Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Family Bible Studies
These studies are designed to accomplish the following:
- Present short, interactive Bible topics in a manner the entire family can enjoy.
- Teach basic Bible stories while reinforcing important life-concepts.
- Give parents a starting point for meaningful conversations with their kids.
- Encourage phones-down family time around the dinner table.
- Provide a tool for fathers to demonstrate spiritual leadership in the home in a fun way.
Other types of studies
Overview of How the Studies Work
- Each family study is designed to be processed over several days (approximately 3 to 7 days). This is intentional for the following reasons:
- Keep each day’s topic short (15 minutes or less) for limited attention spans
- Less to process in a single day for little minds
- Still enable you to dive deeper into the story over the course of several days or a week
- Each study has a subtle theme, such as What is courage? The final day of the study will ask a discussion question focused on that theme.
- Multiple questions/activities are suggested for you to choose from each day. Just choosing one of the ideas (or one of your own) is completely fine. You’re the parent, so decide what will work best given the ages of your kids!
List of Family Studies
This section lists and describes the the group studies published thus far. It also describes the theme of each block of studies.
Theme: What is Courage?
Length: 6 Days
Little Brother Slays a Giant – This giant bully named Goliath is scaring all the older brothers. The little brother, David, is sent to bring them food. He’s only a shepherd, taking care of the family’s sheep. What could he possibly do to help?
Theme: What is Sin?
Length: 6 Days
Adam and Eve and the Serpent – God made a beautiful place for the first humans to live. It was so much fun they didn’t need TV or phones. All the animals liked to play with them – even the lions and the bears. They only had one rule that God made them follow. Adam and Eve loved God and didn’t even think of disobeying. Then came the serpent snake. What happened when he tried to trick them?
Theme: What is Forgiveness?
Length: 4 Days
Pigs Without a Blanket – the prodigal son – Jesus liked to teach by telling stories. Did you know that stories can teach lessons too?
One of his best stories was about a father and his two sons. One son was good, but the other one ran off with lots of money and wasted it on parties. When the naughty son returned home to say he was sorry, the father had to decide whether to forgive him or to stay mad. The older brother had to decide the same thing. What do you think they did?
How to use these studies
Short prep time (for leader)
Scan over the study beforehand. Check the day’s discussion suggestions, picking the one (or more) that would most interest your kids, keeping it age-appropriate.
Where/When to Use Them
Our favorite idea is around the dinner table. This will encourage kids to come in and eat together as a family, and these studies aren’t too obtrusive. But you could also use them at bedtime or whatever suits your needs.
Read the scripture
Read the scripture for that day. Depending on your kids’ attention span, read all the verses, and not just the key verses. Most passages are short enough when only reading one day’s verses.
Hint – Read it with inflection in your voice. When reading dialog, change your voice to sound like the characters. Make it come alive. If you’re excited to read it, your enthusiasm will be contagious (even though older ones might roll their eyes, they’ll love you for it).
Observations
These are simply observations about what the Bible says (the key points). We’ve tried to list these points in a fun way. Do your best not to make them dry.
Pictures
Sometimes a picture is provided that can add context. Use your judgment whether you should pass the phone/tablet around.
Discussion
Try to get through the material quickly to get to this part. Have fun with it! Be encouraging, even if answers weren’t what you were expecting or looking for. There’s usually no wrong answers.
Comment and share
Optionally, add your group’s thoughts or questions to the post. We’d like to hear your your impressions.
If you like a post, share it on social media! We’d love to develop this into a community, growing together.
Subscribe
Why subscribe? You’ll be notified, about once every week or two, of the latest studies that have been posted to the blog. There’s also a wealth of material available for personal growth.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.