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 12:9-21. 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 is from the Book of Romans. The apostle (teacher) Paul wrote it. He lists instructions and ideas for a group of people called the Romans, and this book of letters to the Romans is included in the Bible today because the people who worked together to form the Bible under God’s calling felt there were important pieces of these ideas and instructions for us, too.
3. Discussion Questions (as always, pick and choose which questions you’d like to discuss!):
What do you think it means to love without pretending? Is it real Love, if you’re pretending?
What is something you’re enthusiastic about? How do you show your enthusiasm?
How do you show your enthusiasm for God?
Have you ever felt you’re better than someone else? What does that feel like in your body? How do you think the other person would feel if they knew?
If someone hurts you, do you feel like hurting them back? (It is normal to want to. Our job is to not hurt them back.)
Paul says to defeat evil with good. What do you think this means? Have you ever been kind to someone, after they were mean to you? How did they respond? (If someone continues to be unkind or unsafe to you, it is ok to give yourself space from this person, or do what you need to do to be safe. And, sometimes people are mean because someone else is cruel to them. We can be an example of God’s love to them – sometimes that is by being nice back to them, sometimes it is by taking our space from them, sometimes it means standing up for ourselves without hurting them back, sometimes it is by asking them how you can help them, if you can, and sometimes it is by praying for them.)
4. Close in Prayer: Dear God, thank you for Bible stories that continue to teach us, even thousands of years later! Thank you for giving us the strength to choose the good, true way – Your way. Even when it’s really hard to do that! Give us wisdom to know what to do when someone is mean to us, and to not be cruel back. Fill us with enthusiasm for You! We want to share this enthusiasm with the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
~ Erynne DeVore, director of Children’s Ministry