below) and the downloadable and printable PDF is an overview of the The Church Taught About Jesus Unit (NT12).

You can click to access the printable PDF of the Unit Overview Page.

Unit Overview

After Peter confessed that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), Jesus commended him for his response and told Him God had revealed this truth to him. Jesus continued, “I…say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it” (v. 18). Peter would have a special role in
the early church, but the rock upon which Jesus would build His church would be the truth of who He was and is. Thus the church came into existence talking about who Jesus was, and it grew as it talked about and upheld the truth about God’s Son. In
fact, the church grew initially, and it continued to grow, because it taught about Jesus and challenged people everywhere to trust Him and Him alone for forgiveness of sins. Thousands upon thousands did so, and God’s people increased numerically and spread geographically. Here are the lessons in this unit on the expanding and growing church.

Kingdom Perspective

From its inception, the early church grew numerically and expanded geographically as it represented the Kingdom of God. Paul’s missionary journeys, the letters Paul and other apostles wrote to strengthen and edify believers and churches, and the work of the various churches that were established—all these factors and more— contributed to the increasing influence the church would have in the world and in the culture at large for the Kingdom. While many received Jesus gladly, opposition to Him and His followers was, and has continued to be, fierce. Despite opposition, God uses His people, and at times even His enemies, to advance His great kingdom.