Week 979 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 18
Matthew 18 · Memory verse Matthew 18:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 18), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 18 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a key
Hold a key. Read Matthew 18 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 18:2: “Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 18?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 18 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of 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, “Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” Matthew 18 opens with these words: “In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”” The line to keep is Matthew 18:2: “Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,” Carry the word “jesus” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 18:2: “Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 18? Then try this: Read “Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,” 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 18. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 18:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 18 and write Matthew 18:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 18:2
“Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 18. Help us remember Matthew 18:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.