Family Manna

MANNA for Families 

At H3O Church, we believe following Jesus requires us to have our heads on, hearts on, and hands on as we seek to love God and love people. Engaging with Scripture isn’t just about understanding its words, but allowing them to transform us into the kind of people who live and love like Jesus.  

If you are a family with young children, you will find a script below to guide your time as you read the daily scripture. Below you will also find a printable worksheet with space for kids to write or draw their response to each scripture. 

[Leader: in preparation for your time together, print the above Bread worksheet or grab some blank paper, along with pencils, pens, or markers. Open your Bible and use your MANNA book to find the scripture. Gather Bibles for your family members if they’d like to read along.] 

Did you know we are invited to a lifelong adventure to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did? One of the best ways to start that adventure is to learn more about who Jesus is by reading the Bible.

If reading the Bible is important, how do we know where to start? A good clue is to find one of the books of the Bible Jesus talked about the most, since he is the one we are following.

The book of Psalms for example, was really important to Jesus: he talked about it a lot and even memorized it! Since part of our adventure is to do what Jesus did, reading a book he loved is a great place to start. 

The Psalms talk about all sorts of things: questions, prayers, and big feelings like joy, sadness, anger, confusion, and thankfulness. Have you ever felt any of those feelings? So did Jesus, and so did the people who wrote the Psalms. Reading Psalms can help us to learn to pray and talk to God about what’s happening around us and how we are feeling—just like Jesus did.

Every week, we have the opportunity to explore scripture together with something we call BREAD. What is BREAD? The letters in the word BREAD are a helpful guide that can help us learn how to read the Bible. 

B: BE STILL 

R: READ 

E: EXPLORE 

A: ACTION STEPS

D: DECIDE

We’ll start with BE STILL…

Let’s be quiet, get comfortable, and let our bodies calm down. Take a few deep breaths. [Pause] Let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we read scripture.

[Leader: say “Come Holy Spirit” and leave space for silence, or invite your family to add their prayers to yours]

Now, let’s READ out loud together… 

While we read, let’s notice what words or ideas stand out to us.

[Leader: read or have a family member read the scripture. Then, read it a second time, but more slowly. Adapt if it is a long scripture that day] 

After reading, let’s EXPLORE what we heard…

What things stood out to us in the scripture? Are there any emotions or experiences we can relate to? Maybe write or draw pictures about what we read and what we noticed. 

[Leader: invite family to quietly write or draw about this for a few minutes. If you’d like, take some time to discuss thoughts or ideas that come up.]

Now, let’s ask God what ACTION he might be asking us to take…

Do we feel like God is inviting us to do or remember something, based on what we read? 

[Leader: invite family to quietly write or draw about this for a few minutes. If you’d like, take some time to discuss thoughts or ideas that come up.]

And finally, let’s DECIDE what we’re going to do next…

Let’s end by telling God how we've decided to live because of what we read today.

[Leader: invite family to quietly write or draw about this for a few minutes. If you’d like, take some time to discuss thoughts or ideas that come up.]

[Leader, pray the below prayer your time together] 

Jesus, 

Thank you for this time to be with you. 

Help us to become like you as we explore the Bible together. 

Send us out to the world to do the things that you would do if you were us. 

Amen. 

This resource was inspired and adapted from our brothers and sisters at Bridgetown Church