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Epic Adventure 

Week 5 - ENCOURAGE OTHERS
Bible focus Paul’s Shipwreck  

part 1

Lead-in Session 

Outline for Leaders

Ed returns from safari, where some of the folk on the trip had initially been afraid of the lions. He explains how these people were encouraged by others in the group not to be fearful, as they would look after them. Ed and Jim develop the theme of how important it is to encourage others.  

Characters: Ed and his friend Jim

Props: cardboard lion heads, (see photo) safari hat, boots, camera, binoculars, sound effect of a roaring lion. (Alongside are two life size cardboard lion heads [with open & close mouths] you could equally have lion or other big cat images on PowerPoint, or plastic model lions...).

Sketch - Back from Safari

Opening scene: Jim on stage awaiting Ed’s arrival.

Jim: Ed, welcome back so good to see you so, what was safari like?

Ed: Safari was fantastic. The atmosphere out there on the plains and in the bush was incredible. I saw giraffes, (two leaders come through the stage door with cardboard lions and stand either side of the platform) zebra, lions, tigers, wildebeests, buffalo, elephants, hyena, antelopes, ostriches.

Jim: OK, OK... I get the picture there were lots of animals. So what was your favourite animal Ed?

Ed: The big cats, got to be the lions.

Jim: Lions, aren’t they just big pussy cats.

Ed: What – (use big roar sound effect with your lion pictures or cardboard cutouts)

Jim: (shrinking back and looking a bit scared) Oh, I’m so sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone, maybe I call them big pussy cats because actually I’m afraid of lions.

Ed: Ah, well there were people who had gone on safari who became scared too. It ended up that they didn’t want to go out.

Jim: (sounding a little shaky) so what did you do?

Ed: We encouraged them. We told them it was okay and that we’d look after them. We showed them that they were in the good hands of the Rangers who were in control (lion’s mouths close). We just kept edging them along with encouragement.

Jim: And?

Ed: They were fine, encouraging others is a good thing to do. We can all encourage others. It doesn’t have to be big things like not being afraid of lions on safari, it can be small things like spiders and other stuff. We can encourage others by being helpful and kind.

Jim: Yes that’s right Ed, and I reckon the kids can think of ways that we can all encourage others. Let’s ask them.     

Ed: OK kids how do you think you can encourage others when they are feeling a bit down or afraid? (Take some responses from the kids.)

Later, we are going to hear how Paul encouraged a whole load of people who were afraid of a great storm.     

Part 2

bible chat

ENCOURAGING OTHERS - Paul's Shipwreck
Acts chapter 27

Props for Chat: cardboard boat with mast and sail, storm sound effects, anchor, ships wheel, painted cardboard boxes for cargo, rope, bread roll, plank of wood, PowerPoint picture of an ocean island.
Cardboard boat. Once again you can improvise here with a few chairs for the boat and a couple of cardboard boxes for cargo.  

Bible Chat
Today we are continuing with Paul on his epic adventure, this time Paul is out on the sea.

Paul had been arrested yet again for telling people the Good News about Jesus. Caesar, who was the Roman Emperor at the time, was going to be hearing about the false charges against him. So it was agreed that Paul travel to Rome to meet the Emperor. His friend Luke was allowed to go with him and a soldier called Julius was to take him on a ship to Rome, along with some other prisoners.

So they got on a ship and set sail. The weather started off okay but soon the winds grew very fierce, a storm was brewing (storm sound effects). It was so bad that for days they didn’t see the sun, just dark clouds (dim the lights on stage and have on screen a pic of the sea). Everyone on the ship became very frightened as they could no longer steer the ship (hold the steering wheel at the front of the boat). They feared that they were going to all drown. During the night an angel spoke to Paul and told him that they would all survive the storm and end up on an island.

The next day the sailors started throwing the cargo of the ship over board, to lighten it. Paul encouraged everyone to eat something as they hadn’t eaten for days. He took some bread (take the roll of bread) and thanked God for it and offered it round. He told them that an angel had spoken to him during the night saying that all of them would survive the storm and that they would get to land. Everyone felt better when Paul said this and they all ate some food. The sailors trusted what Paul said because they saw that Paul was kind and caring.

The next day the sailors sensed that they were near to land so they cut off the anchors (take the anchor and untie the rope) and put up the sail, hoping that the wind would blow the ship to shore but the ship hit a sand bank and began to break up into pieces. The soldiers looking after the prisoners thought of killing them all in case they escaped when on land, but Julius the Captain, wanted to protect Paul so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. Everyone managed to get to the shore, (pick up plank of wood) on planks of wood from the broken ship, in fact all 276 passengers! Just like Paul had said not one person lost their life. That was a miracle. When they reached the shore they found out that the island was called Malta (have a picture of an island on screen) and Paul’s amazing adventure on the island continued, which we will look at next week.

Can you imagine what it must have been like on that ship, I would have been terrified and seasick. But even though it was so scary Paul encouraged others, he didn’t just think about himself. Paul was able to encourage and give hope to others because God had given hope to him. Sometimes in life things go very wrong and we feel like everything is bad and hopeless, Paul could have felt like that but all through the storm he put his trust in God and God didn’t let him down.

part 3     

Response time (in small groups)

1. Has anyone ever been on a big boat? Has anyone ever felt seasick?

2. Paul saw lots of miracles on his adventure with Jesus, what were they?

3. In what ways can we encourage our friends and family to trust in Jesus? (Possible answers – ask friends to come to Kidz Klub, share with friends and family what we’ve have learned at Kidz Klub. By our actions - in showing love and care for others.)

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all the good things around us, our food, our homes and the love of family and friends. Please help us to encourage others to think about you and your amazing love for them. Amen.

Week 5 DOWNLOADS

Drama Script, Bible Chat and Response Time Leaders’ Notes.
PowerPoint Week 5 - Key Phrase Slide.