6-12-20 This Week in Faith
/Church Elders Can Help with your Family Crisis
This was an interesting perspective on the opportunity families have to seek wisdom and prayer for the parenting challenges that they face. I know any of our elders would be happy to talk to you and pray with you about things that your family may be struggling with. And even point you to more resources. It can be hard for us to ask for help sometimes but the number one job of elders is to shepherd the people of our church and we would love the opportunity to listen or to help in any way we can.
Click here to read the article by Chap Bettis.
Christian, Your Faith Should Make You Uncomfortable
As parents, we can sometimes get so focused on wanting our kids to be good and respectful [mostly so they don’t embarrass us] that we forget to focus on the gospel because we don’t distinguish between the two. It’s important that we don’t assume our kids understand and believe the gospel, just because they are good or compliant. It’s vital for us to preach the gospel to them regularly just like we know we need to preach the gospel to ourselves just as often. The gospel is such good news. We don’t want there to be any chance our kids leave the house with an understanding of the gospel that is any less than “they are great sinners but they have an even greater savior, Jesus”.
Click here to read the article by Trillia Newbell.
Shape Their Moral Imaginations through Good Stories
Stories are powerful. They shape the way our kids think about the world in a way that just telling them how they should think could never do. Reading great stories to our kids [and recommending great stories for them to read as they get older] are one of the best tools for sharing minds and hearts. And even a story with the wrong message can be an opportunity for conversation that helps them see where it goes wrong. Our kids are always giving us books they’ve read that they want us to read to. At first I felt a little silly about sitting up at night reading these kids and Young Adult books. But they have provided some great common ground for discussions with our kids.
Click here to read the article by Betsy Child Howard.
This is the link to a video of a read aloud story for 3-7 year olds dealing with sin and repentance, written and read by the author above.
RESOURCE: Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan
This is a new book out that guides families through a year of reading the Bible and worshipping together. I also have some copies in my office if you’d like to see it.
Click here to see the book from Crossway.
Podcast: Brene on Comparative Suffering, the 50/50 Myth, and Settling the Ball
Brene Brown covers a lot of ground in a little under 25 minutes. Some things she talks about might be more helpful to you than others but I really appreciated what she says about the cumulative effect of all the things we have experienced over the last few months and how to find rest in the midst of them, as well as the part on comparative suffering and the guilt we can feel in addressing our own stress and suffering when we know others might going through worse things than us. I think it’s worth a listen if you have the time.
