Are you looking for a fun, yet educational Bible Study for your nursing home? As a nurse and the daughter of a doc, I understand the daily struggles that come with caring for family members. Believe me when I say I’ve been there! Two years ago, my mom had to be moved into a nursing home because of her health. The days were long, the staff was difficult to work with, and managing my job was near impossible. But God has proven Himself faithful even in these difficult times. No matter what circumstances we face in life, He’s always there, assisting us in all things so we can bring glory to Him.
Leading nursing homes and rehabilitation centers throughout North America use LIVEBOOKS to create a healthy environment and facilitate growth in their residents. Our Bible studies are designed to help people of all ages, backgrounds, and physical abilities start living a life of purpose with hope through the power of God’s Word. Our team includes experts in spiritual care and therapy who have spent years designing practical study materials for the elderly and infirm populations we serve.
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Free Bible Study For Seniors In Nursing Homes
The nursing home ministry devotionals listed below are downloadable for free in .pdf format. They are for you to use as you see fit in ministry to care center residents. You may adjust them in your presentation to meet your specific needs and to accommodate the circumstances of your audience. If you copy them to give to someone else for use in long-term care ministry, please leave them unaltered in their original form.
Some of these Christian devotionals are more like sermons and some are more like Bible studies. Some would need you to flesh them out and others can stand alone as they are. Use your discretion in their use. Understandably, you may find some that you feel are not appropriate for your group. Please approach their use prayerfully.
You will notice that these devotionals often address the unique setting of long-term care but do not hedge on the responsibilities of God’s children for Christian maturity and ministry. As has already been stated, use them at your own discretion and with prayer.
The hymns referred to with page numbers in these devotionals are taken from our hymn booklet: “Favorite Hymns of Grace.”
The Importance of Faith in the Lives of Seniors
As we age, our physical bodies may weaken, but our spiritual connection to God can grow even stronger. For seniors living in nursing homes, finding opportunities for spiritual growth and community can be vital to maintaining a sense of purpose and comfort. Participating in free Bible study sessions can provide seniors with a sense of belonging, support, and guidance during their golden years.
Bible Verses for Seniors in Nursing Homes
Here are a few Bible verses that can serve as inspiration and encouragement for seniors in nursing homes:
- Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This verse reminds us that even as our bodies age and weaken, God is our everlasting source of strength and comfort.
- Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” This verse reassures seniors that God will always be there to support and carry them through all of life’s challenges.
- Proverbs 16:31 – “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” This verse celebrates the wisdom and experience that comes with age, reminding seniors that they have a special role in God’s kingdom.
By participating in free Bible study sessions, seniors in nursing homes can engage with these verses and their meanings, finding solace and purpose in their faith. These gatherings also provide an opportunity for seniors to connect with others who share their beliefs and values, fostering a sense of community and support.
Sermon Topics For Nursing Homes
“What’s wrong with just sitting there?” That was the question posed to me by my Clinical Pastoral Education supervisor. I presented a verbatim account of a visit with a patient who was conscious but unable to speak. Discomfort doesn’t begin to describe my feelings. I’m a fixer and I thought my job as a chaplain was to fix people, to help them process their circumstances and come to terms with their illness and loss; never mind how “off” that sounds, it was my perception of my responsibility at the time. But if someone can’t talk back, it’s hard to process. I was missing the ministry of presence: just be there.
Presence
Proclamation begins with presence, so just showing up is a big deal. That is a key to any nursing home ministry: just show up. People are hungry for a loving touch and an encouraging word. Show up and when you’re there, don’t rush. Don’t be in a hurry to get the service going when you’ve been invited to lead worship and preach in a nursing home. Take some time to greet each person. Sit down and relax. Enjoy being with them. Simply being there and present probably makes the biggest impact on any nursing home outreach.
In my current ministry setting, our church is charged with serving two local nursing homes. We periodically take a team on a Sunday afternoon and sing, pray and preach. It’s a blessing to be with people so hungry for human interaction and to hear the Good News.
One point of connection is prayer. Ask for prayer concerns. When I first started doing this, I thought I would get mostly requests for personal health. I’ve been surprised, however, to hear people mostly requesting prayers for others. It’s been encouraging. Most residents don’t share requests, but the few who do generally want prayer for other residents and the staff. It’s been an opportunity for personal growth for me to see the unselfish nature of these precious people whose ill health has taken so much from them, yet many are blessing others.
Encourage people from your church to join you. This ought to be a ministry of the people of God, not just their shepherd. I find that even though many Christians do not feel thoroughly equipped, they do have a desire to make a difference. When we, in essence, “hog” these ministry experiences for ourselves, we’re neglecting to offer an opportunity to experience the blessing of being a blessing. The presence of your church members multiplies the effectiveness of your nursing home ministry.
Comfort
Jesus said, “Come to me. I will give you rest…” (Matt. 11:28). Loss creates discomfort and pain. Nursing home residents often have lost a great deal before they arrived in that facility. Many are widows or widowers. Nearly all have lost a great number of friends. Some have lost family members who are still living but rarely visit. A large percentage of residents suffer from depression due to their lack of mobility, self-determination, and declining health. Physical pain is a constant companion for a great deal of them.
A large percentage of residents are medicated with psychoactive drugs to help ease their anxieties. Professionals strive to offer ideas to change the environments in which these people live twenty-four hours a day to lessen their need for medication. Our job in the nursing home is to proclaim the Good News. It is Good News that we serve a Lord who has suffered on our behalf and, because of his suffering, is able to join us in our suffering. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
The Good News about Jesus offers comfort and your presence in the nursing home represents the presence of Christ. While you’re there, proclaim the constant, comforting presence of the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Challenge
We’re all commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Just because people may be old and infirm doesn’t mean they are unable to be a blessing to others. Every person needs to be challenged. Our presence in the nursing home, particularly our consistent presence over time, can give us an opportunity to use some of the relational capital we’ve built up to graciously challenge residents to grow in their faith and trust in God, to love others and treat them with dignity and respect, and to be Christ’s representatives to other residents, guests, and staff members.
Another helpful challenge is the challenge to pray. Loneliness is one of the greatest challenges for many of the residents to whom you will speak. A follower of Jesus can commune with God at any time. We are never truly alone. The cultivation of a growing and vital prayer life serves as a boon to persons who desire a sense of companionship and the security it provides.
Nursing home ministry offers the preacher and opportunity to preach and demonstrate the Good News by providing a ministry of presence, using words and actions that communicate comfort, and gently challenging words of encouragement to love God and neighbor. When you have the opportunity to go, take fellow servants with you and you’ll be blessed as you provide a blessing to others.
Short Sermons For Seniors In Nursing Homes
My brother Ron, age 80 as I write, is still active in the ministry after over 53 years. In addition to preaching at a church near his home, he holds services at a nursing home. Ron says, “For the past 23 years, I’ve done a monthly service at a local nursing home. I enter, knowing that this may be the last message they will hear and I act accordingly. They love to hear me sing Fa Sol La and I accommodate them. No messages on tithing or knocking on doors but a message from the Word that will help them cross the bar a little easier.” (Note: Fa Sol La is also known as Sacred Harp Singing.)
My friend Charlotte Arthur flies under the radar in her nursing home ministry. Few people know of her ministry to these invalids. Charlotte visits and ministers and devotes herself to comforting these who are in the declining years of life. As her former pastor, I accompanied her on one occasion to visit an elderly friend who had served our church for decades. Charlotte and a friend or two had pulled the strings to get Cleve Davenport into that nursing home where he was being cared for night and day. I asked her how she got started in this work.
“When I was six years old,” she said, “my mother took me with her to visit people in nursing homes. So, I’ve done it all my life.” She paused and said, “I love it.”
Here are five statements on nursing home ministry to encourage you.
1. Try it; you might decide it’s what’s been missing in your life.
So many of us in the Lord’s work get used to crowds and orderly arrangements, and can get spoiled very quickly. But when you drop in on the nursing home (I’m using the term loosely to refer to convalesce centers, assisted living residences, etc.), you have to ask for permission to hold a service, then go around and encourage people to come. In my experience, you may end up with a dozen elderly people sitting around in what passes for their living room or activity center.
The hymns you lead them in had better be familiar or you’ll be singing solos. Forget about passing out hymnals and telling them to turn to page 272. Just sing it and most will join in to some degree.
Most of us find we do better when we take along a half dozen friends from church to help out. They help to round up the participants and chat with everyone–an integral part of the service, by the way–and then, you are sure of having several to help carry the tune of the hymns.
2. You have to love it to do it well, in my judgment.
Some people simply cannot take the reminders of their own mortality that assault them when they enter a nursing or convalescent home. I suppose the thoughts of themselves being in that situation sometime in the future strikes terror into their hearts, and they would just as soon be spared the pain.
Who doesn’t know that feeling?
I predict that if you do this enough, you soon get beyond all the surface panic and learn to love those seniors and to learn a big thing about them: Their non-functioning bodies often house some mighty sharp minds and personalities. Soon, you find yourself looking forward to the worship times at the nursing home.
3. There are hundreds of ways to do nursing home ministry.
But I don’t know what they are. Some people do nothing but read to the patients. Others comb their hair, give the men haircuts and the women perms. Others hold religious services. My young friend Stephanie Screen, a classically trained musician, takes her violin into nursing homes and hospitals and plays for the patients.
Some people write letters for the patients. Others counsel them, some pray for them and with them, and still others have learned the ministry of presence (that is, just being there and helping to fill their empty hours).
4. I tell the residents of these homes to keep a Bible by their bedside.
Then, when someone visits them, ask them, “Would you do something for me?” Ask them to find one of their favorite scriptures and read it to you.
That will bless you, I tell them, and it could be life-changing for your visitor.
You never know.
Speaking of Bibles, what passage should you use when speaking to them? Many residents will tell you they are plenty tired of hearing nothing but the 23rd Psalm and messages on love. The last time I spoke, I quoted Psalm 23, Psalm 1, and Psalm 103, and made some remarks on the last psalm. Then, I led in prayer and thanked them, and my co-workers passed out refreshments.
5. The Lord Jesus talked about you in Luke 14.
“When you give a party (or banquet or dinner), do not invite those who can repay the favor. Instead, invite the poor and the blind, the lame and the maimed, the handicapped–those who cannot repay you–and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
That last promise is Luke 14:14. Easy to remember, and infinitely worth remembering.
You and I don’t do a lot of partying or banquet-giving, as He refers to it in Luke 14. But it is possible for us to do things for the invalids that they will not be able to repay. And nursing home ministry qualifies if anything does.
I believe the Lord Jesus takes it personally when His children go into nursing homes where often they know no one and minister to the patients, loving them, and leading them in worship and instruction in righteousness.
You will be rewarded, He promised, at the resurrection of the righteous.
Can you wait that long? believe that strong? sing that song?