By Matt Lockhart
Discovering God”s Story
Jim Eichenberger
Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010
Have you ever wrestled with wanting to do a family devotion but struggled with what to use or how to get started? If so, do I have a reading recommendation for you!
Discovering God”s Story is a great book to help families engage with God”s Word. It”s a beautifully illustrated, full-color hardcover that provides a chronological overview of major Bible stories and themes in 100 short and visually rich vignettes. While a great reference book for any Bible student, I can tell you from firsthand experience that it also makes a wonderful family devotion resource.
Here”s how we used Discovering God”s Story at my house. Over the course of about a year, I called the family together a couple of times a week for a short family Bible study using this book and the Bible. After corralling a couple of energy-filled kids (9 and 11) and their busy mom, I”d open up Discovering God”s Story to one of the colorful Bible story spreads. As a warm-up, I”d quiz them on the story we had last looked at and also show them the Bible art for the current story. I would then recap the particular Bible focus of that session”s story, which was neatly and briefly summarized in a paragraph-length feature entitled “Its Part in God”s Plan.” I would also call out the major themes as listed.
As an example, in one of the Old Testament sections of stories (there are six groupings of Old Testament stories and four New Testament) we studied the story “Moses is called by God.” After reading about the part this story played in God”s plan””the overall story of the Bible””and learning about the major themes, we read the related Bible text.
One of the things I like about this resource is that part of the story overview includes a series of Bible readings with the primary passage highlighted in red. As part of our family devotion I would generally read the associated Bible text or ask one of the kids to look up and read the passage.
The most popular features in Discovering God”s Story as rated by my family are the pictures and the timeline. The timeline features historical dates and images and runs through the entire book, highlighting interesting tidbits from around the world that help provide additional context to the study and a dash of fun.
I encourage you to consider Discovering God”s Story as a resource for your family and the families in your church. As a bonus, here are a few general family devotion tips from my experience in using this resource and trying to lead my sometimes unruly tribe: Keep expectations reasonable. Take what you can get and call it a win. Not all nights are going to lend themselves to a family Bible study. Involve the family by showing the pictures, reviewing the timeline, getting help looking up and reading Bible passages, and giving everyone the opportunity to pray.
Last but not least, have fun! Toss in the occasional ad-lib””when the kids start acting up, instead of getting worked up, ask them to act out the story. Here”s to your family Discovering God”s Story!
Matt Lockhart is vice president of product development at Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio.
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