Instant Family Devotions: 52 Bible Discussions for Anytime, Anywhere Use

By Mike Nappa and Jill Wuellner

Parents want their children to grow closer to God, but may not always know the best way to facilitate that growth. Mike Nappa and Jill Wuellner take the guesswork out of family devotional time with this practical, imaginative resource. They provide a year's worth of engaging, transforming, and easy-to-lead Bible discussion guides for parents and children. Combining biblical depth with entertaining and educationally sound teaching techniques, this book will both challenge and inspire families toward lasting spiritual growth.

All 52 studies require zero pre-session preparation and can be used in a variety of settings and times--around the dinner table, during family-night activities, or just before bedtime. They are also perfect for impromptu lessons in Sunday school classes and elementary-aged youth groups.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781441237415

Mike Nappa

Mike Nappa is an entertainment journalist at FamilyFans.com, as well as a bestselling and award-winning author with more than one million books sold worldwide. When he was a kid, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe scared him silly. Today he owns everything Poe ever wrote. A former fiction acquisitions editor, Mike earned his MA in English literature and now writes full-time. He is the author of Annabel Lee and The Raven.

Book preview

1

Picture Perfect Break

God said, Let us make mankind in our image.

Genesis 1:26

THEME: Created in God’s Image

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:26–31

1. Look around at each person in our family. If someone hadn’t met us before, how would they know we’re all related? Give examples.

2. People don’t have to look like twins for others to see a family resemblance. What other clues tell that we’re family? For instance, the ways we act, the things we think are funny, or the things we do?

Parent Tip: For Extra Fun

If you like, pull out a few family photo albums and thumb through them as you explore answers to questions 1 and 2. Or have all your family members crowd in front of a bathroom mirror while you chat!

3. Why do you suppose family members tend to be similar to each other, both in looks and in personality?

Have family members read Genesis 1:26–31.

4. When God created people, he did more than just welcome us into his family—he actually made people in his image. What do you think that means?

5. Up to this point, when God was creating the world and animals and things, he said his creation was good. When he created humans, he said it was "very good" (see v. 31). Why do you think he said that?

Behind the Scenes: Genesis 1:26

The Hebrew word translated as image in this Scripture is tselem.

While resemblance is the clearest meaning of tselem, it also carries with it the figurative impression of shade or a shadow, as though God cast his shadow on us during creation and left it there.[3] One significant implication of that concept lies in the nature of a shadow itself: in order for it to be cast, what it represents must be nearby.

Thus, God’s constant image in us is also the comfort of God’s constant nearness to us.

6. What do people say or do that shows God’s family resemblance in their lives? Give examples.

7. If you could ask God anything about the way he created people, what would you ask? Why?

8. How do you think God would answer those questions?

9. How does it make you feel to know that God miraculously made you to be like him? Explain.

10. If you could give God a compliment about the way he created people, what would you say? Let’s pray those compliments right now!

Parent Tip

Encourage family members to be specific in the way they answer Open Life questions. Also, instruct kids to wait a minute or two in silence before answering. This will give them an opportunity to think through their responses a bit before having to talk about them.

2

Tip-Top Tower

The Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building.

Genesis 11:8

THEME: Pride

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 11:1–9

1. Poof! You’ve been granted three wishes (and one of them can’t be for additional wishes). What will you