Do you have the goal to have more family devotionals? Are you having a hard time sharing the Bible with your young children? You have come to the right place.
We, too, have the goal to have a family devotional at least once a week and since I am planning a devotion for my family with kids ages 5, 3, and 1 yrs., I thought I'd share what we're doing in case it helps your family. I pray that I'll be able to do this each Sunday with a fresh devotional, complete with topic, scripture verses, activity, and discussion questions.
For the first Sunday of the new year today's topic is:
God makes people new
Introduction
This is a new year. What year is it now? (kids answer “2009”) What was the old year? (kids answer “2008”). Do you like new things? What does something new look like? (kids might answer “clean, not used”) Show kids some dirty pennies and 1 clean, shiny new penny. Ask if they think you can turn the old pennies into new pennies. Then do activity.
Activity (need: 1 new, shiny penny, a few dirty pennies, white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, a jar or small clear glass bowl)
Fill your container with around a cup of vinegar (enough to cover pennies), add 1 tsp of salt (let kids do this part), drop in the dirty pennies (let kids do this). Swish around the pennies a little and wait a few minutes (read Scripture below while you wait). In 3 or 4 minutes your pennies should be much cleaner. Fish them out of the vinegar, rinse them off and compare them to your new penny.
Scripture
Did you know God can make people new?
Ezekiel 36:25-27, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
2 Cor. 5:17 “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”
Discussion
God can make people new, just like the vinegar and salt made the pennies new. When you ask Jesus into your heart, God makes you clean. This means he takes away the bad things (sin) and leaves you free to do good things. Remember the story of Saul (see Acts 9 if you don't know this story) who was really mean and did terrible things? But then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and God turned him into someone good and changed his name to Paul. To close, ask kids, “How can you make a penny new? ( answer: “vinegar & salt) “Who can make people new?” (answer: “God/Jesus) “Can you make someone new?” (Kids might answer that yes they can! Correct them that they cannot, but they can tell people about Jesus who can make people new!)
Prayer
Dear God, thank you that you make us new and forgive the bad things we do. Amen
