Where in the World?

July 10th, 2016 .:. .:. Room 301

Pathways Kids Weekend Small Groups

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This curriculum is for the 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds.

This Weeks Scope

Get Agrippa
Bible Story: Get Agrippa (King Agrippa) Acts 21:10-36; 23:11; 25:2326:32
Bottom Line: The story of Jesus is bigger than every other story.
Memory Verse: Gods grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesnt
come from anything you do. It is Gods gift. Ephesians 2:8, NIrV
Life App: Faithbelieving what Jesus did can change me.
Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Welcome Time
Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience
todays story.
Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group
for the first time. Pray that the story of Jesus and its power would penetrate kids hearts. Ask God to
help them understand, in their own way, the impact this story could have on their lives.
What You Need: pieces of paper, pens, timer on phone
What You Do:
Hand out the pieces of paper and pens and ask kids to neatly write the name of a story they
know really well and that others would recognize easily (popular movies, books, fairy tales,
comics, and TV shows might be a good place to start).
After kids have written them down, have each one try to tell the main point or plot of their story
in 30 seconds.
Help anyone who is truly confused, but allow for plenty of verbal scrambling and laughter.
Collect the pieces of paper at the end to use later during the Story Crossing activity.
4/5/6 Challenge:
Make it even harder! Encourage students to simplify a story they know well down to just six
words. This is called a Hemingway, named after the urban legend that Ernest Hemingway once
wrote this story in just six words: Baby shoes for sale, never worn. Some might need paper to
help them see their stories and to be able to count or rearrange the words.
Ask students to each share their six-word summary of a story and see if the rest of the group
can guess which one they are summarizing.
What You Say:
There are some great stories that we all can recognize, even in a really short description.

Activity #1
4/5/6 Challenge
What You Do:
As a group, quickly re-read each of these different sections of todays story from the Bible: Acts
21:10-13, Acts 25:3, Acts 25:7-8, Acts 25:13-14, Acts 26:13-14.
After reading each passage, stop and quickly ask the students to try and picture the scene. If
they were the director, how many people would they have on stage? How would they be posed?
What are the expressions on each face?
Choose five students to be directors and lead their peers in freeze-framing a scene. They can
recruit the right number of people and practice a couple times, creating or borrowing props as
needed. (Non-director students can participate in multiple scenes.)
Ask each group to set up (starting with the first passage and going in chronological order) and
freeze the frame. Everyone not in the scene should gather around and talk about what they
notice. Whats going on? What are the emotions? Discuss together as time allows.
What You Say:
[Bottom Line] The story of Jesus is bigger than any other story, and it should be the heart of our
stories, just like it was the heart of Pauls life story.

Activity #2
What You Need: piece of paper from the 30-Second Stories activity, large pieces of paper, pens or
markers
What You Do:
Give each kid a piece of paper from the 30-Second Stories activity.
Pair kids up and give each pair a piece of paper and some pens or markers.
Kids can work for a few minutes and brainstorm some ways that their two stories are different
and some things that they have in common.
Guide kids to make a few Venn diagrams (overlapping circles) that show the ways the stories
are different and the same.
What You Say:
These stories all had a lot of differences, but most stories have common themes. What are some of
them? (Hero, adventure, quest, love, loss, disaster) Scientists who study stories say that there are only
a handful of story types, but there are endless ways to tell them. The story of Jesus has a lot of the
common themes of other stories, only a lot biggera hero in Jesus, a quest in Gods determination to
rescue humans from their sin, a loss in that people dont always choose to trust God, and adventure in
following Jesus and living life His way. In this giant story, we get to play a part when we choose to make
the story of Jesus our lifes central story.
[Make It Personal] (Share about how and when and why you chose to follow Jesus in an ageappropriate way. Why was the story of Jesus so compelling for you? What made it bigger than
the story you were already living?) When we realize that [Bottom Line] the story of Jesus is
bigger than any other story, we want to be a part of it.
Note: Depending on the makeup and sensitivity of your group, now might be a great time to talk more
about salvation, following whatever procedure your church has put in place. If you know your kids
parents are believers, take care to encourage kids to talk with their parents about salvation, as they
might want the chance to participate in their childs salvation story.)

Prayer
Opposites

Time

If you lead mostly older kids, consider asking these discussion questions:
Some of us have heard the story of Jesus so much that it could seem kind of boring, especially
compared to other stories we know. What do you think could change that? What part of the
story of Jesus is the most exciting? Imagine what it would be like to hear the story of Jesus for
the first time at the age of 25. How would you tell it? Dont forget: there are LOTS of people in
the world at this age, older, and younger who have never heard the story of Jesus. So
remember to keep telling it!
What do you do if someone tells you that the story of Jesus isnt truethat its just a fairy tale or
a myth? Do you think they really know the story of Jesus then? Do you think they really know
Jesus himself? What could you say about Jesus to them?
4/5/6 Challenge: This week ask someone at home what story in the Bible they find most
incredible or out theremeaning its not something youve ever experienced or can even
picture happening today. Then ask them how its possible to believe something big is truelike
the Bible and story of Jesuseven if parts of it are still a mystery or full of miracles that seem
like magic.
Prayer Time
What You Need: Big Story Bookmark Activity Pages, markers or crayons
What You Do:
Give each kid a bookmark and let them color/decorate it with the markers.
When theyre finished, circle up for prayer.
What You Say:
Dear God, thank You for listening to us. Thank You for sending Jesus to rescue us and that we can
share His story with our family and friends. Please help us to find our part in it because [Bottom Line]
the story of Jesus is bigger than any other story. Help us to live that storyin every story we live
to be loving, kind, wise, patient, and forgiving. Amen.
Lead your kids to large group.