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 18:
How often should we be willing to forgive those who ask for forgiveness?
Did Jesus tell us when to expect his return?
I ask my kids to listen for this information while we’re reading and I’ll ask about it after we’re done:
Who was asking for justice?
How does the tax collector describe himself?
How did Jesus respond when children were brought to him?
Who was healed in this chapter?
(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 18:
What does it mean to be a widow and why would that be important to this parable?
Should we worry about bothering God with our prayers?
Are there people you might be tempted to compare yourself to so that you feel better about your worth?
How did Jesus treat children? What did they do to deserve his care and attention? How does this affirm the inherent dignity and worth of children?
Why do you think it’s difficult for wealthy people to follow God?
Twice in this chapter we see someone asking for mercy– what does that word mean? Is it something you ask for?
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.)