Regular family discipleship is one of the greatest ways to sow seeds of the gospel and see spiritual growth in your family. Whether you are newly married, empty nesters, or have a house full of children, spending regular time in God's Word is essential to your family taking their next step in their walk with Jesus.
Yet, many find family discipleship to be a massive struggle. It's hard to find good books to go through and let's be honest, reading a book about the Bible isn't the same as reading the Bible. But how do we get our kids (or ourselves!) to engage with the text in a helpful way?
That's where our family discipleship cultivation guide can be a great resource for your family. Listed below are some helpful hints to developing a meaningful time of family discipleship and then a guide to walk through that time as a family. At the bottom of this page are links to multiple different passages of Scripture to start studying together as a family.
Yet, many find family discipleship to be a massive struggle. It's hard to find good books to go through and let's be honest, reading a book about the Bible isn't the same as reading the Bible. But how do we get our kids (or ourselves!) to engage with the text in a helpful way?
That's where our family discipleship cultivation guide can be a great resource for your family. Listed below are some helpful hints to developing a meaningful time of family discipleship and then a guide to walk through that time as a family. At the bottom of this page are links to multiple different passages of Scripture to start studying together as a family.
Helpful hints for family cultivation
• Commit to enjoying a meal together at the table as a family at least 3 days a week.
• Commit to enjoying a family bible study after these meals.
• Pray together.
• Relate to one another while eating, then open the Bible together.
• Try to keep the passages short, but if you are doing a larger portion, read it once, summarize then ask the questions.
• Parents of young children may want to use a Children’s Bible.
• Parents should facilitate discussion, not teach. You may be surprised by the insights your children bring.
• Focus only on what this passage is saying, not other passages.
• Keep answers to questions short. The whole family shares in sentences, not paragraphs.
• Focus only on what the family is seeing in the passage.
• Give everyone time to respond, silence is OK.
• Parents, if you miss a day, a week, or a month, it is OK. Pick it back up. This is about long term cultivation of you and your children through engagement in the Word together.
• Invite others to join you. This could be family friends, friends of your children, or visiting family.
• Commit to enjoying a family bible study after these meals.
• Pray together.
• Relate to one another while eating, then open the Bible together.
• Try to keep the passages short, but if you are doing a larger portion, read it once, summarize then ask the questions.
• Parents of young children may want to use a Children’s Bible.
• Parents should facilitate discussion, not teach. You may be surprised by the insights your children bring.
• Focus only on what this passage is saying, not other passages.
• Keep answers to questions short. The whole family shares in sentences, not paragraphs.
• Focus only on what the family is seeing in the passage.
• Give everyone time to respond, silence is OK.
• Parents, if you miss a day, a week, or a month, it is OK. Pick it back up. This is about long term cultivation of you and your children through engagement in the Word together.
• Invite others to join you. This could be family friends, friends of your children, or visiting family.
FAMILY DISCIPLESHIP GUIDE
Relate
Blessing: What are you thankful for? Struggle: What was hard?
Who needs our help? How can we help?
Recall
Recall the scripture passage from last time.
What have you done differently since last time?
Who did you tell and what was the reaction?
Read & Retell
One person reads aloud, and the rest follow along.
Summarize together what was read.
Read and Look Up
Read the passage again.
What does this tell us about God, Jesus, or his plan?
Read and Look Down
Read the passage once more.
What does this say about humanity?
Reflect
What am I doing well?
What do I need to change?
Reveal
Who can I share this with?
Who can I tell about Jesus?
Blessing: What are you thankful for? Struggle: What was hard?
Who needs our help? How can we help?
Recall
Recall the scripture passage from last time.
What have you done differently since last time?
Who did you tell and what was the reaction?
Read & Retell
One person reads aloud, and the rest follow along.
Summarize together what was read.
Read and Look Up
Read the passage again.
What does this tell us about God, Jesus, or his plan?
Read and Look Down
Read the passage once more.
What does this say about humanity?
Reflect
What am I doing well?
What do I need to change?
Reveal
Who can I share this with?
Who can I tell about Jesus?
PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE TO STUDY
One great option is simply to pick a book of the Bible and start working through it. We would recommend that if you are new to this process, pick a shorter New Testament book that you can break up into smaller sections. If you are working through a longer book of the Bible, you may need to shorten the process and just read through the passage one time.
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Some have found it very helpful to take a more topical approach to this study. We've listed several areas of study below. Pick one and work your way through the various passages (one passage per day) to grow in your understanding of what the Bible teaches.