By Ray and Tina Houser

Transcription

1

2 By Ray and Tina Houser

3 Warner Press, Inc Warner Press and WP logo are trademarks of Warner Press, Inc Egermeier s Fun Family Devotions Written by Ray and Tina Houser Copyright 2014 Warner Press Inc Scripture quotations used in this book were taken from the following: KJV Holy Bible, King James Version. Public Domain. (NASB) New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. (NIV) HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. (NKJV) The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for information should be sent to: Warner Press Inc 1201 East Fifth Street P.O. Box 2499 Anderson, IN Editors: Robin Fogle and Karen Rhodes Design: Curtis Corzine Cover & Illustrations: Christian Elden ISBN: This book is also available in e-book format. Printed in USA

4 Table Of Contents The Angel Visits Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-56)... 3 A Wonderful Baby s Birth (Luke 2:1-39)... 6 The Wise Men Follow a Star (Matthew 2)... 8 When Jesus Was a Boy (Luke 2:40-52) John Baptizes Jesus (Matthew 3:3-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34) Jesus Is Tempted (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-14) Jesus Makes Five New Friends (John 1:35-51) Nicodemus Comes to Jesus (John 3:1-21) The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-43) Many Fish (Luke 5:1-11) The Cripple at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18) Four Men Tear Up a Roof (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:18-26) The Story of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20) Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25) Jesus Heals a Wild Man (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39) A Little Boy s Lunch Basket (Matthew 14:13-23; Mark 6:30-46; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15) Jesus Walks on the Water (Matthew 14:23-36; Mark 6:47-56; John 6:16-29) Peter s Great Confession (Matthew 16:13-28; Mark 8:27 9:1; Luke 9:18-27).. 54 The Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).. 57 Jesus Heals an Epileptic Boy (Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43). 60 Who Is the Greatest? (Matthew 17:22 18:14; Mark 9:30-43; Luke 9:43-50) Peter Learns about Forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35) A Sinful Woman Is Brought to Jesus (John 8:1-11) Jesus Heals a Blind Man (John 9) Little Children Are Brought to Jesus (Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16) The Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31) III

5 The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) Lazarus Is Raised from the Dead (John 11:1-54) The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) Zacchaeus Climbs a Tree (Luke19:1-10) Jesus Rides into Jerusalem as King (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19) The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14) Jesus Tells about the End of the World (Matthew 25:31-46) The Last Supper with the Twelve (Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:3-39; John 13) Two Disciples Fail Their Lord (Matthew 26:14-16, 36-75; Mark 14:10-11, 32-72; Luke 22:1-6, 39-71; John 18:1-27) The Darkest Day in All the World (Matthew 27:1-54; Mark 15:1-39; Luke 23:1-47; John 18:28 19:30) Jesus Rises from the Dead (Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18) The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) Doubting Thomas (Luke 24:36-48; John 20:19-31) The Coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15 2:47) The Lame Man at the Gate Beautiful (Acts 3; 4:4) Saul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-8) Saul Becomes a Follower (Acts 9:9-19) Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1 11:18) An Angel Lets Peter Out of Prison (Acts 12:1-23) Barnabas and Saul at Antioch (Acts 11:19-30; 12:24-25) Paul Begins a Second Journey (Acts 15:36 16:15) Paul Preaches at Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-34) Paul Is Taken Prisoner (Acts 21:18 23:10) Paul Is Shipwrecked (Acts 27) John on the Isle of Patmos (Revelation) IV

6 Introduction Family devotions What thoughts and emotions does that term conjure up? Yawns? Eyes rolling? Boring? Regimented? Bible drills? Well, hold on, because we want to help you change that mindset! Family devotion time is not about having hour-long, perfect, amazing, ground-shaking, deeply spiritual devotions that change the course of lives from that moment on. It s about building a foundation of faith by diving into God s Word together. It s about being purposeful and intentional with your family time. Elsie Egermeier wrote a phenomenal Bible story book that Bible scholars agree is biblically accurate and in chronological order. The devotional guide you re holding right now is a way to take what Egermeier began and add some family fun time to reinforce the Bible story. Each of the 52 devotional times consists of three components. The first section is for parents, and provides some in-depth Bible background, how that story connects to Scripture, how it points toward Jesus, and some questions to ponder. The second section is a fun activity to do as a family if you have preschoolers, and the third section is a fun activity to do as a family if you have elementary age kids. The things you ll need to gather for those games and activities should be easy to find around your home. The family fun activities are not meant for you to hand off to your kids to do by themselves. We want you to do them together. Families have busy schedules, but actually do very little together. When you go to a child s game, you all go, but you re not doing something together. When you re home, everyone is busy with their own thing and you re not really together. This family fun time is intended to be a few minutes when you re all together, doing something that everyone enjoys, and basing it all on a Bible story. Family Devotions = FUN! For Parents: Story Background Think & Talk For Preschoolers: Fun Times with Younger Kids For Elementary Age Kids: Fun Times with Older Kids 1

7 The 52 family fun time devotions in this book do not cover all the New Testament stories in Egermeier s. We recommend you read through Egermeier s Bible Story Book, and when you come to a story connected to one of these devotions, declare a family fun night. You will want to read the complete devotion prior to family time, so you can decide what background information you d like to share, what questions to ask, and how, when and where to play the game or do the activity. You ve got years to impact your child for Christ. The little moments you take each and every day add up. Let us encourage you to speak truth into and over your child every chance you get. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (nasb) says, These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 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. Kids are with their children s pastor for an average of one hour each 168-hour week. The other 167 hours they are in the care of their parents. Last time we checked, the children s pastor wasn t there when you got up in the morning or when you sent your kids off to bath time! Being responsible for the spiritual formation of your child is an important task, and it requires being aware of it every single hour of the week. This book is a tool that will help you grab a few minutes together playing laughing talking and all around the theme of a Bible story. Enjoy! Ray and Tina Houser 2

8 The Angel Visits Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-56) Bible Story Time Read: The Angel Visits Mary in your Egermeier s Bible Story Book. Story Background Mary was perhaps as young as 15 or 16 when the angel Gabriel visited her with the most astonishing news ever. The angel called Mary highly favored. That was an understatement. The first person to know that God, the Author of the story of life, was going to become the central character in that story very soon was this teenage girl. Gabriel began by telling her she was going to have a son. She must have felt blessed, confused, frightened, and excited all at the same time but she asked only one question, How will this be, since I am a virgin? This chaste girl who was engaged to the village carpenter, Joseph, asked the most practical question and got a most miraculous answer. Somehow, God would make it happen, and she would bear God s Son. Dozens of questions must have flooded her mind: What do I tell my parents? How do I explain this to Joseph? What will the village think? Can I do this? Instead of asking how it would all work, she trusted God and made herself available. In Bible times girls as young as 12 could be married. God saw something special in Mary. He could have chosen a woman of wealth or a princess, but He chose this humble girl and this workingman to be the family for His Son. Furthermore, God demonstrated favor to all people that day. God had not given up on us. His favor still rests on you and me. He sees something in us worth redeeming! Let s also do what Mary did: rejoice and submit ourselves to the will of the Lord. Think & Talk God has given you a hard assignment to bring up godly children in a fallen world. Commit yourself and your family to Him and trust Him to enable you to do this assignment. 3

9 Fun Times with Younger Kids Needed: small clay pot(s), white craft paint, brush, pingpong ball, tacky glue, permanent marker, white paper, pencil, scissors, small piece of cheap tinsel rope Say: What did Mary do when the angel appeared to her? Was she scared? Was she mad? Was she excited that he showed up? What do you think you would do if an angel appeared in this room right now? Mary wanted to obey God, and when the angel told her that she was going to have a baby, she didn t understand it, but she was willing to do whatever God wanted her to do. There are many different angel crafts that you can make with kids, so if you have a favorite, make that one with your child. However, this idea is easy and unique! Use a small clay pot for the body of the angel. (You can also use a Styrofoam cup, but a clay pot is a new and interesting component for preschoolers to experience.) Set the pot upside down. Cover the pot with a thick coat of white paint and let it dry. Draw a simple face on a ping-pong ball. Then, use about 3 of cheap tinsel rope to make a halo for the angel. Glue the halo in place on the ping-pong ball, and then glue the ball over the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. Lay your child s hand down on a piece of white paper and draw around it. Do this twice and then cut out the handprints. Glue these on the clay pot for the angel wings. If you d like, you can add more tinsel rope around the bottom of the clay pot for the hem of the angel s gown. You ve made a sweet keepsake, complete with your child s handprints. Record the date inside the pot. That will help with your Remember When moments in years to come. Fun Times with Older Kids Needed: 4 apples 4 Remove the stems from the apples. Take turns trying to stack all 4 apples on top of one another to make an apple tower. You can stack them bottom to bottom, top to top, or bottom to top.

10 After trying for a while, you may think it s impossible. Say: Name some things you consider impossible. Is it possible to fly by flapping your arms really, really hard? Is it possible to jump over a building? It s actually possible to stack all 4 apples on top of one another, but it s really difficult to do. Say: Mary thought having a baby was impossible. It also seemed impossible for an old woman like Elizabeth to have a baby. Nothing I said nothing is too difficult for God to do, though. So, when you think your problem is so big that nothing can be done about it, turn it over to God because it s not too difficult for Him. 5

11 A Wonderful Baby s Birth (Luke 2:1-39) Bible Story Time Read: A Wonderful Baby s Birth in your Egermeier s Bible Story Book. Luke was a Greek doctor and a friend of Paul. Story Background As familiar as this story is, it continues to thrill! Luke begins his Gospel by telling us that he did careful investigation in preparation for writing. Maybe he interviewed Mary. What a precious thing it is to think of an aging Mary recounting the events of Jesus birth to Luke the 80-mile trip to Bethlehem, the overflowing inn, the visit of the shepherds and their story of the angels, then the trip to Jerusalem and the people they met there. For Jesus to be born in the stable of an inn back then is similar to a baby being born in a hotel parking garage today. It was not very glamorous. That innkeeper has eternal egg on his face. Actually, offering his stable was probably a pretty decent thing to do, but think of the public relations opportunity he missed. His inn might still be in business today with a sign saying, Birthplace of Jesus, the Savior. We see God s genius in this. Jesus could have been born in a mansion, and people could think He came only for the wellto-do, but Jesus beginnings were humble enough to include people of any socio-economic class. God s plan of redemption is for everyone. No one should think he or she is not good enough to know Jesus. As the angels said to the shepherds, the good tidings of Jesus are for all people. 6 Think & Talk Do you ever think you will never measure up? That you will never be worthy of God s gift of His Son? You won t be none of us will but that s why Jesus came, to bridge the gap. His sacrifice is to make up for what we lack. Open your heart and rest your mind in Him.

12 Needed: nativity set Fun Times with Younger Kids Even if you re doing this activity at some time other than Christmas, get your family s nativity set out. As adults, most of us have grown up hearing the familiar story of Jesus birth, and it s difficult to realize that it is brand new to our children. Be vigilant about communicating that this is not like a fairytale from a library storybook, but this is the true story of God sending His Son to earth. It really happened, and because Jesus came, people can know God again. Place the pieces one at a time, name each one, and talk about what part they had in this miraculous story. If your nativity set is not a family heirloom or extremely fragile, encourage your child to play with it. In their individual playtime, they will recreate and retell the story to themselves or to their playmates. Point out other nativity sets, paintings, or photographs in books. Each one will be a different artist s perception, and it will be great exposure for your kids to talk through who each figure is. They may have objections to how some of the people are portrayed, and that s perfectly fine. If you re doing this devotion between Thanksgiving and Christmas, keep a log of all the different nativities your family notices and where they are located. Fun Times with Older Kids Needed: Play-Doh, waxed paper Young and old, male and female there s something about Play-Doh that everybody enjoys. Get out all the Play-Doh you can find. Cover a surface with waxed paper to create your workspace. Set the entire family loose to create all the different aspects of the nativity scene out of Play-Doh. We encourage you NOT to look at a nativity set, but go from memory and imagination. Without something to model it after, your Play-Doh nativity will more clearly depict how members of your family envision that night. 7

13 The Wise Men Follow a Star (Matthew 2) Bible Story Time Read: The Wise Men Follow a Star in your Egermeier s Bible Story Book. Story Background Another indication that Jesus came for everyone not just the Jewish nation is the visit of the wise men. These wise men are interesting characters. Coming probably from Persia or Mesopotamia, they were Gentiles who lived perhaps a thousand miles away. It s interesting to note that this visit is recorded only in Matthew, the book considered the most Jewish Gospel because of its many quotations and allusions from the Old Testament. Interesting facts about the wise men: 1. They were not kings. They were noble scholars. 2. They were called Magi. The Magi were a kind of tribe of philosophers/theologians/scientists/astronomers/astrologers. These fields had not yet become specialized. We get our word magician from them, but they were more than magicians or astrologers; they were the intellectuals of their time and place. 3. We don t know how many of them there were. Because they gave three gifts, it has been assumed there were three of them. Some early traditions say there were twelve. 4. More than likely, they were not at the stable the night of Jesus birth. Matthew says they visited a house. Since Herod s massacre was of all boys two years old and under, many scholars think the wise men arrived about a year after the birth. 8 Historians tell us the Jews were not the only group with great expectations at the beginning of what we call the first century.

14 Throughout much of the world, there was a feeling that something great was about to happen. The Magi were looking for a sign that something special was about to happen when they saw the star in the heavens. Think & Talk Great things were in store for the world as God s Son came to live among us. Great things are in store for your family as Jesus is honored in your home. God has great things ahead for you as you live with and for Him. Fun Times with Younger Kids Needed: flashlight, hats Turn out the lights in the house and give the flashlight to your preschooler. The preschooler will carry the flashlight and pretend to be the star. He or she will wander around the house, under tables, around the chairs, and over an ottoman, lighting the way. All other family members will put on some kind of hat to represent a crown and will follow wherever the star leads them. Say: We felt a little silly following a flashlight all over the house. The wise men followed the star for weeks! I wonder if they ever felt silly when someone asked them what they were doing. They were absolutely, positively sure that the star would lead them to the new king, so they just kept following. Fun Times with Older Kids Needed: 3 paper crowns, socks, dried beans Say: In this story, we see gifts being given and gifts being received. The kings GAVE gifts to the baby Jesus. Mary and Joseph RECEIVED the gifts on behalf of the baby. God GAVE the gift of His Son to the world. Some people RECEIVE this gift and others don t. We GIVE and RECEIVE gifts at Christmas time also. 9

15 The Lord Jesus himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 (niv) Pour ½ cup of dried beans into each of 3 socks. Tie a knot as close to the beans as possible. Now you have some homemade beanbags. Either pick up 3 paper crowns from a fast food burger place or make some out of construction paper. On one crown write GIVE; on a second crown write RECEIVE; and leave the third crown blank. Cluster the crowns together on the floor. Kids love tossing games! Indicate a stand-behind line and take turns tossing the 3 beanbags at the crowns. If the beanbag lands inside the crown that says GIVE, then the tosser tells about a gift he would like to give someone and why. If the beanbag lands inside the crown that says RECEIVE, then the tosser tells about a gift he would like to receive and why. If it lands inside the blank crown, then it s a pass for the tosser. Enjoy having short conversations in response to the answers given. 10

16 With Egermeier s Fun Family Devotions, your entire family can read and enjoy the Bible in a fun atmosphere. You ll enjoy spending time studying the Bible, learning and growing together spiritually. Whether you re already family devotional pros, just starting out or completely overwhelmed by the thought of leading devotions with your family, the step-by-step approach to each lesson in this book will make the process simple. This guide contains 52 lessons from the New Testament that directly correlate with Egermeier s Bible Story Book. Each lesson includes Scripture references, background information, and questions for parents to consider including during devotion time. Following each lesson are creative, engaging activities for both preschoolers and older children that reinforce the story and can be done with simple objects you probably have around the house already. With Egermeier s Fun Family Devotions, studying the Bible together will be an experience your entire family will treasure for years to come. Ray and Tina Houser have both served in ministry for many, many years. Ray was a senior pastor and now serves as Administrator at Tina Houser Ministries and as a Pastoral Coach and Church Consultant. Tina was a children s pastor and now is an editor for K! Magazine, as well as a popular speaker and teacher at children s ministry conferences around the country. BIBLE STUDY/DEVOTIONAL ISBN: