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Bible Study

A Great Way to Make Sure Your Family Studies the Bible Together

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I know this may shock you, but my family and I have a terrible struggle with keeping a scheduled family Bible study and prayer time. We’ve learned all kinds of great ways to study and pray together. I’ve written about one of my favorites on this blog. But despite how inspiring some of these methods are, we get them started, do well for a while, and then it falls off. The struggle is often with making the schedules work. I don’t have a set schedule. I’ll have meetings come up or studies come up or I’ll have to go out of town. Or maybe something comes up for Marita or the kids. It gets in the way of our Bible study and prayer schedule and then, after a few misses, the habit is broken. A few weeks or months later, we are convicted about our lack of devotion and we get back on the family Bible study bandwagon feeling all kinds of shame and guilt.

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It’s a Red Balloon: A Parable about Truth (A Video)

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Okay, okay, I understand that Bible study goes a bit deeper than determining the color of a balloon. At the same time, I think this video parable/analogy/illustration should cause us to stop and think.

Enjoy and remember, when you know the truth, the truth shall set you free.

The Parent Factor: 6 Keys to Helping Your Kids Get the Most Out of Bible Class

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I want to thank Clay Gentry for providing today’s guest post.

The Parent Factor

For a child to grow into a mature Christian it takes more than a good Bible class curriculum, a prepared and competent teacher, and a couple of hours of Bible class each week. The most important factor in a child’s spiritual development is what we will call the Parent Factor. The parent is the one who helps their child gain the most from good Bible class curriculum, excellent teachers, and the benefit of scheduled Bible class with the church. Here are six ways you can be the Parent Factor and help your child gain the most from Bible class.

1.     Know what your child is learning.

You can’t help your child get more from their Bible classes if you don’t know what they are learning. This can be done several ways. First, get involved by talking to your child’s teacher before or after class to gain a perspective on the material/story that was covered. Second, pay attention to the take homes your child brings to you after class. These are valuable in helping you learn what your child was taught and they reinforce the child’s memory of the lessons.

2.     When reviewing your child’s Bible class lessons, ask open-ended questions.

When helping your child review their lessons it’s important to ask the right kind of questions. Use open-ended questions that have your child recall information they learned instead of closed-ended question which only require a “yes” or a “no” answer. If your child’s teacher told you that they talked about Noah building the ark, some good questions for your child would be “Who built the ark?”; “Why did Noah build the ark?”; “What did Noah put in the ark?”; etc. Open-ended questions are a great way to help your child remember their bible class material.

3.     Have a consistent time for Bible study at home.

Having a consistent Bible study time at home works well for teaching your child the importance of studying scriptures outside of the assembly. Use extra lessons from church as your material. This provides you an opportunity to follow along with your child’s class and helps to reinforce lessons learned. You can keep your child’s take home activities each week and put them in a binder or scrapbook to use as visual prompts to help your child recall Bible stories that have been covered. Plus it also makes for a great memory book later on for both you and your child.

4.     Use songs to teach your child important Bible concepts and facts. 

Learn the songs that your child sings in Bible class and teach them some new ones. Teaching children songs helps them remember Bible passages (The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock); Bible concepts (O Be Careful Little Eyes); and Bible stories (Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man). Once you know the songs, sing them with your child. Sing them in the car; when you’re walking; when you’re playing; sing them all the time. By doing this you will help build your child’s faith in what they are learning by showing them that the Bible and its lessons are not just for church, but for all times.

5.     Read Bible stories to your child with inflection.

Read them with voices for each character, and with voice inflections for different phrases. Young children need help in visualizing what is being read to them. This is why we use pictures in teaching them Bible stories. Similarly, you can use distinct voices for each character and good inflection for statements when reading to them. This helps your child better understand what is being read because the stories come alive with depth and richness of sound. Your child will be able to better remember the Bible stories that you read together.

6.     Pray about it.

The foundation of all that we do should be prayer. Pray for your child’s Bible class teacher. Pray for your child. Pray for yourself. And pray with your child that God will grant both of you wisdom and understanding of His word. The first five points will help your child remember their Bible class material but they should be coupled with prayer.

Don’t ever doubt the Parent Factor in a successful Bible class program. Parents invest a great deal to help children gain the most from Bible classes. The teachers appreciate it. The children grow by it. God is glorified through it. So parents, make the difference. Be the defining factor.

Pray through the Bible with Your Family

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Seemingly, one of the most difficult aspects of parenting is to pass on spiritual disciplines such as daily Bible study and prayer. I’ve heard many state they don’t have time. I’ve heard many state they just keep putting it off. However, perhaps the most often used reason is, “I just don’t know how.” Today’s springboard for your family will provide you an excellent practical way to pass on both spiritual disciplines at one time.

Why Bother?

However, before I give you that tool, let’s first back up and understand that this is not homework. This is not an issue of having to study and pray enough to be good enough to go to heaven. This is not an issue of if we miss a day, we’ll go to hell. Do you remember what Peter said to Jesus in John 6:68 when Jesus had asked if the disciples wanted to leave Him? Peter said Jesus had the words of life, where else would they go? We don’t study the Bible to be good enough to go to heaven. We study the Bible because it contains Jesus’ words of life. There is no other source for life. Thus, if we don’t get in the word, we’ll have death.

In like manner, note Psalm 145:18: “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” If the Lord is near those who call on Him, what does that mean about those who don’t? We do not pray to be good enough to go to heaven. We pray because that is what draws us close to God. If we are not close to God, the adversary will eat us for lunch.

We don’t do these things as a checklist to get the right things done. We do them because life is contained in these disciplines. If we don’t do them, we’ll die. Think of it like insulin for the diabetic. The diabetic doesn’t take insulin because he/she has to, has been assigned to, or wants to be good enough. Absolutely not. Rather, the diabetic takes insulin because without it the result is a diabetic coma and death. These disciplines are our medicine that keep us connected to the real power of God.

So, are you ready for this revolutionary tool to help you practice these disciplines and pass them on to your children? I admit, I adapted this from my good friend David Banning, who in turn, took it from the creators of the Our Spiritual Heritage Bible class curriculum. We call it “Praying through the Bible.” Here’s how it works.

Praying through the Bible

Gather your family together and let each person have a sheet of paper. On the sheet of paper write five sentence starters with space in between.

“Dear God, You are…”

“Dear God, You…”

“Dear God, forgive me for…”

“Dear God, thank you for…”

“Dear God, help…”

Then, have someone read a section of scripture. You may read a whole chapter. You may read a whole story. You may read a few verses that contain some powerful messages. As the reading is being done, have everyone work on completing those sentences based upon the reading.

For example: Read Genesis 1. You might finish the sentences in this way.

“Dear God, You are the creator of all things and the giver of life.”

“Dear God, You created the world and everything in it.”

“Dear God, forgive me for not taking better care of Your creation and not giving You the proper praise for Your great power and might.”

“Dear God, thank You for providing such a wonderful world, perfectly suited for us to live.”

“Dear God, help my faith in You as creator and sovereign Lord of the universe grow every day.”

Trust me, you’ll be amazed at the answers your children come up with.

When you are done with the reading, discuss what everyone has written down. Can you see how this part is great Bible study. Without saying, “We’re going to study Genesis 1,” you have studied and discussed it with your children. After discussing the passage, go around the room and let everyone pray. I always tell my children that they can pray about whatever they want, but we do want them to be sure to pray through what they have written down. You might even keep a journal of what everyone says so you can look back over what you’ve learned and prayed about.

By the way, if your children didn’t come up with an ending for some of the sentences, don’t worry about it. As they hear yours, they’ll get better at it.

Yes, this takes some time. Yes, this takes some work. Yes, it will take some discipline from us as parents. But it will be worth it. It will revolutionize your family prayer life.

Thanks for jumping on today’s springboard. I hope it gives you a great boost in your family life.

The Bible is Our Treasure Map

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What is the Bible? No doubt I could talk about the collection of books. I could mention it’s two major sections, Old and New Testament. I could talk about the number of writers, the different languages, etc. But with all this, we still wouldn’t know what the Bible is.

Matthew 13:44 likens the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field. I want to piggyback off that simile and present the Bible as the treasure map. It is the guide to get us to the right field, to dig in the right spot so we can have the right treasure. As II Peter 1:11 says, we want to enter “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” However, the way to eternal life in that kingdom is not cheap, easy or natural. Matthew 7:13-14 says we must “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

God has given us the Bible to be our guide. It lights our way (cf. Psalm 119:105). This should affect how I read and apply it. Think about how we use any other map. Just a few weeks ago, I took a trip from Spring Hill, Tennessee to Chillicothe, Ohio. I pulled out my map to show the way. When I pulled out my map, I wasn’t trying to learn how to be good enough to get to Chillicothe. I simply had faith that my atlas would show me the way that worked. By following the roads the map showed, I wasn’t trying to earn my way to Chillicothe. I just wanted to go the right way or I wouldn’t get there. That is the way we should read the Bible. We can’t be good enough to earn heaven. The Bible wasn’t given so we could be good enough to earn heaven. If we gain eternal life in the eternal kingdom of heaven it will not be because we are good enough, but because God is good enough. Instead of reading the Bible so I can be good enough, I should read the Bible and apply it because God’s way works. God’s directions will really get me to that treasure.

This should also impact how we discuss the Bible with other folks. Let’s just say I made a wrong turn on my Chillicothe trip. For instance, let’s say I turned south on I-65 instead of north. How should I have responded if my wife said, “Hey, Edwin, you just made a wrong turn; you need to turn around”? Maybe I might say, “Why you judgmental, narrow-minded, nitpicky little Pharisee. Who gave you the right to tell me how to get to Chillicothe? Wow. You just think you’re the only person going to Chillicothe, don’t you.” That doesn’t make any sense at all, does it? The fact is, I can travel south on I-65 from Spring Hill and I’ll never get to Chillicothe, Ohio. I can call the person who tells me the right way all kinds of names, but that won’t make me get to Chillicothe. When someone says I’m going the wrong way, I just need to get out the map and see. If I’m going the wrong way, then I need to turn around or I’ll never get there. The same is true with the Bible. Instead of railing with all kinds of names, anger and hatred at those who tell me I’m going the wrong way, I need to just pull out the map God has given me. If they’re right, then I need to change, because if I’m going the wrong way, I’ll never get to my treasure. If I find they are wrong, then I can show them the map.

Of course, I know some of us seem to see the map differently. That saddens me, but I know it will be this way. After all, Jesus said only few will find the way to life. In this case, I simply pray that God will help me understand His guide. I can’t change just because someone else says I’m reading the map incorrectly and I don’t expect everyone else to change just because I say they are reading it incorrectly. However, I think we can have these discussions without all the fighting and hatred that comes up. We can let God do the judging. Granted, we may not be able to walk hand in hand because we are going different ways, but as we discuss these differences we can do it with love and compassion. In fact, I have the idea that if we all started reading the Bible as God’s guide to our treasure instead of the debate guide to argue our favorite point and prove we are right and others are wrong, we might just learn the key to figuring out the right way to eternal life. Let’s just surrender to what God has to say. He buried the treasure. He knows where it is and how to get to it. Why don’t we just do that? Not because we are earning the treasure. We can’t do that. No, it’s just because if God says the treasure is that way, we need to go that way or we’ll never get the treasure.

I’m ready to get that treasure, so I’m busy getting in the Word trying to figure out which way God is telling me to go. What are you doing?

 

By the way, in related news, my other blog, giveattentiontoreading.com, started a journey through the New Testament today that will last six months. If you’re interested in joining us, I invite you to hop over there, read and talk with us. We’re striving to learn God’s way to the treasure together.