The Key Truths

Session 1.1 · Note 1

The Key Truths

Sharing faith with our children doesn’t require us to be perfect Christians or perfect parents or carers. The Key Truths remind us that God is for you and with you. And that he has a plan for how you can help your kids understand who he is and grow a one to one relationship with him, a plan that will fit exactly with your family.

Chat or think about

How does knowing your kid as well as you do put you in a strong position to be able to share what you know of God with them?
Do you agree that parents and carers are more influential than church when it comes to sharing faith with your children?
When do you feel confident that you can share your faith with your kids? When do you not?

Things to try

Reflect on the way your kids are already learning about God from you: whether that’s going to church together, hearing you pray or knowing that you’re a Christian.
Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and notice how ordinary God’s plan for children and teens’ discipleship is
Think about the things you are already sharing with your kids: for example, a passion or hobby, an attitude or habit, things you’d like them to know like how to clean their teeth or stay safe online. Is sharing God the same as any of that?
How did other people – your family or friends – help you learn about God when you were young, or when you first came to faith? Can you spot any really ordinary things they did?
What are your hopes and dreams for your child in ten years’ time?
Which of the key truths hit home for you? Who could you share this with?

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Last reviewed 18 August 2026

The Five Key Tools / Session 3.1 / Note 1

Last reviewed 26 August 2026

Framing

Session 3.1 · Note 1

Framing

It’s easy to have lots of information about God but not really understand how he impacts our ordinary day to day lives, or what part he’s playing in the world. The Key Tool of Framing helps kids join up the dots between the God they hear about and the God who is daily interacting with them, and who is busy and active in the world too.

Have a go … with children and teens

As you’re reading a Bible story with your child, stop and ask: I wonder what God was thinking or doing, and enjoy the conversation! 
In church, have a go at framing parts of the service – explaining what you are doing, and why – for example – people are worshipping God using their bodies / Rosemary is reading the Bible because it’s a message from God to us / coffee time is really important so we can catch up with people and see how God wants us to love them. 
When you look at the world, where do you see God at work? For example, in the compassionate and courageous response of ordinary people in a disaster, people campaigning for the rights of the poor or vulnerable, someone sharing they felt God draw close in their grief, charities working hard for conservation, or churches supporting their communities. Share what you notice with your child or teen. 
Ask a question to spark an interesting conversation about God – our free download 101 ways to spark an interesting conversation about God has ideas to get you started. 
Tell your child or teen what you wish you’d known about God when you were young and why. 
If your child has a question about God, try answering it together using the four steps to answering any question – there's an explanation of this here Four steps to answering any question your kid might have.  This post on ‘Intellectual wrestlers’ below might be helpful if you have a child or teen who likes to understand the nitty gritty of everything.

Have a go … with babies and toddlers

In church, have a go at framing parts of the service – explaining what is going on: for example – people are worshipping God using their bodies / Rosemary is reading the bible because it’s a message from God to us / coffee time is really important so we can catch up with people and see how God wants us to love them. This post explains what this might look like with toddlers: Helping under fives make sense of a church service. 
Pick some little phrases to use with your child to help them understand God - there are some examples here Little phrases to help under fives understand God. 
Talk about God as if he is another human in the room with you. For example: ‘Oh God, I’m so cross it’s raining’ or ‘God, thank you for strawberries, they are so delicious!’ 
When you are reading a bible story with your child, chat about what the characters might be feeling, point out what God might be doing and explain any tricky questions or ideas. There are some ideas and examples here Reading a bible story for under-fives

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Last reviewed 26 August 2026

The Five Key Tools / Session 4.1 / Note 1

Last reviewed 26 August 2026

Unwinding

Session 4.1 · Note 1

Unwinding

God can be hard to understand fully and at times we will all have muddled views about him. The Key Tool of Unwinding helps parents and carers consider what their child or teen thinks about God, spot any muddled views and then gently unwind them. It also helps kids develop a broad and balanced view of God.

Have a go … with children and teens

Ask your child to draw a picture of God and them. What do you notice from the picture or how they explain it to you? 
Ask everyone: if you had to describe God with only five words, which words would you pick and why? 
Take a little time to think about your own view of God – do you emphasise some of his characteristics more than others? How can you bring balance in your conversations, choice of bible stories etc? If you’d like to explore this more, there’s an exercise in ‘identifying your bias’ in session 3 of the Original Course. 
Use an open-ended question about God to start a conversation – for example, ‘What was God doing at school today?’ / ‘what do you think God thinks about those refugees in the boats?’ / ‘Why did God decide we needed the Bible?’ Here are some suggestions for how to start conversations about God with children Ideas to spark conversations with children and teens Ideas to spark conversations with teens. We also have a free download with 101 questions to start an interesting conversation about God. 
If you spot any views of God that feel a bit off to you – like a child or teen assuming God is angry because they have done something wrong, or thinking God is too distant to care about them , gently unwind them. There’s more about how to do this in session 3 of the Original Course and session 4 of the Parenting Teens course. 
What do you find difficult to understand about God? If appropriate, share that with your kid and explain how you deal with it.  
Think about, or ask your older child or teen, about where they get their ideas from God from. Have a conversation with them about what sources they trust.  
Think about your kid – where do they feel comfortable talking about or engaging with God? Where do they not? Think about what they might believe or have experienced about God to make them disengage and how you might begin to unwind that.

Have a go … with babies and toddlers

Take a little time to think about your own view of God – do you emphasise some characteristics more than other? How can you bring balance in your conversations, choice of bible stories etc? (if you’d like to explore this more, there’s an exercise in ‘identifying your bias’ in session 3 of the Original course.) 
Ask your toddler to draw a picture of God and them. What do you notice from the picture or how they explain it to you? 
Use the ‘when I am’ tool  to help children understand that God’s love for us isn’t dependent on our behaviour – this post explains how this works:  Helping under fives grow a balanced view of God 
If you spot any views of God that feel a bit off to you – like a child saying God is angry because they have done something wrong, or thinking God is a long way away ‘up there’ , gently unwind them. There’s more about how to do this in session 3 of the Original Course . 
Deliberately choose to share a wide range of Bible stories with your child. If there is a story you've read a lot or they really like, what does it say about God? What other story could you share to provide balance. For example, the story of Jonah and the whale shows how God can do amazing things but also talks about his judgement and discipline. You could then pick a story that emphasises his mercy and patience, like the Prodigal Son.

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Last reviewed 26 August 2026