Week 912 · about 45 minutes
Joel 2
Joel 2 · Memory verse Joel 2:13
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Joel 2), the matching word search and answer key (Joel 2 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Joel 2 in about four minutes, stopping at Joel 2:13: “Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Joel 2?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Joel 2 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:” 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, “Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”” Joel 2 opens with these words: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh…” The line to keep is Joel 2:13: “Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and…” Carry the word “tear” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Joel 2:13: “Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Joel 2? Then try this: Read “Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow…” 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 Joel 2. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Joel 2:13. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Joel 2 and write Joel 2:13 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Joel 2:13
“Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Joel 2. Help us remember Joel 2:13 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.