Week 1004 · about 45 minutes
Mark 15
Mark 15 · Memory verse Mark 15:34
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Mark 15), the matching word search and answer key (Mark 15 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read Mark 15 in about four minutes, stopping at Mark 15:34: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Mark 15?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Mark 15 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take.” Mark 15 opens with these words: “Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus,…” The line to keep is Mark 15:34: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken…” Carry the word “ninth” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Mark 15:34: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Mark 15? Then try this: Read “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Mark 15. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Mark 15:34. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Mark 15 and write Mark 15:34 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Mark 15:34
“At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Mark 15. Help us remember Mark 15:34 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.