A Guide to Starting a Family Bible Study at Home

If your church is small or doesn't' offer a weekly bible study, you can always start one at home. Bible studies are also a great way to spend some quality family time as well. When a family can openly communicate with each other or share the joy of their Lord together, it can be easier to handle the situations that life may bring us. A popular quote that is often noted is "A family that prays together, stays together..."

When you begin planning your bible study, choose a time where everybody would be together at once. Common times to have a study would be after dinner or an hour or two before bed time. If there are still conflicting time, have members of their family write down their schedule and come to an agreement on which time of day each week to have a study. For the nights that you have your bible study, create a comfortable setting at your dining table along with some bibles, and a few light snacks and drinks.

Assign who will lead the study for each time that you meet. (older teenagers and the adults in the household would probably work best). Have everybody take turns leading the bible study. Before meeting each week, research some topics that you can discuss at your bible studies. Focus on topics like current events, social and peer pressure, life responsibilities, or anything else in life that would be appropriate to discuss. Share ideas with your minister and see if he/she have ideas that you could use for inspiration. Perhaps you might even invite your minister to one of your bible studies. Another idea is to browse the Internet for topics too. Participate in message boards, view websites and chat with others who plan church activities at home. Keep in mind that you will need topics that everyone in the family can relate to and make them age appropriate.

A way to end each bible study is sharing a prayer or perhaps the family sharing something positive about their day or one another. Open up a five or ten minute "chat session" and have a mini family meeting. Let everyone tell something about their day or a question they made assistance with. Then go around the table and share one positive attribute about each member of the family with each other. By doing so, this can connect the family together. The bible study should be a way that the family can enjoy each other's company and become more open with another. By keeping an open table, perhaps even teens can feel comfortable coming to the "table" and know that they are not being judged. A family can become closer, and learn how to share their thoughts and feelings and grow on their journey to God with each other.

http://www.hem-of-his-garment-bible-study.org/Family-Bible-Study.html

http://www.creativebiblestudy.com/