Week 990 · about 45 minutes
Mark 1
Mark 1 · Memory verse Mark 1:14
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Mark 1), the matching word search and answer key (Mark 1 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read Mark 1 in about four minutes, stopping at Mark 1:14: “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Mark 1?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Mark 1 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” 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, “Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out,” Mark 1 opens with these words: “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The line to keep is Mark 1:14: “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,” Carry the word “john” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Mark 1:14: “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Mark 1? Then try this: Read “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,” 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 Mark 1. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Mark 1:14. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Mark 1 and write Mark 1:14 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Mark 1:14
“Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Mark 1. Help us remember Mark 1:14 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.