Week 333 · about 45 minutes
1 Kings 4
1 Kings 4 · Memory verse 1 Kings 4:24
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Kings 4), the matching word search and answer key (1 Kings 4 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read 1 Kings 4 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Kings 4:24: “For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides around him.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Kings 4?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Kings 4 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “King Solomon was king over all Israel.” 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, “Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;” 1 Kings 4 opens with these words: “King Solomon was king over all Israel.” The line to keep is 1 Kings 4:24: “For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides…” Carry the word “dominion” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Kings 4:24: “For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides around him.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Kings 4? Then try this: Read “For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this…” 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 Kings 4. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Kings 4:24. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Kings 4 and write 1 Kings 4:24 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Kings 4:24
“For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides around him.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Kings 4. Help us remember 1 Kings 4:24 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.