Exploring the Bible Together

Exploring the Bible Together by David Murray provides a road map for parents, helping them establish regular family worship. It's not overwhelming, but rather, very do-able. Building on the ideas of expeditions, Murray helps families explore the Bible together in just a few minutes a day, six days a week. Each day's Bible adventure includes a short Bible passage to read together, a couple of exploration questions, a takeaway from the day's reading, and a prayer starter. On Sundays, Murray invites families to reflect together on what they head in the pastor's sermon using a few simple questions: What did you learn about God, about sin, about Jesus, and about living, what was the main point, and what does the sermon lead us to pray for.

All in all, parents will find a very useful, practical, do-able guide to family worship times together. No matter the ages of your kids, you'll find this guide can bring you all together to explore God's Word daily. I can't recommend this one enough.

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

I expected something different from the description of "A No-Prep Guide to Teach the Bible to Your Children." I was looking for more of a beginner book to read with my son as he enters school, and this felt to me to be a book for families already more involved in church and Bible reading than we are, and definitely kids who are older - the questions and thought processes are at a higher level than the start of elementary school.
I liked how each week was framed as an expedition. There was a suggestion of a verse to memorize, and then each day listed a Bible passage to read together (not included), then questions, a takeaway, and a prayer starter. The end of the introduction states that this book is a companion to and based on the information in "Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids," and recommends that kids go through that as families go through this book.
This seems like a good book for those farther along than our family is. I think I expected something that expanded on the verses or retold them, rather than just telling us what to read and then listing a few questions.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very wonderful book on family worship!

On of the good things about it is that it enhances participation by all, and also encourages them to think through the topic of the discussion, points to its Gospel connections, and how it applies to our lives as Christians.

Another important facet is that it encompasses a 'Biblical Theology' view of the various topics under discussion, from creation to consummation, thus at the end of the day readers will have a biblical worldview of the enture narrative to the Scriptures.

I highly encourage you to get it for your family.

It’s 7:30 pm, do you know where your children are? Kicking a football into the neighbor’s yard, playing video games, watching Andy Griffith or Disney Plus? Families have some kind of evening routine, whether it’s done intentionally or by default. Most of us like the idea of being intentional. Just like we like the idea of exercising more and not wasting so much time on social media. And something else we probably like the idea of being intentional about is family devotions. Who doesn’t like the idea of their family gathered together in the living room or around the dinner table reading and discussing the Word of God? But being intentional about family worship is hard. And the reasons are legion. Mom and dad have been working hard all day and need a break. The kids, if not staring at a screen, are either doing homework or running wild. It’s a wonder if everyone remembers to brush their teeth, let alone make time for family worship. But David Murray has written a book to help families; and he’s written it like he gets all this. Exploring the Bible Together: A 52-Week Family Worship Plan is realistic. It’s doable. It’s easy to use. You’re still going to have to wrangle everyone together and make time for family devotions, but you couldn’t ask for a simpler tool to meaningfully guide your family through Scripture day after day, week after week.

Its simplicity is a boon for families. Simple is good. Frazzled families with hectic lives want simple. It’s why ice cream makers advertise how they make their ice cream with only three ingredients. And it still delights. So does Exploring the Bible Together. Couched as an expedition of exploration, each week has a theme and introduction. There’s a topic heading for each day that nests with the week’s theme and an optional memory verse. The Scripture readings are short. You only read four or five verses from the Bible. There are only two discussion questions—one for younger children to answer and one for older children to answer. And to break things down Barney style, the book gives you the answers. There’s a short point of application and a suggestion to guide your prayer time. For Sundays, there’s just a list of discussion questions you can use to reflect on the sermon you heard at church. The whole thing requires zero prep. And if you follow the material, your family has the recipe for a year’s worth of profitable worship time. Several other features enhance this book. The introduction is required reading. Murray briefly discusses a biblical view of family worship. He has a few tips for using this study, and he explains how to use it. Then there are the pictures. The eye-catching artwork by Scotty Reifsnyder is sharp. It’s impressive what he’s done with just the colors red and blue.

Keep in mind this is a guide to exploring the Bible. Murray follows the broad contours of Scripture. He’s aiming to hit the peaks. You’re not going to read anything from some books such as Ruth and Esther. And there are going to be some leaps. Murray covers the monarchy of Judah and Babylonian exile in a single week. But, overall, I felt the pacing was good. The only adjustment I would make would be to reduce the four weeks spent on the Sermon on the Mount. Also bear in mind that Murray writes from a Reformed perspective. So when you encounter the very few occasions the kingdom comes up, if you’re a premillennialist like me, you’ll probably say something a little different than “Jesus, the son of David, set up an everlasting spiritual kingdom” (56). In the grand scheme, Murray doesn’t make these hermeneutical issues a major thrust of the book. Non-amillennialists need not fear.

If there’s a time Christians have needed to evaluate their family worship, it’s been the past several months. But even when regular church services are back in full swing, families should still be worshipping together at home. This book is a great way to start. After you make it through the year-long expedition, there are recommendations for a way forward such as reading through a Gospel together and then moving on to the Old Testament. This book is a needed reminder of the importance of family worship and a great resource to make it a reality.

Special thanks to Crossway for providing me temporary access to a digital copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding this work.

With the ongoing coronavirus crisis, families have been stuck at home. Parents work from home. Kids are homeschooled with teaching staff engaging them online. Families are cooped up together inside their homes. They watch TV or stream movies on their mobile devices. Whether it is YouTube or Facebook; social media or mainstream media, many people are consuming digital content more than ever. If we were to graph out time spent on the Bible and time spent on other things, what would our pie chart look like? Whatever the shape, it is hoped that this book would help us chart it with a greater slice of our time dedicated to Bible reading together. This book provides the following:

- Daily readings;
- Journeys from Genesis to Revelation via selected passages;
- Short Bible passages give us time to read slowly and deliberately;
- Gives a roadmap at the beginning of each chapter;
- Colourful pictures to illustrate the theme;
- Provides snapshot verses and prayer pointers
- Easy to understand questions to answer and to discuss
- Prayer for personal application.
- Brief.

Each week begins with a particular theme. For instance, Weeks 1 and 2 shows us how the world turned from beautiful (Wk 1) to ruined (Wk 2). Without using complex theological words like genre and other technical terms, the author keeps the devotional readable and accessible for young readers. It is also easily adapted by adults to guide the younger readers along. A key thing to note is that this book is not meant to be a thorough treatment of the Bible, so that would adult readers manage their expectations. At the same time, the material is broad enough to give younger readers a bigger picture of the Bible themes and to connect the individual Bible stories together. In fact, these chapters could also be adapted for use at the Sunday school level!

My Thoughts
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Even among Christians, family devotions are becoming a rare thing. Some say that they don't have time, which for many is just an excuse. Others say that they don't have enough training, which in itself is also an excuse to avoid reading the Bible together. Still there are those who say that the Bible is boring, but there are many resources out there to help us enjoy the Bible in creative ways. I believe that where the heart is, there is little that the world can stop this heart from doing what it wants. If the heart believes that the world is more attractive, nothing can stop this heart from running after worldly things. If the heart believes that the Bible is worth studying and exploring together as a family, nothing can stop this heart from pursuing God in the Word.

This book is written with the understanding that many of us are busy people with our own programs, schedules, and priorities. Thus, the author helps space out the readings in 52 short chapters, each with only about five verses from the Bible. The plan gives us a birds-eye view of where the Word is heading. The questions for discussion allows ample opportunities to reflect and to engage with the text. The whole lesson is simple enough for families and small groups to work together to see God's Big Picture. The conviction behind the writing of this book is this: Family worship is important. Worshiping God needs to be done with the Bible in hand. Reading the Bible together is one of the best spiritual practices we can ever cultivate in young minds. The Bible needs to be read. It needs to be read regularly. It must be done.

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He has also been a pastor of three churches in the UK and the USA for the past 23 years.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

The keyword here is together. This is a family kid friendly bible devotion study to engage with each other on the bible. Each week starts with a book of the bible, a verse and encourages to look together at what God is revealing in his word He is revealing Jesus and this study helps your family mine the wonderful truth of the gospel. Each day of the week a question is presented and discussion is encouraged. On Sunday the focus is on the message that was heard and in light of what your family has been studying that week.

This study builds a foundation of accountability, bible study, family community, and prayer. Highly recommend.

A Special thank you to Crossway Publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.