When you love Jesus, you want to know, love, and praise him as a family. This kind of worship as a family takes many forms: sitting together at church, singing praise songs on the way to school, praying before meals or at bedtime, and reading the Bible together. 

In the Old Testament, God told the people of Israel to build a culture of worship in their homes. He instructed them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV).  

Family worship is a natural part of the household culture of anyone who loves Jesus. Family worship includes spontaneous expressions of love for Jesus and daily habits that become part of your family culture.

Read Full Article 

Here are six quick motivators to read the Bible with your kids.  

First, you want to read the Bible with your kids because God commands us in his Word to do this! God commands us to diligently teach his Word to the next generation. You want to read the Bible with our kids out of joyful obedience to the Lord! 

Second, when you read the Bible with your kids, you are exposing them to the glorious deeds and character of the Lord. You bring God glory as you tell of his greatness to your kids and help them know him rightly. 

Third, reading the Bible with your kids equips them for life (2 Timothy 3:16)! It prepares them to set their hope in God, remember his works, and keep his commands. You’re giving them a wonderful gift by introducing them to the source of all wisdom (John 17:17).   

Fourth, reading the Bible with your kids and making Scripture a part of your home will teach them how to relate to God, so that if they put their faith in Christ, they will know how to walk with him and increase in their knowledge of him. 

Fifth, reading the Bible as a family will increase your awareness of God’s presence in your family’s life, and will teach your kids to see, to look for, and to expect God to be at work in their lives. 

Lastly, reading the Bible with your kids will be rewarding. God promises in the book of Isaiah that his Word always has an effect in our lives, for “it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11 NIV). Read the Bible expectantly with your kids, trusting that God “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). 

Read Full Article

Worship involves intentionally and consistently looking to God in all that we do and say. To maintain this Godward focus, there are things we can do as a family to remind ourselves of God’s goodness and express our delight in him. These patterns and habits of worship counterbalance our tendency to forget God and all he has done for us. 

Our days, weeks, and years typically fall into a routine—a predictable pattern we come to expect and follow without really thinking about it. Our routines can be as simple as the way we make coffee in the morning or as complex as how we celebrate the holidays each year. Our habits form our routines which form the traditions shaping our families. For this reason, worship can be woven like a thread woven into any or all of our routines.   

Daily worship can take the form of praying in the morning and evening, or at mealtimes, or reading the Bible as a family in the evenings. In God’s Word, he encourages us to spend time in community with people who know and love Jesus (Hebrews 10:25). Often, weekly routines of worship for a family take the form of church activities. Finally, holidays are a wonderful opportunity for annual times of family worship. For example, New Years is a great time to pray for the year ahead and thank God for the prior year as a family.   

Take a moment to consider your own family’s daily, weekly, and yearly routines. Are there ways in which you have already cultivated a rhythm of worship (perhaps mealtime or bedtime prayer)? Then consider how you could add to your regular routines to help focus your family’s minds and hearts on Jesus. 

Read Full Article

Your kids will ask questions about the Bible. Some questions will make you laugh. Other questions will spark delightful or delicate conversations. Some questions might be so important that answering them feels like a great burden of responsibility. Here are a few ways to handle their tough questions.   

The first place to run to when you have a tough question about the Bible is to the Author! We can only understand the Bible with the help of God, the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). Help your kids learn to rely on God by responding to their questions with, “Let’s ask the Lord about it.” Then, you can pray and ask God to answer your child’s question, to guide you to the answer in his Word, and to give you wisdom about the matter. 

Then, return to study the Bible passage that prompted your question. See if your question can be answered by getting a better grasp of the Bible verses that sparked it, and pay close attention to the surrounding context. Often, the Bible will answer our questions if we read it carefully enough in context. 

Sometimes you will need the help of scholars, pastors, and friends to understand the Bible. These people are a wonderful gift from God—he encourages us to study his Word in community. So don’t be ashamed of seeking out help! 

 Keep in mind that Jesus is the main theme of the Bible. The more you familiarize yourself with the good news about Jesus, the more you will be able to understand how each part of Scripture points to him. Seeing how every part of the Bible points to Jesus might open your child’s mind to understanding the parts of Scripture they’re puzzled over.   

Finally, we believe it’s important for you to know that there are some questions we have about the Bible that cannot be answered. It’s okay to tell your child, “Honey, we don’t have the answer for that.” But, instead of leaving them there, you can follow it up with, “But this is what I do know,” and remind them of certain truths revealed to them in the Bible in which they can rest. 

Read Full Article  

The Bible isn’t just a book; it’s how we come to know God. Discovering who God is and what he has done for us is an exciting endeavor! So how do you get your kids excited over God’s Word? Here are a few thoughts.  

First, your own attitude regarding the Bible will directly impact your kids’ attitudes about the Bible. When you taste and see the goodness of God in his Word, you will naturally be driven to encourage your kids to also find their joy in him. 

So in order to get your kids excited about God’s Word, spend time in it yourself, for your own joy. Prioritize your delight in God, and your delight might turn out to be contagious!  

Second, ask God to get your kids excited about his Word! Remember that kids don’t come to love God’s Word because they are born into Christian families. Kids come to love God’s Word because they are re-born into God’s family by his Spirit working in their hearts. Only those who God has brought into his family through faith in Jesus have been given his Spirit and can accept God’s Word as a treasure and joy. Genuine life-long excitement over God’s Word is a gift we must receive that only God can give. Pray that the Lord gives your kids the enduring excitement that flows from genuine faith.  

Third, consider your kids’ interests. Instead of considering how you want your kids to engage with Scripture, consider how they might enjoy engaging with Scripture. Ask God for creativity to pair his Word with activities that already excite your kids. 

Finally, consider how your implementation of God’s Word into your home life will be received by your kids, and strive to make it a delightful time, not something they dread. The manner in which you teach your kids about God’s Word matters as much as the material you share with them.  

May God bless every effort you make to give your kids the gift of his Word. 

Read Full Article