Deuteronomy 6 shows how important it is for families and individuals to both know and obey God and his commands. This short series of Bible studies are designed to encourage us to read God’s Word and pray together as families seek in to be God’ s obe dient children. International Church ofPrague G o d C e n t e r e d C o m m u n i t y Each Sunday during the series on “God- Centered Community”, we will be producing a leaflet with five days of studies for you to use if you wish. These studies will be based in Deuteronomy 6 and will cover different lessons on what we can learn from what God says to his people through Moses. The aim would be for us to find 10 minutes a day , perhaps over the dinner table, for five days in the week, when as a family we can sit down and learn together from God’s Word. This week’s studies cover something of the background to Deuteronomy by looking at Moses’ life, at the Exodus and the giving of the law at Sinai before considering the centrality and exclusivity of God. The questions and suggestions for each day’s study are only there as a guide; please use and adapt as is appropriate for your family. Our prayer is that this series will encourage us all in our responsibility to pass on the truths of our faith to the next generation. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6 Family Bible Study Week One The Main Thing: Seeing and Knowing God for Who He Is
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God gives the law to the children of Israel through Moses, so the focus of the discussion
today and tomorrow is on helping your children to learn about Moses and the Exodus.
Question:
1. Who was Moses?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ He was born in Egypt under difficult circumstances (Exodus 1:11-2:2)
๏ He was saved miraculously from death by the bravery of his mother and sister (Exodus 2:3-10)
๏ He was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter as an Egyptian (Exodus 2:10)
๏ After having to escape from Egypt, Moses was called by God to be the one who
would lead the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus 3:1-22)
๏ After God brought the 10 Plagues on the Egyptians he miraculously brought the
Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 12:31-42; 13:17-14:31).
International Church of Prague 1
We left the Israelites yesterday having just escaped from Egypt. Today we look briefly at
the time in Sinai when God gave the Law to the Israelites.
Question:
1. What is the Law?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children: ๏ Having left Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Sinai, where Moses received the Law from
God.
๏ The fundamental section of the law is what we call the Ten Commandments (Exodus
20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21).
๏ These commandments and the other laws form the basis for God’s covenant
relationship with Israel, the most important command being the first one.
๏ Discuss why God might give commands to his people.
TuesdayToday’s Bible reading: Exodus 20:1-17Thought for the Day: Why the Law?
Deuteronomy records the second time the Israelites come to the borders of the Promised
Land, forty years after the first. Our concentration today is on why that delay was
necessary and may give opportunities to discuss the meaning of faith and obedience to
God’s commands.
Question:
1. Why did the Israelites not enter the promised land 40 years earlier?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ The Israelites were fearful and lacked faith in God on the first occasion (Numbers
13:31-14:4)
๏ Caleb and Joshua were the only ones of that generation to enter the land because
“my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly” (Numbers
14:24).
WednesdayToday’s Bible reading: Deuteronomy 1:3-8
Thought for the Day: Why was going into the land delayed for 40 years?
Daily Bible Studies
2 International Church of Prague
The first commandment emphasizes the need for God’s people to place Him at the very
center of all they are and do. The verses in chapter 6 help us to see what that means and
places it in the context of worshipping God. This is an opportunity to discuss how important
it is, and how good it is, to worship God - and perhaps to look at what that means on a daily
basis.
Questions:
1. Why do you think God demands that he should be central to our lives?These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ You may want to consider reading Psalm 1 together in this context
2. What does it mean to place God at the centre?
๏ Here you may want to consider ways in which you as individuals and as a family can
show that God is central. Ask your children for ideas; any that make sense, why not
put them into practice?
๏ If, as a result of this discussion, you are convicted of having failed to place God at the
centre, then humbly accept that and ask forgiveness. Our children will learn a lot
from us when we are willing to admit our own failings and show how we receive God’s forgiveness.
Thought for the Day: Idolatry is the foundational sin.
Idolatry can be a difficult subject for us as, unlike in the time of Moses, few of us are
surrounded by people who literally bow down to idols of stone! However, this is an
opportunity to discuss with our children what can become an idol.
Questions:
1. What options for life does the Bible offer us?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ There is no no ‘third way’ between worship of the one true God and idolatry.
๏ There is a clear link between the law against idols and salvation through faith alone.
Whatever we trust in, and love, more than anything else becomes our functional
‘savior’.
๏ This may be an opportunity to talk with your children about the meaning of
salvation. You may want to explain how repentance is about turning from the
things of the past and to God; and how true faith means relying on the death and
resurrection of Christ, and that alone, for our forgiveness and salvation.
2. What are the idols of our culture?
๏ One way, perhaps the most common way, we worship idols is not by turning to something bad but by raising something that may be good (work, family, health) into
something that has ultimate value so all other decisions are made in the light of that
priority.
๏ What might we be giving our love to instead of our Creator and Redeemer?
have. As Christians, we have received a‘new heart’ (Ezekiel 36:26); our whole
being - the ‘heart, soul and mind’ of this
week’s studies - has been renewed, and
Paul encourages us, “in view of God’s
mercy [to] offer [our] bodies as living
sacrifices to God - this is [our] spiritual act
of worship” (Romans 12:1).
This week’s studies focus on the living
sacrifice of worshipping God. We will look
at two fundamental reasons why we
worship him and then at what true worship
is.
May God bless you as you seek to trulyworship him as a family this week.
Family Bible Study
Week Two
The Main Thing: Worshipping God with Heart, Soul and Mind
Daily Bible Studies
MondayToday’s Bible reading: Isaiah 40:25-31
Thought for the Day: Worship our Creator.To worship God means beginning at the beginning: with God as our Creator. In this
passage, Isaiah reminds Israel that their God is a great God, the “Creator of the ends of the
earth.” This truth is to give them faith when the world around seems dark (verse 27) and
strength to continue to serve him (verse 31).
Questions:
1. How does Isaiah show that God is worthy of our worship?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ The natural world reveals God’s “eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20).๏ In Old Testament terms, to name something (verse 26) is to show you have authority
over them.
๏ Verse 26 also makes clear that God is not only the Creator, but is also the Sustainer
of all things.
2. What does Isaiah say will be the result of true worship of God?
๏ In verse 31, he talks about those who “hope in the Lord.” True worship, placing God
at the centre of all we are and do, involves hoping in God.
๏ This might be a good time to remind your children of the importance of hoping in
God, of truly placing their trust in him and him alone.
The truth of God as our Redeemer is often linked with that of him as our Creator (the earlier
part of Isaiah 48 draws just such a link). This passage helps us see something of what
worshipping God as our Redeemer means.
Questions:
1. What does Redeemer mean?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ You might want to use the story of the Exodus, which we looked at last week, to explain this. God has freed his people from captivity to service.
๏ Discuss what redemption means for us as Christians. What have we been freed
from? What have we been freed to? (Romans 3:22-26; 12:1-2)
2. What does having God as our Redeemer mean on a daily basis?
๏ Here you may want to look at God’s demands for obedience (verse 18), remembering
that our obedience to God’s commands is a result of our redemption, not a means of
redemption.
๏ God’s promises of blessing (verses 18-19) need to be seen in the context of the New
Testament. We still can expect peace and righteousness as a result of being
redeemed, but the promise of literal, physical descendants is to Israel, and for us this
needs to be considered in more spiritual terms.
TuesdayToday’s Bible reading: Isaiah 48:17-19
Thought for the Day: Worship our Redeemer.
Daily Bible Studies
In biblical terms, the heart is the centre of the will; it is where we make decisions. So toworship God with our heart is about how we behave. This follows on from the truth we
encountered yesterday about God’s looking for obedience in his people.
Questions:
1. What does this passage say are some of the actions that we as Christians should avoid?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ For children, some of the things mentioned may well be irrelevant, but we have all
squabbled and argued with someone else!! Lovingly explain how, as Christians, we
need to leave this behavior behind.
WednesdayToday’s Bible reading: Ephesians:17-32Thought for the Day: Worshipping God with our heart.
TuesdayToday’s Bible reading: Ezekiel 36:26-27Thought for the Day: A new heart from God
As Christians, we know that to have a heart that is right before God, we need to receive that
heart from him. This short passage from Ezekiel reminds us that God not only gives a newheart but, by his Spirit, he also gives us the desire to follow his commands.
Question:
1. What does it mean to have a new heart?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ This is an opportunity to discuss with your children what real faith is all about.
Perhaps you might like to give your own testimony of how God changed your heart.
๏ You will want to refer to the cross and to the forgiveness we have in Jesus and the
need to trust him and him alone.๏ You will also want to emphasize that we cannot know and love God without this new
heart and without knowing his Word, as we looked at yesterday.
2. What can we do to put God’s commandments into our hearts?
๏ One important way is through the memorization of Scripture. You might want to read
Psalm 119:10-12 in this context.๏ Discuss with your children how you might all make Scripture memorization an
important part of your Christian life.
WednesdayToday’s Bible reading: Deuteronomy 6:7-9Thought for the Day: Displaying God’s commandments in our lives.
If God’s commandments are truly on our hearts, then they will become part of the fabric of
our lives.
Question:
1. How can we show the inward reality of our faith in our everyday lives?
These are some of the things you may want to explain or discuss with your children:
๏ This passage suggests that just having designated times of worship as a family or a
church fellowship is not enough. What God expects of us is that his commandments
should be talked about and lived out in everything we do.
๏ Perhaps you can ask your children how they think you can all improve in showing