- Say you’re going to be a little part of (name your church) church at home today.
- Light a candle and pray:
With the light of this candle, we remember the light of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God, you are here with us now and also with our friends and family in their homes today.
Especially we remember that you are also with… (invite everyone to remember people from church, school, extended family, neighbourhood). Thank you, Jesus, light of the world. Amen
- Say: Today we’re thinking about the holy habit of spending time with the Bible. Read out the statements below in turn and invite people to say whether they agree or disagree with each one (or stand at one end of the room for ‘agree’ and the other end of the room for ‘disagree’ if you like moving).
- I find out what God’s like from the Bible.
- I trust God’s promises in the Bible.
- I find the Bible hard to understand.
- I’ve got a favourite story from the Bible.
- If the Bible didn’t exist, we wouldn’t know so much about what God likes.
- I find the Bible impossible to understand.
- Sometimes God speaks to me through the Bible.
- I try to spend some time with the Bible most days.
- Talk about anything interesting that comes up as a result of that game and collect any questions that you can’t answer at the moment: it’s fine to say you don’t know, but you’ll try to find out.
- Read today’s short verse: ‘Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives’ (Colossians 3:16, The Message). Draw a plan of your house or flat and label the rooms. What does it mean to ‘let the Word of Christ have the run of’ each room? Draw stickpeople in each room trying to live life in that room by the light of something Jesus said from the Bible. For example, in the kitchen, the stick-people might be eating Fairtrade bananas because of Jesus’ words, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31). How many rooms can you fill with pictures? You could look for words and phrases in BibleGateway if you get stuck.
- In the Psalms, the writer says: ‘Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (Psalm 119:105, NIVUK).
Older group: Say that in the song you’re about to listen to, the singer is trying to say something about listening to God’s word himself, not accepting someone else’s easy answers about God. Listen to The Light by The Proclaimers. Ask: how does the song make you feel?
Younger group: sing along to Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and don’t be put off by the old-fashioned language!
- In the Bible, we can read that Jesus said, ‘Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them’ (Matthew 20:18). Trusting that what Jesus says is true, what would you like to say to him now, perhaps silently, perhaps out loud?
- Say the Lord’s Prayer together, with or without actions. Ask which line everyone thinks is most about God’s word. (Maybe ‘Give us today our daily bread’?)
- Say the Messy Grace if you usually do that at Messy Church.
- Blow out the candle, changing the light from visible to invisible light.
If you want to read the Bible more as a family, check out the advice and ideas in the Parenting for Faith videos.
