New Story Bible for Families Highlights God's Mighty Acts

I remarked to my older children the other day, “I wish there had been as many good books and story Bibles available for children when I was a child as there are now.” The most popular means we had in the late 60s/early 70s for telling the stories and story of Scripture was Flannelgraph. In God’s good mercy, He used those little flannel figures and a sweet older lady to convince me that the Bible was God’s inerrant Word and that it included many great stories; but there was sense of disconnectedness between the stories. But today  there are many, many resources for children that reveal that blessed metanarrative by tying together the smaller stories. And thankfully, the drumbeat continues with Crossway’s latest family Bible story book: Mighty Acts of God written by Starr Meade and illustrated by Tim O’Connor. This book is an excellent tool for teaching the entire Bible to your family.

 Mighty Acts of God unpacks 90 Bible stories in chronological order and shows how each one connects to the Bible’s big story of the God’s redeeming love for sinners in Christ. Best of all, there are no human heroes here, no legalistic moralizing and no shallow sentimentality; Meade shows readers that God is the hero of Scripture, that God is the gracious actor in each of the stories.

 The story of Jeremiah is one excellent example. Here, Meade shows how God’s Word always accomplishes that which is speaks. The story begins this way: “Which would be better: to be a prophet or to be a king? God gave to his Old Testament people prophets and kings at the same time. The king was a human ruler, who was to do God’s will as he ruled God’s people. A prophet was God’s spokesman. He made sure the king knew God’s will, and he warned of God’s judgment when the king—or the people—failed to do it. The king ruled over everyone—except the prophets. The prophets spoke with the authority of God himself, so they were over kings.” The story goes on to tell of the Babylonian exile of God’s people and their return after 70 years just as God’s Word promised. The author handles the story in such a way as to drive home the trustworthiness of God’s Word.

 Best of all, each story concludes with a section of brief activities that illustrate and drive home the truths of Scripture. These activities make this story Bible unique and incredibly helpful in teaching children the Bible. Every story also includes a memory verse.

 All in all, Mighty Acts of God is one of the best Bible story books to hit the shelves of late. Meade is also the author of a book my family has been using in worship in the home over the past year, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. Mighty Acts of God is an excellent supplement to that book, which guides families through a thorough study of the Shorter Catechism. While I am utterly thankful for the way in which God used Flannelgraph in my own life at a young age, I am equally grateful for evangelical publishing houses like Crossway for putting such excellent resources in the hands of families like mine.