Single lesson
Eutychus Is Restored at Troas
Acts 20:7–12
This lesson helps children follow the account of Eutychus in order, notice choices and outcomes in the passage, and describe how the gathered people moved from trouble to great comfort.
Before you teach
Acts 20:7–12 describes a gathering on the first day of the week to break bread. Paul talks because he intends to leave the next day. The group is in an upper room with many lights. During the long talk, Eutychus falls, Paul goes down to him, the group returns upstairs, and the boy is brought in alive.
Students will be able to retell Acts 20:7–12 in order, identify at least two choices and their outcomes, and state that the passage shows people gathered together, troubled, and then greatly comforted.
Welcome: Listen for the setting and purpose
5 minTell children they will hear an account with clear sequence details. Read Acts 20:7 aloud. Ask them to listen for when the group met, why they were gathered, and why Paul kept talking. Write or repeat the details from the verse so everyone starts with the same facts from the passage.
Acts 20:7
Read and explain: The upper room and Eutychus
7 minRead Acts 20:8–9 slowly. Explain only the details the passage gives: many lights, an upper room, Eutychus sitting in the window, deep sleep, and a fall from the third floor. Ask one direct choices question: What choices do you notice here, such as Paul continuing to speak and Eutychus sitting in the window?
Acts 20:8, Acts 20:9
Discuss: What Paul did and what happened next
6 minRead Acts 20:10–12. Ask children to name Paul’s action and the outcomes named in the passage. Include verse 11 clearly in the sequence: Paul went down, spoke to the group, went up, broke bread and ate, talked until daybreak, departed, and the boy was brought in alive. Note carefully that the passage also says the people were greatly comforted.
Acts 20:10, Acts 20:11, Acts 20:12
Make and respond: Six-part story sequence cards
8 minChildren make six simple cards or drawings for these moments: gathered to break bread, many lights in the upper room, Eutychus asleep in the window, Paul went down to him, the group went back up and ate and talked until daybreak, the boy was brought in alive. Partners place them in order and retell the account.
Acts 20:7, Acts 20:8, Acts 20:9, Acts 20:10, Acts 20:11, Acts 20:12
Closing: Choices, outcomes and comfort
4 minReview the whole sequence together by verse. Ask children to name one choice and one outcome from the passage, such as Paul speaking because he intended to depart, Eutychus sitting in the window, and Paul going down to him. Finish with a careful summary: this passage shows people gathered together, troubled, and then greatly comforted.
Acts 20:7, Acts 20:9, Acts 20:10, Acts 20:12
Questions to explore
What details in Acts 20:7 tell you why this meeting was special and why Paul kept talking so long?
Look for the day they met, the reason they gathered, and the note that Paul intended to depart on the next day.
Acts 20:7
What choices can you identify in the passage, and what happened after them?
Use examples named in the text such as Paul choosing to talk because he planned to leave, Eutychus sitting in the window, and Paul going down to him.
Acts 20:7, Acts 20:9, Acts 20:10
Which verse belongs between the fall and the final comfort, and why does it matter for the order of the account?
Find the verse about going back up, breaking bread, eating, talking until daybreak, and Paul’s departure so you keep the whole story in sequence.
Acts 20:11, Acts 20:12
Make, think or respond
Six-Part Troas Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- scissors
- marker
Try it together
- Say or write six story moments from Acts 20:7–12, including the return upstairs in verse 11.
- Children draw one moment on each card.
- Mix the cards and work alone or in pairs to place them in the right order.
- Ask each child or pair to retell the account and name one choice and one outcome from the passage.
This activity helps children trace the whole account in order and notice choices, actions and outcomes named in Acts 20:7–12.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, reduce the cards to four big moments and retell the middle details aloud together, including the return upstairs in Acts 20:11.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to write the exact verse number on each card and explain which choices and outcomes belong to that verse.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: “God, thank you for this account in Acts. Please help us listen carefully to your word, remember what happened, and learn from the way these people were troubled and then greatly comforted. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Acts 20
7 On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day; and continued his speech until midnight.
8 There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together.
9 A certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. As Paul spoke still longer, being weighed down by his sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was taken up dead.
10 Paul went down and fell upon him, and embracing him said, “Don’t be troubled, for his life is in him.”
11 When he had gone up, had broken bread and eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even until break of day, he departed.
12 They brought the boy in alive, and were greatly comforted.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.