Philemon

Lesson Aim

To understand that Christians are brothers and sisters to each other.

Hook 1: Quill and scroll

Pretend that you are writing in the style of a first century writer. Use a long piece of paper as a scroll, a large feather as a quill and have a pot of ink. Invite the children to write some of the words e.g. Dear Philemon.
If you cannot obtain a large feather, use an ink pen and ink pot – this will be sufficiently different from the children’s everyday experience.

Hook 2: Words and phrases

Prepare some words and phrases outlining the main points of Paul’s letter. You could mix these up and get the children to sort them into the correct order or they could be stuck onto your scroll (see Hook 1).

Hook 3: Difficult questions

Have you ever had to ask someone to do something that is really hard? In today’s Bible story Paul had to do just that.

Application

Paul did not command Philemon to free Onesimus. Instead he urged him as a fellow brother, a  fellow Christian, to forgive Onesimus and welcome him back as his brother in Christ Jesus.