Week 303 · about 45 minutes
1 Samuel 28
1 Samuel 28 · Memory verse 1 Samuel 28:5
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Samuel 28), the matching word search and answer key (1 Samuel 28 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read 1 Samuel 28 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Samuel 28:5: “When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Samuel 28?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Samuel 28 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “In those days, the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the army, you and your men.”” 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, “The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”” 1 Samuel 28 opens with these words: “In those days, the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, “Know assuredly…” The line to keep is 1 Samuel 28:5: “When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” Carry the word “saul” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Samuel 28:5: “When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Samuel 28? Then try this: Read “When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” 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 28. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Samuel 28:5. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Samuel 28 and write 1 Samuel 28:5 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Samuel 28:5
“When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Samuel 28. Help us remember 1 Samuel 28:5 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.