11-19-20 This Week in Faith

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Children’s Church and Nursery- SUNDAYS [during the 8:30 service]

We have begun to offer Children’s church and baby nursery during the 8:30 service! Kids will leave after the children’s sermon.

This is a link to sign up to help.

November Memory for Kids

We have been choosing our memory verses from different CD’s produced by Seeds Family Worship. The music is a great way for kids [and parents] to get Scripture stuck in their heads. Getting God’s Word into the heads and hearts of our kids is one of the most valuable things we can do for them. This year, we are using their CD I Believe. They are also producing an online family devotional for these verses that you can find HERE. If you don’t already do family devotions, this might be a great place to start. 

CD’s are in! If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- Jeremiah 33:7-8

New City Catechism- Question 27 and Question 28

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Right now we are studying the book of Exodus in small groups.

  • Middle School- NO MIDDLE SCHOOL THIS COMING WEEK [Thanksgiving]

  • High School- Sundays from 6:00-7:30 at Faith [in the Plaza]

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Have Kids? Worry about Technology? Read This for Them: When Tech Hurts, Community Heals

I have talked a lot in the past about the book The Tech-Wise Family. Even though it has been hard to implement all that Andy Crouch talks about in that book, I am grateful for the things I learned from it and the impact it does have in the way our family interacts with technology. This article is written by his daughter, Amy, rooted in her understanding of technology from growing up in a tech-wise family. I’m looking forward to her book. This is a small snapshot of the challenges she wrestled with on Instagram and probably an insightful look into what our teenagers are facing as well.

Click here to read the article by Amy Crouch.

Family Holiday Conversations: Ask Better Questions and Talk About What Really Matters

The holidays can be a time of great anticipation or trepidation. Whether you have kids or grandkids coming home from college for the first time in awhile, or you have been isolated in your house with them for months, there will be lots of opportunities over the next few weeks to have good conversations with them. Here is a list of questions to get you started at the dinner table or during the commercials of the football game you’re watching. Some of what I think is really helpful about these questions are the follow-ups, which encourage the talk to go deeper. 

Click here to read the article by Steve Argue.

Four Reasons Why a Gap Year Might Be the Best Way for Students to Build SEL Skills [Even During a Pandemic]

A gap year after high school is something we have talked to Emily about a number of times since she started high school. I don’t know if it will happen for sure or not, but research shows that it can be a valuable time that pays dividends for a long after that year in the lives of young people. So many kids spend the time, money, and effort to get through college only to discover when they are done, they’re not sure what they want to do. And much of the time they have spent has been wasted because they were too unsure or immature to make the most of it. A gap year can be a way for high school graduates to grow in wisdom, experience, maturity, and in their faith so they can enter college, or whatever the next season of their life is, with more confidence and purpose. This is a helpful summary of the value of a gap year and some important things it should include.

Click here to read the article by Steve Moore.

VIDEO SERIES: Surviving Doubt

This looks like a great series to help students answer questions about the basic objections they hear to the Christian faith. It will also equip us as parents to help answer those objections. It is geared towards college students but I think it would be really helpful for high school students as well. As a new Christian, and new to the church, in high school I had a sophomore English teacher that talked a lot about philosophy and religion, and who offered a lot of criticism about the Christian faith. It was a challenging time for me but it forced me to develop a solid foundation in what I believed. I’ve often thought about how I wish I could go back to that class then, knowing what I know now. Part of the advantage my teacher had was students who had not taken the time yet to research those answers to challenge his objections. I think this series is the kind of thing that can help prepare our students to meet those objections with confidence and engage those types of teachers with informed dialogue.

Click here to watch the intro and sign up for the video series from Michael Kruger.