By: Michelle Lazurek
Hebrews 11 remembers ordinary people who had big faith, and in this picture book, kids can remember them too! With illustrations from The Gospel Project, kids will meet faithful men and women who took big risks to obey God. People like Able, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and more believed God could be trusted even when they couldn’t see Him working. The whole family can gather ’round this beautifully illustrated book from the One Big Story brand to read snippets of some of the best Bible stories and remember that faith isn’t just for people in the Bible—we can have big faith too.

“I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also. Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.” 2 Timothy 1:5-6
Raising kids takes work. Not only do parents today have to navigate everyday coming-of-age situations like friendship, acceptance, dating, and more, but they must also deal with technological advances that were not available twenty to thirty years ago. Excessive cell phone use, cyberbullying, and catfishing are all realities that kids—and parents—must navigate in the transition to adolescence and, eventually, adulthood.
In generations past, society made the church a priority. Church was an expectation for community members every Sunday, and there were additional weekly programs like Wednesday night Bible study or prayer group. Churches were the center of many communities. However, that is different today. With families expected to have overpacked schedules crammed with sports and other activities, far fewer families are attending.
Not only do these things come up, but parents face the pressure of raising their kids in the faith, wondering if they will follow God when they become adults. Three in ten Americans attend church every week. This infrequent attendance hardly sets the stage for community and fellowship. Parents’ choices play a significant role in their kids’ faith.
Regardless of their ages, children need their parents to disciple them. The apostle Paul understood this. The above verse explains that Paul took an interest in a young man named Timothy. Paul mentored him and helped him develop his faith. Timothy was not a fledgling Christian; rather, two generations of the faith had raised him––his mother, Lois, and his grandmother, Eunice.
Because of women’s placement in society, it was rare that text written in this time in history would ever mention a woman by name. Lois and Eunice must have profoundly impacted Timothy’s life by raising him in the faith––so much so that Paul mentored him so he could lead a church effectively. When parents fan the flame of faith in their kid’s lives, it impacts generations to come. But how do they do that? Here are three ways:
Help Kids Merge Sunday into Monday
Children and youth must learn how to discern between what the world says is right and wrong and what God says is right. Kids live in a world where they scroll on their Instagram feed more than their Bible. They watch more YouTube than they listen to sermons. When they are constantly being fed information from a society that doesn’t know right from wrong and is not anchored in the word of God, our kids can get caught up in that tension. They attend church on Sunday and go to youth groups but spend the rest of their week in the world, and they need help merging the two.
- Give kids time to lead in youth group.
- Let them ask questions about what is going on in their world.
- Create interactive environments where parents and teachers are not teaching, but they are socializing with them.
- Foster peer-to-peer relationships between adults and students
- Since so many kids love art like television, drama, and music, create times for them to be creative when you meet together.
- Don’t be afraid to use video screens.
- Allow kids to do role-playing and skits in new and exciting ways.
- Incorporate dance and singing and allow your kids to infiltrate the Sunday morning service.
- Allow them to be in service on a Sunday morning when they’re young so that when they turn 18, they already feel like they have a welcome seat in the church sanctuary.
Be the Example at Home
Eunice and Lois were clear examples to Timothy on how to have a strong faith. Parents must set this example too. While no parent is perfect, we must imitate how to grow spiritually. Parents need to attend church regularly, read the Bible, and pray regularly in front of their kids. Parents can also practice spiritual disciplines, serve, and give within their local churches. Although parents can certainly do all the right spiritual things and still have kids who don’t follow faith, doing what you can to participate in a vibrant, growing faith will not only serve you––it will help your kids. Kids live what they learn. But they can’t live what they know without anyone to show them.
Let Them Be Them
As a pastor’s wife, one of the things my husband and I did was never setting unrealistic expectations onto our children. We didn’t expect them to be perfect simply because they were a pastor’s kids. We let them be themselves and explore the faith on their own with our guiding hands to teach and be examples along the way.
When our kids were 16 years old, we held what we called a “blessing ceremony” for them. We invited the elders and people within our church to the sanctuary. Both my husband and I shared words about our kids, affirmed them as people, and then told them that as of that date, we would no longer be asking them to go to church. They were old enough to make those choices and could choose if they wanted to follow the faith. We had the elders and the people of the church line the front aisle, and as each kid stepped forward, people laid hands on them and prayed a blessing over their lives.
Both my children have chosen to follow the faith as adults. I can’t guarantee they’ll follow it forever, but I think the blessing ceremony and the ability to decide whether they wanted to follow God gave them confidence and made a big difference in their lives. We need to let kids become their own people, not copycat versions of how we want them to be.
Parents can give their kids strong, godly foundations by helping them prepare for the school week rather than just Sunday, being the example of faithful followers, and allowing them to explore the faith for themselves. By following the suggestions above and intentionally disciplining their kids, parents can mirror Timothy’s family, fanning the flame of faith in their children.
Michelle S. Lazurek is a pastor’s wife and mother as well as a multi-genre, award-winning author and speaker. She is a regular contributor for ibelieve.com and crosswalk.com, a movie reviewer for Movieguide Magazine, and is passionate about making disciples and engaging in honest conversations for authentic living. She’s also a literary agent for Wordwise Media Services. When not working, she enjoys sipping a latte, collecting 80s memorabilia and records, and spending time with her family (including her crazy dog). Michelle’s newest book, Hall of Faith, is available on Lifeway.com!