Mesa Valley Church of Christ Grand Junction, Colorado
Illustration for The Philippian Jailer

Acts — the church begins Ages 5–11 Story 25 of 25

Acts 16 · ESV memory verse below

The Philippian Jailer

Who is this?

Paul and Silas were in prison. A jailer kept the doors. God opened a way for the gospel.

What happened?

The jailer asked how to be saved. They told him about Jesus. That same night he and his household were baptized.

The story

Paul and Silas were beaten and locked in prison. At midnight they prayed and sang to God. The other prisoners listened.

A great earthquake shook the prison. Doors opened. Chains came loose. The jailer woke up afraid the prisoners had run away.

Paul called out, “We are all here!” The jailer trembled and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all in his house.

That same hour of the night he washed their wounds. He was baptized at once, he and all his family. He rejoiced that he had believed in God.

Memory verse (ESV)

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:31

Talk about it

Ages ~4–7

  1. What were Paul and Silas doing at midnight?
  2. What did the jailer ask?

Ages ~8–12

  1. What did Paul and Silas tell him to do, and what else did they speak?
  2. When was the jailer baptized?
  3. How does this story show hearing, believing, and baptism together?

Family activity

After dark (or with lights low), sing one short hymn, then read Acts 16:25–34. Clap when the jailer is baptized.

Parent take-home

Read Acts 16:25–34. They spoke the word of the Lord; the jailer believed; he and his household were baptized the same hour of the night. Practice Acts 16:31, then point to verse 33.

Talk on the way home

  1. What were Paul and Silas doing before the earthquake?
  2. What must we do to be saved—and what else did they speak?
  3. When was the jailer baptized?

More family reading ideas: family Bible study guides.

Print coloring and activities (PDF) All children’s stories

In the PDF: coloring page, memory verse with blanks, plus kid activities (sequence). Number the boxes 1–4 in story order, or cut and rearrange.

For parents and teachers

Keep the order in the text: they spoke the word of the Lord; he believed; he and his household were baptized the same hour of the night (Acts 16:32–33). Belief is not bare assent without the word—and baptism follows hearing and believing. This is a household of hearers, not an infant rite without faith.