Week 286 · about 45 minutes
1 Samuel 10
1 Samuel 10 · Memory verse 1 Samuel 10:9
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Samuel 10), the matching word search and answer key (1 Samuel 10 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a cup of water
Hold a cup of water. Read 1 Samuel 10 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Samuel 10:9: “It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Samuel 10?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Samuel 10 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t Yahweh anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?” 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, “Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” He said, “To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.”” 1 Samuel 10 opens with these words: “Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t Yahweh anointed you to be prince over his…” The line to keep is 1 Samuel 10:9: “It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.” Carry the word “turned” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Samuel 10:9: “It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Samuel 10? Then try this: Read “It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those…” 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 10. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Samuel 10:9. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Samuel 10 and write 1 Samuel 10:9 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Samuel 10:9
“It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Samuel 10. Help us remember 1 Samuel 10:9 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.