JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.
Families Abiding in Jesus together
With shorter reading assignments and kid-specific focus areas, Join The Journey Jr. is designed to help parents disciple their kids and engage with Scripture in the best ways for their age.
This month's memory verse
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
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And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. 20But as the believers* gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch of Syria
21After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. 23Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. 25They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.
26Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. 27Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. 28And they stayed there with the believers for a long time.
Imagine you are eating a sandwich outside at the park. While you are eating, you notice a duck starts waddling closer and closer to you. Suddenly, just as you’re about to take another wonderful bite of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the duck strikes! He snatches it right out of your hand, runs away with it, and eats the whole things while you are still running and yelling after him! You then go and tell your family about what happened. But your sibling keeps interrupting you, saying that your story isn’t true—how frustrating would that be?
In Acts 14:19-28, Paul has a similar situation happen. As he is sharing the gospel, some people followed him around and tried to make others think that Paul’s message wasn’t true. These people were against the message of Jesus, and because Paul was sharing that message, they even hurt Paul.
Even when people tried to stop the spread of Jesus’s good news, they couldn’t. The gospel continued to spread.
Take a moment and underline all the locations in Acts 14:19-28 where the Gospel was spread.
Paul and Barnabas continued to see people come to know Jesus, churches be started, and the followers of Jesus be encouraged! When the disciples were together, “they declared all that God had done with them” (vs. 27) and shared with others the good things that God was doing—they shared “God Stories”! These God stories encouraged believers, making their faith stronger as they heard about God’s faithfulness and works.
What are some of the God stories in your life? What are some of the amazing things that God has done in your family? What has he done in your school or community? What has he done in your church?
Sharing God stories is a great thing to practice, because it can encourage other people around you and remind people that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, Creator of everything and that he loves them!
Right now, go around the room and share a God story. Think about what God has done in this past week, or perhaps revisit your “Prayer Jars” and look at all the answered prayers God has done!
Close your time by praising God. You can do this through worship and prayer. Thank him for being active in your life.
Our monthly memory verse is John 15:5. Take time this weekend to practice memorizing the verse. You can play “Pass the Fruit” or use this Memory Verse Activity Packet.