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Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship
Christianity Today Book Award—Marriage and Family
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith?
Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.
Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith?
Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.
Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 2, 2022
57 people are currently reading
456 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Cowan Johnson
4 books5 followersSarah Cowan Johnson is a ministry trainer, consultant, and coach who works with church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders across the United States. She leads seminars for parents on family discipleship to help their children walk in the way of Jesus. She served with the Evangelical Covenant Church as the executive pastor for Sanctuary Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and previously was a staff trainer and an area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is the cohost of The People of the Way podcast. She and her husband have two sons and live in Providence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 19, 2025
This was a very practical, encouraging guide to family discipleship through the different ages and stages of parenting. I found the section on teens to be most helpful because that's what we are heading into, and because it addressed head on some questions that were already floating around in my mind. But this would absolutely be a helpful book for any parents who want to incorporate more Christian practices into their home life.
August 2, 2022
My favorite thing about this book is the way Sarah gives a posture for how to disciple children without the burden of a program. Her ideas and guidance leave you prepared to facilitate discipleship in such a beautiful, family-specific way. The best.
December 5, 2023
This book was ok. Wasn’t what I was looking for personally. Lacked a lot of practicality which I thought I would get in a “step by step guide”. She did make some philosophical statements as if they were theological that I couldn’t get on board with, but otherwise it was good.
January 17, 2023
She’s remarkably succinct in a book that honestly tackles so much ground. It’s beautifully written. I can’t recommend this book enough both for parents and for pastors.
August 24, 2022
A beautiful, practical, biblical read! I believe the Lord is going to use Sarah’s ability to intertwine scripture, stories and practices to affect generations to come & expand the Kingdom. Most parents I know feel overwhelmed by the idea of discipling their kids, this teaching is an amazing, accessible and grace filled place to be reminded of the Lord’s work in our kiddos and the gift that we get to partner with Him!
November 13, 2023
I really appreciate Sarah's emphasis on parents being the #1 source of Christian discipleship for their kids. However she takes a bit more liberty in the ways she teaches her children to interact with God than I am perhaps comfortable with.
My takeaways:
Change your perspective from raising kids who will know and love God when they grow up to raising kids who know and love God now.
A yearly family prayer tree.
Use everyday moments to instill in your children a love for and an instinct toward prayer - for example, take a moment to pray with your kids when you hear a siren or in other moments of "need."
As children get older, "the goal is to shift from the role of mediator to facilitator."
My takeaways:
Change your perspective from raising kids who will know and love God when they grow up to raising kids who know and love God now.
A yearly family prayer tree.
Use everyday moments to instill in your children a love for and an instinct toward prayer - for example, take a moment to pray with your kids when you hear a siren or in other moments of "need."
As children get older, "the goal is to shift from the role of mediator to facilitator."
August 9, 2023
Fantastic resource on family discipleship for parents…practical, easy to read, full of good information and helpful applications. Highly recommend!
September 10, 2025
Solid, practical guide to discipleship of kids of different ages. The author presented some fun (to me) graphs and charts that describe the philosophy behind understanding kids and theology and development, as well as tons of practical ideas to implement. Sometimes it felt like a little too much good, new stuff to apply! And I wish she had incorporated specific child development theories and concepts that were well-known from a psychological standpoint, since it seemed like an easy insertion. But I learned new things and want to read it again once I have kids - I’m reading now to prime my brain!
February 17, 2024
The best (and as of this review, the only) book I’ve read on parenting in the form of discipleship. There are so many “steal this idea” segments thrown into the book while simultaneously approaching discipleship NOT as a one-size-fits-all approach. Can’t recommend this one enough!
September 26, 2022
In Teach Your Children Well, Sarah Cowan Johnson offers a step-by-step guide for family discipleship in which the church and the home become co-laborers together and yoke fellows with Jesus Christ–who is actually doing the work and bearing the weight of our kids’ spiritual formation.
She advocates for a model of spiritual training that is both high grace and high challenge. Parents and church leaders who feel stuck and stagnant probably need to push toward more challenge, while those who are too light on grace will feel as if they are living on a hamster wheel and carrying the weight of everyone’s spiritual future on their shoulders.
It turns out that family discipleship is a team sport, for even though research shows “parents are the number one predictor of a child’s spirituality throughout their lives,” (39) church staff have the privilege of coming alongside parents and grandparents as coaches and cheerleaders.
Accompanied by helpful charts just right for planning and diagrams that communicate and clarify, Teach Your Children Well encourages parents and church leadership to step into their spiritual authority, their “right to make use of God’s power on earth.” (46) Creative ideas for teaching spiritual disciplines get the show on the road as we help our children to identify “God moments,” the burning bushes that pull us into our calling while we’re busily minding our own business.
We communicate value in so many ways:
Your time with God is important enough to set aside a special meeting place.
Grown ups are still growing in their walk with God, so I will cultivate habits of holiness, too.
Let’s share our daily blessings and challenges (“gratefuls and grumbles”) at the dinner table (or at bedtime) so we can be praying for each other.
I am coming away from this book with a renewed awareness of my equipping role as a Christian educator. Parents need to be reassured that they are strategically located in their children’s lives to influence lasting faith. That’s encouraging and empowering!
And I’ve hauled a pile of old flannelgraph materials out of a file drawer for the next visit with my two oldest grandkids. We will study the life of Moses together while they create the scenes themselves on the dining room table. And while I pray for God to light bushes on fire in their path–and that, by grace, they will stop, pay attention, and allow themselves to be changed.
Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
She advocates for a model of spiritual training that is both high grace and high challenge. Parents and church leaders who feel stuck and stagnant probably need to push toward more challenge, while those who are too light on grace will feel as if they are living on a hamster wheel and carrying the weight of everyone’s spiritual future on their shoulders.
It turns out that family discipleship is a team sport, for even though research shows “parents are the number one predictor of a child’s spirituality throughout their lives,” (39) church staff have the privilege of coming alongside parents and grandparents as coaches and cheerleaders.
Accompanied by helpful charts just right for planning and diagrams that communicate and clarify, Teach Your Children Well encourages parents and church leadership to step into their spiritual authority, their “right to make use of God’s power on earth.” (46) Creative ideas for teaching spiritual disciplines get the show on the road as we help our children to identify “God moments,” the burning bushes that pull us into our calling while we’re busily minding our own business.
We communicate value in so many ways:
Your time with God is important enough to set aside a special meeting place.
Grown ups are still growing in their walk with God, so I will cultivate habits of holiness, too.
Let’s share our daily blessings and challenges (“gratefuls and grumbles”) at the dinner table (or at bedtime) so we can be praying for each other.
I am coming away from this book with a renewed awareness of my equipping role as a Christian educator. Parents need to be reassured that they are strategically located in their children’s lives to influence lasting faith. That’s encouraging and empowering!
And I’ve hauled a pile of old flannelgraph materials out of a file drawer for the next visit with my two oldest grandkids. We will study the life of Moses together while they create the scenes themselves on the dining room table. And while I pray for God to light bushes on fire in their path–and that, by grace, they will stop, pay attention, and allow themselves to be changed.
Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
April 3, 2023
This is an absolutely wonderful book on how Christian parents can help their children grow in the faith. The author is warm and insightful. She gave so many brilliant and creative ideas on how to implement discipleship in different developmental stages of children's life. Some of the practices are what she experienced as a child, some of them are what she practiced with her children, and some of them are practiced in her friends' families. There are so many gems that I can't list them off one by one, but a couple that stuck with me the most is how watching The Chosen positively influenced her 9-year-old son to love Jesus, and how she encouraged her boys to do imaginative prayer by closing their eyes and imagining walking in a garden with Jesus and listen to what he says (then checking what they believe Jesus said against Scripture.) She talked about identifying "God moments" in one's daily life to steer children toward Him. She set up a special corner for her son to do devotions (and highly recommended Sarah Young's Jesus Calling 365 Devotions for Kids.) She talked about how her parents set up a prayer tree on their wall, and as a family they write prayer requests on paper leaves, pray over the requests every day, and when a prayer is answered they put up the corresponding leaf on the tree. This book is such a wonderful collection of inspiring ideas.
I also really appreciate two wise posture she took regarding living out the Christian faith: 1. She said Christian's response to an unbelieving culture should NOT be either fight, flight, or camouflage, but rather "function in a dominant culture for the purpose of being a redeeming factor within it." 2. She proposed there are three ingredients to faith formation: Encounter, Belief, and Praxis, and "each major stream of the church (charismatic, evangelical, and sacramental) has one ingredient it especially gravitates toward," so "each offers a gift to the wider church."
I also really appreciate two wise posture she took regarding living out the Christian faith: 1. She said Christian's response to an unbelieving culture should NOT be either fight, flight, or camouflage, but rather "function in a dominant culture for the purpose of being a redeeming factor within it." 2. She proposed there are three ingredients to faith formation: Encounter, Belief, and Praxis, and "each major stream of the church (charismatic, evangelical, and sacramental) has one ingredient it especially gravitates toward," so "each offers a gift to the wider church."
July 25, 2022
This book is hands-down a necessity for any Christian parent. And I say that as someone who doesn't have children (I might someday?) - but if you have children in your life in ANY capacity, this book will help you be intentional with your time with them, mindful of your own priorities (for yourself and for them), and get you started in taking REAL steps toward discipling young people.
Some things I most loved about this book:
1) easy to read through a very conversational tone. I wanted to sit with each chapter and think about it (and if you have kids, you'll want to work through the end-of-chapter questions), but I could have absolutely read the entire book in a day.
2) it's fun and creative. There are diagrams and charts and activities and handwritten sections, so it doesn't become monotonous. I wrote my own book this way, so I *may* be bias, but I think it makes the experience of reading more engaging.
3) it is SO PRACTICAL and HELPFUL. It's full of examples, stories, and "steal this idea"s, which make it both inspiring but also like "oh hey, I can do this too!" I look forward to revisiting this time and again, and I plan on gifting this to all of my new parent friends! It's great for any stage of the parenting journey, and it also helps you think about your own walk with Jesus, how you've been formed, and how you can grow.
I give it all the stars!
Some things I most loved about this book:
1) easy to read through a very conversational tone. I wanted to sit with each chapter and think about it (and if you have kids, you'll want to work through the end-of-chapter questions), but I could have absolutely read the entire book in a day.
2) it's fun and creative. There are diagrams and charts and activities and handwritten sections, so it doesn't become monotonous. I wrote my own book this way, so I *may* be bias, but I think it makes the experience of reading more engaging.
3) it is SO PRACTICAL and HELPFUL. It's full of examples, stories, and "steal this idea"s, which make it both inspiring but also like "oh hey, I can do this too!" I look forward to revisiting this time and again, and I plan on gifting this to all of my new parent friends! It's great for any stage of the parenting journey, and it also helps you think about your own walk with Jesus, how you've been formed, and how you can grow.
I give it all the stars!
July 17, 2022
"Imagine a generation of young people—your children among them—who know what it means to be with Jesus, who have become more and more like him as they’ve grown, who seek to
do what he did as they move through the world, and who are committed to journeying with one another." (Cowan Johnson, p. 100)
What a wonderful world it would be! Sarah Cowan Johnson, in delivering this practical, grace filled guide, shines a beacon of hope for those who are invested in the spiritual nurture of children and teens, or who long to be. With spirit filled insight and inspiring stories of a life lived in pursuit of "God Moments", Sarah offers not only a wealth of ideas, but clear steps to help them translate into a deep walk with Jesus. A walk that we can follow hand in hand with our children through all stages of spiritual development. This book is timely, urgently needed and such a blessing! You will want to write in this book! You will want to share this with everyone you know! Thank you Sarah for sharing your sweet, faith filled walk with the world, this book is priceless!
do what he did as they move through the world, and who are committed to journeying with one another." (Cowan Johnson, p. 100)
What a wonderful world it would be! Sarah Cowan Johnson, in delivering this practical, grace filled guide, shines a beacon of hope for those who are invested in the spiritual nurture of children and teens, or who long to be. With spirit filled insight and inspiring stories of a life lived in pursuit of "God Moments", Sarah offers not only a wealth of ideas, but clear steps to help them translate into a deep walk with Jesus. A walk that we can follow hand in hand with our children through all stages of spiritual development. This book is timely, urgently needed and such a blessing! You will want to write in this book! You will want to share this with everyone you know! Thank you Sarah for sharing your sweet, faith filled walk with the world, this book is priceless!
August 14, 2022
This book moved me. The stories Sarah shares of families encountering God together have given me hope and excitement to dream about what our family’s adventures with Jesus can look like. Beyond that, I am filled with hope as I think about all of the families that will be blessed by the support this book provides them on their journeys with Jesus. I love all of the practical ideas Sarah shares of ways we can help our kids to have their own experiences with God, even at a very young age! It is already filling me with joy to see the impact it is having on our family to try out some of the ideas in this book. I know it is one I will reread and refer back to as my kids grow older and move into new stages of their relationships with God. If you have kids in your life and want to help them to know Jesus for themselves, I highly recommend this book!
October 10, 2025
Such an encouraging, practical read as we proactively think about teaching our kids to follow Jesus for a lifetime. I like thinking through the paradigm of ⬆️ Up: Being with Jesus, 👇🏻 In: Becoming like Jesus, 🤲🏼Out: Doing what Jesus did, and 🫱🏼🫲🏾With: Following Jesus together.
“Allow Jesus to lead you as you lead your kids. Remember that you are the baby ox in the relationship—Jesus is the only one truly in control—and receive these familiar words from him: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me from I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matt 11:28-30).”
“Facilitation looks like standing side by side, holding our kid’s hand, experiencing God together, and gradually fading into the background as they begin to foster an independent relationship with God.”
“Allow Jesus to lead you as you lead your kids. Remember that you are the baby ox in the relationship—Jesus is the only one truly in control—and receive these familiar words from him: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me from I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matt 11:28-30).”
“Facilitation looks like standing side by side, holding our kid’s hand, experiencing God together, and gradually fading into the background as they begin to foster an independent relationship with God.”
January 25, 2025
Highly recommend
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith?
Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.
Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith?
Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.
Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
August 2, 2022
This book on parenting, authored by my daughter Sarah Cowan Johnson, is such an encouraging and helpful read. I only wish someone had written this when Hallie and I were raising her and her sister. It's full of kind and thoughtful wisdom, wit, and winsome advice, and is very accessible and adaptable. You will enjoy this, and your kids/grandkids/younger relatives and friends will (eventually) thank you for reading it.
August 2, 2022
I've worked in Christian spiritual formation for over 10 years. There are plenty of good resources to help adults follow Jesus. However, one question repeatedly comes up: "What do you have to help children follow Jesus?" Unfortunately, there hasn't been much to speak of - UNTIL NOW! If you want to help your kids grow closer to God and closer to you, read this book and follow Sarah Cowan Johnson's practical guidance.
August 2, 2022
I have three little ones aged 3, 5 and 7 and lately I've been questioning just how do get all the head knowledge about Jesus to translate into a relationship with Jesus for them. And then comes this gem of a book. What timing! It's so thoughtful + practical that I could highlight and underline the whole thing. It's definitely a keeper to have by your side as your kids grow and move through different life/spiritual stages.
September 29, 2022
For me, personally, this book started out a little slow. It really gathered steam towards the end. I suspect that’s because in the second half it discusses opportunities and challenges of discipling teenagers. Thisis a unique book on family discipleship. I have read a few before, but this was unique. I feel the author does a great job of discussing family spiritual practices, and how discipleship not only varies from age to age, from personality to personality, but also from family to family.
January 22, 2023
A most excellent and practical book on what it could look like to disciple your children. Digestible and thoughtful for the tired parent of littles to teens. I will be recommending this to all my parent and parent-to-be friends, if not just straight-up gifting it to them!
April 12, 2025
I can see why this book won a Christianity Today award. It offers a framework and lens to think about a parents role as well as countless practical implementations based on different age periods and groups.
November 30, 2022
Must read for any follower of Jesus who is a parent! Super insightful with a new perspective on discipling children.
December 13, 2022
Enjoyed discussing this content with other church families in small group this fall
June 20, 2024
This book is full of wisdom and practical advice. It left me with lots to think about, pray on, and act upon. Highly recommend.
November 11, 2024
Immediately applicable, theologically sound, encouraging…I will be revisiting this one again and again over the many years of parenting to come.
dnf
August 22, 2025Having a hard time connecting with the book, going to put it aside and try again some other time.
November 10, 2025
Really opened up my eyes to how I can grow my own faith and pass it along to my daughter.
February 29, 2024
Wow. This book is so practical and full of ideas to process how we parent out kids and encourage them to interact with God on their own terms. I'm exhausted of books that encourage practices that seem separate from our "real" daily lives, but this book does not fall under that! My wife and I have tried to be more intentional about discipling our kids through their daily life experiences, not just relegated to church or when we open the Bible as a family.
Since reading this book, I've been more intentional about teaching my kids the Scripture and memorizing catachisms, but I've also been more aware of and processing their daily lives. If that isn't a glowing endorsement of the power of this book, I don't know what is!
Since reading this book, I've been more intentional about teaching my kids the Scripture and memorizing catachisms, but I've also been more aware of and processing their daily lives. If that isn't a glowing endorsement of the power of this book, I don't know what is!
August 2, 2022
Having known Sarah for over a decade, I couldn’t be more overjoyed that others get to glean from her thoughtful wisdom when it comes to family discipleship. Sarah seamlessly blends deep theological constructs with age-appropriate, child-centered practices that can help kids encounter and experience the love of Jesus *for themselves.* This book is a well-needed resource for empowering parents to have skills, confidence, and practical ideas for moving kids beyond a passive faith to an active, alive faith in Jesus. I am so confident that this book will profoundly impact the families who read it and cannot recommend it highly enough.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews