Sunday School Lesson about Samuel the Prophet

Speak, Lord; thy servant listens.

How do you present this story to 9 years old children? That was the challenge I faced this week while preparing the Sunday School lesson about Samuel the prophet.

Which angle do I explore with the children?

Samuel, the prophet, and his mother, Hannah.
Samuel, the prophet and Eli, the High Priest.
Samuel, the child prophet

Summary of his life:

The story is well known. Hannah, the barren one, prayed incessantly for a child, and the Lord granted her wish. The story contains one of my favourite verses: “For this child, I have prayed” (Samuel 1:27).

The story of Samuel, the child prophet, is a treasure trove of reflections:

A woman who longed for the blessing of motherhood and yet who happily gave her weaned child to serve in the Temple (all the days of his life). How many of us can ever contemplate such a sacrifice? I can’t even imagine being away from my child for more than 24 hours.

The child prophet received messages from the Lord at a time when God had stopped talking to his people because of their unwillingness to turn their backs on sin. Imagine living at Church all the days of our lives. Everyday.

Lesson Plan: Different Perspective

I decided to focus on a different angle of the story. One that would help my students relate to Samuel and apply this lesson to everyday life.

We started off by discussing the everyday lifestyle of Samuel. How he might have spent his days and what he might have done as a child living in the Temple.
I then showed them a video of Samuel hearing the Lord calling out his name three times.
We followed up with the portion of the video where Samuel must deliver the bad news to Eli (start at minute 2:52).

Everyday Life applications

This portion of the video allowed us to delve into the real-life applications of the lesson: it is not always easy to listen to the Lord’s commandments!

Samuel grew up with Eli, yet he was asked to inform him of his imminent demise.

Questions to kick start the conversation:

How many times do we find it hard to follow the Lord’s commands?
How many times are we in a situation when we have to choose between Church and activity on Sunday morning?
How many times do we choose Church?
How many times do we follow the crowd instead of the Creed?
How often do we mean it when we say: Speak Lord, thy servant listens?

This discussion allowed us to bring the story to life and recommit to listening to our Lord.

This concluded our Sunday School lesson about Samuel the Prophet.

In Christ,

Another Sunday School Lessons Plan: The Forgiveness Lemonade Returning Good for Evil

Further Coptic Reading regarding Samuel the Prophet: Before Birth, Dedicated To God Forever

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