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Growing the Good Stuff
Week 2 key phrase slide - Downloadable from bottom of this page.
Week 2 - JOY
Part 1
Lead-in session DRAMA
Outline for Leaders
The pet of one of the neighbours, Mrs Smith in Orchard Street (number 7) has died, she is very upset about this and Lloyd the Community Policeman, notices her shedding a tear. He carefully lets one of the other neighbours, Jenny, know about the pet dying. Jenny takes a card and box of chocolates to Mrs Smith saying how sorry she was to hear the sad news. She comforts her and Mrs Smith raises a smile. Although sad, Mrs Smith cheers up because of the comfort and kindness shown by her friendly neighbour.
Characters: Mrs Smith, Jenny, Lloyd (Community Policeman), narrator.
Props: Box of chocolates, card, policeman’s cap / helmet, house numbers 7 and 11 for doors, picture of a cat.
Orchard Street stage set: Same for each week comprising; - cardboard doors, green patch of grass, flowers in flower pots, Orchard Street road sign, house brick back drop.
Sketch - Mrs Smith's Cat
Cat picture - printable version at the bottom of this page.
Narrator: Things are a little sad in Orchard St this week, as Mrs Smith’s cat has died. She lives at No 7 and she is very upset about it. When Mrs Smith was tidying her garden, Lloyd stopped by on his round to say hello.
Lloyd: Hello Mrs Smith, fine day today isn't it, makes a change from the rain.
Mrs Smith: (looking sad and in a bit of an exaggerated crying / sobbing voice, holding her handkerchief to her eyes, blowing her nose in a manner to bring a little humour to the audience) I - I, well I suppose so.
Lloyd: What's the matter, is everything alright?
Mrs Smith: (sobbing with handkerchief) Well no it's not, my dear little cat has died and I do so miss her.
Lloyd: Oh I am sorry to hear that.
Narrator: Lloyd tried to comfort her as best he could remarking how lovely and colourful the garden was looking. When Mrs Smith went back into her house Lloyd popped round to number 11 and knocked the door.
Lloyd: Oh hi Jenny sorry to bother you but did you know that Mrs Smith’s cat has died?
Jenny: No I didn't know, poor Mrs Smith she will so miss her. I know, I'll pop and have a chat with her later this afternoon.
Lloyd: That would be great, thanks Jenny.
Narrator: Before popping to see Mrs Smith, Jenny bought a box of chocolates and a card to say how sorry she was that her pet had died. She knocked on Mrs Smith’s door (Mrs Smith comes to the door).
Jenny: Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I just wanted to bring you these (hands her the chocolates and card).
Narrator: Mrs Smith didn’t know what to say, she was so overwhelmed with her act of kindness, which brought her a little joy even though she still felt sad.
Mrs Smith: Thank you so much, it's so thoughtful of you. I'm so glad I live in Orchard street with such kind neighbours, you have really cheered me up.
Narrator: Mrs Smith is going to miss her cat for some time but she knows she now has a friend she can talk to and that brings her a real sense of joy.
Our theme this evening is all about joy and later we’re going to hear how even on a day when things are not going right, we can still have a sense of joy deep down in our hearts that Jesus gives us.
Part 2
Bible Chat
Paul and Silas' Joy in Prison Acts chapter 16 verses 16 – 40
Props for chat: Cardboard prison bars or door, toy handcuffs, toy sword, prison key, sound effect...
Bible Chat
(Use your props as you go through the story. Part of this story can be told behind bars! )
Hi kids our key word today is JOY. Who can tell me what this word means? (Take a few answers from the kids.)
Well, yes, JOY is a special kind of happiness. We all love things to be going well don’t we, and when things are good we are happy. But sometimes in life things do not go well. Sometimes we have a bad day. When we have a bad day, when things are going wrong, we can still have that special feeling inside of knowing that Jesus loves us and cares for us and that gives us JOY.
I’m going to tell you about two guys who had JOY in their hearts even though they were having a rubbish day. To tell you this story I’m going to use this prison door. In the New Testament of the Bible we read a lot about one of Jesus' followers called Paul. Paul travelled all over the place to tell people the Good News about Jesus. Paul's friend Luke wrote all about Paul's travels so we can read about them in the Bible. Well, on one occasion Paul and one of his mates Silas, went to a place called Philippi. Well, Paul and his mate had quite an adventure in Philippi, and it wasn’t all good, here's what happened.
It all started off so exciting because as Paul and Silas went around telling the people about the wonderful love of Jesus, lots of people in the area came to believe in Jesus because of their message. However, a group of people stirred up trouble for Paul and Silas and started telling lies about them. They even got the authorities involved, which resulted in Paul and Silas being arrested and thrown into prison. Things were not looking good, Paul and Silas had done nothing wrong (move behind the bars to continue telling the story) but here they were now behind prison bars.
Paul and Silas were however not put off and there in that cold prison cell, they started singing praises to God for all of the wonderful things that He had done, even though it was midnight! They prayed and sang hymns, whilst all of the other prisoners listened to them. Although Paul and Silas had been falsely accused, thrown into a cold, damp, prison, they still had JOY inside them because Jesus was with them.
Suddenly, there was such a noise, the building shook and prison doors flew open (earthquake noise for effect). There had been an earthquake and now all of the prisoners were free! When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors to all of the prison cells were open, he drew his sword (draw a toy sword) to kill himself thinking that all of the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out, "don't harm yourself, we are all here!''
The jailer was amazed and fell down on the floor before Paul and Silas asking them what he should do to become a Christian. That night the jailer and all his family became followers of Jesus.
The next day the authorities let Paul and Silas go free, since they realised they had no charge, which they could hold against them. Paul and Silas went on their way continuing to tell everyone what great things Jesus had done for them. Nothing was going to stop the Good News of Jesus’ love from spreading across the whole world.
Although Paul and Silas had been falsely accused and were thrown into prison, they still had JOY deep in their hearts. Sometimes things do not go well for us, we might have an awful day, but Jesus is always with us and can give us JOY to get through all the difficulties we face.
PART 3 - RESPONSE TIME
1. Why do you think Paul and Silas were able to sing praises in prison?
2. What would have happened to the jailer if Paul and Silas had ran out of the prison after the earthquake?
3. What good came out of Paul and Silas being in prison? Discuss how God wants to turn bad things into good and give examples of how we, in our daily lives, can do the same (possible examples: kids are being mean to someone in the playground and you go up to them and tell them to stop and show friendship to that person; if you see someone is upset go and comfort them; telling someone that you forgive them if they have hurt you).
Paul and Silas praised and thanked God, despite what was happening to them. That’s what this joy is about. If we decide to follow Jesus we will experience a joy that is far more than just a feeling of being happy from time to time. Money and things that we buy and own cannot give us this joy, but knowing Jesus can.
The Bible says that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, so even when things are not going good we can still feel the Joy of Jesus inside us. Pray with the children, thanking Jesus for the joy he gives us even on a bad day.
WEEK 2 DOWNLOADS
Drama script, Bible Chat and response time leaders’ notes
PowerPoint Week 2 - Key phrase slide
Picture of Mrs Smith’s cat