Growing Deeper
Week 2: Jesus – someone important!
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Quick jumps:
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 1:14-20 | Jesus’ message | Jesus’ invitation | Jesus’ task for His followers |
Warm-up | Running on hot lava | Bear shoulder taps | Follow the leader |
Move | Burpee preparation | Burpees | Burpee frog jumps |
Challenge | Push-up challenge | Dice challenge | Burpee time challenge |
Explore | Read the verses and write ‘good news’ | Read verses and chat about leader qualities | Reread the verses and act it out |
Play | Knee tag | Sock basketball | Ready, set … move |
Watch the family.fit five steps
Getting started
Help your family to be active this week with three fun sessions:
- Involve everyone – anyone can lead!
- Adapt for your family
- Encourage each other
- Challenge yourselves
- Don’t exercise if it causes pain
Share family.fit with others:
- Post a photo or video on social media and tag with #familyfit or @familyfitnessfaithfun
- Do family.fit with another family
Day 1: Warm-up
Running on hot lava
Spread out around a space. Select a leader. When the leader says “hot lava” everyone runs on the spot as fast as they can. When the leader says “stop” everyone does squats. Repeat until everyone is breathing heavily.
Rest and talk together.
Talk about a time when you received some good news.
Go deeper: What impact does good news have on your life?
Day 1: Move
Burpee preparation
Part of a burpee is pushing off the floor. Do three rounds of 9 push-ups and 12 squats. These movements will help you to build up to a burpee.
Rest between rounds.
Go easier: Do only two rounds or lower the repetitions to 5 push-ups and 10 squats.
Day 1: Challenge
Push-ups challenge
See how many push-ups your family can do in two minutes. Set this number as a benchmark. Rest for one minute and be sure to praise each person’s effort.
Repeat the two-minute challenge and see if you can beat your benchmark number.
Rest and drink water.
Go easier: Do knee push-ups.
Go harder: Do three rounds.
Day 1: Explore
Jesus’ message
Read Mark 1:14-20 from the Bible.
After God’s affirmation from heaven, Jesus begins His public ministry. His first tasks are to announce His purpose and choose His small team of followers who will travel with Him for the next three years.
Mark 1:14-20
Discuss:
Read the first two verses.
Jesus came proclaiming the ‘good news’. What is the ‘good news’ of God?
Write five statements describing this ‘good news’ on separate pieces of paper. Put each paper on a plate at the meal table.
Think: Our food gives us life – the ‘good news’ gives us true life.
Chat to God: Thank God together for each of these parts of the ‘good news’.
Day 1: Play
Knee tag
Compete in pairs. Try to touch your opponent’s knees as many times as you can in 60 seconds while you protect your own with your hands and body position. Change partners and repeat.
Try it in groups of three.
Health tip
Get enough sleep each day.
Day 2: Warm-up
Bear shoulder taps
Get down on hands and knees facing a partner. Try to touch your partner’s shoulder with your hand while keeping your ‘bear’ position. Play until someone reaches 11 shoulder taps.
Rest and talk together.
Who are the people or teams you follow?
Go deeper: What are the benefits of following someone else? What could be a problem?
Day 2: Move
Burpees
Start slowly and use the correct technique. Stand upright and move to the plank position to do a push-up on the floor. Then leap into the air and clap above your head. Try to do it in one fluid movement.
Do three burpees then rest. Do three rounds.
Go easier: If jumping is a problem, don’t jump and clap at the end of the burpee.
Day 2: Challenge
Burpee dice challenge
You will need a dice or small pieces of paper numbered 1-6 in a bowl.
Stand in a circle and take turns to roll the dice or select a piece of paper and do the number of burpees indicated. Add the total number of burpees for your family. What’s your score?
Do four rounds or continue for four minutes.
Go harder: Increase the number of rounds to five or six.
Day 2: Explore
Jesus’ invitation to follow
Read Mark 1:16-20.
Mark 1:16-20
Why do you think the disciples were so quick to follow Jesus?
List some of the qualities you would look for when choosing to follow someone.
Take three kitchen utensils. Make a ‘+’ sign with two of them and a ‘-’ sign with the other one and place them on the table. Talk about the ‘+’ ways your family is following Jesus. Then talk about ‘-’ ways you struggle to follow Jesus. Pray about these together.
Chat to God: Thank you that you are trustworthy to follow. Help us to follow you every day, even when it is challenging.
Day 2: Play
Sock basketball
Make a ball from a rolled-up sock. One person uses their arms as the goal.
Choose three places to shoot from. Everyone gets three shots at each place. Count the number of successful shots to find the winner.
Health tip
Get enough sleep each day.
Most adults need 7-9 hours of good quality sleep every night. Kids need even more.
Day 3: Warm-up
Follow the leader
Put on your favorite music. Run around in a circle. One person is the leader and uses hand claps to communicate instructions:
- One clap – one plank
- Two claps – two mountain-climbers
- Three claps – three squats
Change leaders after one minute.
Rest and talk together.
Talk about a favorite memory from a fishing experience – yours or someone else’s.
Go deeper: What makes fishing so popular?
Day 3: Move
Burpee frog jump
Start from a standing position and do a normal burpee. Each time after you stand and clap, jump as far forward as you can like a frog.
Take turns and measure how far each person can jump!
Go easier: Refer back to the burpee move from Day 1 or Day 2 this week.
Day 3: Challenge
Burpee time challenge
Choose four areas in your home or yard where you can all do burpees together. Start a timer, run to the first area and do 20 burpees. Complete 15 burpees at the second area, 10 burpees at the third, and five burpees at the fourth.
Stop the timer.
How long did your family take to finish the challenge?
Go easier: Reduce the number of burpees per area to 8, 6, 4 and 2.
Go harder: Increase the distance between the four areas.
Day 3: Explore
Jesus’ task for His followers
Read Mark 1: 14-20.
As you read the verses, act out the story together.
To catch fish, you need the right bait to attract them. Jesus is sending His followers out to ‘catch people’.
Mark 1: 14-20
Brainstorm some ways to attract people to the ‘good news’ of Jesus. You can even use a magnet and a paper clip to show how people could be drawn to Him.
Chat to God: Create some fish shapes out of paper. Write the names of people you know who need Jesus on each of them. Attach your ‘school of fish’ to the wall and use them as a focus for prayer this week.
Day 3: Play
Ready, set, move
The leader calls out “Ready … set … move”, and everyone moves their bodies. The leader calls out “Ready … set … stop” and no one should move. Everyone must stay still if any word other than ‘move’ is called.
Go harder: Players can be eliminated if they move when they shouldn’t.
Health tip
Get enough sleep each day.
It will help to reduce your stress and improve your mood.
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The family.fit team