Want to learn more about Families in the Family of God? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 12-part series.
A Christian faces all sorts of struggles. Most are
internal fights with temptation. Some are fights against the growing
evil in society. All(as we learned last quarter)are battles against
spiritual forces of evil. One struggle that crosses these lines is
the struggle for the family. It takes work to play our proper role in
our own family. The nature of the protected family in society is
currently under attack. Our lesson this quarter is all about the
family. This week we start by considering the Bible’s definition of
the family. Let’s jump in!
Have you noticed how important “people skills” are to
having a good life? It is easy to tell the people who just radiate
personality, who seem to get along with everyone. Some call the
ability to get along well with others, the ability to say just the
right thing, “emotional intelligence.” When I was growing, up my
brother taught me a great deal about having an attractive personality
and being a good leader. Emotional intelligence is very important
for marriage, and it is important for raising children. The Bible
not only gives us the basic principles for the family, it also has a
great deal to teach us about family emotional intelligence. Let’s
jump right into our study!
What impact did sin have upon God’s original plan for
marriage? Did it change God’s plan for the relationship between
husband and wife? If so, did Jesus’ death on the cross bring us back
to the original plan? We are going to review some things we have
studied about marriage and then look at how sin affected the
relationship between Adam and Eve. Let’s dive into our study!
How do we view children? Do we look upon them as
blessings or an expensive nuisance? Before my wife and I had any
children, she jokingly told some young parents we were going to have
a baby. The reaction of the other couple was most interesting. They
seemed to take glee in the fact that we now were entering the same
swamp as they were in – we were going to have to face the challenges
of raising children! Their reaction did not encourage us to become
parents. Let’s plunge into our study and see what the Bible says
about the blessings and challenges of having children!
Jesus calls each of us in Matthew 28:18-20 to make
disciples of “all nations.” Would this include making disciples of
our children? Of course it would! Last week we discussed what the
Bible teaches about the blessings and challenges of having children.
This week we turn to the topic of “discipling” our children –
teaching them to love and obey God. Let’s jump into our study!
The Bible is filled with all sorts of practical advice.
Last week we studied Biblical advice about how to teach our children
about God. This week we move on to advice for grown children in
their marriage. Having a good family requires a good relationship
between husband and wife. Our lesson this week starts with advice for
those who are married. After studying those potential problems, we
consider how some of these problems can be avoided by being alert
when dating. Let’s dive into our study!
Recently, I saw a book title in which the author seemed
to add the word “sex” just to help it sell better. When a read a
little note about the book, it admitted this. Well, this lesson is
sort of about sex, so let’s hope more people are encouraged to read
it! Does the Bible talk about sex and romantic love? You bet! Why?
Let’s plunge into our study and find out!
I’m reading an interesting book that presents a new
theory on how our brain functions. The book suggests that our brain
handles the input for sight, touch, sound, and smell in much the same
way. Most scientists (including the writer of my book)seem unable to
grasp the obvious – that this points to a Master Designer with a
master design. Master designs are also found in the spiritual world.
If God’s creation is a series of repeating patterns, why should we be
surprised that God uses overarching patterns or theories of life
(laws)to guide our day to day life. Let’s charge into our study of
the Bible and explore these laws!
How do we have a happy home? Sometimes it is not easy,
sometimes the members of the home make things difficult. But, like
everything else, God gives us directions for making our homes better
places to live. Let’s jump into the Bible and find out how to improve
our family life!
What impact does the popular culture have on your
faith? On your decisions about what is right and wrong? If you lined
up your favorite television program with the standards of the Bible,
how close would they be? Over the years, I have proposed about a
simple but painful test: compare the amount of time you spend each
week watching television with the amount of time spent studying the
Bible. If you spend more time with the television, it will have the
larger influence on you. Cultural influences have been with us for a
very long time, so let’s jump into our lesson and study their effect
on families of the past!
Many years ago I was invited to have dinner with one of
my clients whose religious freedom I was defending. He had a large
number of children and dinner was remarkably quiet compared to dinner
at home with my two children. His children did not fight, indeed,
they did not even talk to each other. When I asked about this, my
client said they had a rule that at dinner the children did not speak
unless spoken to. I went home and did some soul searching about
whether I was deficient in my parenting skills. To this day I am not
sure. I would like to find out how this client’s children turned out
when they grew up. The client’s home arrested my attention. How does
your home appear to others? Is it a witness for your Christian
values? Or, is it a witness to your selfishness? Let’s dive into our
study on that topic!
This week I saw the story of a couple who, with the
passage of time, saw the romance drain out of their marriage. The
wife was then diagnosed with a brain aneurism. Knowing they had very
limited time left together, the couple rekindled the original
excitement of their marriage. It took a tragedy to make the couple
focus on what was important. Our study this week is about God
focusing our attention on what is important, especially as we
consider the time of His Second Coming. Let’s dive into our study!
