(from last time) The Professor, Shelley and Shane continued to work on the bicycle/time machine. They noticed that the chain had come off, so they laid the bicycle/time machine on the sand and all three of them were trying to get the chain back on. The chain finally went back on, and Shane turned to pedal to make sure that it was working right. The Professor and Shelly were holding the back tire off the ground. Suddenly the chain slipped onto the high gear!
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, the disciples, and the fish disappeared and….
They were in the middle of a huge crowd! There were people everywhere! Shane and Shelly jumped off the bicycle/time machine, but the Professor didn’t jump off! The bicycle/time machine and the Professor went full speed through that crowd bumping into people and knocking them over! The Professor kept saying “Ooops!” The people were angry! They said a lot of things to the Professor, but Shane and Shelly could not understand what the people were saying. Everyone was speaking in a foreign language! There must have been many foreign languages being spoken because many of the people could not understand each other! There was a lot of arguing and pointing at the Professor! The Professor just kept saying “Ooops!” The people kept getting angrier and angrier. Some of them started pushing and shoving each other, and some even got the Professor down on the ground and started hitting him! Shane yelled to Shelly, “We’ve got to help the Professor! These people might kill him!” Shane and Shelly tried to get to the Professor, but there were too many people! The people just pushed Shane and Shelly out of the way!
Just when things were starting to look hopeless, something happened! There were some loud voices shouting in different foreign languages! All the people stopped to listen because they could each hear a voice shouting in their language! Shane and Shelly got up from the ground and looked to see where the loud voices were coming from. They saw 12 men, and they were each shouting in a foreign language. The people quieted down and listened to what the 12 men were saying. Shelley whispered to Shane, “Those 12 men are disciples of Jesus! I know this story from the Bible.” Shane answered, “Well what happens next?” Shelly said, “Remember when we were by the Sea of Galilee and Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus? Remember that Jesus forgave Peter for all the bad things he had done and told Peter to take care of Jesus’ people. In just a minute we are going to see Peter get up and talk, he is going to start taking care of the people that believe in Jesus.”
Sure enough, in a few minutes Peter stood up on something so that the whole crowd could see him and began talking to all the people in the common language. Everyone ran closer to Peter to hear what he had to say. Of course, the Professor wasn’t looking where he was going, and he ran into a donkey. The Professor said, “Ooops!” The donkey kicked the Professor, and he flew through the air and knocked over a woman who was carrying a bag of flour! Flour went flying everywhere and completely covered the Professor! The woman did not even notice, she wanted to hear Peter, so she just got up and ran over the Professor and kept going! The Professor said, “Owww!”
Peter began speaking to all the people! He explained how God had promised in the Bible to send His Son to earth. Peter explained that Jesus was God’s Son and that He had come to earth and done many miracles to prove who He was. Then Jesus had allowed Himself to be killed on a cross to pay for the sins of all people, and three days after that Jesus had risen from the dead! Peter finished his talk by saying “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
The people had seen and heard about Jesus and all the things that had happened to Him, but they had not understood what it had all meant. Now they understood, and they wanted to believe in Jesus and have their sins forgiven! Three thousand people were yelling to Peter and the other disciples that they believed and wanted to be baptized.
Shelly said to Shane, “That is the job that Jesus wanted Peter to do. Jesus wanted Peter to tell people the good news about Jesus dying for people’s sins and being raised from the dead. Jesus wants all people to have the chance to hear about Him, so that they have the chance to believe!” Shane answered, “That’s what we are supposed to do too isn’t it. We all have the job of telling others the good news about Jesus, so that they can have the chance to believe in Him!” Shelly said, “Let’s go and watch the new believers get baptized”. Shane answered, “Ok, but first turn the handle on the bicycle/time machine so we can get out of here fast if the people get mad at the Professor again.” So, Shelly turned the handle and the Professor, Shane and Shelly all got on the bicycle/time machine and began pedaling. The Professor was still covered with flour, so as soon as they began gaining speed clouds of flour dust blew onto Shane and Shelly and caused them to start sneezing! They sneezed harder and harder! Shane sneezed so hard that he almost fell off the bicycle. The bicycle/time machine leaned too far to the right, and the Professor hit the gear shift lever with his nose, and the shifted into high gear!
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the City of Jerusalem, all the people, and the disciples disappeared and….
They were at the edge of a big clearing, with a house in the middle of it, but the house did not look like any house that they had ever seen before! The house was made of three school buses that were welded together to make one long house! It was painted a red-orange color, and of course it had three doors (one in each bus part) and lots of windows on every side! The top of the bus had antennae’s and wires all over it, and there were six sets of wings attached to the side of the buses.
Shane yelled, “We’re back to the Professor’s home! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Just then they saw themselves and the Professor on the other side of the clearing, they were getting on the bicycle/time machine and heading down the hill! Shelly said, “Hey look! There we go leaving on our time traveling adventures!” Shane said, “We must have arrived back here at the same time we left! It is like we have never been gone! Nobody will have missed us, and we won’t be late for lunch!” Shelly answered, “Yes, that’s right! Nobody will have missed us, but that also means that nobody will believe where we have been.” The Professor said, “Let’s get together tomorrow and go to McDonalds and have lunch and talk about all our adventure!”
Shane and Shelly agreed to meet with the Professor the next day to go to McDonalds, then they walked down the hill and went home to lunch!
Application:
Just like Peter, we have been forgiven by believing in Jesus. His death paid for our sins; we need to tell others about Jesus.
The last words that Jesus said to his disciples before he went back up to heaven are recorded in the Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
All the people in the world need to hear about Jesus, but no one can reach everyone in the whole world! Your job is to tell the people that are around you right now.
Pray and ask God to give you opportunities to tell others the good news about Jesus and ask God to also give you the right words to use when you tell others about Jesus.