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Family Bible Study With Kids in Four Simple Parts

Family Bible study with kids can follow four simple parts. First see where the passage is going, then read it, then reflect together on what it says, and last look to Jesus in it. Fifteen minutes is enough, and you do not need any preparation beyond reading the passage once yourself.

I use the word study loosely here. You are sitting with your children and a passage of Scripture, and asking what God is telling us. The method below helps a parent who is not sure how to begin, and it can work at the table with older and younger children together.

Family Bible study with kids in four parts

  1. See where we are going. Before reading, say in one sentence what the passage is about, and tell the children what to listen for. For example, “Listen for who has the power to forgive sins.”
  2. Read the passage aloud, slowly. Let the children take turns with a verse each if they can read.
  3. Reflect together. Ask what the passage says, what it shows us about God, and what it asks of us.
  4. Look to Jesus. Ask how the passage points to Christ and what it means for us today.

The sessions on this site follow this order. They add a prayer at the start and the end and a hymn to sing, so that you can use them as they stand.

A worked example from Mark chapter 2

In the session for Mark chapter 2, four friends bring a paralysed man to Jesus. Jesus says to him, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5). Some of the scribes are sitting there, thinking, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7).

Here the four parts work like this. Before reading, tell the children to listen for who can forgive sins. After reading, ask what Jesus said first, before He healed the man. Ask why that mattered more than walking. And then ask who can forgive sins, and what it tells us that Jesus did it. The passage shows that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10), and the scribes were right that only God can forgive. So Jesus shows who He is.

Finding the one main truth

Most passages have one main truth that everything else supports. In the example above it is that Jesus can forgive sins because He is God. Ask yourself, before you read it with your children, what the passage is mostly about. If you can say it in one plain sentence, the children will remember it.

Let Scripture explain Scripture

When a passage raises a question, look for another place in the Bible that speaks to it. The scribes reasoned that only God can forgive sins. Isaiah had written, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). God Himself says that He forgives, and Jesus, who forgives, is that God.

When you disagree or do not know

You will meet verses you cannot explain, and children will disagree with each other. Say what you do know. Say what you do not, and write the question down. Ask an elder or your pastor, and come back to it. The Lord does not ask a parent to have every answer, and children learn from a father or mother who looks things up.

Study that leads to Christ and to a response

The aim is to know the Lord Jesus, who died for sinners and rose again. As you study, tell your children plainly that we have all sinned, that Christ died for sinners, and that God calls everyone to turn from sin and trust in Him. Call each child to do that themselves, kindly, and without pressure. Never assume that a child who understands the passage has believed it. A new heart is God's gift, and we ask Him for it.

Choose a chapter on the worship page and try the four parts this week. If the site helps your family, you can give here so that other families can use it. May the Lord open His Word to your children, and to you.