ministry Archives - Jesus My Superhero

How To Teach Your Children To Study The Bible

February 24, 2016

Often times, kids think about reading the bible and get overwhelmed. They know it’s something they should be doing or deep down want to do, but actually doing it is too much to consider. The bible is full of BIG concepts and can be difficult for kids to understand.

Does that mean we should just skip it until they’re old enough? No.

We should be teaching our kids about the bible from infancy.

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There are age appropriate ways for every child to learn and understand the bible. They may start by being read to and move to doing it on their own.

Learning how to study the bible as a child, will help you as an adult.

Here are a few simple steps to teach your children to study God’s word.

Set them up in a quiet place.

Children are easily distracted. Knowing this, you need to set them up in an environment conducive for learning and focusing. This can be in a quiet room, at the dinner table, on the couch etc. Make sure they aren’t surrounded by a lot of commotion, toys, tv, or comfy enough they might start to fall asleep.

Give them a small section of verses or one story from a kid’s bible.

Depending on your child’s age, you can give them a small section of verses or you can read to them from a kid’s bible like the Jesus Storybook Bible. The important thing is to read the whole thing straight through without stopping and asking a lot of questions. This helps to start by looking at the story as a whole.

It’s a good idea to start small. If they aren’t ready for a whole story, read a few verses.

Pray

Have your child pray alone or pray with them. Pray that God would help them to understand what He is telling them through the story or verses. Ask Him to point out different things to them as they’re reading.

Read it again

Read it again, making sure you teach them to stop, ask questions, and take notes. This is the time to notice as much as you can about what you’re reading. Writing down what they think about the verses is another tool to help them learn and retain what they’re reading.

This is why kid’s journals are crucial for learning. They have one place to write down their questions, thoughts, and ideas. As they learn more, they can look back to see what God is telling them. It also encourages them to ask big questions and trust God will answer as they study.

Pick up our Kid’s Bible Journal here!

Brittany

Brittany loves children and has always had a passion to teach them about Jesus and get them excited about the Gospel. She has had experience as the children’s director for the last six years. During which, she was responsible for the creation of the curriculum used in the children’s classes, the leadership of ministry volunteers, and the discipleship of parents and children. Brittany will be responsible for everything KIDS on the blog!

6 Ways For Adults To Focus In Church

February 23, 2016

Brittany recently wrote a post that gave us some really practical and helpful suggestions on how we can engage our children in Church. One of the requests we received was to write a post covering this topic for adults. To be honest, I’m thankful we got this request because it was a great reminder of the many challenges present in BOTH children and adults. In fact, some of these issues we face as adults are because we may not have dealt with the challenge as a child.

So, how can adults stay focused in Church? Here are 6 things you can start working on at church this weekend!

Turn your phone on “Airplane” mode. Here is my confession… my biggest distraction on Sundays is because of fantasy football and the early Sunday game. Without even thinking about It I find myself checking the scores and how my fantasy team is doing and then I get the elbow from my wife. We all have our “go to” distractions whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+. The best way to get started is to disconnect from these distractions!

ProTip

Some of you are wondering why I said “Airplane mode” instead of turning the mobile device off. If you are like me, you may read your Bible on your mobile device. I’d recommend that you grab both the Faithlife Study Bible (for personal and devotional Bible reading) and the Logos Bible App (for more in depth study). In both of these free app’s you can download the Bible for offline use!

Be intentional where you sit – My mom always told me to make sure I sit in the front row in school. I hate the front row. The back row is even worse because I get distracted by what everyone else in front of me is doing. I found out that the 2nd or 3rd row was the best for me to stay focused. The same principle applies to where we sit in Church. If possible, sit in a place that positions you to be more focused.
Take notes – Do your best to take some notes. I typically have a notes document in my phone via Logos that is specifically for church services. By taking notes on things that were insightful or questions you may have you are engaging your mind in an assertive way which helps us in our memory recollection. When we just sit and listen, its a passive type of learning. Download my Church Notes Worksheet

ProTip

Leverage your notes within the context of your family. Go over them and ask questions at lunch when you sit down together or during your family Bible study time. If you are not currently doing a family Bible study, join us for our Monday Devotional: Ephesians Study. You can grab a free family guide and dialogue Ephesians with your family.

Be intentional about follow up conversations – Sometimes we need accountability. Accountability is good for a variety of reasons including building solid relationships with other believers. Grab some friends or even couples at the church and schedule some time to grab coffee or dessert. Be intentional to discuss and cover what was covered at church. This will create a sense of responsibility for us and will directly impact our engagement in church.
Pray – The best help you have is the Holy Spirit. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help stay focused and to learn from the depth and beauty of God’s Word. Make this prayer a habit, in fact, pray it with your family on the drive to church in the morning.
Remind yourself of the Gospel – All of the points I provided before this are all meaningless if we don’t remember the Gospel. The recollection of the goodness of God and his great love, mercy, and grace reminds us how who we were apart from Christ and how great a salvation we have in Christ. It’s this source of remembrance that will stir up our affections for Christ and remind us of our need for the Gospel which in turn will motivate and fix our attention on Christ.

Joel

Joel loves theology and believes that the way we understand theology plays directly into how we live our lives as parents, husbands, wives, and ministry leaders. Joel has served as a youth pastor, worship pastor, and associate teaching pastor. Joel holds a B.A in Biblical Studies, an M.S in Organizational Psychology, and is currently finishing his Mdiv. Joel also works for Faithlife (makers of Logos Bible Software) and travels the world speaking at Christian conferences. Needless to say, Joel’s contribution to the blog will be theology focused!

Monday Devotional: Ephesians 1

February 15, 2016

Last week we looked at Ephesians from a 30,000 foot level. As we read through this letter we see that Paul writes with two specific categories in mind. Paul starts Ephesians by laying out Doctrine, specifically the doctrine of salvation. He continues by unpacking duties, namely the duties of Christians within the context of home and church life. This week, we start to really jump into the content of this letter. Something that we should really consider as we study the scriptures is the use of repetition. Watch this weeks video as we unpack an important phrase utilized in Ephesians 1 and why it is important.

Next week:

1. Continue to pray before and after each time you read

2. Read Ephesians 2