Families in God's Plan

Note this resource can be purchased for individuals and couples (1-2 people), or for groups (3 people or more). Please purchase the appropriate product, based on the number of users.
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From beginning to end, our lives are profoundly shaped by our family ties to those who came before us and to those who will come after us.

The world around us offers loud and ever-changing opinions about what a family is and what it is for. But it is only by listening to God—who designed the human family in the first place—that we can build a strong and secure foundation for family life.

These 12 studies will help parents, grandparents and other interested Christians to understand God’s view of families and how that relates to their own experiences. As well as providing a solid introduction to what Scripture says, these studies also encourage participants to get practical, applying what they uncover to their own family life.

This book is designed to be used by individuals, couples or small groups, and provides a well-rounded understanding of every family’s place and purpose in God’s world.

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'Although there are few things we might hold to be of greater importance than families, much of what we believe concerning them comes in the form of underexamined, and increasingly unstable, cultural assumptions. In this booklet, Harriet Connor offers a wonderful, timely resource to guide individuals and groups through biblical teaching that can afford a foundation for thinking positively and constructively about the family. Driven by more than merely a reaction against destructive contemporary forces, she equips us to discover and explore a rich, compelling, and exciting Christian vision of what our families and households can be.'

—Dr Alastair Roberts, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Theopolis Institute, co-host of Mere Fidelity, co-author of Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture (Crossway, 2018) and author of the forthcoming Heirs Together: A Theology of the Sexes. 

'Parenting has many challenges and we come to it full of hope and expectation forgetting we live in a fallen world and that raising children is going to have its ups and downs. However, we often find it hard to talk about these matters as we feel as though we’ve failed as parents. In these studies, Harriet Connor has given us a great opportunity not only to talk and share with other parents but also to read the Bible and reflect on what God’s plan for families is and how this impacts the decisions we make as parents in raising our children.

I would love to see these studies used in churches to give parents the confidence and courage they need to raise their children today and to help them be wise in the decisions they make for their families.'

--Christine Jensen, Mothers' Union Sydney 

If we’re feeling the weight of parenting, we’re usually too absorbed to give it the attention it requires. When succinct but strong help comes, it’s precious. “Families in God’s Plan” is worth making time for, especially in the company of others who are seeking out the generous grooves of God’s design. It helps us notice the things which matter and the provisions God has made to help us bear the weight of them. 

Guiding us across the landscape of the whole Bible, Harriet helps us see what has always been there, but in a fresh way. Time set aside to work through these studies will bring clarity to parental fog, helping us recalibrate what we think and what we do in families. Harriet’s insights are rich, clarifying, edifying, challenging. At the same time, she honours our limited time and attention. Not only does Harriet help us travel far, she does it deftly. I can’t imagine how she could have said more worthy things in fewer words.  

—Cathy McKay, Light Duties