LESSON TWO

Theme

Reach: Reaching out to others, as the body of Christ, to fulfill the Great Commission.

Key Verse

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to

obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18–20

NIV)

Bible Story

Lydia Becomes a Believer, Acts 16: 11–15 (NIRV)

Begin with Prayer

Opening Music

Begin the session with two or three songs.

Suggestions: “Shout Your Fame” by Hillsong Kids; “Better Than the Best Thing,” “I’m Gonna

Walk” by Amber Sky Records

Opening Game

Hula Hoop Pass

Select ten kids.

• The kids stand in a line. They must hold hands.

• Give the child at the end of the line the hula hoop.

• The kids must find a way to pass the hula hoop to the next child in line without letting go of their

hands.

For a demonstration, watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=11LNy8IOg8Y.

something pretty cool. Let’s give it a try.

Encourage the children watching to cheer for the participants.

Theme

Anyone have an idea of the meaning of the word reach? We use this word very often. Have you ever said

this, “I can’t reach it?” “Can you see if the cord will reach?” Did you know there is even a toothbrush

named Reach?

Today we are going to learn about reaching out to people, specifically, to reach out to other people to
tell

them about the good news of Jesus. This is something Jesus told us to do just before he went to heaven.

Key Verse

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to

obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18–20

NIV)

If this is the last thing Jesus said just before he went to heaven, it must have been pretty important. He

wants everyone to know about God’s love. It doesn’t matter where they live, what their name is, or the
color

of their hair.

Bible Story

That is a pretty big job. How are we supposed to tell everyone in the entire world? (Talk to people we
know,

everyone does their part, never give up, etc)

Paul was dedicated to spending his life telling others about Jesus. He even used his time and money to
travel
all over the place. In today’s story, we will learn about one of those trips.

Lydia Becomes a Believer, Acts 16:11–15 (NIRV)

11 At Troas we got into a boat. We sailed straight for Samothrace. The next day we went on to

Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony. It is an important city in that part

of Macedonia. We stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate. We walked down to the river. There we

expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered

together. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia. She was from the city of Thyatira.

Her business was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to

accept Paul’s message. 15 She and her family were baptized. Then she invited us to her home. “Do

you consider me a believer in the Lord?” she asked. “If you do, come and stay at my house.” She

succeeded in getting us to go home with her.

Did you hear that? Paul and his friends traveled all the way to Philippi. And what did they do when they
got

there? (They went to the place of prayer and spoke to some women.) What did they speak about? Yes,
they told them

about Jesus. And when they did, someone named Lydia became a believer.

Each of us shares God’s love with others by the way we behave and the words we speak. When we are
kind,

compassionate, helpful, positive, and obedient, we are living a life that expresses God’s love. This is an

amazing thing.

Sometimes people will ask you questions such as, Why do follow your parents’ rules? Why do you smile?

Why do you help people?

If someone asked you those questions, what would you say? (Because Jesus loves me, and I love him.)
You can tell

them about who Jesus is, how much he loves us, and that he wants to have a relationship with everyone
in
the entire world.

Praying to Jesus to ask him for the opportunity to reach people and the words to say is very important.
So

let’s do that together right now.

Let’s pray: Dear Jesus. We love you. We want to help other people know about you too. So, will you
please

give us opportunities to talk to others about you? And will you please help us to know what to say?
Amen.

Activities

The following activities can be done in more than one format. For example, they can be done in small

groups, or as stations that the children rotate through, or as activity centers. Choose an option that best
fits

your ministry.

Journal

Continue with the journal activity that the children began in Week 1.

Sticky Note

• Write phrases of the key verse on separate sticky notes. Mix them up and stick them to the wall.

• With the kids, find the key verse in the Bible and read it together. (Matthew 28:18–20)

• Kids will work together to put the sticky note phrases in order. When the verse is in the correct

order, read it aloud together. If time allows, play again.

Variations:

• Play several times, timing them with a stop watch each time. The object is to beat their previous

times.

• Play with sets of sticky notes and have two teams race against each other.

Reach Out

Gather the kids into a circle. Explain that reaching out to people can seem impossible. Maybe we might
get
scared, or it seems too hard because we are just kids. But it doesn’t have to be. And sometimes we can
reach

out to someone together.

Have all the kids move to one end of the room. Ask one kid to go to the other end. He will represent

someone who needs to be reached. He needs the group and he doesn’t know about God; he is

disconnected. All of them are going to work together to reach him.

Put some obstacles into the path between the group and the separated kid.

The kids will need to find a way to reach the person at the other end of the room. But they must always
be

touching elbows. After they complete the task once, select another kid to be separated from the group.

Then rearrange the obstacles, and give them something else to do in place of touching elbows. The kids

might even want to choose something.

Say: Today we are going to play a game that will help us realize that each of us plays an important part.
You

are going to work together to reach our friend. He represents a person who is disconnected from God.
He

doesn’t even know about God. You must figure out a way to maneuver the obstacles, keep your elbows

touching, and reach our friend.

Drama

Let kids create a skit that shows them reaching out to someone who needs to hear about God. For extra

excitement, you can video record their drama.

Suggestions: someone on the soccer team, talking to a classmate during recess, making cookies for a

neighbor.

The Puzzle

This game requires at least two teams that will race against each other. Suggested team size is five kids.

• One blank puzzle for each team. These can be purchased or you can make them using card stock.

• On the puzzle write these two questions: Who can you tell about Jesus? What will you say about
Jesus?

• Put each team’s puzzle pieces into separate buckets.

• Using tape, mark a starting line on the floor.

To Play:

• Put the buckets at one end of the room.

• The kids start behind the line. One at a time they race to their bucket, pull out a puzzle piece and

run back to their team. Once a team has all of their puzzle pieces, they can put the puzzle together.

Then teams read and answer the questions on the puzzle.

When all teams have completed the tasks, lead the teams in a discussion where teams share their
answers to

the questions: Who can you tell about Jesus and what will you say about Jesus?

Variation: If you only have one team, you can hide the puzzle pieces in the room. The kids must find the

puzzle pieces and then put the puzzle together.

End in Prayer