Family Altar (Part B): Use the letters; form words

Sometimes we want to have our family altar running and done well but we don't know how or where to begin. See what Troester has got to say on tips. These are only letters, ponder through it and form words out of it.

1. Paragraph Bible study: Rather than read a whole chapter at a time which may be quite long and hard to retain, do just a paragraph a day. Let all the members of the family suggest a title to the paragraph according to its content. Let each one list some things they observe in the paragraph such as places, people, things, special words, etc. This can be great fun for the children and a real challenge to all. It is like observing things in a room or in an automobile ride. When you have gone through the paragraph like that, then investigate spiritual lessons that may be learned. Let each one make it personal and tell what they have learned for themselves.
2. Read Bible stories from the Bible. They supply answers to different family needs and give a challenge to spiritual living.
3. Go through the miracles of Christ. You could do one a night and learn something about Christ from each miracle and especially let each one learn something for himself. Study the miracle as to where it was, the occasion, what happened, who was involved, and then personal lessons.
4. Study Bible characters. This can be good for a different kind of study for the sake of variety. Read about the character in the Bible and study his weak and strong points and discuss how you may learn something from him or her. You can see yourself in Bible characters and learn many precious lessons.
5. Study Bible doctrine. Everyone should know the basic doctrines of the Bible. All the family should be grounded in the truth. You could follow the doctrine by means of a good concordance or perhaps taken from a book on basic doctrines of the Bible.
6. Bible book study. This might be more difficult and might be better for older ones rather than children. Take one Bible book at a time and find out its theme, major divisions, lessons, key chapters and ideas, etc.
7. Great chapters of the Bible may be used. If not done this way, one can go through a Bible book chapter by chapter. To read a chapter a day could well be done if the children are not too young so they can comprehend. Learn the key verse in the chapter, get the key word, study any special promises, see how Christ is seen, look at the important doctrine in the chapter, break the chapter down into its paragraph parts if you can to get the structure of the chapter, study what sins should be avoided and what things a person should do and what lessons can be learned.
8. Devotional books for various age levels. You can buy such books in a local Christian book store or send for some from a Christian publishing house. They are written for various age levels. Children enjoy these and find them very interesting. There are books for primaries, juniors, teens, etc. Discernment needs to be used in selecting titles.
9. Major verses. This is a good method for variety. Just take a verse a night for a period of time and scrutinize it as to what it means for each one. For example, you might take a series of verses on great promises in the Bible such as on prayer, salvation, victorious living, Christ's second coming. Try to memorize the verse.
10. Bible games. This can be very interesting and add challenge to the family altar and can be very appealing to the young folks and keep the family altar time from being boring.
11. Have a map study. After all, salvation is also geographical and children might learn where certain countries, rivers, and mountains are and what happened there such as the law on Mt. Sinai, crossing the Red Sea, and Christ walking on the water. Show them where it took place and draw some lessons from it.
12. Use pictures. This is a wonderful way to interest children. Many Bible story books have many pictures in them that tell a story for the child.
13. Object lessons. Visual aids of all kinds can be used. Be creative and use whatever object you may have handy to teach a Bible truth. Christ readily used object lessons such as the sheep and goats, the rock, water in the well of Samaria, etc. There is no end to object lessons.
14. Read short biographies of godly servants of the Lord Jesus: missionaries, evangelists, pastors, etc. [Listen to dramatized biographies of godly servants of the Lord Jesus.  [Read wholesome short stories. Let each member of the family who can read take a turn reading.
15. Have a Scripture memorization program during the summer months. Even a 3-4 year old can learn ten verses during the summer if you select the right verses, and by the time a child is five years old, he can learn Psalm 23. Try it, make it fun, and you will be amazed at what your family can accomplish!
16. Use gospel songs [Eph. 5:19.] You should always sing if possible. Learn the great hymns of the faith. There are also many traditional choruses that can be sung. You can also teach from the songs that are sung and there are stories behind the hymns available
17. Listen to sermons of fundamental preachers/evangelists/teachers.
18. Read God's Word together. Select a book of the Bible appropriate for your children's ages and have each family member read 2-3 verses as you go around the room. You can read anywhere from 1-2 chapters to an entire epistle such as Philippians each night. Let the children help choose what book of the Bible to read.

By Al Troester