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Dear Church,

As promised in yesterday's sermon, I'm sending out some resources that Bekah and I have found useful in the discipleship of our children (as well as my discipleship of teens as a youth pastor). There is no "one way" to do this. Each family is different. But the goal is that we bring the faith we profess on Sundays into our homes and our family rhythms. If you missed it, here is the sermon on Intentional Parenting from Deut. 6. 

If you want more practical discussion/instruction on the how-to...My podcast Simply Faithful #4 Family Discipleship. My friend and fellow pastor Eric Tonjes and I discuss ways that we lead our families in worship. This was one of our first episodes last year so thanks for the mercy. But you know what to do...like, subscribe, share, rate and review ;-)

For young children up to 5 (and older) I suggest you wear the cover off of a Jesus Storybook Bible. It isn't perfect (as no abbreviated/paraphrased Bible is) but it does a faithful job of pointing all the main stories of the Scriptures to Christ. It does so with beautiful prose and illustrations that will fill your kids with imagination and will often fill your eyes with tears. 

As early as age 2-3, we suggest you start with the Westminster Kids Catechism (Print it out for free here). You can go at your own pace. Try reviewing a few every night and slowly adding 1 question/answer at a time. You will learn a lot yourself as an adult, too! As the kids get older, they can do Westminster shorter catechism and/or the New City Catechism

Bekah recommends 3-6 year olds try Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science

As kids get a little older (5-7 range) Marty Machowski's books Long Story Short (Old Testament) and Old Story New (New Testament) help kids with a much more robust view of the Scriptures. It doesn't cover every bit of the Bible, but much more than Jesus storybook Bible. We also have his book The Ology (theology for kids) but we have not gotten to that yet...

6 and up...check out Kevin Deyoung's The Biggest Story for another biblical overview. 

Our 8 year old uses this devotional every day: Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. It covers a lot of the Bible and has him answering simple questions about the passage he is reading. It also has a spot for sermon notes on Sundays. We love this resource. 

For pre-teens and teenagers: I recommend RC Sproul's Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. This will give you a one page summary of essential doctrines. It's easy to read one page after dinner, and you can look up the suggested scripture passages. For more advanced theology, but still simple and easy for a teen to read, try Louis Berkhof's Summary of Christian Doctrine. These last two resources are great for adults too. 

If you are looking for some well-written prayers that address every aspect of daily life (A liturgy for your morning coffee, A liturgy for starting a fire, A prayer upon the death of a pet, etc)...we highly recommend Every Moment Holy

If you are wondering how or when your kids should be baptized or make a profession of faith, this document explains how that works at our church. Feel free to reach out with questions or to meet with a pastor or elder. 

Hope this helps!

Peace of Christ,

Pastor Gray
Copyright © 2020 New Valley Church, All rights reserved.


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