Where in the World?

June 12th, 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

Rerouted
Bible Story: Rerouted (Pauls 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: 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 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.
What You Need: Word Search Activity Pages, blank paper, pencils, markers
What You Do:
Pass out a word search puzzle to each kid and see how many names for Jesus they can find
before Large Group starts.
For kids who want to go a more creative route, let them use the Word Searchs Word Bank
and create a word cloud with the names of Jesus. They can use different colors of marker and
make the words all different sizes and shapes.
What You Say:
Which name(s) of Jesus had you not heard before? (Pause.) Were there any you didnt understand?
(Pause.) Did you especially like or connect with any of the names of Jesus? As in, youre really glad He
is [name]? (Pause.) All of these names tell us something about Jesus and who He is: Almighty,
Comforter, Lord, Lamb of God, Messiah.

Activity #1
Before & After (application activity / review the Bible story)
What You Need: Bibles, large piece of paper, markers/pencils, small pieces of paper
What You Do:
Put a piece of large paper in the center of the group and draw a line dividing the paper in half.
On one side write the heading BEFORE and on the other half write AFTER.
As a group, create lists of how Saul saw Jesus and treated Jesus followers before Saul knew
the full story of Jesus and after he knew the story of Jesus.
Write (or let a volunteer write) each idea under the correct heading.
In addition to what they heard and remember from Large Group, kids can refer to Acts 9:1-25 for
ideas.
Direct kids to refer to Acts 22:2-16. Explain to them that in this passage, Saul is sharing his
conversion story with a crowd of people. What does Saul say about his attitude towards Jesus
BEFORE and AFTER Saul knew the full story of Jesus?
Examples for the Before and After lists are:
o Before: Saul thought Jesus was dead, Saul was an enemy of Jesus and His followers,
Saul thought Jesus was just an ordinary man, Saul arrested Jesus followers, Saul
persecuted Jesus followers, Saul was blind to the truth
o After: Saul believed Jesus was the Son of God, Saul was baptized, Saul shared the
story of Jesus with others, Saul befriended Jesus followers, Saul believed Jesus was
alive, Saul believed Jesus was His Messiah (or Savior), Saul was now the one being
persecuted because of Jesus
Underline key words and phrases for each item listed.
Using small pieces of paper, write each underlined phrase on one piece of paper. Create at
least five small pieces of paper for both before and after.
Shuffle the paper and place them face down in a grid pattern.
Kids can take turns flipping over one piece of paper and trying to find the match. For example,
if the first piece of paper turned over describes Saul before his conversion as thought Jesus
was dead the matching piece of paper would be Saul believed Jesus was alive. The
matching piece of paper has to describe Saul after his conversion. If a kid flips over a Before
and After pair, he picks them up. If the papers dont match, the kid turns the papers back
over and the next kid goes.
To keep things moving more quickly, dont let kids have another turn if they make a match.
Note: If you have a large group, make a couple sets of cards and divide kids into two smaller
groups to play the game.
What You Say:
Saul definitely changed how he saw Jesus. It took a pretty dramatic encounter with Jesus for Saul to
see the lightto see Jesus for who He really is. What will it take for you or me to see Jesus for who He
really is? God wants you to know Jesus. He gave us the story of Jesus so we would know the truth
about Jesus. We can know and interact with the story of Jesus not only through the Bible, Gods living
Word, but also through other people who know and follow Jesus. [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus
changes how I see Him. And when you know Jesus, it can change how you act and how you treat
others. Look at Saul! Once he had faithonce he believed that what Jesus did changed him and

changed how he treated othersinstead of persecuting people, He joined them in sharing the story of
Jesus! How will the story of Jesus change how you see Jesus and how you treat others?

Activity #2
4/5/6 Challenge (ties into the previous activity)
What You Say:
This story makes me think about how most of us have one of two different backgrounds with faith. One
group of us are growing up in a home where our parents talk about God and take us to church. Another
group of us might not be in a home that talks about God and someone else brings us to church. Both of
these backgrounds are just fine with God!
[Make It Personal] (Share with the kids about how you grew up. Did you grow up in a home
where Christian faith was important? Or did you discover it on your own, through friends or
other family members?)
How much you know about God, or how long youve known about Him, or how often you come to
church are less important than how your life is changed once you meet Him. The story of Saul makes
me think of a U-turn sign. Hes going along one way and thenscreechhe meets God in a big way
and turns his life around, going in a completely different direction. Sometimes when we grow up
knowing about God, He can become as routine to us as brushing our teeth. No matter what kind of
home you have and how much you talk about your faith, today I pray that you see Jesus in such a fresh
and new way that you are jolted, surprised, and changed in such a way that people wonder what
happened to you, and you have a chance to tell them. (Give kids a chance to share, if they want to,
about their own backgrounds. Although kids this age are still in their formative years, this will give them
a chance to start putting words to their faith, defining it and making it their own.)

Prayer
Opposites

Time

If you lead mostly older kids, ask these discussion questions:

Minions: true or fictional? Spaceships: true or fictional? How do you know when something is
true or fictional? (you see it with your eyes, someone you trust tells you it is true, you see
evidence around you supporting it like how you cant see wind but you see the trees moving)
What are things you cant see but know they exist? (wind, your heart, emotions, etc.) What
about your chin? Can you see your chin right now? And yet you know your chin exists. How do
you know? (you see it in a reflection in a mirror) Can you see someone love you? (yes and no;
you cant see actual love, but you can observe the actions of love)
How would you describe Jesus? None of us living on earth today saw Jesus walk on earth, so
how can we describe Him if we havent seen Him with our eyes? (we know what Hes like from
our experience of Him; sometimes we see Him reflected in the actions of a parent or friend)
[Make It Personal] (Share with the group how you see Jesus. Maybe you see Him
reflected in the actions of a friend, maybe there is a Bible story that speaks to you about
who Jesus is, maybe creation reveals Jesus to you, etc.)

Pray and Dismiss

What You Need: No supplies needed
What You Say:
Having faith doesnt mean you wont have questions. Maybe you still have questions about Jesus, or
perhaps a story in the Bible confuses you. Maybe you have questions about how Jesus wants you to
act, or you question why things happen the way they do. Learning the truths Jesus teaches you is a
journey and you can continue to learn amazing things about Him. [Bottom Line] The story of Jesus
changes how I see Him. It is important for you and me to keep learning about Him, to keep talking
about Him, to keep reading His Word, and to keep trusting Him no matter what, even when we have
questions.
What You Do:
Pray with the kids.
Kids can pray silently about the questions they may havethe truths of Jesus they cant see
clearly yet or havent experienced.
Then kids can also pray out loud about the truths they know about Jesus.
Close by thanking Jesus for loving us.
Thank Jesus for His story that will never end and that we can always be a part of it.
Tell parents that kids heard about Sauls conversion story today. Encourage kids to tell their parents
Sauls story and as a family make a list of the truths they know about Jesus.