This Week in Faith 8-22-19
/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pray For Me- Join the Pray For Me Campaign at Faith this year! The challenge to our church is to have every adult praying, and every student K-12 prayed for, for a whole school year. We are excited about this opportunity and the impact it can have on our church. For more info, and a chance to participate, click here!
Fall Sunday School Classes- This Sunday begins our new fall Sunday school curriculum. Drop-off and pick-up for all ages will be in their classrooms.
Student Ministry End-of-Summer Retreat- August 30-September 1, for all middle and high school students. This will be a great weekend. I hope your students will come, and bring a friend with them. For more info, and to register, click here.
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How to Navigate Youth Sports As Christ-Followers
“The more our kids see sports as opportunity, the less likely they will be to make it their identity (the same goes for us as parents).”
This is a difficult issue and one that Kelly and I are trying to figure out as best we can as we go. Now that Emily is in high school and, as a 7th grader, Micah can play middle school sports, the challenge is growing and we are wanting to navigate it well. Sports can be a helpful thing for the growth and maturity of our kids, as well as an opportunity to build relationships and share their faith. but sports can also become an ultimate thing, an idol, that sucks the life out of a family and lures them away from connections to church and faith. This article does a good job of laying out some of the opportunities, some of the dangers, and giving some good questions at the end to honestly ask and answer as a family.
Click here to read the article by Mike McKee.
3 Lessons I learned Form My Husband About Fatherhood
This is a beautiful picture of the value and joy of fatherhood. As a foster parent, a mentor in our public schools for the last 9 years, and a student pastor for the last 20 years, I have seen the pain and brokenness that can result from fatherlessness. But God has also given me hope. Hope in the lives of fathers whose mistakes have been redeemed. Hope in seeing students who grew up without a father [or at least a good one] become great parents. A hope that God is growing in me for the future- for the future of absent, aloof, and abusive dads- who God can still rescue and begin to write a different story in their lives. And even for the hope that, having experienced the faithful love of a heavenly Father, kids can break the cycle of fatherlessness they’ve been a part of.
If you are a dad, half the battle is just showing up day after day. Ask God for the ability to be faithful. And once you are there, God is using you to shape the hearts of your kids and lead them to Jesus. No matter your past, I hope you have encouragement and vision for what God longs to do through you as a parent.
Click here to read the article by Erika Andersen.
The Three Most Important Lessons Christians Can Learn In College
As parents, the list can feel a mile long for the things we want to make sure we have talked about with our kids, and we hope our kids have grasped, before we send them out on their own. This is a helpful list of three things and why they’re important. But I also think its never too early to start talking about these things with your kids and cultivating an environment in your home where these things are valued and talked about.
Click here to read the article by Will McGee.
VIDEO: This Single Dad Has Fostered Over 50 Young Men
I thought this was an encouraging story about the power of investing in the next generation, no matter how old you are or the background you have.
