Week 465 · about 45 minutes
Esther 3
Esther 3 · Memory verse Esther 3:3
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Esther 3), the matching word search and answer key (Esther 3 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a piece of bread
Hold a piece of bread. Read Esther 3 in about four minutes, stopping at Esther 3:3: “Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Esther 3?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Esther 3 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.” 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, “Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain.” Esther 3 opens with these words: “After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the…” The line to keep is Esther 3:3: “Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”” Carry the word “king” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Esther 3:3: “Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Esther 3? Then try this: Read “Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s…” 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 Esther 3. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Esther 3:3. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Esther 3 and write Esther 3:3 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Esther 3:3
“Then the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Esther 3. Help us remember Esther 3:3 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.