Nancy Guthrie - Dinner Table Devotions: 40 Days of Spiritual Nourishment for Your Family

Visit Tyndale online at tyndale.com.

Visit Tyndale Momentum online at tyndalemomentum.com.

Visit Nancy Guthries website at nancyguthrie.com.

Tyndale, Tyndales quill logo, Tyndale Momentum, the Tyndale Momentum logo, and The One Year are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Ministries. One Year and The One Year logo are trademarks of Tyndale House Ministries. Tyndale Momentum is the nonfiction imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois.

Dinner Table Devotions: 40 Days of Spiritual Nourishment for Your Family

Copyright 2021 by Nancy Guthrie. All rights reserved.

Adapted from One Year of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters published in 2008 under ISBN 978-1-4143-1895-0.

Cover photograph of plate on checkered tablecloth copyright Jiri Hera/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Designed by Gearbox

Edited by Stephanie Rische

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, second edition, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. (Some quotations may be from the NLT, first edition, copyright 1996.) Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture verses marked Phillips are taken from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips, copyright J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972. All rights reserved.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at , or call 1-855-277-9400.

ISBN 978-1-4964-5087-6

ISBN 978-1-4964-5089-0 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-5088-3 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-5090-6 (Apple)

Build: 2022-10-05 10:48:25 EPUB 3.0

Most modern Christian families live with a nagging sense of guilt that they dont have any kind of consistent family devotions. Or maybe I should say my husband and I have lived with a nagging sense of guilt that we have not had any kind of consistent family devotions! But I dont think were alone in this.

Getting the kids to turn off the TV and computer and gather to read the Bible, to have a meaningful discussion everybody participates in, and to pray over anything other than a meal seems like too much of a daily hurdle for most families. Besides, most of us dont feel like we are authorities on the Bible, so we hardly know where to start. But we want to do something. And we want more than a daily chore that our children dread and cant wait to be done with. Were looking for something that wont be resisted or rejected as totally lame. We want a meaningful and personal discussion about things that really matter, something everyone takes part in.

Thats why I originally wrote One Year of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters, and that is why weve adapted it into this convenient forty-day version. Dinner Table Devotions helps families start in a natural gathering place around the dinner table. As the meal comes to a close, family members can take turns reading the dinner table devotion. Each devotion includes readings on a specific theme from two or three Scripture passages out of the accessible New Living Translation, a brief devotional thought, and three discussion-starter questions all designed to be done together as a family in ten to fifteen minutes (before everybody helps with the kitchen cleanup!). Youll also find space to make notes. Your family can use this space in a number of ways, including to record your kids comments and questions, matters for prayer for each other, things you want to thank and praise God for, and new discoveries youve made about Christ and the Christian life.

It is written for families with children in all stages from elementary school to high school who long for a way to have spiritual input in their childrens lives and who want Scripture to be naturally woven into their family life and conversations.

Whereas most family devotionals focus on Bible stories or on practical moral lessons, Dinner Table Devotions focuses on biblical themes, concepts, and words in ways that are understandable to children without talking down to adults or teens. It will help your family take a step back to look at the big picture of what God is doing in the world and his purposes and plans in creating and redeeming the world. Once you and your family have worked your way through this book, you will have discussed many different attributes of God and explored what it really means to be joined to Jesus Christ by faith. This is not dry theology for theologys sake, but living theology that makes a huge difference in how we do battle against temptation, deal with disappointment, and determine our futures.

Over the course of the next forty days, your family will go deeper into developing an understanding of who God is, what he is like, what he expects, and what he is doing. Together you can embark on a journey of understanding who we are, why we need a Savior, and what it means to place our faith solely in Jesus. Holy living flows out of that.

The format of a short devotion followed by three discussion questions is designed to turn the devotional time into a family-wide discussion rather than a one-person lecture or reading. This is not a continuation of the school day or Sunday school but an opportunity to apply biblical truths to the most important areas of life.

If youve rarely read and discussed Gods Word together as a family, it can be awkward at first. But that initial awkwardness fades as conversations are sparked and understanding deepens. We have a treasure to pass on to our children the Bible, which contains Gods message to us and the answers to lifes greatest questions. Because it is so important to us, we want to talk about it.

The goal of these devotions is to create an opportunity for dialogue and conversation. You as a parent set the tone as you allow yourself to be a learner and a seeker rather than a teacher or an authority. You do this as you are willing to say, I dont think I really understand that completely or That is something Id like to work on in my life to be more like Jesus. You do this as you affirm the input of every family member and maintain an atmosphere of acceptance and open participation.

Perhaps the most important way to encourage your dinner table devotions and discussions is something that happens away from the table. You want to make sure any confession of struggle or weakness expressed in your discussions is treated with respect and confidentiality. Nothing puts the lid on authentic sharing more quickly than when peoples words are used against them. The best way to encourage vulnerability and openness is by creating a safe environment for sharing.