9-10-20 This Week in Faith

September Memory for Kids

Even though we are not doing Sunday school right now, we want to continue offering monthly memory verses and catechisms for you to work on as a family. 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. 

Scripture Memory- Matthew 6:31-33

New City Catechism Question 23 and Question 24

Student Ministry Schedule

We are meeting for small groups in the month of August and will reevaluate around Labor Day. The session voted to cancel the church’s retreats for the fall so we will not be going on our annual End of Summer Retreat but we are working on what we might be able to do in town for some extra connection with students.

Middle School- Wednesdays from 6:00-7:30PM at Faith [in the Plaza]

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

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How to Pray for Unbelieving Family Members

This is a subject that can be hard for me at times, and hard to explain to my kids. I want my family to be regularly praying for family members [and friends] we love that don’t know Jesus. But sometimes, it can feel discouraging to pray the same things over and over again. And it’s important to help our kids to understand how we can “pray and never give up”. This article has some helpful, practical suggestions as well as encouragements for how not growing weary in those prayers draws us closer to God. I think there is some good wisdom here that can help us talk to our kids about why we continue to pray for our lost family members and friends often.

Click here to read the article by William Philip.

The Legacy of a Godly Grandparent

Grandparents have such an opportunity to influence the hearts of their grandkids towards Jesus. I know because my grandma is the one who told me about Jesus when I was a kid and brought me to the church where I became a Christian, when the rest of my family were not yet believers. Whether you live in the same town [or even house] as your grandkids, or you are far from them, what you say and how you live out your faith for them to see can help stir your grandkids’ hearts for Jesus. I hope this is a good reminder of the great calling God has given you, and the grace he supplies to carry it out.

Click here to read the article by Larry McCall.

PODCAST: Dr. Andrew Root and “The End of Youth Ministry?”

This is one of those conversations that I had to listen to with one ear as a student pastor and the other as a parent of 3 middle & high school students [4 this week]. In some ways, this is a conversation between people who work with students about some of the frustrations they experience and the purpose God has for ministry to students in the church. But it also has some great insights into what our teenagers are searching for, and how, as parents, we can often vacillate between being part of the solution and part of the problem. One thing that was helpful for me was some of the things they point out that parents say and do [that I say and do] that feel right in the moment but might actually be pushing them away from what we most want our kids to become as faithful followers of Jesus. In particular, I think the part about the difference between letting our kids discover their identity for themselves verses guiding them to an identity in Jesus is excellent. There are also some good reminders that only God can produce in my kids what I want most for them, so I can rely less on being a perfect parent and more on the grace of Jesus to draw them to himself. I debated whether or not to post this podcast because some of the conversations they have about why parents don’t encourage their kids to be involved in student ministry could come across as self-serving for me to post. But there is so much in here that is good for me to process as a parent, that I thought it would be worth it. I hope you feel that way too.

Click here to listen to the Rooted Podcast Interview.

VIDEO: Discipling Kids in Pandemic Times

This is another conversation that is partially geared towards children’s ministry leaders and volunteers, but includes some really good stuff about what to focus on as parents who want our young children to grow up to know and follow Jesus for a lifetime.

Click here to watch the interview between Rebecca McLaughlin and Raquel Ross.