# Was it Worth the Price? - The Book of Acts

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 4 Apr 2024, 12 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/44dc6a10-0cd8-4a73-8967-b4d6017a794c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 189. Join us in today's episode where the early believers share everything, showing kindness like a big happy family. But when Ananias and Sapphira try to trick everyone, things take a surprising turn. Despite this, miracles keep happening, bringing more and more people together in an amazing way. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: All who believed were together and had all things in common.
[0:04] Speaker 1: They sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all,
[0:08] Speaker 1: according as anyone had need. Acts 2, 44-45 Dear God,
[0:14] Speaker 1: thank you that you care about everyone. Through your church,
[0:19] Speaker 1: you made us to take care of one another and
[0:21] Speaker 1: meet each other's needs. Please, Use our story today to
[0:26] Speaker 1: help us learn even more about how we can love
[0:29] Speaker 1: and serve each other in the way you want us to.
[0:33] Speaker 1: Thank you for loving us so much. We love you too.
[0:37] Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen.
[0:42] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:44] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:48] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world.
[0:52] Speaker 2: Cultivate curiosity and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[0:56] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more. All with a
[1:00] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:06] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code blessed.
[1:15] Speaker 3: Was it worth the price? In our last story, Peter
[1:20] Speaker 3: and John healed a lame man at a gate called Beautiful,
[1:23] Speaker 3: which was at the temple, and then they were taken
[1:26] Speaker 3: before the rulers. But they were bold and let go
[1:30] Speaker 3: from prison. In this story, as the movement of Jesus'
[1:34] Speaker 3: followers grows, Ananias and Sapphira will.
[1:37] Speaker 2: Attempt to give to the.
[1:38] Speaker 3: Apostles with a dishonest heart, as inspired by Acts.
[1:48] Speaker 1: Hi again, it's Julianne Thompson, guest hosting for Julia Jeffress
[1:51] Speaker 1: Sadler with the Kids Bible in Ear podcast. I am
[1:55] Speaker 1: so happy you're here with me today. Today we're going
[1:58] Speaker 1: to hear a story about how God's church took care
[2:01] Speaker 1: of each other and what happened when one couple tried
[2:05] Speaker 1: to lie to God about what they gave. Let's dive in.
[2:12] Speaker 3: With the Holy Spirit, all of the believers became one.
[2:16] Speaker 3: They shared everything they owned with each other, rich and
[2:20] Speaker 3: poor alike, and no one was in need. They spoke
[2:23] Speaker 3: to each other and other people around them about Jesus' resurrection.
[2:28] Speaker 3: Every once in a while, the people would sell big
[2:30] Speaker 3: things like pieces of land or their houses and put
[2:34] Speaker 3: the money together for the apostles to distribute to the
[2:37] Speaker 3: poor or anyone who displayed need. Among these givers were
[2:42] Speaker 3: Barnabas and Ananias and Sapphira, who were some of the
[2:46] Speaker 3: wealthier people present. Barnabas had sold his field and gave
[2:51] Speaker 3: all his money to the disciples. Ananias and Sapphira wanted
[2:55] Speaker 3: to do the same, except when they sold their land,
[2:59] Speaker 3: they agreed to keep some of the money for themselves
[3:02] Speaker 3: instead of giving all of it to the poor and
[3:05] Speaker 3: needy around them. Yet they made it seem like they
[3:08] Speaker 3: were giving their everything. Peter knew something was up with them,
[3:13] Speaker 3: so he confronted Ananias about it. Ananias, did you give
[3:18] Speaker 3: all of the money that you got for your land?
[3:22] Speaker 3: Peter began to realize that Ananias had in fact lied.
[3:26] Speaker 3: He looked at him and rebuked him. How could you
[3:29] Speaker 3: let Satan possess your heart like this? What about this
[3:33] Speaker 3: was a good idea? You have lied. You have lied
[3:36] Speaker 3: to God. Instantly, Ananias fell to the ground, struck dead
[3:42] Speaker 3: at Peter's feet. Some of the men around Peter came
[3:45] Speaker 3: and wrapped up Ananias' body and took him to be buried. Ananias' wife, Sapphira,
[3:52] Speaker 3: had been gone when her husband died, so she did
[3:55] Speaker 3: not know what had happened. She approached Peter, knowing absolutely nothing.
[4:00] Speaker 3: Peter confronted her as he had confronted her husband not
[4:03] Speaker 3: long before.' Is this the profit you earned from your land?'
[4:08] Speaker 3: he asked, showing her the money. Yes, that is all
[4:11] Speaker 3: we got for our land, she replied. Peter looked at her.
[4:17] Speaker 3: Why did you test the spirit? Look, the same men
[4:21] Speaker 3: who took your husband away are here to take you too. Immediately,
[4:25] Speaker 3: Sapphira was struck dead in the same way as her
[4:28] Speaker 3: husband and fell at Peter's feet. Just as Peter said,
[4:33] Speaker 3: the same men who carried Ananias came and took her
[4:37] Speaker 3: away to be buried with her husband. the church was
[4:40] Speaker 3: paralyzed with fear at what they had just witnessed. After
[4:45] Speaker 3: this had passed, the apostles continued to perform miracles, and
[4:49] Speaker 3: all of the current believers continued to meet together on
[4:53] Speaker 3: a regular basis. All of the people who were not
[4:56] Speaker 3: believers held these believers in high regard, but they still
[5:00] Speaker 3: were hesitant to join them. The people who believed, however,
[5:04] Speaker 3: joined the other believers, and the numbers grew once again.
[5:09] Speaker 3: Because of all of this, people began to lay the
[5:12] Speaker 3: sick and injured out on mats in the streets of Jerusalem.
[5:16] Speaker 3: They laid the sick and injured out, having faith that
[5:19] Speaker 3: even Peter's presence and shadow would touch and heal the sick.
[5:24] Speaker 3: When people from towns around Jerusalem heard about this, they
[5:27] Speaker 3: came and brought their sick and injured in faith. All
[5:31] Speaker 3: of the people who were laid out in faith were healed.
[5:35] Speaker 3: The sick, injured, possessed, were all healed in the name
[5:40] Speaker 3: of Jesus, the God Peter served and proclaimed.
[5:49] Speaker 1: Oh my! Ananias and Sapphira made some really bad choices
[5:54] Speaker 1: in today's story, didn't they? They thought that looking good
[5:58] Speaker 1: was more important than being good. And what people saw
[6:03] Speaker 1: on the outside was more important than who they were
[6:06] Speaker 1: really on the inside. But they thought wrong, didn't they?
[6:11] Speaker 1: Let's go back and look again at our story. God's
[6:15] Speaker 1: church had just started. Already it's growing and growing. Everyone
[6:22] Speaker 1: was welcome. And so people from big families and little
[6:25] Speaker 1: families and no families at all came together to become
[6:29] Speaker 1: God's family. Some were from the country and some were
[6:32] Speaker 1: from the city. Some had a lot of power and
[6:36] Speaker 1: some had none. Some were wealthy and others had no
[6:39] Speaker 1: money at all. But everybody who believed in Jesus and
[6:44] Speaker 1: had received the Holy Spirit was now being called a Christian,
[6:48] Speaker 1: which means little Christ. That's because they tried their best
[6:52] Speaker 1: to act like Jesus. speaking like him, serving like him,
[6:56] Speaker 1: and loving people the way he did, so that even
[7:00] Speaker 1: more people would become Christians and live just like Jesus.
[7:05] Speaker 1: One way they did that was by generously taking care
[7:09] Speaker 1: of each other. If one Christian needed food to eat,
[7:13] Speaker 1: other Christians would bring them groceries. Or if one Christian
[7:17] Speaker 1: needed help paying their bills, Other Christians would give them
[7:20] Speaker 1: money to do it. When widows and orphans became Christians,
[7:25] Speaker 1: they had no one else to take care of them.
[7:28] Speaker 1: So God's family lovingly took them in and gave them
[7:31] Speaker 1: all they needed. Everyone prayed together and ate together and
[7:35] Speaker 1: shared what they had with one another. So no one
[7:38] Speaker 1: ever felt alone or in need. It was beautiful. It
[7:43] Speaker 1: was the way God designed his church to work. But
[7:47] Speaker 1: it wasn't easy. Living this way meant that people who
[7:51] Speaker 1: had more stuff gave it away to help people who
[7:54] Speaker 1: had less stuff. And sometimes people just didn't want to
[7:58] Speaker 1: keep their stuff. That's what happened with Ananias and Sapphira. Now,
[8:05] Speaker 1: it's easy to understand this story. God wasn't angry with
[8:08] Speaker 1: Ananias and Sapphira because they wanted to keep their stuff.
[8:13] Speaker 1: This couple faced terrible consequences because they lied. They wanted
[8:18] Speaker 1: everyone to think they generously gave their stuff away when
[8:22] Speaker 1: they didn't. And just like in so many other Bible stories,
[8:27] Speaker 1: the real problem for Ananias and Sapphira was that they
[8:31] Speaker 1: didn't trust God. Barnabas sold his land and gave the
[8:35] Speaker 1: money to the church because he honestly believed God would
[8:39] Speaker 1: provide everything he really needed. Barnabas didn't need to hold
[8:44] Speaker 1: on to his stuff because he knew God was holding
[8:47] Speaker 1: on to him. Ananias and Sapphira didn't live like that.
[8:52] Speaker 1: They saw how people loved Barnabas for what he did,
[8:56] Speaker 1: and they wanted to be loved that same way. And
[8:59] Speaker 1: they did give some money to the church, but they
[9:03] Speaker 1: also kept some of it back. They didn't trust God
[9:06] Speaker 1: would provide everything they really needed. God is a generous God.
[9:12] Speaker 1: And he cares about making sure everyone has what they need.
[9:17] Speaker 1: That's why he wants his people to be generous too.
[9:21] Speaker 4: He is also a holy God.
[9:23] Speaker 1: And he wants his people to be holy. He wants
[9:27] Speaker 1: us to be honest.
[9:28] Speaker 2: Just like Jesus.
[9:30] Speaker 1: So that who we are on the outside matches who
[9:33] Speaker 1: we are on the inside. Ananias and Sapphira were not
[9:37] Speaker 1: the little Christ they pretended to be. So they became
[9:41] Speaker 1: an example to all the Christians of how dangerous it
[9:45] Speaker 1: is to pretend to be holy when you know you're not.
[9:49] Speaker 1: You see, when we join God's family, God knows who
[9:54] Speaker 1: we are and where we come from. Some of us
[9:57] Speaker 1: have power, money, and families. and some have none but
[10:03] Speaker 1: all of us are loved the same by God and
[10:06] Speaker 1: we become holy when we're honest with him trusting him
[10:11] Speaker 1: and living generously like Jesus and when God's church does
[10:16] Speaker 1: that it's beautiful I am so happy you joined me today.
[10:22] Speaker 1: Come back next time to hear what happens when Peter
[10:24] Speaker 1: and John and the other disciples get arrested by the
[10:28] Speaker 1: same people who arrested Jesus. Remember, the Bible is the
[10:33] Speaker 1: best story ever told. It's God's story to you. And
[10:37] Speaker 1: it's all true. Were you lifted by our podcast? Spread
[10:41] Speaker 1: the joy by sharing with a loved one and let's
[10:43] Speaker 1: make a greater impact on families everywhere. Thanks for listening
[10:47] Speaker 1: to Pray.com Kids Bible in a Year. For more inspiring
[10:51] Speaker 1: stories and wisdom to last a lifetime, download the Pray.com
[10:54] Speaker 1: app for free today.
[11:04] Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Kids Bible in a Year. I
[11:06] Speaker 4: want to invite our adult listeners to check out my
[11:09] Speaker 4: other show, Unapologetic, God's Truth on Today's Topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring,
[11:17] Speaker 4: and we have awesome conversations and amazing guests such as
[11:21] Speaker 4: Candice Cameron Bray, Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Robert Jeffress,
[11:26] Speaker 4: Shannon Bream, Maddie Pruitt, and so many others. We are
[11:31] Speaker 4: helping you have conversations that empower you to have bold
[11:36] Speaker 4: faith in a broken world. You'll be excited, inspired, and
[11:40] Speaker 4: encouraged in your faith as you check out Unapologetic. Remember
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[11:47] Speaker 4: and on pray.com.

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