2-18-21 This Week in Faith

The Mix 2021- The Mix is next weekend [Feb. 26-27]! This is an incredible weekend for middle and high school students, and their friends as we join churches from across the city to worship Jesus and get to know him better. While the weekend will look pretty different for us this year, it’s still something students won’t want to miss.  CLICK HERE for all the info and to sign up. [Also us this link to invite a friend]

Parent Discussion Night: My Tech-Wise Life
This is a parent discussion night on our current lesson series for students that I mentioned back in January. We are going to do this Wednesday, February 24 during middle school. We will start at 6ish in the youth room so if you have a middle schooler, you can drop them off and just stick around [but all parents are invited]. We'll do an overview of what we've been talking about with students and then give you time to talk with each other about your families' experience with technology [the highs and the lows] so we can be a help and encouragement to each other.

February Memory for Kids

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. 

If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- John 1:14

New City Catechism- Question 33 and Question 34

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Join us for our winter series based on the book, My Tech-Wise Life.

• Middle School- Wednesdays from 6:00-7:45 at Faith [in the Plaza]

• High School- Sundays from 6:00-8:00 at Faith [in the Plaza]

*With the colder weather, we are going inside for part of each night so be sure to bring a mask.

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Abiding in Christ: The Firm Foundation of Parenting

Remembering our hope is in being connected to Jesus, abiding in him, is what buoys us when we feel overwhelmed with parenting, and it’s what gives us the strength to walk forward with hope. I hope this article and the Scriptures it points you to encourages you today.

Click here to read the article by Dawson Cooper.

Five Essential Habits for Building a Marriage to Last

In thinking about parenting, it’s easy to forget that building a healthy marriage is one of the best gifts you can give your kids to help them thrive in life. But sometimes it’s the last thing we think about when we’re exhausted from fulfilling all of our other responsibilities. This article doesn’t offer the three easy steps to a great marriage, but he does offer some categories to help you think about the most important things to focus on as you develop healthy habits to grow your relationship with your spouse.

Click here to read the article by Brad Hambrick.

50 Ways to Be Thankful

Thankfulness is something I am always trying to cultivate in my kids [and myself if I’m honest]. It is so easy to go through a day or week taking advantage of all the good gifts God has given us without being thankful. There are also plenty of people, events, and things that have shaped us over time to make us the people we are today, that we fail to remember or be thankful for. Some of the things on this list are better than others but 50 ways to think about thankfulness is a great way to grow in this area. You could talk about a different one each day at the breakfast or dinner table, while you are driving in the car with your kids, or even as part of a bedtime routine.

Click here to read the article by Sam Crabtree.

2021 Toyota Super Bowl Commercial: Jessica Long’s Story

Adoption is something that has had a bit impact on our family. And we are grateful for it. Which is why I thought the Toyota Super Bowl ad about adoption was by far the best one. It’s a moving story of parents welcoming a child into their family, knowing that it would be a rough road ahead. Part of what is so compelling about adoption, and this adoption story in particular, is that it is the story of every one of us who belong to Jesus. God, knowing how broken and sinful we are, sacrificed his only son so he could make us part of his family and so we could live abundant life in him. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This story, and the story of her faith, paint a beautiful picture for those of us who have been the recipients of this kind of grace.

Click here to watch the commercial.

Click here to read some of Jessica Long’s story.

Click here to read an article on adoption by Claire Gibson.

2-11-21 This Week in Faith

The Mix 2021- This is an incredible weekend for middle and high school students, and their friends as we join churches from across the city to worship Jesus and get to know him better. While the weekend will look pretty different for us this year, it’s still something students won’t want to miss.  CLICK HERE for all the info and to sign up. [Also us this link to invite a friend]

Parent Discussion Night: My Tech-Wise Life
This is a parent discussion night on our current lesson series for students that I mentioned back in January. We are going to do this Wednesday, February 24 during middle school. We will start at 6ish in the youth room so if you have a middle schooler, you can drop them off and just stick around [but all parents are invited]. We'll do an overview of what we've been talking about with students and then give you time to talk with each other about your families' experience with technology [the highs and the lows] so we can be a help and encouragement to each other.

February Memory for Kids

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. 

If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- John 1:14

New City Catechism- Question 33 and Question 34

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Join us for our winter series based on the book, My Tech-Wise Life.

• Middle School- Wednesdays from 6:00-7:45 at Faith [in the Plaza]

• High School- Sundays from 6:00-8:00 at Faith [in the Plaza]

*With the colder weather, we are going inside for part of each night so be sure to bring a mask.

——————————————————————

4 [Good Ways] Your Hard Kid is Changing You

We all face challenging moments with our kids. And each kid can go through seasons when they are more challenging to raise than the others. In the midst of those times, it can be hard to remember that God is sovereign over that season as much as he is any other. And if he has ordained those difficult weeks, months, and even years, then we know that he has a plan to use them for his glory and our good. It doesn’t mean we will like these times, but it does mean that these times have a purpose- to shape us more into the people God longs for us to be. And for him to prove his love and grace to us yet again. If you are in the midst of raising a difficult child right now, I pray this will be an encouragement and help to you as you lean on Jesus for his wisdom and mercy today.

Click here to read the article by Christine Gordon.

Pastor, Your Congregation Plays Video Games [and That’s OK]

I realize this article might be a little awkward to read because it is addressed to a pastor thinking about his congregation. But, if you replace “pastor” with “parent” and “congregation” with “child” I think it makes a helpful defense for your kids to enjoy video games. Now, I talk a lot about the dangers of too much technology but that doesn’t make it wrong for kids to enjoy video games. In the right context, and in moderation, video games can be a great way for kids to relax and even connect with each other. So, on behalf of your kids who love video games, I hope this helps as you think about how video games fit into the healthy culture you are trying to build in your home.

Click here to read the article by Mathew Millsap.

Talking with Kids about Sickness

There is a lot of talk about sickness these days. It can almost feel overwhelming when we begin to list, and even pray for, the people we know who are sick. As we do this with our kids, we have the opportunity to point them to some foundational truths about our God, our world, and ourselves. This article helps us do that in a way that Jesus can be glorified, even through sickness. It’s written by the author of what looks like a great new kids book on the subject.

Click here to read the article by Scott James.

VIDEO: Sissy Goff on Anxiety as a Childhood Epidemic

This video is about 5 years old now, but it seems like childhood anxiety has only increased since then. This 11 minute video is a good introduction to a lot of the great things she has to say on the topic.

Click here to watch the video with Sissy Goff.

2-5-21 This Week in Faith

The Mix 2021- This is an incredible weekend for middle and high school students, and their friends as we join churches from across the city to worship Jesus and get to know him better. While the weekend will look pretty different for us this year, it’s still something students won’t want to miss.  CLICK HERE for all the info and to sign up. [Also us this link to invite a friend]

February Memory for Kids

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. 

If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- John 1:14

New City Catechism- Question 33 and Question 34

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Join us for our winter series based on the book, My Tech-Wise Life.

• Middle School- Wednesdays from 6:00-7:45 at Faith [in the Plaza]

• High School- Sundays from 6:00-8:00 at Faith [in the Plaza]

*With the colder weather, we are going inside for part of each night so be sure to bring a mask.

———————————————————————-

What to Do When Your Teenager Shuts You Out

It can be hard to know what to do when we feel like our kids are struggling. This is particularly true when they act like they don’t want any help from us. In those moments, I can vacillate between being overbearing or totally disconnecting. This article does a good job of helping us evaluate whether our kids’ alone time is healthy or not, and how to step into the fray if we need to. They also provide some good questions to help our kids think through their own mental health, and to ask them how we can best help.

Click here for the article from Axis.

The 7-Minute Conversation Challenge

Sherry Turkle and Andy Crouch are two of my favorite people to listen to when it comes to technology, and this article quotes them both! The 7-minute rule is something Sherry Turkle discovered in her research- the it usually takes about 7 minutes for a conversation to get to any level of depth. But what typically happens is that we short circuit the process by going to our phones or other distractions before we can push through to the 7 minute mark. Those minutes can be awkward, and yet the payoff of the quality conversation they can produce are worth the wait.

This article challenges us to take advantage of 2 places for meaningful conversation with our kids: the dinner table and the car. There are a lot of helpful tips here for conversation with kids of all ages. I really appreciate the goal she lays out for us for conversation with our kids, and the road she offers to get there.

Click here to read the article by Anna Sutherland.

Porn in the Digital Age: New Research Reveals 10 Trends

This week in student ministry we are talking about how technological makes it easier for us to keep secrets from those who care about us. And this isn’t good. And pornography is one of those secrets that students are often able to keep from those who can actually help them most to fight the battle. While this article is a few years old [sorry it makes the title a little deceiving], its research gives a lot of insight into the presence and effects of pornography on students. These survey results and graphs might be a helpful place to go for help in having conversations with your kids about pornography. There are also some great books out there that can help as well [like Good Pictures, Bad Pictures].

Click here to read the article from Barna.

VIDEO: The Key to Understanding Why Parenting is Hard

Do you ever find parenting difficult? Haha- of course you do! And there’s a reason for that. In this short video, Paul Tripp reminds us that we’re not alone because there’s a fundamental reason why parenting is hard. But there’s also hope!

Click here to watch the video by Paul Tripp.

1-29-21 This Week in Faith

The Mix 2021- This is an incredible weekend for middle and high school students, and their friends as we join churches from across the city to worship Jesus and get to know him better. While the weekend will look pretty different for us this year, it’s still something students won’t want to miss. The cost goes up next week so CLICK HERE for all the info and to sign up. [Also us this link to invite a friend]

2021 Mexico Mission Trip- The dates for our trip this year are May 29 - June 5. THIS WEEKEND is the deadline to join the team, so if you or your family are interested in being a part of the team for this incredible opportunity, EMAIL ME for more info or to sign up.

January Memory for Kids

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. 

CD’s are in! If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- Isaiah 61:1

New City Catechism- Question 31 and Question 32

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Join us for our winter series based on the book, My Tech-Wise Life.

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

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

*With the colder weather, we are going inside for part of each night so be sure to bring a mask.

——————————————————

Teaching Teens to Pray for Their Friends

With Pastor Nathan finishing up his preaching series on Faith’s mission, I’m hopeful that our kids’ lives will be shaped by the 4 W’s [Welcome, Worship, Walk, Witness] as well. They have the opportunity to live these things out, to see God work in them aDN through them as well. Witness can sometimes be the most challenging for students which is why I think this article about praying teaching them to pray for their friends who don’t know Jesus is so helpful. It gives them something concrete they can do as a part of their witness. Their prayers can be powerful in their lives and the lives of others, if they will pray.

Click here to read the article by Heather Holleman.

Technology Promises Connection, but Gen Z Sees a Paradox

This article digs into the research that is a part of the book A Tech-Wise Life, that we are talking about with middle and high school students right now. It’s a helpful book to think about technology use in a healthy way, and in a way that is transformed by what we believe. One of the things the book comes back to a lot, and that we have stressed as a theme, is that we often know what kind of person we want to be and how we can make the most of our time, but technology makes it easy for us to choose the opposite, often without even realizing it. Some of the research in this article bears that out. This article may give you a way to talk about some of these things with your kids and follow up on what we’ve been talking about in student ministry.

Click here to see the article from Barna.

Stop Keeping Score

The gospel gives us the ability to stop keeping score. It shows that our value is not in what we accomplish and our acceptance is not something we can earn, it’s by grace. This is hard for us to believe at times, and can be even harder to remember. This article, not written from a Christian perspective, talks about how our default thinking is to believe happiness and contentment come from checking the items off our to-do list. But it’s usually not the “what” questions that satisfy our deepest longings, it’s the “why” questions. He gives 3 really good questions to think about when it comes to what you are pursuing in life and why you are doing what you’re doing. It’s important our kids understand this. And we can help them see how the gospel gives us the best tools to answer these questions in a way that leads to the life we were created to live- modeling our lives after people who display the fruits of the Spirit, loving your neighbor because Jesus first loved you, and living to glorify God and build his kingdom. While the solution he presents in the last paragraph falls short, he offers a healthy way for our kids to think about what’s most important in life [and for us so we can model it for them!].

Click here to read the article by Arthur Brooks.

How to Study the Bible with Your Grandchildren

My grandma is the person who most influenced my spiritual life as a kid and was the catalyst God used to bring me to faith in Jesus as a high school student. Grandparents have an incredible opportunity to pour the gospel into their grandkids. But it can be hard to know what that role looks like, whether the parents of their grandchildren are believers or not. This article provides some great encouragement and practical ideas for you [or a grandparent you know] to get started.

Click here to read the article by Larry McCall.

1-15-21 This Week in Faith

2021 Mexico Mission Trip- The dates for our trip this year are May 29 - June 5. If you or your family are interested in being a part of the team for this incredible opportunity, EMAIL ME for more info or to sign up.

January Memory for Kids

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. 

CD’s are in! If you would like an I Believe CD, or a code to download the album for FREE, find me or Stephanie Atkinson this Sunday at church. We’d love to give your family one!

Scripture Memory- Isaiah 61:1

New City Catechism- Question 31 and Question 32

STUDENT MINISTRY SCHEDULE

Student Ministry Small Groups

Join us for our winter series based on the book, My Tech-Wise Life.

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

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

—————————————————————————————

4 Things to Teach Kids About Trusting God through Uncertainty

It can be an empty feeling when our kid asks us a question we can’t answer. Especially when the question is something like, “When will this end?” or “Is everything going to be ok?”. But those moments also provide us with the opportunity to point our kids to Jesus. To assure them that even though we don’t know, we serve a God who does know. 2020 had plenty of unknowns but the reality is we have far less control and understanding than we think in any year. This article reminds us to rest in the wisdom, strength, and goodness of our God- and to help our kids do the same.

Click here to read the article by Carl Laferton.

The Single Word That Saved Me- and My Teens- From Jealousy and Comparison

We have started a series with middle and high school students on the Tech-Wise Life and this week we are talking about comparison. Like so many things, technology and social media have not created the sin of comparison, but they definitely reveal it in us. I think this article gets to the heart of the issue for all of us as we fight against the need to compare ourselves to others- the reminder from Ephesians 2 that we have been “seated” with Christ. The battle against jealousy and comparison is a regular struggle for my heart. The best weapon I have to fight back is the good news of what Jesus has done for me and who I am because of him. I hope this is a good reminder for you like it is for me [and one I’m going to read from for our students this week].

Click here to read the article by Heather Holleman.

The Hidden Grace of Pixar’s Soul

We watched the movie Soul recently and, if I’m honest, it wasn’t my favorite Pixar movie. There are parts of it that are kind of confusing [if you just read the description of the movie in the article you’ll be even more confused so seeing the movie definitely makes it more clear]. And their portrayal of what happens after you die is distracting. But there are some good takeaways from the movie that have stuck with me. This article does a good job of pulling the good stuff out and helping us explain the challenges to our kids, which is different depending on if they are younger or older. If you’ve already watched the movie, or are planning to, this article is a good guide to do that well.

Click here to read the article by Ted Turnau.

The Danger of Students Taking a “Gap” Year from Church

It has been really encouraging to see more college students at church lately. I’m excited about the opportunity we have to disciple and encourage them while they live in town. We have also had some jump into helping with student ministry which has been a great blessing. While you may have heard the statistics before about the number of students who stop attending church after high school, the college students at church remind us this doesn’t have to be the case. And God is giving us the opportunity to be a part of changing those statistics by investing in the lives of students that are here. I hope this article will help you think about ways you might welcome and walk with the college students in our midst so they might know Jesus more. 

Click here to read the article by Trevin Wax.