Week 113 · about 45 minutes
Exodus 21
Exodus 21 · Memory verse Exodus 21:5
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Exodus 21), the matching word search and answer key (Exodus 21 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Exodus 21 in about four minutes, stopping at Exodus 21:5: “But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Exodus 21?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Exodus 21 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, ““Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.” 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, “if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.” Exodus 21 opens with these words: ““Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.” The line to keep is Exodus 21:5: “But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’” Carry the word “servant” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Exodus 21:5: “But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Exodus 21? Then try this: Read “But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’” 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 Exodus 21. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Exodus 21:5. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Exodus 21 and write Exodus 21:5 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Exodus 21:5
“But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Exodus 21. Help us remember Exodus 21:5 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.