This Week in Faith 2-21-20
/Why You Shouldn’t Despise the Toils of Parenting
For those who are parenting younger kids, it is easy to get lost in the monotony of the messes and routines of everyday life. Don’t miss the big picture of what God is doing to lay a foundation of love, relationship, and faith in the hearts of your kids, through you. The gospel gives us freedom from the pressures of trying to be the perfect parent, and allows us to rest in him to do his work in our kids so we can enjoy the fact that he has chosen us to be a part of what he’s doing. Being a parent is a huge responsibility, but it’s also a tremendous privilege and incredible gift.
Click here to read the article by Josh Wester.
How to Connect with Your Teen for Tired Parents
Honestly, this was an articleI needed to read. Parenting teenagers can be exhausting at times. I love my kids but there can also be times when I feel like giving up. Maybe you’ve been there too. I appreciate her honesty about the challenges of parenting teens and the little things we can do to pursue them alongside the hopefulness of the gospel that can fuel us even when we’ve grown weary.
Click here to read the article by Trish Donahue.
The Bible Uncensored: Expert Advice on How to Teach Kids
“Many times it feels like we’ve watered down these stories so they’re the equivalent of fairy tales in an effort to not frighten. No wonder so many young adults who grew up in the church don’t believe the Bible is true.” We don’t want to sterilize the Bible for our kids so they begin to see it as a collection of fairy tales, disconnected from history and real life. But it can be challenging as we encounter certain content in the Scriptures that include details of sin, sex, and violence. As many of us are reading through the Bible this year, I know some of you are including your kids in this. And as we’ve seen from the book of Genesis alone, the Bible includes plenty of explicit content that can feel inappropriate for our kids. So, what do we do? This article helps think through the process of teaching difficult and graphic Bible stories to kids in age-appropriate ways. It is written to Sunday school teachers but I think it can be helpful for all of us.
Click here to read the article by Lauren Hunter.
PODCAST: Jen Pollock Michel on Telling the Whole Story About Holiness
Thinking about what we’ve been talking about with students as we study the book of 1 John this semester, there are some things in this talk that connect well. John tells us there are three main tests we can use to examine our own lives and answer the question, “Am I really a Christian?”. The tests are what we believe, how we live, and how we love. The gospel is good news for our kids and Michel encourages us to not just focus on what Jesus wants to put to death in our lives, but also what he is doing to bring life into them. This transformation is evidence that God is truly at work in them for their good.
