{"id":1241,"date":"2010-05-03T11:59:03","date_gmt":"2010-05-03T15:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?page_id=1241"},"modified":"2013-08-01T15:43:38","modified_gmt":"2013-08-01T19:43:38","slug":"bible-material-for-children","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?page_id=1241","title":{"rendered":"Bible Material for Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bible Material for Children<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biblical Basis<\/strong><\/span>– The Bible commands parents to teach the Bible to their children diligently.<\/em><\/p>\n

2 Timothy 3:15<\/strong>– “how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”<\/p>\n

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Ephesians 6:4-<\/strong> And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord<\/p>\n

Psalm 78-<\/strong> Verses 1-3 refer to instruction “of old” which “our fathers have told us,” and v.4 then states: “We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.\u00a0 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”\u009d<\/p>\n

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Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-25-<\/strong> “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!\u00a0 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.\u00a0 And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.\u00a0 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.\u00a0 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates …”<\/p>\n

When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What [do] the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments [mean] which the Lord our God commanded you?’\u00a0 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand.\u00a0 ‘Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household;\u00a0 and He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’\u00a0 “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as [it is] today.\u00a0 “And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.<\/p>\n

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Deuteronomy 4:9-10-<\/strong> God spoke to the people at Sinai so that “they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

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Genesis 18:19-<\/strong> “For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children<\/strong> and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.”<\/p>\n

Sir Edmund Burke wisely observed, “Tell me what are the prevailing sentiments that occupy the minds of your young people and I will tell you what is to be the character of the next generation.”<\/p>\n

“It is a situation of tremendous responsibility to be a parent…. With every babe that God entrusts to your care, he in effect sends the solemn injunction- “Take this child, and bring it up for me”; and at the final audit, will inquire in what manner you have obeyed the command.”\u00a0 It will not then be sufficient to plead the strength of your affection, nor the ceaseless efforts to which it gave rise; for if these efforts were not directed at the right end … you will receive the rebuke of Him that sitteth upon the throne.”\u00a0 (John Angell James, The Christian Father’s Present to His Children<\/em>)<\/p>\n

The Need for Substance<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Far too often our Bible material for children is embarrassingly shallow.\u00a0 So much that passes as bible stories for children these days is a sham.\u00a0 The great stories of scripture are turned into cute and cuddly little tales.\u00a0 The result of this is that many people think of Bible stories as something for children; but, I submit to you that if you read them they most certainly were not written primarily with children in mind.\u00a0 There are enough cute cuddly little stories around without domesticating Scripture to turn it into one.\u00a0 Our children need to encounter the Scripture not emasculated stories.\u00a0 Of course, they need not have every gory detail, but renditions of Noah and the ark which are only about nice animals and fun on a boat but fail to deal with the wrath of God against sin are perversions of the story.\u00a0 Renditions of David and Goliath whose main point is that little people can do things too, simply miss the point.\u00a0 If we want to raise children who have the same deep reverence for God and passion for His glory which compelled David to take on the giant, then we must give them the pure milk of the Word.<\/p>\n

We are duped by those who say that children cannot handle the deep truths or the stark realities (e.g. hell).\u00a0 However, the church through the ages has not thought this way.\u00a0 We do not prepare our children for life by sugarcoating reality.\u00a0 There is of course something to thinking about age appropriateness, but currently many seem to think the only thing appropriate to say to children until they are 12 is God loves you, you are great, etc.\u00a0 How will children who hear only this ever know their desperate need for the gospel?<\/p>\n

Some Recommended Resources<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Family Worship<\/span><\/p>\n

The Family Worship Book<\/em>, Terry Johnson (Christian Focus)<\/p>\n

Thoughts on Family Worship<\/em>, J. W. Alexander<\/p>\n

The Christian Father’s Present to His Children<\/em>, John Angell James<\/p>\n

Family Worship in the Bible and Your Home<\/em>, Donald Whitney<\/p>\n

Rediscovering the Lost Treasure of Family Worship<\/em>, Jerry Marcellino<\/p>\n

Catechism<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Truths for Little Kids<\/em>, by Susan and Richie Hunt (Crossway) <\/em><\/p>\n

Truth & Grace Books<\/em>, ed. Tom Ascol<\/p>\n

Small Talks on Big Questions<\/em>, Selah Helms and Susan Thompson<\/p>\n

The Gospel for Children<\/em>, John Leuzarder (Shepherd Press)<\/p>\n

Study Bible<\/span><\/p>\n

ESV Children’s Bible<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bible Stories<\/span><\/p>\n