Peter and Cornelius Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Peter and Cornelius Sunday school lesson teaches kids that God is no respecter of persons: He loves every person the same, and His gift is for every one. Cornelius, a centurion who "feared God with all his house" (Acts 10:2), sent for Peter, and God showed Peter a great sheet full of animals so he would "not call any man common or unclean" (10:28). While Peter preached Jesus, "the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word" (10:44). It comes in four age levels, each a separate printable teacher lesson, plus one take-home sheet for families. Everything is in the order you teach it.

Choose your age level

• Preschool (ages 3–5), 20–30 minutes, 2 pages: a Sheet Down, Sheet Up game with toy animals, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a short memory verse ("God is no respecter of persons") with a motion, and an Everybody picture.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 3 pages: the Everybody Come game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Everybody Says It memory verse game with six paper strips, and a Sheet Down, Sheet Up review game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: a Who Gets In? game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (the great sheet knit at the four corners, the three men at the gate, "I myself also am a man," the Holy Ghost poured out on the Gentiles), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: students read Acts 10:9–20 and 10:34–48 out loud themselves, then discuss changing old ideas, the same gift as Acts 2, and the walls people build. Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Acts 10:34 and Acts 2:39).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Acts 10
• Main point: God is no respecter of persons. He loves every person the same, and His gift of the Holy Ghost is for every one.
• Memory verse: Acts 10:34 (KJV), with Acts 2:39 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about being left out and let in.
2. Bible story: Cornelius prays and sends for Peter (Acts 10:1–8), the great sheet let down from heaven (10:11–16), the three men at the gate (10:19), Peter in the house of Cornelius (10:24–43), and the Holy Ghost falling on all who heard the word, then baptism in the name of the Lord (10:44–48). Every fact has its verse reference so you can check it.
3. Questions to ask: with answers, at the right level for each age.
4. Memory verse: a game or motion to help kids learn Acts 10:34.
5. What this means for us: God loves every person, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Peter and Cornelius craft, a Sheet Down, Sheet Up game, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching Peter and Cornelius

• Bring a real bedsheet. Letting it down and lifting it up three times (Acts 10:16) helps every age remember the vision.
• Make the turn clear: the sheet was about animals, but Peter learned it was about people (Acts 10:28).
• The angel is told about in words, as Acts 10:3 tells it. Keep the focus on what God did in the house of Cornelius.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.