Bible Story: Rerouted (Paul S Conversion / Ananias / Escape from Damascus) Acts 7:34-60;

252 Groups June 2016, Week 2 Small Group, 2-3

Rerouted

Bible Story: Rerouted (Paul’s Conversion / Ananias / Escape from Damascus) • Acts 7:34-60; Acts 9:1- 25 Bottom Line: The story of Jesus changes how I see Him. Memory Verse: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being sure of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1, NIrV Life App: Faith—believing what Jesus did can change me. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes) Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today’s 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 your kids would start to see Jesus not only as their Savior, but also as the one who loves them wholly unconditionally. Ask God to work in kids’ hearts to help them understand what that means.

1. Early Arriver Idea What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:  Let kids put their offerings in the offering container as they arrive.  Then get kids to talk about something they do differently now than when they were younger, or something they have learned to do better than when they first started. Examples: tying their shoes, dressing themselves, brushing their teeth, hitting a baseball, dancing, singing.

2. Change What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:  Ask kids to just walk aimlessly around the room.  Then call out different kinds of animals and ask kids to make sounds like that animal and walk, run, move, crawl, or slither like whatever animal you call out.  You can either have them go back to “normal” between changes, or go straight from animal to animal.

What You Say: “When you changed what kind of animal you were, it changed a lot about you. You walked and moved differently, you sounded different, you moved at different speeds. You were acting one way, and then you started acting another. That is called a change in behavior. [Transition] Let’s go into Large Group and learn about a man who had a very strange change of behavior.” Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes) Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

* 1. Red Light, Green Light, Blinding Light (application activity / review the Bible story) What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:  Play “Red Light, Green Light,” but add something called “Blinding Light.”

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 Start off alternating “green light,” where kids can take slow, small steps toward you, and “red light,” where they have to stop immediately.  When you call out “blinding light,” the closest player to you has to fall down to the ground and cover her eyes.  If the blinded player can answer a question about the story, she can stand up and continue the game.  If not, she has to take one giant step backward.  Here are a few suggested questions, but don’t limit yourself to these. Make up as many as you wish.  Suggested Questions: o What was the name of the guy who was blinded? (Saul) o Before he had his conversion experience, how did Saul treat Christians? (badly; he persecuted them and watched as they were killed for what they believed) o Where was he traveling to? (Damascus) o Who spoke to him on the road? (Jesus) o Who prayed for him when he got his sight back? (Ananias) o Who helped Saul when people were trying to kill him? (Ananias and other friends) o How did Saul escape from Damascus? (the friends lowered him in a basket through a window in the city wall)  Play as many rounds as you wish until you’ve covered the entire story.

What You Say: “When Saul was blinded in our story, he learned an amazing truth—that Jesus was not just a normal man. Jesus was alive, He was really God’s Son, and He had a plan for Saul’s life. When people understand the story of Jesus, it makes a big difference. [Make It Personal] (Discuss how learning something new about Jesus has changed something in your life.) [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus changes how I see Him. That is why it is important for us to learn about Jesus and share His story with as many people as possible.”

2. Change It Freeze Tag (application activity) What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:  Divide your few into two teams. (Or team up with another SGL and have your groups play against one another.)  Determine boundaries for a game of freeze tag. One team will be “It” all together and the other team will try not to get frozen.  Tell them that you will call out, “Change!” at random intervals. (Do some long intervals—about 30 to 60 seconds—and some shorter intervals, about 5 seconds.) Every time you call out to change, the team that is “It” changes.  When a person is tagged, he is out for good in that round.  Keep a round going until one team is completely eliminated. Play as many rounds as you want.

What You Say: “In this game, you quickly changed what you were doing when I called, ‘Change!’ If you were chasing, suddenly you had to run. If you were running or hiding, suddenly you had to start chasing the other team. That’s the kind of radical change that the story of Jesus caused in the life of Saul. [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus changes how I see Him. And when the way I see Jesus changes, the way I act will change too.”

3. Hide the Verse (memory verse activity) What You Need: “Memory Verse Cards” Activity Pages (Note: These will be used again in Week 3 so don’t throw them away.), paper, pens and pencils, blindfold

What You Do:

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 Help your few look up the verse in their Bibles, and then read it out loud together a few times.  Mark one spot to be the starting point.  Choose one child to be the searcher. The searcher will be blindfolded while the other kids hide the Memory Verse Cards around the room.  The kids who are the hiders also need to draw maps (or written sets of directions) for the searcher to use to help him or her find the piece they hid. (For example: From the starting point, take eight steps, then turn to your right and take five steps, and then feel under the chair for the piece. The instructions/maps will all be different based on the setup of your room.)  When the kids are finished hiding the cards, let the searcher take off the blindfold and try to find all the pieces just from reading the directions/maps.  If he can’t find them all, turn the game into a game of “Hot/Cold.” Let the person who hid a specific piece tell the searcher if he or she is “hot” (close to the piece) or “cold” (far away from the piece).  As time allows, let other kids be the searcher.  See who can read the maps/directions to find all the pieces and assemble the verse correctly in the shortest amount of time.  Afterward, collect the Memory Verse Cards and set them aside to be used again next week.

What You Say: “When you were the searcher, you needed help to find the pieces of the verse. In our story today, Saul needed help too. He needed help to find Ananias and learn who Jesus really was. Sometimes people will have the wrong ideas about Jesus, like Saul did. They might think Jesus was just a nice man, or just a story in a book. But when they find out that Jesus is real and is really God’s Son, it can change their entire life, just like it changed Saul’s entire life. [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus changes how I see Him. That’s true for us and it is true for people around us who need to hear the story of Jesus.”

Pray and Dismiss What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:  Tell the kids that Saul knew, once he truly met Jesus, that he had to change some things he was doing. Saul changed so much that he practically became a different person.  Guide the kids to pray and ask God to help them see if there is anything that they need to change to be more like Jesus. Help guide their thinking by asking (rhetorically) if anyone struggles with getting angry with a sibling who’s being annoying or with a parent when they ask for help with a chore.  [Make It Personal] (You could also share with the kids about a time when you needed help changing a behavior or attitude, and through prayer, God helped you change. Make sure to keep the story age-appropriate.)

What You Say: “When we have faith, we believe that Jesus can change us to be more like Him. Ask God this week to show you ways that He can give you the strength to be more like Jesus. [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus changes how I see Him. And seeing Jesus truthfully helps me to know how to live like Him.”

Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent Cue cards as adults arrive to pick up.