This Week in Faith 1-20-22
/The Grove in January:
Sunday school Lessons: Special Missions Conference speakers and activities.
Scripture Memory: John 15:13-14
Student Ministry in January:
High School Sunday Nights- Studying the gospel of Luke in our small groups and at home.
Middle School Begins THIS Wednesday- Studying the gospel of Luke in our small groups and at home.
The Mix Weekend is February 25-27- Registration is now open! CLICK HERE for more info and to sign up. [To see speaker and band details, CLICK HERE for The Mix website. But to register, make sure you use the link to Faith’s registration, not The Mix website registration.]
For Parents in January:
Spring Parent Book Club: Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley- If you would like to join us in reading the book together and encouraging each other with the ways God uses it in our families, then make sure to grab your copy and get signed up. We have 20 free copies if you stop by The Grove Welcome Center at the church [or let me know]. You can read the book on your own, or with your spouse, over the next few months. We’ll check in with each other to see how it’s going and what practices we may be trying to implement. Then we’ll meet on April 20 to talk through the book together and learn from each other. I hope you’ll join us!
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Christian Parenting
What makes “Christian parenting” unique? Or maybe a different way to ask- how is your parenting different because you follow Jesus? Discipline is one example she uses in the article. But in general, the gospel gives us different goals for parenting and a different method for pursuing those goals. It also gives us a unique fuel for the ups, downs, and weariness of parenting- grace. It’s the grace of Jesus that motivates us to not grow weary and give up as we parent our kids. I appreciated the reminder in this article.
Click here to read the article by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
What Would We Be Missing if We Didn’t Have the Book of Acts?
As we study the book of Acts as a church on Sunday morning, I thought this was a good summary of some of the main themes. It could be a good thing to look at with your kids to help them grasp the big picture of Acts as we study it. It might also be a good way to talk to your kids about how studying Acts on Sunday morning is helping them grow in their faith. Ask questions like, “How have you been encouraged in your faith by Acts? What story has stood out to you in Acts and why? How would your faith [and understanding of the church] be different without the book of Acts?”
Click here to read the article by Patrick Schreiner.
Dr. Martin Luther King and the Mud in Our Eyes
As our country remembered the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, and his impact on its history, we should remember that his impact is a part of our church history as well. Not only did he have important words for the church in his day, and ours [maybe most notably in the Letter from the Birmingham Jail], but much of what he worked for and how he worked for it was rooted in his faith. I think this article touches on a number of things we could talk about with our kids. One important thing is the idea of searching our own hearts before God as we decide what causes to pursue or people to advocate for. One of the great things about this current generation of young people is that they are passionate about pursuing redemption and restoration for things they see as broken in our world. It is a great way that we can help them see the way they image their heavenly Father. At the same time, they can also be quick to jump into the pursuit of these things because it’s what everyone else is doing or because it feels right in the moment. But this can skip an important part of the process, which is to do what we do as an overflow of what God is doing in us. And this is where self-reflection can humble us and help us see what God wants us to see in ourselves as well. This look at Dr. King and John 9 could be a way to help them think about this.
Click here to read the article by Ben Sciacca.
PODCAST: If a Child Wanders From the Faith, Is It the Parents’ Fault?
The faith of our kids is one of the deepest concerns we have for them as parents. For many of us, we do everything we can to try and pint them to Jesus. Which is why it can be so painful to watch kids walk away from the faith. It’s hard not to feel guilty- “What did I do wrong?” “Why didn’t I do more?” The comfort and encouragement in this podcast is the steadfast love of the Lord. It is God who loves our kids more than we do and it is God who has the ability to draw them to himself. In one sense, this can be a helpless feeling. But in a greater sense, it is a relief to know that the faith of our kids is not dependent on how great a parent we are but but on our great God. If you are a parent whose child is wandering away from Jesus right now, don’t lose hope. Continue to call out to God on your child’s behalf. And trust that their heavenly Father is at work, even in the places we can’t see right now.
