Missions Monday

Missions Monday!!
It has been my intention for some time now to post weekly in regards to teaching children about missions. Well, after several weeks I am finally getting around to it. This week I would like to give you some basic ideas for making missions a more regular part of your family. Many of you may already do these things without directly relating them to missions. If that is the case than I would encourage you to be more intentional about incorporation missions into you home.

Here are some general suggestions:

1. Learn about the missionaries your local church supports.

2. Pray for these missionaries.

3. Read about biographies about missionaries.

4. Encourage missionaries.

5. Host missionaries in your home.

Over the next month of so I will post different suggestions that take each of these broad ideas a little deeper with practical tips for incorporating missions into your family more regularly.

Two Great, Gospel-centered, Children's Bibles

Recently a friend and occasional reader asked me for a suggestion of a Bible for young children. Instead of sharing my thoughts with only her I figured why not turn my recommendations into a post.  So here are my two favorite children's Bibles I have come across.

The Big Picture Story Bible

Written by David Helm

Illustrated by Gail

This Bible clearly points all things to Christ. Instead of isolating the biblical accounts as most children's Bibles do, Daniel and the Lions, Joseph and the coat of many colors, Jonah and the whale, etc., The Big Picture Story Bible provides more of an overview of the Bible skimming the stories of both the Old and New Testament and clearly focusing on God's love for His people throughout history.

The bold and catching illustrations along with the clearly written text presents a picture of God's big plan of love for His people despite their rebellion and the sacrifice that must be made to bridge the people's separation from God. The text on each page is minimal making this Bible great for young children. (I would say as young as one or two.) It can easily be read a few pages at a time although it is broken into a total of 26 parts, 11 parts devoted to the Old Testament and 15 parts covering the New Testament. The author does not go into great depth on any particular story but clearly presents Christ's kingship throughout Israel's history. God's promise to His people, Israel, is woven into each and every biblical account as a reminder of God's great plan from the very beginning. I love these last two elements the best! Even as an adult it is easy to lose sight of how God is orchestrating His plan of salvation through the Old Testament. Teaching this to our children while they are young will help them see everything through the light of God's perfect plan.

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Illustrated by Jago                                                       

This Story Bible spends more time on individual stories than David Helm's Story Bible, but still points to the bigger picture of Christ in each account. The author uses clever and fun word choices setting up each account with child friendly language and examples. Great comparisons fill the book helping to make the historical context real for children.

The accounts are cleverly names and accompanied by biblical references. Each part is 10 pages or less in length and is able to stand alone. The modern illustrations are colorful and draw the reader into the story. Unlike the Big Picture Story Bible this book has a decent amount of text on each page and focused on individual stories of both the Old and New Testament. Because of the longer text I would suggest this Story Bible for children starting around ages four or five. This book has even helped me to look deeper into the "stories" of the Old Testament in particular and see the foreshadowing of Christ! This book will help us teach our children to look for Christ in everything so that seeing Him becomes second nature! I am excited to engage in conversations as my daughter grows older and we seek to show her the love of the Savior. This book will be a great resource for doing so!

Both Story Bibles do a great job presenting Christ as the center of the story and referring to God's greatest gift of salvation within both the New and Old Testament. If you are interested in reading portions of the Jesus Storybook Bible you can visit http://www.jesusstorybookbible.com/ . This site has several excerpts presented in various medias.

Please feel free to ask any further questions you may have regaarding these books. I would recommend them both and feel that they work well together. Also if you have either of these resources I am eager to hear your feedback. What do you think of them? How do you use them to teach your children and convey the gospel message?

"God wrote, 'I love you' - he wrote it in the sky and on the earth and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere! Because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror - to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hears sing." ~The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones

"In the beginning everything and everyone knew how good God was.God gave Adam and Eve good words to obey. He told them not to eat from a special tree. You see, God was teaching Adam and Eve that he was their king, that people were to obey God's word. God also said that if Adam and Eve disobeyed his word they would surely die. So God's peole, Adam and Eve lived in God's place, the garden of Eden. They ruled God's world by obeying his good word. Do you know what happened next?"

~The Big Picture Story Bible, David Helm

 

Remember the Power of Prayer

What Happens When Children Pray

Written by Evelyn Christenson

Illustrated by Joy Dunn Keenan

                                                                                                   

Found at an unlikely place, the public library, this book is set up with very simple stories about children praying. Each page has related scripture. Prayers of praise, repentance, thanksgiving, and supplication are covered throughout the book teaching that prayer involves more than making requests of God. The book ends with a longer story presenting the gospel and reflecting on prayer as communication directly with God available to us because of Christ's death and resurrection. The setup of the book is easy and adaptable to use. It can be read straight through or taken page by page. I could see myself using the prayers in the book as examples that might springboard into brainstorming situations in our family needing prayer. To take it a step farther I would pursue discussion about what God thinks about the situations and how we can best pray, following up of course by putting prayer into action.

One thing that I really like about this book is the presentation of prayer in so many situations in life. Personally prayer is often a last resort. Instead of praying first I often resort to prayer after I have exhausted all of my other resources forgetting that He is the giver of everything. This is a great teaching tool not only for children but also a good reminder for adults that we need to come before God with everything. Nothing is too big or little to lay at our Father's feet.

Another aspect of the book that I greatly appreciated was the scripture used to referance the importance God, through the Bible, puts on prayer. These scriptures would be great to commit to memory with our children. We must remember to pray with expectant hearts for He hears us and  is able to do more than we can think or imagine.

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

James 5:16B



The Prayer of Jesus

Written by Hank Hanegraaff

Illustrated by Thomas Payne



The author has taken the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9-14  and broken it into short phrases. Each page of the book features one of these phrases along with a brief rhyming application or explination of the quoted scripture. The application/explination and accompaning illustration brings the biblical text to life in a very practical way for young hearts. It addresses many daily encounters a young child may have like, mealtime, play time, and cleaning up. More importantly it speaks about the God honoring way to act, briefly touching on adoration, obedience, thankfulness, forgiveness, salvation, and prayer. Just as the Lord's Prayer is an example of how we should pray and live so this book does a good job teaching kids how they should live their lives seeking to honor the Lord and share His love.

 A short piece of the text:

                                     "Give us today our daily bread

                                     I know you'll give me what I need

                                     Plesae help me to put away my greed."

Often times we fall into the thinking that children can not understand or are unable to use self-control and therefore they are not held to biblical standards. Before children fully mature or are spiritually regenerated, we must teach them the truth.  Until Christ does a work in their heart it may/will be challenging, but if we do not teach, set an example and expectations how will they see and know of their need for a Savior and the sacrifice He has made for them? Once saved they are then fully capable of understanding and living in this way with guidance from God's word (like the rest of us).  It is then that we must expect them to live in truth and guide them as they continue to learn what it looks like to live for Christ.  As the book closes it nicely sums up these truths, "As you live in my heart, may I be more like you. Your love is forever, and your word is true." This statement is a good reminder to all that God's work is true! Are you living in the light of His word?

How does your family make prayer a priority?

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."