Week 776 · about 45 minutes
Isaiah 61
Isaiah 61 · Memory verse Isaiah 61:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Isaiah 61), the matching word search and answer key (Isaiah 61 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a cup of water
Hold a cup of water. Read Isaiah 61 in about four minutes, stopping at Isaiah 61:2: “to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Isaiah 61?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Isaiah 61 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;” 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 you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.” Isaiah 61 opens with these words: “The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken…” The line to keep is Isaiah 61:2: “to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;” Carry the word “proclaim” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Isaiah 61:2: “to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Isaiah 61? Then try this: Read “to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;” 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 Isaiah 61. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Isaiah 61:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Isaiah 61 and write Isaiah 61:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Isaiah 61:2
“to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Isaiah 61. Help us remember Isaiah 61:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.