Memory Verse

Younger Kids

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

John 10:27

Older Kids

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

John 10:27-28

Day 1- Hearing the Shepherd

• Pray.
• Introduce the memory verse (see above).
  • Look it up in your Bible or have older kids find it in theirs. Underline or highlight the verse.
  • Read it aloud to them, then have them say it with you.
  • Decide together on motions or a little song to help you memorize it.
  • Say it again. This is a good verse to break apart into “chunks”.
    • My sheep hear my voice,
    • and I know them,
    • and they follow Me.
    • The “chunks” continue into verse 28 if you are memorizing that as well.
• Ask:
  • Who is saying these words?
  • Who are the sheep?
  • Who is the Shepherd of these sheep?
    • Read John 10:11-16.
  • How do you feel knowing you are one of Jesus’s sheep?
  • Why does Jesus call Himself the Good Shepherd? Have younger ones think about the job of a real shepherd in order to understand how Jesus is our Shepherd.
• Read John 10:27-29.
  • If you have a small sheep toy, use it for the following illustration.
  • We can be confident and know we are secure because Jesus said that no one can snatch His sheep out of His hand.
    • Place a small object, a toy sheep or a small toy person, into one of your hands and grip it tightly.
  • The Bible also tells us that no one can can snatch us out of the Father’s (God’s) hand either. When we give our lives to Jesus, He and the Father hold us so tightly and they will never let us go.
    • Use your free hand to tightly cover the hand that is holding the object to show that we are in Jesus’ hand and God holds us all in His hands.
    • Have your kids try to grab the toy object from your two hands. Talk about how securely you are holding it, and help them understand that when we give our lives to God and let Him be our Boss, He holds us that tightly too.

Day 2-Samuel Listened, Part 1

• Pray.
• Practice the Bible verse-John 10:27-28 (see the top of this page).
• Try standing in a room other than the one your kids are in. Tell them something in a very soft voice and see if they can hear you. Keep repeating it, a little louder each time, until they are able to repeat back what you said to them. The goal is for them to be listening so well that they are able to hear you when you are still speaking fairly quietly.
• Ask, “When we are in a crowd of people and you hear me call you, are you able to hear my voice through all the others?”
• Explain that they can discern your voice from others because they have practiced listening to you and have learned what you sound like so much that your voice stands out above the rest.
• Samuel did the exact same thing. He was able to hear God’s voice clearly because He had practiced listening for Him and he had learned what God sounded like.
• Quickly summarize 1 Samuel 1. Explain that Samuel was born to Hannah who had wanted a son so badly. She had dedicated him to the Lord, so when he was old enough, he went to live in the temple. Samuel grew there and found favor with the Lord (1 Samuel 2:26).
• Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10.
• Discuss
  • What do we know about Samuel?
  • What do we know about God?
  • How would you describe God’s voice in this story?

Day 3- Samuel Listened, Part 2

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
  • My kids and I looked up the ASL signs for the key words in the verse (sheep, hear, voice, know, follow). They really enjoyed this, and it will help them remember the verse. I will post a video of them saying it with the signs ASAP.
• Explain to your kids that the nation of Israel had a habit of turning away from God to worship other gods/idols. Because of this, God allowed other nations to rule over them until they cried out to Him for help. He then would send a judge, someone who would deliver them from their enemy and lead them back to worshipping God. This happened many times in the book of Judges.
• Samuel was the last judge Israel had. He encouraged them to listen to God instead of the voices of others.
• Read 1 Samuel 8:4-9.
  • Why did the people want a king?
  • Why did Samuel think this wasn’t the best thing for the people?
    • He had seen how the people had turned their hearts away from the Lord, their true King, to worship idols before. He knew this would be a similar situation; they would put their trust in the king instead of in God.
• Summarize 1 Samuel 8:10-18.
• Read 1 Samuel 8:19-22.
  • Why did Samuel listen and obey God, even though he thought they shouldn’t have a king?
  • Whose ways are always best, ours or Gods?
  • Can you trust God’s voice like Samuel did?
  • What is God wanting you learn today as you think about this story of Samuel?

Day 4- Samuel Listened, Day 3

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse (John 10:27).
• We have a birthday in our house today, and everyone woke up SUPER early! I apologize for the short post, but we have to celebrate! Have a great day!
• Review what we read yesterday about the Israelites wanting a king.
• Read 1 Samuel 9-10:1.
• Discuss
  • What did God tell Samuel?
  • Did Samuel listen and obey?
  • Why did the people trust Samuel so much? Why did his servant suggest that Saul go see him?
  • What words would you use to describe Samuel?
  • What are some qualities that Samuel had that would be good for you to have?

Day 5- Samuel Listened, Part 4

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Ask, “Do you remember the people we read about yesterday? Who became the first king of Israel?”
• Explain that King Saul eventually became prideful and disobedient to God. He did some things that made God very unhappy, and He regretted making him king (1 Samuel 15:35). God spoke to Samuel one day and told him to take a take a trip to Bethlehem where He would show Samuel the one to anoint as the next king.
• Read or tell in your own words 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Be sure to read directly from the Bible the words that God told Samuel in verse 7.
• Discussion Questions
  • Younger Kids
    • Who did God choose to be the next king?
    • Tell me what we know about David from what we read today.
    • What is more important to God: how someone looks or what is in their heart (reread verse 7)?
    • Explain that the heart that the Bible talks about here isn’t referring to your actual blood-pumping organ, but it refers to your emotions, what you think about, your will, and your desires.
    • God wants us to be kind and loving and faithful to Him. He wants us to love Him above all other things and to trust Him because He made us, loves us, and knows what is best.
  • Older Kids
    • Why did God choose David to be king instead all of his strong, handsome, older brothers (see verse 7)?
    • God told Samuel that He does not look at man in the same way that people look at each other. We tend to look at people’s outward appearance, but God looks at our hearts.
    • What did He mean when He said this? (our emotions, our desires, our will, our intellect, what we think about, whom/Whom we trust-God)
    • How does what is in our hearts determine the choices we make?
    • Should you listen for God’s voice and go where He leads you like Samuel did? Why or why not?