Memory Verse

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

Day 1-Simeon and Anna

• Pray.
• Introduce the memory verse.
  • Look it up together in your Bible.
  • Practice several times, adding motions to help.
• Even before Jesus was born, people loved Him. Today we will read about two people who had been looking forward to Jesus’ birth for a long time. They were both old and both were eagerly awaiting the Messiah that God had promised to send to save His people. Simeon and Anna both loved God so much and they trusted Him to keep His promise to send the Savior.
• Read Luke 2:25-38.
  • When Simeon saw Jesus, what did he do? (verse 28)
  • When Anna saw Jesus, what did she do? (verse 38)
  • Why did they love baby Jesus so much?
  • Why do you love Jesus?

Day 2-The Woman at the Well

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
  • Show your kids how to easily cut out a heart: Fold a piece of paper in half and starting your scissors on the folded edge, cut half of a heart shape. Open up the fold and voila! For younger kids, draw a line for them to cut on.
  • On the heart, have your kids write or trace the memory verse (Deuteronomy 6:5). Decorate the hearts and then hang them up so that when they see it, they will be reminded of the verse.
• Another person who loved Jesus had an unexpected encounter with Him that changed her life.
  • We do not know this woman’s name, but we do know that she was not someone that Jesus was “supposed” to talk to.
    • After all, she was a woman and Jewish men (Jesus was a Jewish man) didn’t usually speak to a woman in public.
    • Plus, she was a Samaritan woman, and the Jews and Samaritans did NOT get along.
    • We also know that she was isolated from others. Generally women came to get water from the well in groups earlier or later in the day in order to avoid the heat. This woman came to the well around noon, the hottest part of the day, all by herself.
  • Let’s read about this woman and see how Jesus changed her life.
• Read John 4:3-19, 25-34.
• Read John 4:39-42.
• Wrap Up
  • Why did this woman love Jesus?
  • How were other people’s lives changed?
  • What do you appreciate or love about Jesus from what we read today?
  • Is there anything God is telling you to do? What is it?

Day 3-A Woman Who Anointed Jesus’ Feet

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Today we are going to be reading about another woman whose name we do not know. This woman was so desperate to see Jesus and to be forgiven that she courageously went to a home where she knew she would not be welcomed just so she could see Him.
• Read Luke 7:36-39.
  • You may want to explain that many times dinners like these would have been open for spectators, but it would have been very surprising to see a woman who had such a low reputation attend. She showed courage in coming, and her weeping showed her repentance and how desperate she was for forgiveness.
  • You may want to pause and explain that alabaster is a very fine marble. It could be carved into intricate containers to store very expensive perfumes.
• Jesus knew what Simon was thinking, and he told him a parable.
• Read Luke 7:40-50.
• Talk about it.
  • Why was the woman crying so much?
  • How did the parable relate to the woman who was weeping and anointing His feet with her hair? Which person in the parable represented the woman-the person who owed 500 denarii or the one who owed 50?
  • How did this woman show her love for Jesus?
    • Back then, it was custom for the host to offer his guest water so he could wash his feet. They had to walk everywhere on dirty roads. Simon hadn’t offered this simple kindness to Jesus, but the woman showed how much she loved Jesus by washing His feet with her precious, costly perfume.
  • Why did she love Jesus so?
    • This woman was a sinner (just like the rest of us), and everyone knew it. She knew that she had done things that were wrong and she was sorry for that and wanted to be cleansed, forgiven of her sin. She had faith that Jesus was the only way this could happen. Because of her faith, Jesus saved her.
    • She came into the house very distressed, but Jesus gave her peace.

Day 4-A Sick Woman

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Read Mark 5:25-34.
• Talk about it.
  • This woman had been sick for 12 years and had gone to many doctors, but no one could help her. After hearing about Jesus, she had faith that He could help her.
  • What did the woman do when she got close enough to Jesus?
  • What happened right when she touched His cloak?
  • This woman had not only been sick for 12 years, but likely very lonely. Because of her illness she would have been considered “unclean” and couldn’t be around people due to her condition because if she touched someone else, they would’ve been considered “unclean” also. (Leviticus 15:25-27)
  • How would she have felt when, instead of being angry that she touched Him, Jesus called her “Daughter” and healed her and told her to go in peace?
  • What are some words you can think of that describe Jesus in this story?
  • Do these characteristics of Jesus help you love Him more?

Day 5-Zaccheus

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Read Luke 19:1-10.
• Talk about it.
  • What was Zaccheus’ life like before he met Jesus?
  • How did Jesus treat Zaccheus? How was this different than the way most others treated him?
  • Why did Zaccheus love Jesus?
  • How was his life different after He met Jesus?
  • Why did Jesus say He came? (verse 10)
  • What is the main thing God wants you to learn from what we read today?
• If you have preschool-age kids, you probably want to sing Zacchaeus Was A Wee Little Man after reading this story!

Day 6-The Disciples

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse-Deuteronomy 6:5.
• Jesus had many disciples, AKA followers, but He chose 12 men as apostles. Apostles means “sent ones”. These men were with Jesus throughout His ministry, and He gave them authority to deliver the gospel message on His behalf. These men were eyewitnesses to what Jesus said and what He accomplished. They told others their stories of what they had seen Jesus do and what they heard Him say. They loved Jesus very much. This week will take a closer look at a few of their stories, but for today, we will read a super quick overview.
• Read Luke 6:12-16.
• Talk about it.
  • Which of those apostles are the most familiar to you?
  • What do you already know about them?

Day 7-The Disciples: Peter

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
  • Parents, point to yourself and begin the verse. After a few words stop and point to your kids for them to continue where you left off. Point back to yourself and say a few more words. Continue with this pattern until the verse is finished.
  • Switch roles and let each kid have a turn to be the “pointer”.
• Today we are going to look at one of Jesus’ closest disciples: Peter. As we read, listen for ways that Peter showed Jesus that he loved Him.
• If you have time, today would be a good time for kids to practice looking up the verses in their Bibles. We will be in John the whole time today, so they can practice finding the book and then navigating through the chapters as we go.
• Read or summarize John 1:35-42. This is when Peter first begins to follow Jesus.
  • Cephas=Peter and the name means “rock”.
  • Jesus assigned that name to Peter. What kind of person do you think Peter would need to be if his name meant “rock”?
• After Jesus had been teaching for a while, some of the people who were following Him began to go away because they did not believe that He was the Messiah and Son of God.
• Read John 6:66-69.
  • How did Peter feel about Jesus?
  • Why did he love and trust Jesus?
• As Jesus’ death was drawing nearer, Jesus began to prepare His disciples.
• Read John 13:33, 36-38.
  • How do we know that Peter loved Jesus?
• Read about what happened with Peter on the night of Jesus’ arrest.
• Read or summarize John 18:10-11, 12-13, 15-17, 25-27.
  • Tell me about how Peter responded to Jesus’ arrest.
  • How was Peter probably feeling that night?
  • Even though Peter loved Jesus so much, he was still scared and denied him.
  • Does that sound like anything you’ve ever done? Maybe you haven’t denied Him, but have you ever purposefully done something you knew wouldn’t please Jesus?
• Keep reading for a happy ending to this part of Peter’s story. This next part takes place after Jesus had risen from the dead, and He appeared to disciples on the shore after they had been fishing all night.
• Read John 21:9-13, 15-17, 19b.
  • Jesus forgave Peter. He knew that Peter had denied Him, but He forgave Him and wanted Peter to follow Him no matter what.
  • Jesus loves you, no matter what you do, but He wants you to always come back to Him and to love and follow Him no matter what.

Day 8-The Disciples: Matthew

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse. Ask, “Can you say the whole verse in one breath?”
• Read Luke 5:27-32. Note to parents: this passage refers to the disciple, Matthew, as Levi. In Matthew 9:9, he refers to himself as Matthew.
  • What did we read about Matthew?
    • What was his job? Explain that tax collectors were hated by most people because they often took more than necessary for personal gain, and they gave some of the money they collected to Rome, making them like traitors to other Jews
    • What was he doing?
    • What did he do when Jesus called him?
  • What did we read about Jesus today?
  • Why were some people complaining about what Jesus was doing?
  • Read Matthew 9:13 to learn more about what Jesus was doing and why Matthew loved Him.
  • Why did Matthew love Jesus?
• Jesus showed compassion to Matthew, a sinner. Matthew loved Jesus because Jesus turned his life around. He was going the wrong direction, doing what was wrong, but when he met Jesus, He stopped going his own way and followed Jesus. That is repentance.
• What does God want you to remember from what we read today?

Day 9-The Disciples: Philip and Nathanael

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Read John 1:43-51.
• Talk about it.
  • Philip
    • What two words did Jesus say to Philip?
    • Why did Philip go and find Nathanael?
    • What does that tell us about how Philip felt about Jesus?
  • Nathanael
    • How did Nathanael react when Philip first told Him about his encounter with Jesus?
    • Jesus knew, even before he spoke, that Nathanael was seeking to know the truth about who He was. Nathanael wanted to know how Jesus knew that, so he asked Him, “How do you know me?”
    • What did Jesus tell Nathanael?
    • We don’t know exactly what happened at the fig tree, but it was obvious to Nathanael that Jesus knew. It was then that Nathanael knew that Jesus was the Son of God and the One he would serve.
    • How do you think Nathanael felt knowing that Jesus had seen him that day under the fig tree?
  • Just like Nathanael, Jesus sees you and knows what you are thinking about and feeling. Just like Nathanael, He knows what you need to hear. Listen for His voice today as He gently speaks to your heart.

Day 10-The Disciples: Thomas

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Thomas was very loyal to Jesus; He loved Him and was willing to die with Him (John 11:16). But Thomas was also pessimistic; he is often known as Doubting Thomas. Thomas was not going to believe just anything he heard. He wanted clear evidence before he made a decision about whether something was true or not.
• Read John 20:19-29.
• Talk about it.
  • How did we see Jesus show Thomas compassion and love?
  • What did Thomas say after seeing the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes?
  • What does this tell us about how he felt about Jesus?
• Summary
  • Read 1 John 4:19.
    • God showed His love to us first. He sent Jesus to save us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). We, just like all the people we have read about the past couple of weeks, should love Jesus because He loved us first.
  • Read Jesus’ words in John 14:15.
    • What do you need to remember from what we read today?