Week 944 · about 45 minutes
Haggai 1
Haggai 1 · Memory verse Haggai 1:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Haggai 1), the matching word search and answer key (Haggai 1 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read Haggai 1 in about four minutes, stopping at Haggai 1:2: ““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Haggai 1?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Haggai 1 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,” 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, “Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh.” Haggai 1 opens with these words: “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to…” The line to keep is Haggai 1:2: ““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”” Carry the word “armies” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Haggai 1:2: ““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Haggai 1? Then try this: Read ““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’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 Haggai 1. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Haggai 1:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Haggai 1 and write Haggai 1:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Haggai 1:2
““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Haggai 1. Help us remember Haggai 1:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.