Chapter 12 – Sail Away or Stay?
Questions to Think About and Discuss
1. If you were Nathan, would you have wanted to sail away with Paul? Why or why not?
2. Eli tells Nathan, “The torn curtain was only a sign. It is Jesus that has changed our lives.” How has Jesus changed your life? What things are different in your life than they would be if you didn’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
Creative Writing
Write a different ending to the story. Imagine that Nathan goes with Paul, Barnabas and John Mark on Paul’s first missionary journey.
-What is it like sailing away from family down the Orontes River? What does Nathan see and hear. Do he and John Mark become friends?
-Beginning with Acts 13:4 and continuing to Acts 14:28 read the account of Paul’s first missionary journey.
- Write a story of that journey with Nathan a part of it. Describe what he sees and does in Paul’s company. (If the whole journey is too much, pick one incident and make it into a story.) Describe what happens when he returns to his family in Antioch at the end of the journey.
Drama
Act out Nathan's conversations with Benjamin concerning his desire to go with Paul, or with Paul on the days before he leaves on his first missionary journey.
Remembering the story
The Temple Curtain is historical fiction, based on the Bible and on history. Some of the events in the book are described in the Bible and some of the events are the author imagining what could have happened in the biblical and historical context of the story.
Make a list in two columns: "From the Bible" and "From Imagination". List the main things that happen in the story under one of your columns.
Questions to Think About and Discuss
1. If you were Nathan, would you have wanted to sail away with Paul? Why or why not?
2. Eli tells Nathan, “The torn curtain was only a sign. It is Jesus that has changed our lives.” How has Jesus changed your life? What things are different in your life than they would be if you didn’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
Creative Writing
Write a different ending to the story. Imagine that Nathan goes with Paul, Barnabas and John Mark on Paul’s first missionary journey.
-What is it like sailing away from family down the Orontes River? What does Nathan see and hear. Do he and John Mark become friends?
-Beginning with Acts 13:4 and continuing to Acts 14:28 read the account of Paul’s first missionary journey.
- Write a story of that journey with Nathan a part of it. Describe what he sees and does in Paul’s company. (If the whole journey is too much, pick one incident and make it into a story.) Describe what happens when he returns to his family in Antioch at the end of the journey.
Drama
Act out Nathan's conversations with Benjamin concerning his desire to go with Paul, or with Paul on the days before he leaves on his first missionary journey.
Remembering the story
The Temple Curtain is historical fiction, based on the Bible and on history. Some of the events in the book are described in the Bible and some of the events are the author imagining what could have happened in the biblical and historical context of the story.
Make a list in two columns: "From the Bible" and "From Imagination". List the main things that happen in the story under one of your columns.