For families with little ones (preschool age), this could be a 3-5 minute talk! It doesn’t have to be much. For older children, you can opt in for more of these options to extend your study time together. I recommend doing this with (especially little) children over a meal – whichever meal is the least chaotic in your home (for my family right now, that’s lunch), or saving the questions for while you’re on a walk or playing outside together. Have fun!
1. Read the scripture together: Romans 12:1-8. The important thing is that you’re reading scripture together! If you’re looking for different ways to engage your children while reading, here are some fun ways to read scripture as a family
Every Reader takes a verse
Ask each child to pick two words they don’t understand to talk about after you read it. (For longer scriptures and younger children, you may need to split up the reading in order to do this.)
Draw a picture of what you read
Act it out as a family (And please send documentation of this to children.sjumc@gmail.com because we could all use a laugh right now!)
Sing it!
Use Legos or dolls to tell the story
2. Tell your kids that today’s Bible story uses the human body to teach us. We are told that the human body all has different parts that all work together to make up the full body. We need every body part doing it’s own thing for us to work! The “body” of Christ, or the church, or the world is the same way. It’s a LOT of people who are all good at different things, and when we each do our own special thing, we can work together for God!
3. Discussion Questions (as always, pick and choose which questions you’d like to discuss!):
Can you think of two (or more) body parts that do different things for us? How do they work together?
What is something you really enjoy doing?
Can you think of someone who is really good at something different than you?
Have you ever taught someone else something? Something in school, a chore, or something about the world or God?
What is something you have learned from someone who is different than you?
What if we were all the same? How would we learn?
When is a time you’ve worked on a team? Did each person do something a little different? (It doesn’t have to be a sports team – family and other groups can be teams!)
4. Close in Prayer: Dear God, thank you for everyone! We are so glad there are so many different people who are good at different things. Thank you for what gifts you’ve given me. I know I’m great at different things because you gave me those gifts to share with my family and friends and the whole world! Help me use those gifts to bring others closer to You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
~ Erynne DeVore, director of Children’s Ministry