Disciples Today gratefully shares with you Family Devotionals by Ron and Linda Brumley of the Seattle, Washington
Church on our Ministries/Parenting channel. The Brumley’s, their children and their grandchildren are a blessing to our
family of churches.
Our first Family Devotional focused on the #1 most important aspect of Christianity: Loving God. This week, we’d
like to suggest that with your children, you discuss the #2 most important aspect of Christianity: Love your neighbor as
yourself. (Mt.22:34-40).
We hope that each of you have committed to having at least one night a week devoted to a “Family Night”. Refer to the
Family Devotional #1 for some great guidelines for establishing a fun and effective tradition.
TOPIC: LOVE IN ACTION, PART 1
Song: Let the kids choose the songs they know and like to sing. (There are some great tapes available to teach you
some spiritual and fun songs if this is not your forte).
Prayer: Have a sentence prayer, each thanking God for specific things about each of your family members. (Set up for
specific things to be mentioned by talking before the prayer about loving things that have been done by different family
members in the recent past).Question: “What do you think is the second most important thing you can do to please
God”? Praise each child’s response. “Let’s see what the Bible says!”
Scripture Story: Matthew 22:34-40; John 13:35 (discuss briefly…)
Memory Verse: John 13:35, “by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another”.
Close: Close with a family prayer, expressing to God: “We love one another because…”
- Have a FUN (for the kids) game, tell jokes, tell stories about when you were kids (mom and dad), and eat something
delicious!!!!!! - Have the kids work on next weeks game ideas, refreshment ideas, etc.
- Plan now to have your next Family Night with another family. Call them and set it up!!!!! The spiritual friendships that
result will be a blessing to everyone for life – and beyond!!!!
Suggested Activity for bit older Kids (one’s who can read):
- “This week we want to emphasize how each individual in the home can practice what love is.”
- Have the readers in the family read from I Corinthians 13, concentrating on the descriptive verses of what love is (patient,
kind, etc.). Ask your kids to give examples of how they can show patience, kindness, gentleness, etc. - Create a game for the week that encourages them to be very aware when they are being loving. Prepare ahead of time a
“loving cup” for each child and parent. (You may want to use part of the family night to let each family member decorate
his/her own cup). Use a large paper or plastic cup that can be drawn on or have items pasted to it. Place the cups in a
highly visible location so that everyone will be reminded several times a day to be loving. - Give a reward (stickers, sucker, bubble gum, pencil, etc.) every time you see or hear anyone practice a loving word,
action or response. At the end of the week, have a special “Reward Ceremony” for all the loving kindnesses shown by all
during the past week.
