Week 971 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 10
Matthew 10 · Memory verse Matthew 10:5
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 10), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 10 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a wooden spoon
Hold a wooden spoon. Read Matthew 10 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 10:5: “Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 10?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 10 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.” 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, “You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10 opens with these words: “He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and…” The line to keep is Matthew 10:5: “Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.” Carry the word “jesus” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 10:5: “Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 10? Then try this: Read “Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into…” 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 Matthew 10. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 10:5. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 10 and write Matthew 10:5 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 10:5
“Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 10. Help us remember Matthew 10:5 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.