Hide and Jump (AY)

Opening Prayer: 1 Minute

Song Service: 10-15 minutes

Opening Theme Song – A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Scripture Reading: Joshua 1 verses 7-9

Prayer

Hide, Crawl and Jump

Narrator: James is a fifteen year old Seventh Day Adventist. Even though he has been raised to believe and trust in God, he does not always act that way and, because he is young, he believes he has very little to fear.

But, all of that changes when his parents leave for a conference one evening, and while James is home alone, he experiences something that not only shakes him up but also allows him to know that God is always near, and with Him there really is very little to fear.

Scene 1 – Opens in living room setting.

 Mom (while grabbing her purse and talking) “And remember that the dishes need to be washed.”

James (sitting on the couch and playing on his phone: “Yeah, yeah I’ll remember.”

Mom: “And don’t have anyone over. We’ll be back before the night ends.”

James: “OK Mom, I won’t.”

(James’ father enters the scene and is fixing his tie and looks at his son)

Dad: “Make sure you lock the back door before you go to bed. That thing is always left unlocked by someone.”

(James sits up and sighs, his eyes still on his phone).

Dad: “James did you hear what I said?”

James: “Yeah I heard. Don’t worry I’ll be fine.”

Narrator: This would be the first time that James was ever left home alone. Usually his parents would have a family friend stay to keep him company, but this one night, he decided that he was old enough to take care of himself and be alone.

Dad (while shaking his head): “You’re always on that phone. You’re going to go blind one day.”

Mom: “Oh honey, and remember to say your prayers before you go to bed.”

(James merely nods his head, not really paying attention to what was being said).

Dad (checks the time on his watch): “We’ve got to get going or we’ll be late.”

Mom: “Oh you’re right. James sweetie we’ll see you later. If you need anything just call Ms Erma and she’ll help you.”

James: “Yeah, sure.”

(They say their goodbyes and James’ parents exit the house) (Enter car driving away sound effect https://youtu.be/GhSb_1tXFYo play the first 6 seconds).

Narrator: Once his parents were gone, James let out a sigh of relief. He thought they would never leave.

James: “Finally, some peace and quiet! Now I can watch some TV!”

(James jumps up and puts the TV on to a station his parents would not normally let him watch because it displayed too much violence. He goes to the kitchen to get a drink and then returns)

James: “Ah, now this  is what I call heaven.”

Narrator: While James watches the show, he completely forgot all about the back door, which was right in the kitchen where he had been. It remained unlocked the entire time. By this point, it had been a couple hours with him just sitting on the couch and watching television. Then, he thought he heard a noise.

(James glances over to the kitchen, staring at it confusedly.)

James: “What was that?”

Narrator: He listened but whatever it was he did not hear it a second time, so he just shrugged it off as nothing. He figured it must have been some animal of sorts. Eventually he checked the time on his phone and decided it was time to get ready for bed since he was beginning to feel tired.

(James takes the television off and stretches. He then goes to take off the lights, leaving the ones outside the house on for when his parents got back. He then goes up to his bedroom (that is on the second floor of the house)

Scene change

Narrator: James was now ready for bed. He lay down and put his headphones in to listen to music, like he always did before he went to sleep. He did not remember to say his prayers as his mother instructed him; he saw no need to pray every night. To him, if you could survive the day then you could survive the night.

James (with his headphones on and listening to music): “Yeah, I don’t need prayers to keep me safe. What’s gonna happen anyway?”

Narrator: It was very late now and the song he had been listening to just ended. He was about to play one more song before finally going to sleep. In the space between the song ending and him finding another one to play, he heard something from downstairs. (Enter door shutting https://youtu.be/z0GZhCnN87I)

He sat up, confused at first but not completely worried.

James: “Maybe it’s just Mom and Dad.”

(He looks at the time and notices that it’s still an hour before they were supposed to be back. He slowly sits up in the bed and stares out his bedroom door that had been left wide open).

James: “Mom? Dad? Is that you?”

Narrator: There was no response and he was beginning to feel a bit scared. It was very dark and he could not see anything, but he knew he definitely heard something. This time he heard what sounded like footsteps coming up the stairs (https://youtu.be/spDzJCAL5lk).

James did not move and tried to call out to his parents again, but could not even make a sound. Then, all of a sudden, he sees someone run past his bedroom very quickly, startling him so badly that he nearly screamed.

Begin to play ominous music (https://youtu.be/3e5ghuPOexo) 

James (his hands to his mouth in shock) “There’s no way that was real. I have to be dreaming. (He pinches himself, feels it, and his face turns to a look of utter terror).

Narrator: Whoever he had just seen was certainly not either of his parents, and no one else should have been in the house. James sat there, not knowing what to do. There was absolutely no way he was going to confront whoever had ran past his door, and he was too creeped out to try and go downstairs. He was so creeped out in fact that the only thing that did make sense to him was to jump out his window. He took a deep breath (James breathes), counted to ten and as slowly as he could he got out of bed and tiptoed over to the door.

(James looks out doorway) 

Narrator: He quietly peeked down the hallway, in the direction the intruder had ran to but saw nothing. His heart was pounding in his chest as though it would burst out at any second, and he was sweating as though he were in the desert. Just as he had gained the courage to run downstairs, there was a loud crash coming from his parents’ room. (https://youtu.be/p-U4p3r48BU)

(James slams the door and locks it, running over to his window. He looks down and realizes the height he is at could potentially damage him if he landed incorrectly).

James: “What am I going to do? If I jump I could break my leg. If I don’t jump, whoever that guy is might do something worse than that.”

Narrator: He was in quite a predicament alright. But, he quickly concluded that it was better to risk it than face the intruder. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he found himself doing the thing he saw no need to do at this time, and closed his eyes to say a quick prayer.

James: “Lord, I don’t know what’s going to happen when I do this, but please help me. I’m sorry for not listening earlier. I promise, if You help me get out of here that I’ll be more obedient. I know I haven’t been the best lately but I still trust You to protect me and get me out of this situation.” (He opens the window and begins to climb out just as he hears pounding on his door) (https://youtu.be/FtT6qtGOzOo)

(James gets his whole body out, breathes in and jumps. He lands almost perfectly and stumbles just a bit but is able to catch himself on time. He is greatly surprised and it shows on his face).

James: “I made it! Thank You!”

Narrator: His celebrating was cut short when he remembered the reason he jumped out the window in the first place. James looked up at his open window, fearing he’d see the man standing there, but luckily God must have really been with him that night because no one was there. James then sprinted away, out of the yard and across the street to Ms Erma’s house.

(James pounds on Ms Erma’s front door with both fists until she answers.)

Ms Erma (looking at James’ terrified face in perplexity): “James dear, what’s wrong?”

James: “There’s someone in my house! Call the cops!”

(Ms Erma, still confused, ushers him into her home and has him sit down while she calls the police. She then sits next to him and they talk about what had occurred. In a matter of minutes, both the police and his parents pull up at the same time. James runs out to them as they’re both bewildered until he explains what had happened.)

Mom: “Oh honey, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?”

James: “No, I’m fine. Just a little freaked out.”

Dad: “How did he get in? You locked the back door didn’t you?”

James (looks down and sheepishly replies: “I guess I kind of forgot. I was watching TV and didn’t remember.”

(James’ Dad begins to scold him for being careless while the officers come back out with a man in handcuffs.)

Officer: “Well folks, I think you all should be OK now. We found the guy hiding in one of the bedrooms.”

Dad: “Was anything disturbed? Did he come here to try and rob us?”

Officer: “We’re not certain as yet what the motive is, but that is a possibility with all the recent break-ins in the area. I can honestly say that you got quite lucky tonight.”

Mom: “It was God, not luck, but thank you so much. We’re extremely grateful.”

Officer: (removes cap and scratches his face) “If you say so ma’am. We’ll keep you all updated.”

(The police leaves with the man and the family goes inside to inspect the damage. They discover nothing missing, thankfully, but James’ bedroom door had been kicked in and was now hanging off it’s hinges.”

Dad: “That guy did a number on this door. How did you get out?”

James: “I jumped out the window.”

Mom: “The window? From so far up? You weren’t scared?”

James: “At first, but then I prayed that God wouldn’t let me break anything… so, I guess that worked.”

Dad: “That was a great exercise in trust, son. I hope you remember that God is always with you and you can always trust Him.”

James: “Yeah, now I know I can, and I’ll definitely be praying more often now.”

(The family hugs and the scene ends)

Narrator: James’ lesson was one that can be learnt by all of us. Trusting God to take care of us, even when things seem hopeless, is one of the best things we can do. Please remember that you are never alone – God and his son Jesus are there for all of us, now and forever.

Discussion Questions for the youths (choose the ones most fitting for your church):

• Do you think your parents have your best interest at heart?
• What rules do you plan on changing when you become a parent?
• What are the consequences for obeying and not obeying your parents?
• Why is it for you to have daily prayer and bible study? Why do most people NOT do this?
• How does prayer and bible study help to remove fear? Romans 10:17
• What things should we not pray for?
• If God does not answer your prayer in the way you expect, what could be the problem? James 4:2-3

Vesper Service: 8-10 minutes

(Praise team + congregation closes off with I Will Trust https://youtu.be/fSQOPyoUzko)

 Departure Song

Final Announcements