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
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
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“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
22The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” 23They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.
Paul Reveals His Roman Citizenship
24The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious. 25When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer* standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”
26When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.
28“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”
Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”
29The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.
Paul before the High Council
30The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council.* He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.
God tells us many times in scripture to go and share the good news. What good news is God talking about? It’s the gospel! In Mark 5:19, God says, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he had had mercy on you.” God tells us to tell our friends about this free gift of mercy and how it has given us a new start and a new heart.
On Monday we talked about before Christ what things we found most important in our lives. A lot of our answers may be family, friends, sports, food, maybe TV. Those are all great things, but those do not save us from our sin. When talking with someone who does not know Christ, how can you share your story of how you once saw those things as the most important thing in your life? How can you explain the gospel?
Take some time as a family to read some verses in Acts of other believers who shared their story of what God did in their life. Notice what they share about their story before they knew Jesus and then after.
God, thank you for how you have saved me from my sin. God, I pray for boldness this week and that I would be able to share your story of love for me to others. Thank you for your finished work done on the cross. Help us to never forget the good news of the gospel and Jesus’s sacrifice. Amen