Porch Kids Growth Group Questions



LARGE GROUP TIME
 
WHAT? What are we talking about today?
MUSIC | Worship
 
ACTIVITY | Legacy Leg Race
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Divide the kids into three to four teams, depending on how many kids you have. Within those teams, split the kids into pairs and have them tie one of each of their legs together to create a three-legged team. Each pair will then kick an inflated balloon from one side of the room to the other, then run back and tag the next pair in their team. The first team to get all their balloons successfully across the finish line wins.
  • We are kicking off a brand new series called Legacy! Does anyone know what a legacy actually is?
  • A legacy is something that is handed down from the past. Just like how you tagged your teammates to let them know it was their turn next. For example, someone's legacy might be that they cared for animals or that their family is known for being kind and generous.
  • We are going to spend this month talking about the legacy that Jesus has left for us . . . which is the Holy Spirit.
 
ACTIVITY | Maze Race
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Set up a maze using painter's tape on the floor. Each kid will be given a straw and a balloon. The kids blow on their balloons with their straws, trying to make it through without leaving the boundaries of the maze. Allow all of the kids to try to do this first without any help. The second time through, guide the kids by giving them step-by-step directions so they can go through the maze focusing on their balloon and not trying to watch where the maze is.
  • Life can be confusing. Have you ever felt like your life is a maze?
  • The legacy of the Holy Spirit is to connect us to God. Just like it was easier for you to travel through the maze when someone was giving you directions, the Holy Spirit helps us to travel through life loving and serving God.
 
OBJECT LESSON | Who is the Holy Spirit? - Part One
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Ask for a volunteer to try and toss a balloon into a bucket. You will use a fan to try and blow the balloon away from the bucket while they try.
  • Why was it so difficult to get the balloon into the trash can?
  • Can you see the wind coming out of the fan?
  • How do you know the wind is there?
  • When you go outside on a windy day, can you see the wind?
  • How do you know the wind is blowing?
  • The Holy Spirit is a lot like the wind coming from a fan or the wind outside on a windy day. Even though we can't see it, it's there.
  • Just like the wind from the fan moved the balloon, the Holy Spirit moves us. The Holy Spirit guides and travels with us, helping us when we need to make important choices.
 
SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?
SCRIPTURE | Acts 8:26-40
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Create a time travel device to use for the Bible story every week this month! Cut out chunks of the rim of five plates (gold , silver, and/or bronze) to make them look like steampunk gears (like this). Print and cut out items from the Time Machine printable. Poke a hole in the middle of a cake board and attach the arrow with a brad. Glue each of the Scripture circles onto a plate (note that they are in Roman numerals to fit the theme!). Attach the gears around the cake board in any order using brads or hot glue.
  • Today, we're going to hear about one of Jesus' friends named Philip. Philip was a special friend of Jesus' called a disciple, or a follower Jesus.
  • Let's use our special time travel device to take us to today's Bible story! 
  • INSTRUCTIONS:  Point the arrow on your "device" to the plate with the corresponding Scripture and play this sound effect. Summarize today's Bible story in Acts 8:26-40. You could choose to show this video instead of or in addition to the teaching.
  • The Spirit of God told Philip to go to this place in the middle of nowhere, and Philip didn't ask why — he just agreed to go just like that! When he arrived, he met a person from Ethiopia. And this guy was really important because he was the treasurer — that's the person in charge of money — for the Queen of Ethiopia!
  • The man brought with him on his trip to Jerusalem a big part of the Hebrew scriptures, which is what we call the Old Testament, and specifically, the book of Isaiah. He was reading it out loud.
  • Even though he was well educated and worked for the queen, the man still didn't understand what he was reading — it didn't make any sense to him.
  • Have you ever read something you didn't understand?
  • Well, Philip heard the man reading, approached him and asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?"
  • You see, Philip had heard the Holy Spirit's voice telling Philip to help someone. And even though he was a little nervous, he helped the man anyway because Philip knew this was what the Holy Spirit wanted him to do. 
 
THE BIG IDEA | The Holy Spirit helps us want to know God.
 
VIDEO | Legacy, Episode 1
 
ACTIVITY | Legacy Lotto
  • We are going to get to know each other better by playing this next game. 
  • You will travel around the room to try to find people who can put their name next to something they like from the board you fill out. Once you have one person for each letter, yell, "Legacy!"
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Print the Legacy Lotto printable. In the blank spaces, have kids write four things they like in each column that begin with the letter of that column (e.g., lemonade, lollipops, lizards, labradors for column "L"). Once they complete their board, they will go around and try to find other people who like the same things on their list, and get them to write their name in the corresponding boxes. This activity will be played kind of like "Bingo" except that instead of trying to get five-in-a-row, kids will try to get one item from each column, in any order. Once they have a six different friends' names listed in each of the six columns, have them yell "LEGACY!"
  • This game helped us to get to know each other a little better. What can we do to get to know God better? We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Spirit helps us want to know God.
 
SCRIPTURE | Romans 15:13
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Read Romans 15:13.
  • A man named Paul was trying to help all the new churches get started. Paul's legacy is that he wrote letters to these churches, which were later put in the Bible.  
  • Paul wanted to encourage church leaders because they were only just learning what it meant to be followers of Jesus.
  • Paul shared with them that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled with joy and peace. And that gives us power to do what Jesus wants us to do . . . which helps us know God better.
  • The Holy Spirit helps us want to know God.
 
NOW WHAT? What does God want us to do about it?
ACTIVITY | Timeline
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Give each kid a piece of paper and some colored pencils. Show them an example of a timeline.
  • It's amazing how the Holy Spirit impacts every part of our lives. Sometimes, we don't even notice it.
    • First, draw a line all the way across your paper like this, with three dots.
    • Over the first dot, draw a picture of the person who invited or brought you here today. That happened in the past.
    • Under the second dot, draw a picture of yourself here, where you are right now.
    • Over the third dot draw a picture of someone you know who you can ask to come with you next time. That will happen in the future.
  • Now, we have the past, present, and future. Go back and draw one big heart over all three pictures. God's Holy Spirit directs our lives and connects the past to the present, and the present to the future.
 
 
MEMORY VERSE | Verse Knockout
  • INSTRUCTIONS: Write one word from the memory verse onto upside down cups. Line up the cups in order on a table (you might want to spread them out over two tables if possible). Have kids read and recite the verse together once. Then have kids take turns tossing bean bags to knock a cup off the table. Each time one cup gets knocked over, put it away and have them recite the whole verse and supply the missing word. Keep going until all the cups have been knocked over and the group is able to recite the whole verse without any cups present. 
 
PRAYER
  • Dear God, Thank you for wanting to know us and for allowing us to know you more through the Holy Spirit. Help us to want to know you more and more each day and share what we know with others. Amen. 
 
SMALL GROUP TIME
DISCUSSION
  • What did the Holy Spirit tell Philip to do?
  • Who did Philip meet on the desert road?
  • What did Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch talk about?
  • Read Romans 15:13. How does this verse encourage us?
  • What does the Holy Spirit do for us?
  • What are some things you know about God already?
  • What are some things you want to know more about?
 
 
MEMORY VERSE