Family Devotions

Family Devotions are a beautiful way

to love your children.

Having Family Devotions usually turns out
to be one of the most rewarding experiences
that parents can have with their children.

This page has specific ideas for you to consider.

____

I encourage you to scroll all the way down the page
in order to find the topics that interest you.

Note that:

We have a Noah's ark movie at the bottom of the page.

It has interviews with people who have searched for Noah's Ark.

How to Start

Young Children

With young children, one of the best ways to start is by getting a child's Bible storybook at a Christian bookstore or online bookstore.

Many Bible storybooks for children are full of simple Bible stories and each one fits on one or two  pages with a picture.

For each Family Devotion, you read one Bible story. Simple and easy!

Then when you feel you are ready, add a devotional that is a little different. For example, go to our Inspirational Kindness page and show a video. Then stir up excitement about doing an act of kindness in your community.

Older Children

A great way to start with older children, is a McGee and Me video!

You can see one of these near the bottom of this page.

Many of them are uploaded on Youtube.

And check out the Inspirational Kindness page for great things - really simple things -  to do to bless your community.

Teens

For teens who have never experienced family devotions, I'd start with a bang.

I'd start with the Inspirational Kindness page - as suggested in the previous paragraph - or I'd choose something that they like as the backdrop to starting this new adventure.

For example,

If your teen likes pottery, you could start with the devotional below:
God is the Potter and I am the Clay.

If your teen likes animals, you could start with our page called: 
Lion of Judah.

Helping your child learn to
Read the Bible

Some of you may not realize it, but by the time a child is in third grade Sunday school, most churches expect that child to be able to find any Scripture in the Bible:

Children are expected to know how to find the books of the Bible.

Children are expected to know how to find verses in that book.

Children are expected to be able to read basic Bible words.

This section is not designed to get you to abandon Sunday school. This is a heads - up that part of parenting is teaching your child how to look up things in the Bible.

AND this is a heads - up to Sunday school teachers to be sensitive to the fact that some children could be horribly hurt if you do not ask for volunteers instead of assuming that every child knows how to find and read Scripture.

Most children remember embarrassing moments in Sunday school for decades, and those painful memories can hinder them from feeling comfortable with God.

We are not born knowing how to look up a Scripture.

Children are not born knowing that there are different translations of the Bible.

Look at this verse:

Psalm 100:2 KJV

Now try to see it as you would see it for the first time.

You may not even know

how to pronounce the word

Psalm

Now think of how a child would feel
if he had never opened a Bible.
He comes to Sunday school and a teacher puts that verse
on a piece of paper, hands it to him, and says,

"Find this verse and read it to the class."

Even children who have been in Sunday school for years
often get to the third grade or higher without the skills that teachers think all children have.

Practice finding Scripture

I suggest a family devotion about

Noah's Ark

while teaching

"How to find Scriptures"

Below are five questions that I previously put on a sheet of paper and used to help children learn about Noah and to practice looking up verses in the Bible:

1. What were the names of Noah's sons? Genesis 6:6-10

2. How old was Noah when the flood waters came? Genesis 7:6

3. How long did it rain during Noah's flood? Genesis 7:17

4. The Bible says every mountain was totally covered. The whole earth was covered. Every mountain had water over it at least _____________ feet deep.  Genesis 7:20

5. Where did Noah's boat land? Genesis 8:4

You may want to write or type those questions and
give them to your children.

You may want to give a treat when children finish the page!

After they do the page, you may want to share:

**Many Christian scientists believe that before the flood, the earth didn't have the huge mountains that it has today. Many believe that after the flood waters covered the earth, some type of catastrophic geologic process pushed up some of the mountain ranges to great heights.

** Noah and his family had to stay on the boat for months after the rain stopped so that the waters had time to recede.

**People used to live longer in Noah's day. Some Creation scientists that before the flood there was a water canopy over the earth that protected people from harmful rays from the sun that age us. (In the Bible, the ages of people begins to decline after the flood.)

**Today if all the clouds on the earth were forced to rain down on the earth, the result would be only about a 2 inch water covering all over the land of the earth. So what made the flood waters? Many Christian scientists believe that there was a water canopy over the earth and that during the flood, it collapsed. In addition, Genesis 7:11 tells us that the fountains of the deep were broken up and water came spewing up from the ground.

It is important in this day and time

to show our children that

even if the world doesn't believe the Bible - our family does!

__________

Question:

How did Noah and his family

collect all those animals?

Please consider the video at the bottom of the page.

It has information about recent expeditions to Noah's Ark.

Note that we have an entire page about Noah's Ark.

If you would like to visit that page, click: Noah.

Matthew Fontaine Maury believed God

You may want to do a short family devotional

with your children or teens

on a great scientist named Matthew Fontaine Maury.

~

Matthew Fontaine Maury became famous because

he read his Bible and believed it.

-

Matthew Fontaine Maury

was the Father of Oceanography

Matthew Fontaine Maury took the Bible literally.

As he was reading his Bible, he read Psalm 8:8.

Be sure and read it in the King James Version.

Maury had faith in God and in the Bible. He took the Bible seriously. He took the Bible so seriously that he spent countless hours seeking to find the "paths" in the oceans. This led to his mapping of the currents in 1855.

See also Isaiah 43:16.

Maury became famous

and helped all mankind

because he believed the Bible.

___

Children today need to hear things like the story of Maury.
The schools totally wash all references to God out of their buildings.

Psalm 100

In teaching Psalm 100, begin with reading the Psalm with your children, and then discussing continue with discussion.

There is an entire family devotional laid out on our
Psalm 100 devotional page.

That page can be done at any time of year.

Also note that Psalm 100 is featured in the next section.

More examples of a Family Devotional

Below is a sheet that I created to work with a Sunday school class. It can be used with children or teenagers.

I used this sheet to teach one long lesson.

This sheet can be divided up and used in your preparation of several family devotionals.

Note pertaining to the sheet below: For older children and teens, challenge them to write a "thank-you" for something they have never thanked God for.

Note pertaining to the sheet below: For older teenagers, you may want to consider our Lord's Prayer page before you have a family devotional about the Lord's Prayer. You may even want to read those two website pages with your teenagers.

More Practice Finding Scripture

I encourage you to create lots of sheets helping your children and teens feel comfortable finding Scripture.

Below are more questions to help you get started:

1. What was Eve made out of? Genesis 2:3-5

2. How old was Moses when he died? Deuteronomy 34:7

3. Who was the leader of the people of God after Moses died?
Joshua 1:1-2

4. Isaiah 64:8 tells us that God is our Father. It also tells us that God is the potter, and we are the _________. 

5. Moses wrote Psalm 90.  How many verses are in Psalm 90?

6. David wrote Psalm 23. David wrote most of the psalms. Psalm 23:1 says: The Lord is my _______________.

7. What does God tell us to do in Psalm 66:1?

8. What advice does God give in Proverbs 15:1?

God is the Potter and We are the Clay

A Family Devotion about:

God is the Potter and we are the Clay

 

In Isaiah 64:8, God tells us that he is our Father.

It also tells us that God is the Potter and we are the clay.

Here is my suggestion for a family devotion.

Read Isaiah 64:8  (and perhaps Jeremiah 18:2)

In Isaiah 64:8, God tells us that he is our Father.

It also tells us that God is the Potter and we are the clay.

Show the two videos below to your family.

Then discuss with topics such as

• How God molds us.
• How it sometimes feels to us.
• How we are supposed to respond.

You are unique.

You are God's gift to the world.

 

Wisdom

Wisdom is a important topic.

This website has a simple page about wisdom

that is just the size of a short family devotion.

Click: Bible Wisdom

Helpful Pages for You

This website has many helpful pages

for creating family devotionals.

Bible Activities for Kids - Fun Page for Kids

 Bible Crafts for Children   Bible Fun for Children

Understanding the Trinity - For children, teens, and adults! (includes how to explain that Jesus IS God.)

Psalm 18 and the Mighty Names of God (Has specific ideas for family devotions.)

Inspirational Courage - great videos

Ideas for Teaching children and teens about God

Entertainment Ideas for Christians (ideas for children and teens)

Inspirational Kindness - great ideas for the family

The Lion of Judah

Daniel and the Lions' Den - A poem

Teaching your child about Honesty - written for parents

Anna and Simeon see Baby Jesus (amazing insights) - for teens

Psalm 27 - Insights and Prayer - for older teens

Most Important Topic

 How you get to Heaven

is a major topic.

The following pages are not made for children, but they

are made for adults to understand and then communicate

with others the truths we all need to know.

Explaining Salvation to others

Salvation Prayer

Movies - "Pamela's Prayer" and "Old Fashioned"

Staying Pure

in an impure World

If you are interested in teaching your daughters or sons about staying pure, I highly recommend you show them these movies.

The second movie came out recently and is the one your teens will probably enjoy the best.

Please read this section.

First a free online movie called:   

Pamela's Prayer

You can see it online or download it
from the address given farther down the page.

When this movie starts,
you may think it is a little old-fashioned.
But I can almost guarantee that if you love God and
respect God's Word,
you will love this movie by the end of the movie -

And your children will one day thank you for showing it!

Also

Many parents would be shocked to know just how far sexually their child has gone.

I always suggest this movie be introduced by parents to their children this way:

"This movie shows what God's will is for sexuality.
And it gives you some understanding why God put boundaries on sexuality.
If you have already experimented with sexuality, you can ask God to forgive you and he will give you a fresh start."

Parents, if you had premarital sex, don't let the embarrassment keep you from helping your children to know why they should make a better choice.

To see it, go to

http://www.bing.com/videos/

and Type in: Pamela's Prayer

It will take you to:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pamela%27s+prayer&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=pamela%27s+prayer&sc=8-8&sp=-1&sk=

You can view the entire movie there.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ALSO, there is a new movie out called:

"Old Fashioned"

It shows the clumsy way
a man seeks travel the road to dating in a pure way.

The man had lead an impure life
and had determined to change.

It is very real.

It shows the challenges of staying pure AND
the heartache of dealing with an impure past.

Pornography

Pornography

This website has three pages about Pornography:

Note that the average age to start Porn is under

11-years-old

What's Wrong with Pornography?

Porn-free kids and teens  Parents  PLEASE  listen to this.

Get Free from Pornography - great information please read

Family Devotional Discussion Topics

A great idea for a family devotion

is to take a verse from the Bible

for example Proverbs 15:1

and discuss what it means.

Paying Your Children to....

I recommend that parents, grandparents, etc.

pay their children and teens

with money, candy treats,

or with fun activities - like going to their favorite place to eat.

Pay them to do things like:

Read a book of the Bible

Complete a page of Bible questions

Learn a Bible Verse

Memorize the books of the Old Testament

Memorize the books of the New Testament

Listen to an online Christian movie - like -  Pamela's Prayer

Play a Bible game

Write a booklet about the fruit of the spirit

Draw or color a picture of Jesus doing a miracle

Present a Christian song in sign language to the family

Sing a Christian song for the family

Play a Christian song on an instrument

Act out a Bible story

Do a puppet show about a Bible story

Paying a child $ 5.00 to read the book of James is a great investment in your child's future.

Idea: How about giving a child a token for each Scripture he memorizes and when he memorizes 10 Scriptures he gets a prize!

Be creative.

Paying children is especially important if you have never done Family Devotional things with this child before.

The Bible and Science - Video

Below is a video without sound so your family may not want to view it. But it may give you some background and encouragement that you need in order to come against the World.

McGee and Me

 McGee is a GREAT video series for kids!

And if you have children and teens - your teens will secretly like watching these
with their younger brothers and or sisters!

Just go to Youtube.com and put in:
McGee and Me
in the Youtube search engine.

Part One

of

Doing the Bright Thing

Part Two

Part Three

Noah's Ark

Note that we have an entire page on Noah's Ark.

If you would like to visit that page, click: Noah

Below is a movie - not a Christian movie - about looking for

Noah's Ark.

I recommend you pre-view it.

I have always loved the story of Noah's ark and most children do as well.

I think this is the exact movie that I showed to my son when he was in elementary school.

I showed him many movies about Noah's Ark.

Remember that this movie is not a Christian movie

so you may not agree with everything in it.

This Movie tells of REAL people seeing the ark!

After 37 minutes, you meet John Morris. I have heard him speak in person. He is a dedicated Christian who has actually searched for Noah's Ark. You will hear a short interview with him on this movie.

At that point in the movie, it continues to tell many amazing trips by real people in recent years who really saw the ark!

Soon after the one hour mark, you meet John Morris' father - Dr. Henry Morris. He explains the sea-worthiness of Noah's ark.

Making the screen bigger:

You can make the video  - full screen - by clicking at the bottom right of the video. Then when you want your regular screen back, click the ESC button on your keyboard - usually found on the left top - or
click again the button under the video.

Jump to the top of Family Devotions