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Ê Ê Ê

: Joy
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: Box of books, Bible, ball hat for Joe, bag of candy for Candy, index
cards for labels

 : Bill counts his blessings and shares with his friends why«..there is
joy when you learn to live happy rather than complaining. Paul and Silas
give them a good example in showing joy in unpleasant circumstances.

Bill: (Chanting or singing) ³Count your blessings, name them one

by one, count your blessing see what God has done, count your
blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings see
what God has done.

Joe: My ears are hurting after that. Why can¶t you just sing to
yourself? That would make someone deaf as loud as you sing.

Candy: (Holds a bag of candy) Yeah, maybe you should take

voice lessons. My teacher said you have to sing the vowels and
not the consonants. This candy helps sooth my throat (Opens bag
and pops one in her mouth)

Bill: What««.ever! I am making a joyful noise.

Joe: What for«..all I see is all these books we have to go through

and label. This will take all afternoon.
Candy: Well«maybe next time, you should think before you use a
cell phone in class ± especially Miss Chrome¶s class. She is strict
about cell phones. Why one time, she took mine, and did not give
it back until a week later.

Bill: What did you do about it? (Sings) Count your blessings name
then one by one.

Candy: No, I did not count any blessings. I could not tell my
parents or they would have known what I did ± no way. Then, I
would have been grounded. My mom grounds me for a whole
month when she gets mad at me.

Bill: (Sings) Count your blessings name them on by one. Count

your blessings see what God has done«.

Joe: Would you please stop, (Holds head) I have a headache

now. Look at all these books we need to get busy.

Candy: Why are you so joyful anyhow, Bill? (Digs in bag for some
more candy)

Bill: I have been reading in my bible about Paul and Silas in jail.
Look, hear it is. (Opens bible and reads) This was where Paul and
Silas were put into jail because they preached about God. The
people got upset and threw them in jail because they would not
shut up talking about Jesus. However, they were joyful even in
prison.

(Reads from script)Ê


They beat them very hard. Then they put them in prison.
`Take care,' they said to the prison guard. `Be sure that these
prisoners do not run away.'
And so the guard put them in the
back room in the prison. They locked their feet in holes cut in
heavy pieces of wood.
Joe: What! You mean they put them in jail for talking about
Jesus? Were they scared? I would have called the cops. Here,
give me those labels.

Candy: (Hands labels) They were the cops! Did they ever get
out?

Bill: (Reads using bible from the script)

At midnight, Paul and
Silas were talking with God. They were singing and praising God.
The other prisoners were listening to them.


Then all of a sudden the earth shook very much. Even the floor
of the prison was shaking. All the doors came wide open. The
things that held the prisoners all came off.
The prison guard
woke up. He saw all the prison doors open. So he took a long
knife and was going to kill himself. He thought that all the
prisoners had run away.

Joe: Cool! They should have taken off just like that. (Writes on
index cards)

Candy: (Eats more candy) How could anyone be joyful in prison?

Did he kill himself?

Joe: It that all you do ± eat candy?

Bill:
Paul shouted, `Stop! Do not hurt yourself. We are all
here!'
The guard called for a light and went in quickly. He
kneeled down before Paul and Silas, trembling with fear. He
brought them out of the prison and said, `Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?' They replied, `Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and
you will be saved.

Joe: Some story! That is better than CSI. They had a cool one on
the other night that sounded something like that. Only the people
broke out of jail and the cops could not find them even with
hunting dogs.
Candy: I want to hear the rest of the story««.(Eats some more
candy)

Joe: Did you eat the whole bag up? (Peers into bag)

Bill: (Hands Joe a book) Paul and Silas had sores from the
beating in prison. So the guard washed them. He took Paul and
Silas to his home and gave them food to eat. He and all the
people in his house were very happy. They now believed in God.

Joe: That IS amazing! I bet CSI would like to make a movie out
of that story. I think those judges should have been put in jail
themselves for what they did. (Writes title of book on index card)

Bill: The judges did let them go free in the end. But Paul would
not go free.

Joe: What! Was he crazy or something!

Bill: But Paul said, `We are Romans. And they have beaten us
outside where people can see. They have put us in prison without
proving we have done wrong. Now, are they going to take us out
of prison secretly? No, they themselves must come and take us
out.' The soldiers told this to the judges. They were very much
afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Romans. So
they came to Paul and Silas. They said they were sorry for what
they had done. They brought them out of prison and asked them
to leave the city.

Candy: Did they leave the city? (Hands Joe another book)

Bill: When Paul and Silas came out of prison, they went back to
Lydia's house. They saw their Christian brothers and talked to
them. This helped the Christians to believe more strongly. Then
Paul and Silas went on their way.

Joe: Some story! You mean that is really in the bible? (Write on
index card)
Bill: Sure, I just read it«

Candy: Well«.I just did not think the bible was that interesting. I
guess it does have some good stories. Here«.(Hands empty
candy bag to Joe)

Joe: (Grabs bag eagerly) It¶s empty! That was my favorite, too.
Next time, maybe you can share some. (Turns to Bill)

Joe: Sound like a CSI movie to me. Cool«..real cool«..I think I¶ll
tell my friends about this one. Maybe they will want to come to
your church if it tells stories like that one.

Bill: Sure come any time! They were joyful under bad
circumstances for sure.

Candy: I would have been scared and mad at the same time to
be treated that way.

Joe: Now I see why you were singing count your blessings. (Puts
books in box)

Bill: Let¶s put the rest of these books away so we can get home.
(Sings) Count your blessings name them one by one«««.(Picks
up books and exits)

Joe and Candy: Let¶s get out of here (Holding their ears)

EXIT

Resources: Acts 16:23-40 (Worldwide English New Testament)

©kidzministry.net Jeanne McIntosh January2010, All rights reserved.