9-18-20 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]

————————————————————-

Finding Love in a Broken World

It is hard to watch our kids struggle at times with friendships and relationships. We want them to have the kind of friends we had growing up, or better friends than we had. We see the pain that breakups and broken relationships cause in our kids, and we often feel helpless to keep them from that hurt. But those moments are also the ones that make the love of God for us even sweeter and more satisfying. This article reminds us that our longing, and our kids’ longing, for love and friendship is a natural characteristic of those made in the image of God, who is love and has loved for all eternity. I think this can be a good reminder for us as parents about where to point our kids when they are longing for love and friendship, and it can help us point our kids to Jesus who loves them fully and who offers the relationship they most need.

Click here to read the article by Robert Cheong.

How Pornography is Preying on the Vulnerable in the Midst of COVID-19

Pornography is so destructive. It is so prevalent that we can sometimes forget how much damage it can cause to those who are gripped by it. It affects their heart, their minds, their relationship with others and even their relationship with God. This article describes the damage it can cause. But it also points out the statistics of how pornography consumption has grown even more during the pandemic. People are more isolated and spending more time online which are often the key factors that lead to pornography taking root. This is a temptation that is almost impossible to battle alone. If you find yourself struggling to stay away from pornography, I hope this will be a catalyst for you to tell someone and ask for help. Talk to a close friend, or an elder, or your community group leader to find strength and accountability to fight this battle by remembering the gospel more. And talk to your kids. Especially those who have been isolated during this time and spend a lot of time on their phones or online. Ask them if they are looking at pornography. Help them to understand how dangerous it is and how it distorts the truth God gives us about sex, relationships and identity. And work together to figure out how you can help them fight this battle by pointing them to the forgiveness Jesus offers, the power to fight sin that he supplies, and the love that he lavishes on us as rescued sinners.

Click here to read the article by Jason Thacker.

The Grace of God and the Love of a Parent

This is an interesting perspective on parenting from a 21 year old college student as she describes getting to a place where she is beginning to better appreciate the love and sacrifice her parents have shown her, and the picture it is of the love and sacrifice of Jesus for her. It reminds me of this Mark Twain quote I think about often, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” This is an encouragement when we feel weary in parenting that our kids often see and hear even the little things we do as parents, it might just take them a long time to value them :) I know I have grown in my appreciation of my parents over the years. But she also weaves Psalm 103 into what she writes to remind us of the character of God our Father, and the love and sacrifice he offers to us. Because the best thing we have to offer to our kids is the overflow of what we are experiencing from our heavenly Father.

Click here to read the article by Eva Parker.

Unfolding Grace: 40 Printable Memory Verse Cards with Illustrations

If you are considering doing Scripture memory with your family, this could be a great place to start. There are 40 verses that walk through the entire story of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. It even includes 5 verses from Exodus to memorize as we study it on Sunday mornings [and in student ministry]. Each memory verse has an illustration for the other side of the card that points to the Scripture and helps with memorization.

Click here to download the Scripture memory cards from Crossway.