Week 278 · about 45 minutes
1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel 1 · Memory verse 1 Samuel 1:17
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Samuel 1), the matching word search and answer key (1 Samuel 1 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a seed
Hold a seed. Read 1 Samuel 1 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Samuel 1:17: “Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Samuel 1?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Samuel 1 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.” 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, “Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh.” 1 Samuel 1 opens with these words: “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of…” The line to keep is 1 Samuel 1:17: “Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”” Carry the word “answered” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Samuel 1:17: “Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Samuel 1? Then try this: Read “Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”” 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 1 Samuel 1. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Samuel 1:17. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Samuel 1 and write 1 Samuel 1:17 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Samuel 1:17
“Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Samuel 1. Help us remember 1 Samuel 1:17 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.