Week 989 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 28
Matthew 28 · Memory verse Matthew 28:8
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 28), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 28 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a key
Hold a key. Read Matthew 28 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 28:8: “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 28?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 28 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” 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, “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.” Matthew 28 opens with these words: “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” The line to keep is Matthew 28:8: “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.” Carry the word “departed” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 28:8: “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 28? Then try this: Read “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.” 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 28. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 28:8. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 28 and write Matthew 28:8 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 28:8
“They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 28. Help us remember Matthew 28:8 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.