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
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Want weekly retellings of our favorite Bible stories and conversation guides? Listen to the Join The Journey Jr. podcast with the whole family every Monday!
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” 37Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. 39Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. 41Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.
Imagine your best friend borrows your favorite thing — maybe a book, a toy, a game — and breaks it. They say sorry. But you’re still really upset. You have a choice: you can stay mad, bring it up every time you see them, and not be friends with them anymore. Or you can decide that you’re not going to hold it against them anymore, even though it hurts. What should you do? Well, let’s look at what Paul did when one of his friends disappointed him by doing something that wasn’t kind.
We’ve been studying Acts 15, where Paul and Barnabas have a huge disagreement and split up. Paul refuses to bring a guy named John Mark along on the next part of the journey. Why? Well, John Mark had quit on them before.
Read Acts 13:13-14 to see what happened.
Instead of going with the group to Perga, John Mark decides to go back to Jerusalem. Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us why he left, but it is clear in Acts 15:36-41 that it hurt Paul when John Mark left them. So, Paul didn’t want to take him on the next part of their trip, which is why the argument between Paul and Barnabas happened. Paul and Barnabas decided to go different ways, which was okay because it meant there were 2 missionary trips spreading the Gospel to even more people than before!
But what happens between Paul and John Mark? Does Paul stay mad at him? No. Paul chooses to forgive John Mark. Forgiveness is letting go of what someone did wrong, even when holding on feels fair. How do we know Paul forgives him? Today, you get to look at other places in the Bible where Paul talks about John Mark. Use the guide below to see how Paul’s heart changes toward Mark.
For K–2 (with a parent’s help):
For 3–5 (search independently with a Bible):
For the whole family:
Look up Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13, and Matthew 18:21–22. Write down one thing each verse says about forgiveness.
Our monthly memory verse Colossians 1:28. Take time this weekend to practice memorizing the verse. You can use this Memory Verse Activity Packet to reinforce memorization throughout the month!