Peter Heals the Lame Beggar Preschool Lesson
Preschool lesson (ages 3–6, 20 minutes)
1. Welcome (3 min)
Sit in a circle, greet every child by name and show one thing from the story to touch.
2. The little story (5 min)
Teach the refrain first: “Walking, leaping, and praising God!”
In Jerusalem there was a big temple, God’s house. Many people came there to pray. The temple had many gates. One gate was called Beautiful. It was big and beautiful.
Every day a man sat by the Beautiful Gate. The man could not walk. He had never walked, not since he was born. Every day people carried him there and laid him down by the gate.
The man asked the people going into the temple for gifts of money. He could not walk anywhere by himself. That was how he got what he needed. Day after day, year after year, he sat there. He was more than forty years old.
One afternoon, at three o’clock, it was time to pray. Peter and John came to the temple. They were Jesus’ friends. Jesus had gone back to heaven, but they still told everyone about him. The man saw them. He asked them for a gift too.
Peter looked right at him. John did too. “Look at us,” Peter said. Can you look right into my eyes, like Peter?
The man looked up. He listened. He thought they would give him something. Maybe he held out his hands. Maybe some coins?
But Peter said something else. “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
Peter took him by the right hand. He lifted him up. Right away the man’s feet and ankles became strong! Your ankles are where your feet meet your legs. Can you touch your ankles?
The man jumped up! He stood. He began to walk! Stand, step, jump! Can you jump up like the man? Walking, leaping, and praising God!
He went into the temple with Peter and John. Now he walked into God’s house on his own two feet! He walked. He leaped. He praised God! Walking, leaping, and praising God!
All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew him. He was the man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate! Is that really him? Yes, it was! They were filled with wonder and amazement.
The man held on to Peter and John. Everybody came running to them, full of wonder. They met in a place called Solomon’s Porch. A porch is a long roof held up by tall stone posts. Can you hold on tight, like the man?
Peter said to the people, “Why do you fasten your eyes on us?” That means: why are you staring at us? Peter and John had not made the man walk by their own power.
Then Peter told them about Jesus. Jesus had died. But God raised him from the dead! Peter called Jesus the Prince of life. “His name has made this man strong,” Peter said. God had made the man well through Jesus. Walking, leaping, and praising God!
God is great and good, and Jesus is alive. And there he went: Walking, leaping, and praising God!
3. Talk together (3 min)
- How do you think the man felt when he stood up for the first time?
- What do you think the people said when they saw him walking?
4. Move (3 min)
Refrain Freeze: move around the room; when you say the refrain, everyone freezes and says it together.
5. Make (4 min)
Color Peter and John (2 friends) and the 1 Beautiful Gate.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” — Acts 3:6 (In the name of Jesus → point up; get up → stand up; and walk → walk in place)
Dear God, thank you for my feet and my legs. Thank you that the name of Jesus is so strong. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: God gives us what we need most
Memory verse: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” — Acts 3:6 · WEB
The Bible story
A man who could never walk sat by the temple gate every day, until two of Jesus' friends stopped and gave him a gift far better than gold.
Talk about it
- Where did the man sit every day? — By the Beautiful Gate
- What was wrong with the man? — He could not walk
- Why did the man sit by the gate? — To ask for money
- Who were the two friends of Jesus who came by? — Peter and John
- What did Peter first say to the man? — Look at us
- What did the man think he was going to get? — Some money
Where is Jesus in this story?
Isaiah promised that when God came to save his people, “the lame will leap like a deer” (Isaiah 35:6). At the Beautiful Gate, a man who had never walked went walking and jumping and praising God (Acts 3:8). Peter made it clear this happened through faith in the name of Jesus (Acts 3:16). The risen Jesus was still keeping God's old promises.
What God wants to tell us
The man only hoped for a few coins, but God had something so much better in store for him. Peter had no money to give, yet in Jesus' name he gave the man strong legs and a heart full of joy. God sees exactly what we need, even when we ask for something small. He loves us so much that He often gives us gifts far greater than we ever thought to hope for, and He always wants us to know how strong and kind His love truly is.
Prayer
Dear God, thank You for loving me and for giving me exactly what I need. Thank You that Jesus is strong and kind and makes sad things happy again. Help me to praise You with a joyful heart, just like the man who jumped and danced by the gate. Amen.
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