Week 391 · about 45 minutes
1 Chronicles 17
1 Chronicles 17 · Memory verse 1 Chronicles 17:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Chronicles 17), the matching word search and answer key (1 Chronicles 17 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a wooden spoon
Hold a wooden spoon. Read 1 Chronicles 17 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Chronicles 17:2: “Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Chronicles 17?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Chronicles 17 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of Yahweh’s covenant is in a tent.”” 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, “but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever.”’”” 1 Chronicles 17 opens with these words: “When David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of Yahweh’s covenant is…” The line to keep is 1 Chronicles 17:2: “Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”” Carry the word “nathan” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Chronicles 17:2: “Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Chronicles 17? Then try this: Read “Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”” 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 Chronicles 17. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Chronicles 17:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Chronicles 17 and write 1 Chronicles 17:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Chronicles 17:2
“Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Chronicles 17. Help us remember 1 Chronicles 17:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.