Moral lesson - JSS3 Christian Religious Studies Lesson Note

1. When we talk of prominence, and fame, Paul had a large and influential family connection. We must learn to live a life of humility and tolerance of others despite our rich family background.

2. He was brought up strictly in the Jewish religion and lived all his life pursuing the cause which his ancestors stood for. We must learn that what a person becomes when he grows up is determined largely by his childhood foundation.

3. Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, and despite the fact that Tarsus was a centre of learning and education in his time, his father sent him to his roots in Jerusalem to be acquainted with the culture, language and tradition of the Hebrew nation. As Christians we must insist that our children should get acquainted with the culture, language and tradition of our people.

4. Paul’s religious training and zealousness as a Pharisee made him develop hospitality towards the early Christians. Christian parents must learn to send their children to educational institutions where broad based learning is inculcated.

5. Paul was actively involved in the persecution of the believers and played a key role in the arrest, stoning and death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. We must learn that whatever evil we do today, we shall harvest the repercussion in years to come.

6. In carrying out great persecution and acts of wickedness against the early Christian church, Paul was thoroughly convinced as a Pharisee that he was doing the highest to service God. We must learn to obey God’s commandment that we must to obey God’s commandment that we must not kill our fellow human beings, let alone do that for His sake.

7. Paul was on his way to Damascus with a warrant of arrest from the High Priest to bring christians to judgment when he had an encounter with Jesus in a light from heaven that dazzled him, threw him to the ground, and made him blind for three days. Christians must learn from the way Jesus arrested Saul also called Paul that God is faithful who has promised that He will never leave us or abandon us.

8. Jesus instructed a terrified Ananias to go and lay his hands on Saul so that he might regain his sight because He was a chosen instrument of His to carry His name (Jesus) before the Gentiles and kings and sons of Israel, for He would show Saul how much he must suffer for the sake of His name. We must endeavour to learn that God is the Alfa and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the only One that knows our end from the time He made us in our mother’s womb.