Week 983 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 22
Matthew 22 · Memory verse Matthew 22:37
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 22), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 22 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Matthew 22 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 22?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 22 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, 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, “saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’” Matthew 22 opens with these words: “Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,” The line to keep is Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” Carry the word “jesus” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 22? Then try this: Read “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all…” 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 22. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 22:37. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 22 and write Matthew 22:37 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 22:37
“Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 22. Help us remember Matthew 22:37 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.