Week 394 · about 45 minutes
1 Chronicles 20
1 Chronicles 20 · Memory verse 1 Chronicles 20:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Chronicles 20), the matching word search and answer key (1 Chronicles 20 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read 1 Chronicles 20 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Chronicles 20:4: “After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Chronicles 20?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Chronicles 20 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “At the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, Joab led out the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it.” 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, “Again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.” 1 Chronicles 20 opens with these words: “At the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, Joab led out the army, and wasted the country of the children of…” The line to keep is 1 Chronicles 20:4: “After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.” Carry the word “arose” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Chronicles 20:4: “After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Chronicles 20? Then try this: Read “After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons…” 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 20. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Chronicles 20:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Chronicles 20 and write 1 Chronicles 20:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Chronicles 20:4
“After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Chronicles 20. Help us remember 1 Chronicles 20:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.