Jesus Loves Families

Please read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Psalm 98 talks about singing a new song because God has done amazing things. It says everyone, even the rivers and hills, should celebrate because God is fair and loving. Joy to the World is a hymn Isaac Watts wrote based on Psalm 98. It was first printed in 1719. Though Watts was thinking about Jesus’ return to this world when he wrote it, many people now sing it at Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The song talks about how happy the world should be because Jesus has come and will return. He's the king who brings joy and fixes everything that's wrong. Look up the lyrics and sing the hymn together as part of this devo. The song tells us that Jesus’ coming means the end of sadness and bad things.  The Bible says that God loves everyone so much that He sent Jesus to s...

 PRINCIPLES, PRESENTATION, & ATTITUDES FOR WORSHIPPING GOD (FAMILY DEVO) Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Not everyone believes that all religious paths lead to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This means that the right way to worship God is through Jesus. Let’s learn six principles that should guide us as we worship in church. (Parents, this is an excellent time to teach your kids what principles are and how we implement them in our lives.) Principle I: God wants people who worship in spirit and truth. This means you should worship God as the Bible teaches: right actions, right attitudes.  Principle II: Treat God with Respect. Just like you would show respect to a king, you should show even more respect to God. Don't do things in wo...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Today, we're going to talk about how we can learn to worship God the right way, just like He wants us to. Imagine you're playing a game, and there's a rule book. You want to play the game right, so you read the rules carefully. That's kind of like what we do with the Bible. The Bible is like God's rule book for life and how we should worship Him. The Bible tells us to do our best to understand what it says (2 Timothy 2:15). Think of it like trying to solve a puzzle. We want to put all the pieces in the right spots, not make up our own picture. The puzzle of Scripture has two sections, the Old and New Testaments, and three big steps God used to teach us His whole will for us to live by. The First Step was when God was teaching the very first people on Earth about H...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Worshiping God the right way is super important. The Bible (John 4) says we should worship in a way that's spiritual and true. That means we follow what the Bible tells us (John 10:35; 2 Tim 3:16–17; 2 Pet 1:20–21). A long time ago, in the Old Testament, people worshiped God at altars with special fires, animal blood, and smoke from incense (Genesis–Deuteronomy). But we don't do those things anymore. Why? Because Jesus came and changed things. He did everything the Old Testament Law required and finished it (Ephesians 2:15). Now, we follow what Jesus and His apostles taught, which is written in the New Testament. So, to please God when we worship, we do it the New Testament says, not the old way (John 1:17). We listen to what the Holy Spirit taught the apostles to write in th...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. In John 4:23, Jesus tells us that true worshippers will worship God “in spirit and truth.” Here's what that means: First, “in spirit” could mean different things: It might mean with the help of the Holy Spirit, so we're connected to God through Him when we believe and follow the Bible. Or, it could mean from our own spirit, the inside part of us that thinks and feels. This means we should worship with our whole hearts, not just by going through the motions. It might also mean with the right attitude, like being happy and sincere when we worship, not grumpy or fake. Finally, it could mean that worship isn't limited to a specific place; it can happen anywhere because God is everywhere. Since Jesus didn't specify, it’s best to say He means all of these things. So, what d...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Hebrews 11:23–27 tells us that Moses endured a lot during his ministry, but he endured it all because he lived as if he could see God, even though God is invisible to us in this life. What would you do if you could see invisible things? Some people might think of movies or books where characters have the power to become invisible or to see those who can, but in real life, seeing the invisible isn't about magic or superpowers. It's about believing in real spiritual things that we can't see with our physical eyes. The Bible says faith doesn't believe in things without proof; it knows about things we can't see (Heb 11:1). God put a sort of invisible curtain between us and the spirit world so we wouldn't get hurt by seeing things we're not ready for. If God we...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. We give because God gives. He wants us to be like Him (Eph 5:1). God always gives everything to everyone. If it weren’t for God’s willingness to share, none of us would have anything. It’s right to thank God for all His blessings, but He doesn’t do it because He needs our thanks. He does it because He loves. This is why, when we give, we should do it in a way no one else knows about. God knows what we do even when nobody else does. Giving secretly shows God we’re giving to make Him happy and not for selfish reasons. God loves it when we share what we have with others. What kind of giving makes God happy? He likes it when we give quietly and generously, not being stingy, and when we give without expecting anything back. How should we give? We should give with love, freely, and as much...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. The church is a big group of family and friends who love to learn about Jesus and share His truth. We believe in telling the truth about everything, especially the Bible, and in doing everything we can to stick together in unity. It's like playing a game where you have to follow the rules (truth) and also play nicely with everyone (unity).  Being dedicated to truth and staying together in unity can be hard because we all disagree about something. Imagine if everyone had to agree on everything! That would be like saying everyone has to like the same color or food. That's never going to happen! But there are some big rules, like believing in Jesus as the only possible Savior from sins, that everyone should follow, and if someone doesn’t follow those big rules like it, they’re n...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Be careful how you judge if someone else is right or wrong! In Matthew 7:1–6, Jesus teaches us about how not to, and how to judge rightly. Read the passage together now. We all have to decide what's right or wrong all the time, even if it's hard. If you want to be a good person, you need to know what's good and what's bad so you can make the right choices. Jesus said, “Don't judge others, or you will be judged too.” But he also said more about what He meant: 1. God will judge you the same way you judge others, so be fair and merciful. 2. Don't speak judgment against someone if you do the same bad things. First, stop doing the bad, yourself, and then, it's okay to tell them they're doing something wrong. 3. Be careful who you try to help. Some peo...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. There’s an old saying attributed to the minister, John Wesley (1703–1791), “ In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, charity.” That may be a little hard for some of our littlest ones to understand, so let’s say it this way instead: “In things the Bible commands, we should all agree. In things, we just think on our own; everyone can have their own ideas. And in everything, we should always be loving." I've heard this a lot over the years in sermons and Bible classes and have come across it in my readings. Even though these words aren't in the Bible, word for word, anywhere, they are biblical ideals. The Bible says we should all agree about the Lord’s commandments. It also says we can have different opinions about things He hasn’t require...

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The everlasting God is your place of safety. His arms will hold you up forever. He will force your enemy out ahead of you. He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’” These are comforting words to spiritual warriors fighting “the good fight” we learned about last week. King Jesus defeated the enemy and exposed him to open shame by dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead to live forever. Now, all who trust and obey Him will live forever with Him. No one can defeat our King Jesus! He will return and judge the whole world so we can keep on with the mission He left us without fear or worry. We will be victorious in the end. But we can delay the victory. Jesus commands us to tell everyone about the gospel and try to convince them to believe in Him and obey...