Week 698 · about 45 minutes
Ecclesiastes 3
Ecclesiastes 3 · Memory verse Ecclesiastes 3:8
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Ecclesiastes 3), the matching word search and answer key (Ecclesiastes 3 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a seed
Hold a seed. Read Ecclesiastes 3 in about four minutes, stopping at Ecclesiastes 3:8: “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Ecclesiastes 3?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Ecclesiastes 3 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:” 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, “I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.” Ecclesiastes 3 opens with these words: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:” The line to keep is Ecclesiastes 3:8: “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Carry the word “time” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Ecclesiastes 3:8: “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Ecclesiastes 3? Then try this: Read “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” 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 Ecclesiastes 3. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Ecclesiastes 3:8. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Ecclesiastes 3 and write Ecclesiastes 3:8 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Ecclesiastes 3:8
“a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Ecclesiastes 3. Help us remember Ecclesiastes 3:8 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.