8-13-21 This Week in Faith
/I apologize for such a long break on this blog but I’m getting it started back up with the new school year. I want to tell you a couple of things going on for kids and students at Faith this fall and point out one really good article this week.
Ministry Kick-off THIS Sunday- There is 1 service this Sunday [11:00AM] followed by lunch and the ministry kick-off where we will talk about all that’s going on this semester. I hope you’ll make a point to come.
Sunday school Begins August 22- Parents and kids will meet in the sanctuary at 9:45 for a brief parent meeting followed by kids meeting their new Sunday school teachers and heading to their classes. Even if your kids have not participated in SS before, I would encourage you to check it out. This is a great opportunity for your kids to get to build relationships with some adults and older students [see the article below!] while learning about God’s Word and the church.
Pray for Me- We are beginning another year of the Pray for Me campaign where adults and older students pray for younger students and kids. We have 100 Kindergarten-12 graders that we need to match with someone from our church who is willing to commit less than 5 minutes a day to pray. Please consider participating. There will be a chance to sign up at the Ministry Kick-of this Sunday.
Student Ministry Begins!- High schoolers will start this Sunday night and middle schoolers this coming Wednesday at 6PM. We are beginning our fall series based on the book 10 Questions Every Teenager Should Ask [and Answer] about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin. Each student will get a copy of the book to read at home or refer back to at a later date [if your child is not good at sharing, let me know and I can give you your own copy of the book :)]. I would encourage you to use it as a way to engage in these conversations with your kids as well [see the article below!]. Each chapter is a common objection to Christianity in the form of a question. We’ll deal with each of the 10 questions this semester. I will send out notes and questions on what we talk about so you can spend more time talking about it with your kids at home. Our hope is that us talking about these things will make it easier for you as parents to have these conversations with your kids.
Keeping the Faith
Because this is such a good article, it’s the only one I’m going to share this week. I hope you will read it. Christian Smith has done tons of research on what most influences kids and their faith. His overwhelming conclusion is that parents are the biggest influencer in determining whether or not their kids will hold on to a faith of their own in adulthood. Like he says, this can feel like a lot of pressure, but it is also a great encouragement. His research and conclusions are really important for understanding how we can pass our faith on to our kids. And he has lots of suggestions for what we can do.
