Week 68 · about 45 minutes
Genesis 17
Genesis 17 · Memory verse Genesis 17:17
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Genesis 17), the matching word search and answer key (Genesis 17 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a seed
Hold a seed. Read Genesis 17 in about four minutes, stopping at Genesis 17:17: “Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Genesis 17?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Genesis 17 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.” 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 uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”” Genesis 17 opens with these words: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.” The line to keep is Genesis 17:17: “Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years…” Carry the word “abraham” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Genesis 17:17: “Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Genesis 17? Then try this: Read “Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one…” 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 Genesis 17. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Genesis 17:17. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Genesis 17 and write Genesis 17:17 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Genesis 17:17
“Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Genesis 17. Help us remember Genesis 17:17 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.