‘I Can Do Everything’ Childrens Lesson on Acts 14:19-27

This session is the tenth week in the Pirates teaching series by Kidz Klub.

GAME IDEAS:

Game #1: Russian Roulegge (regular/widescreen)

You will need: 6 chairs, 6 boxes of eggs containing 5 hardboiled eggs and 1 raw egg. A table Choose six boys and six girls to play. Place the table with the 6 egg boxes on at the back of the stage. Line 6 chairs up across the front of the stage. Sit the kids on the chairs with a partner from their team standing behind them. When you shout, “Go!” each kid standing behind the chair has to run to the back of the stage and grab one egg which they then smash on their partners head. Whenever a team chooses the raw egg from the box and smashes it, that team is then out. The team left without raw egg smashed on them is the winner. (It’s a good idea to have some shampoo and towels to wash the kids heads at the end of the game. If you think that parents won’t like the game then use shower caps as it is still funny to see the kids with egg on their faces)

PANTO:

The winning team captain is feeling a bit flushed with success and wants to dunk the losing Team Captain. They test the water with their hand and tell the kids that they think the water is a bit warm. To make it worth the effort, the temperature of the water needs to be taken down a bit…

Game #2: Ice Pass (regular/widescreen)

You will need: 2 buckets of ice cubes and the paddling pool.

When you shout “Go!” the ice cubes are passed into the back row and passed through the teams the front. The first row are the only kids that are allowed to get up and put the ice cubes in the paddling pool. The first team to empty their buckets and put all their ice cubes in the paddling pool are the winners.

PANTO:

Dunk that losing Team Captain, especially if it is the Team Captain that suggested the dunking in the first place! Next, the Cabin Girl and Boy come onto the stage (pick small kids) They both have a tray of lemons. They collapse in the middle of the stage! Has Hook poisoned them? One of the Team Captains says, “Oh no, it’s scurvy; they have been on the island far too long! It’s time to launch the ship and go out to sea!” (Mime launching the pirate ship and hoist the sail if you have one. Get all the kids to lean to port and to starboard and play wave like sound effects) “Hoorah, we’re out at sea, but what are we going to do with the children lying on the floor? We should be able to revive them if we wrap them in blankets!”

Game #3: ‘Wrapid’ Revival (regular/widescreen)

You will need: 2 travel rugs and 1 cone or chair

Pick 2 boys and 2 girls to play. This is a timed game so you will need to play one team first and then the other. Lie the cabin boy or girl in the middle of the travel rug. Lift the corners of the rug up and hold them together like a hammock. Two helpers and two boys or girls lift the rug up off the ground by the two corners (we suggest that the helpers hold the head end, in case of a drop!) When you shout “Go!”, time them as they run to one end of the stage, round a cone and back again. The second team then has their go and the winner is the team to do it the fastest.

PANTO:

The Cabin Boy and Girl have miraculously revived so let them pick a prize. We had better eat the lemons to make sure that no one else gets scurvy.

Game #4: Lemon Aid (regular/widescreen)

You will need: 2 trays full of lemon halves.

Pick 2 boys and 2 girls for this game. When you shout “Go!” each kid has to take half a lemon of their tray, squeeze the juice into their mouth and chuck it over their shoulder. They carry on doing this until you blow the whistle. The winners are the kids who have eaten the most lemon juice.

SET the Scene:

SILENT SEATS: Paul is stoned but doesn’t give up. Acts 14:19-27.

In today’s Bible Lesson we’re learning some more about Paul. Do you remember last week when we learnt how Paul prayed for a disabled man and God made him walk again? Well, when that happened the people in the city were amazed. “Look at this man Paul,” they said “He must be some kind of god.” And they started to bow down to him and bring him presents. Paul and Barnabas didn’t know what to do. “It wasn’t us,” they said, “It was God; worship God, not us.” But the crowd trying to see them just got bigger and bigger. And then things turned nasty. Some men from another city, who didn’t like Christians joined the crowd. They started to push and jeer. “Kill them, kill them,” they said “they’re fakes, we don’t need them here.” They wound the crowd up so much that people started to believe them. They went from loving Paul to hating him. They threw stones at Paul, then more stones, until he collapsed. They dragged his body out of the city, and ran away and left him because they thought he was dead.

Well, as the Christians gathered round Paul’s body, they didn’t know what to do! Suddenly someone noticed him moving. Then he moved a bit more and a bit more. Paul wasn’t dead, he was alive! God had saved him.

After all that had happened, it would have been easy for Paul to give up, wouldn’t it? Here he was trying to please God and things had got really horrible for him. But Paul didn’t give up. Instead of giving up and feeling sorry for himself the next day he went to a new city and started telling the people there about Jesus too. This time loads and loads of people believed him and decided to live for God. In fact, for the rest of his life, Paul went round telling people about Jesus and God used him to make thousands and thousands of people Christians. Paul didn’t give up and he found that if you just keep going God will help you and you’ll be able to do everything he asks you to, because Jesus will make you strong.

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

 

Object Lesson #1: Balloon and Flame

You will need: Some balloons and a cigarette lighter. Blow some up just with air, and another with about an inch of water in the bottom. Don’t blow them up too big or the water shows up too easily. If you have a young worker who became a Christian through Kidz Klub, getting them to do this object lesson could be really effective. If they’re not confident enough to speak and co-ordinate the balloon and candle, they could talk while you deal with the objects.

I became a Christian right here at Kidz Klub when I was eleven. I started coming to church on a Sunday and I really wanted to live for God. The trouble was, it just seemed too hard. I’d go to school all big and strong like this balloon, then someone would say “Hey here comes the bible basher!” (Hold lighter under balloon filled with air. It will burst) And straight away, pop, I’d give in and pretend that I didn’t love Jesus at all. The next week I’d try again, but it only took someone to tease me or call me names (hold lighter under another balloon) for me to give up again, pop, and start swearing and fighting, just so I could seem like everyone else. It seemed like I just wasn’t strong enough to live for God. And then someone at church explained something to me. They explained that on my own I’d never manage to live right, because being a Christian takes real guts. I needed Jesus to give me superhuman strength on the inside. And kids, when I asked him, he did. Everyday before I went to school I said, “Jesus, give me your strength and your guts so I can live for you today.” On the outside, I looked the same, but on the inside something had changed. (Hold balloon with water in over the flame) Now when everyone else was swearing, I had the strength to keep my mouth shut, because I was strong and proud of being a Christian, not weak and scared. (Shake the balloon for the kids to see the water) Just like this water has changed the balloon on the inside and given it strength, Jesus and his power changed me on the inside and gave me strength. Kids, if you want to live for God, don’t give up, ask Jesus to help you. You can do everything when Jesus makes you strong.

 

Object Lesson #2: Dot to Dot

You will need: a dot to dot puzzle from a kids colouring book. Photocopy it into an acetate so you can display it on the screen and join it up as you’re speaking.

Now, some of you might be sitting there thinking, well it’s all right for you. We come to Kidz Klub every week and you tell us all these stories about what Jesus has done for you, but when I pray and ask him to help me, to change me and make me a strong Christian, nothing ever seems to happen. Well if that’s you, I want you to know that God has heard your prayers. I want everyone to look at the picture on the screen. As first glance it just looks like a load of random dots, it looks like nothing much is going on. (Start to join the dots up with an acetate pen as you’re talking) But as time goes on, and one bit joins to another bit, and that bit joins to a third bit, a picture starts to form. And sometimes it’s like that when God works in our lives. At first it can look like nothing much is going on, but as we just keep following him and doing what he says, suddenly we look and realise, God has done something. (Stand back and look admiringly at your newly formed picture!) God has changed us. Kids, even if it feels like nothing’s happening, hang on in there. When you pray God does hear you. It might not happen all at once, but if you ask him he’ll change you and make you into someone who can do anything, because Jesus will make you strong.

 

Object Lesson #3: Stronger than us

You will need: a table in the middle of the stage. As each “problem” walks on they have an arm wrestle with the narrator. He beats the first two, but is defeated by the last one. Once the narrator moves on to talk about how Jesus helped him, it’s probably best for him to walk away from the table and actors and just talk directly to the kids.

You know, some of us lads think we’re pretty strong, don’t we. Nothing upsets us, we never cry, we can handle ourselves. But even big men like me sometimes need Jesus to help us stay strong. When I was younger I used to think that whatever came my way I could handle. If there were bullies at school, (Actor representing a bully comes on, gestures to challenge you to an arm wrestle and loses) no problem, I was strong enough to handle them. If someone wanted me to have a fight, bring them on. (Second actor comes on looking threatening, they have an arm wrestle and he loses)

But then something happened I just couldn’t cope with. My mum and dad split up and because my mum wasn’t my real mum I had to go and live with my dad. For the next four years, I didn’t see my mum or my brothers even once. My dad was at work all the time so I hardly saw him. Then to make things worse, my Dad got a new girlfriend who moved in with us and she treated me really badly. It was like one problem after another. (Actor walks on and challenges narrator to an arm wrestle. While they’re struggling a second actor joints the struggle against the narrator and then a third. The actors win) And kids, I wasn’t strong enough to handle it. I felt down all the time. I even thought about killing myself. Why am I telling you all this? I’m telling you because no matter how hard you are, sooner or later something will come up in your life that you can’t handle. And when that happens, I want you to remember what I’ve said today. I want you to remember that there’s no shame in saying that you need help. And that’s what I did. I told Jesus I needed his help and He gave me the strength to carry on. (Add some details from your own personal testimony) Kids, sometimes life is hard and that’s why we need Jesus. Whatever your problem, ask Jesus to help you and he really will. He’ll change you on the inside and bit by bit you’ll realize that today’s memory verse is true. You can do everything when Jesus makes you strong.