My family has a yearly tradition of reading a chapter a day of the book of Luke, leading up to Christmas. It has been such an enriching experience that helps center our holiday season on what is most important to us. If you’d like to join us in these readings, I’m providing questions to talk through with your kids to help spark conversations and meaningful engagement with what you read. I hope it’s helpful!
(Here is where you can find background information or to start this project at Chapter 1.)
Before you start each night, think about the environment you’re creating for this experience. Check your heart. Lower your expectations. Here is where you can find more ideas on how to set yourself up for success.
Questions before you read Luke 15:
What does it mean to take up your cross?
Who should you invite to your banquet?
I ask my kids to listen for this information while we’re reading and I’ll ask about it after we’re done:
What three things were lost in the parables Jesus told?
(Asking them to look for the information before you start reading is super helpful in keeping little learners engaged. They tend to listen pretty hard when they’re listening for something specific. I might even write the questions out so they can hold them and look for the information while we read. I will assign these questions to my youngest kids and target the longer discussion questions to my older kids. If my younger kids need to go to bed while we’re deep in discussion, they still had a chance to participate.)
Questions after you’ve read Luke 15:
Do you think about Jesus rejoicing over you? Angels rejoicing over you?
When you read the story of the Lost Son, who do you identify with?
Why was the older son upset? Do you think you would have been upset in his shoes?
Why would Jesus have told this story to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law when he was asked about spending time with sinners?
Was there anything else that stuck out to you or surprised you?
(We might get through all of these questions, or just focus on one or two, depending on how deep the discussion is getting. And some nights, we might listen to the chapter in the car and not have a chance for a great discussion at all. Be flexible.)