The Bible is a bunch of stories, poems, letters, and even songs -- that are all telling ONE BIG STORY and have been put together into one big book. And everything in the Bible is true!
Why read the Bible?
Reading the Bible brings us close to God, allows us to know more about God and gives us a blueprint on how to live the best life. We should all (parents and kids) create a regular habit of reading the Bible.
Paper Bibles
YouVersion is a great free resource to get the Bible into your hands but... screen time, right? And sometimes it is great to have a hard copy of the Bible so you are not distracted by all the notifications and everything else on your device.
Picture Bibles... and not just for little ones.
- A great storybook Bible full of fun illustrations is the Laugh and Grow Bible for Kids. This is a Bible to read to your preschoolers and for your young elementary readers.
- The Action Bible is a comic book version of the Bible. For older elementary and preteen readers, this Bible has 215 fast-passed narratives in captivating comic illustrations that will engage anyone.
Hight Tech Bibles (they come with apps)
- In The Fire Bible for Kids, the app activates 3-D animations, interactive activities or a fun game to reinforce biblical truths.
- For a Bible that will narrate stories for you through the app and have pictures pop out of the page look at the One Big Story Bible.
Study Bibles
- The Adventure Bible is full of extra insights into biblical times, interesting facts, character profiles and more.
- For older elementary kids, the CSB Kids Bible has just as many extra insights as The Adventure Bible but with a less "kiddie" feel.
- Don't forget about your preteen and teens. Get them the Teen Life Study Bible. It has all the extra resources to help them through the many situations they are facing in adolescence.
Prayer is talking and listening to God. There are lots of ways to pray. When we pray we get to know God more just like when you talk with a friend.
Why do we pray?
Prayer is a conversation with God. The more time we spend with God the more we become like Him. God cheers and celebrates with us when he hears our triumphs and cries and comforts us when he hears our pain. We pray because best friends (you and God) are always there for each other.
It is often advised to pray like you are talking to a friend. But some people are just not talkers (even when they are with their friends) and others can talk too much that they just ramble on and on. Prayer can be a casual conversation, yes, but it can be so much more than that.
The Prayer Covenant is an invitation to experience prayer like never before. It is a short pre-written daily prayer that walks through 10 aspects of faith in 10 sentences. It challenges and guides you to commit to praying for 40 days with someone else who will take the challenge with you. (Check out this booklet for kids which walks you through each sentence of the prayer)
Jesus told us to love our neighbours and He wasn't just talking about the people that live next to us. Jesus wants us to use our actions to show others that we care about them. Serving is love in action.
Why should we serve others?
Serving others is part of God's design for the world. When we serve others (even the people we don't like) the world is a better place and we step into the best life that God has planned for us. Serving others show God's love towards them. God is love.
Love is an action. We show love by what we say and do for other people. Teaching kids to serve others builds this value in them and teaches them to do things for others without getting anything in return. Caring for others teaches how to think beyond yourself.
Here is a great post on practical ways your kids can serve others. It talks about things like helping at home, giving away clothes and toys, making meals, sending cards and more.
Jesus teaches a lot about being generous. Being generous means sharing what you have. He wants us to give to others what He has blessed us with.
Why should we be generous?
God loved us first. He sacrificed his Son to give us the best life. He was generous to us so that we can be generous to others. Generosity changes people's lives and spreads like wildfire. We get to be a part of that change.
We live in a culture of "stuff". We are constantly bombarded with advertisements telling us we need more. instilling the value of generosity is not easy. The earlier your kids are exposed to generosity the more it will be part of who they are.
Toddlers and preschool can learn generosity by sharing what is theirs.
Elementary can learn generosity by giving what is theirs.
As kids get older they can learn how to make it there own and find projects that they have a passion for and raise generosity in others.
Look at these 5 ways to raise generous kids at all stages.
God meant to us to live life in community with others. The early church is a great example of how the church is not a building but the people that believe in Jesus. God wants us to do life with the church.
Why should we be in community?
When we enter into a relationship with Jesus we get adopted into God's family which is made up of all believers. And family sticks together. Also, God has gifted everyone uniquely and plans for all those giftings to work together. Relating it to a body, some people are eyes, some feet, some lungs. Not one can work independently but they thrive when all working together.
CLICK HERE to find a church family near you and live in community with other believers.
It is also important to invite others into our community. Everyone can be part of God's family!
Helping people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus
Learn about the Bible through beautiful animated videos. The narrators explain biblical themes, specific books and Hebrew and Greek words, and all sorts of other topics from the Bible. They do an amazing job at making the Bible easier to understand.