parenting christian kids, march 2014
TRANSCRIPT
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March 2014
Preparing Our Hearts During the Easter season, people in some
churches prepare their hearts and draw
closer to God through a formal time of
prayer, fasting, and giving. But even if
your church doesn’t formally practice this
observance, drawing your heart closer to
God is a worthwhile and important pursuit.
In Matthew 13 Jesus talked about how
good soil was key to a good harvest. A
farmer who ignores the soil will have bad
soil, but if he works to make the soil good,
it will produce a great harvest.
When we pray, fast, and give, we’re
preparing the “soil” of our hearts.
We’re aligning ourselves with God
and his great work.
Think about ways your family can
create soil-strengthening habits.
Find times to pray aside from
meal-time and bedtime. The dr
to school is a great chance to
begin the day with prayer.
Think of a way your family can
bless another family. Maybe yo
family could entertain the kids
while Mom and Dad go on a da
Or you could give the gift of hom
-baked goodies you’ve prepare
together.
POWERSOURCE ASK GOD: 1. To help you find ways to grow
closer to him—and not just
during certain times of the year.
2. For opportunities to teach your
kids how to block out distractions
and focus on him.
3. To guide you be intentional with
how you lead your kids.
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TEACHABLEMOMENTS
Distractions Let your kids focus on what distractionscan do to our relationship with God withthis experience.
Have a child volunteer to tell everyone theplot of a favorite movie. Once he or shebegins, work hard to create distractions—jump around, talk over the story, crank upmusic or the TV, clap, repeat everythingyour child says, and more. Afterward, ask:
What was difficult about telling theplot? What are your biggest distrac-tions? What distracts you from God? Say: Things distract us from focusingon God, too. We’re “too busy,” or wejust forget that God wants to spendtime with us.
Ask: Think honestly about your biggestdistraction. What would you be willingto give up for one month?
Pray: God, help us to remove thedistractions that keep us from connect-ing with you.
Eliminating Excuses As parents and Christians, our lives are full of things we’re supposed to bedoing. Have a quiet time every morning, pray with the kids, pray with ourspouse, join a small group, coach our kids’ sports teams, and volunteer intheir classrooms—at least until they’re too embarrassed by you. Those ar
all good things, but the load can become overwhelming. Here are two ideafor simply incorporating these things into your life—without adding more.
Power Down—Most people reach fortheir phones before they reach foranything else each morning—including their Bibles. If you want tocarve out time to be alone with God,but you can’t seem to find the time,leave your phone off …
Even if you have a Bible on yourphone, it’s easy for a text or notifica-
tion to pop up while you’re reading. And then you’ll check the message. And the next thing you know it’s timeto get ready for your day.
A physical Bible won’t interrupt you. And you can highlight, or write notes,or check that linked verse. It’s veryretro!
But maybe your house is too crazy inthe mornings, and this just isn’t possi-ble. What about work? Plan to arrive
15 minutes early. When you get there,don’t turn on your computer. Emailand projects can wait. After all, yougot in early, right? Spend this “extra”time with God.
The New Small Group—Don’t have asmall group at church? That’s okay;make your family your small group.
Now, before you list off all of the rea-sons this idea won’t work, think aboutreasons it will—and the benefits you’ll
reap when it does.
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with youto give your bodies to God because of all he has
done for you. Let them be a living and holysacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.”
—Romans 12:1
The goal is to set aside time wheyour family is already together toopen faith conversations and expthe Bible together. It doesn’t havbe long, involved, or arduous. Reit’s as simple as a conversationabout a topic you can relate to.
If you’ve been a part of a “regulasmall group, you know that you c
to really know those people. Woun’t that be a great thing to say abyour kids? And for your kids to saabout you?
Make your group a safe place, wyour family can talk about anythi And if you don’t know the answea question, that’s okay! Find the swer, and tell your kids about it lYou’ll spark more discussion whyou follow up.
Grab opportunities as they arise.movie or TV show sparks discus(or even disagreement) among yfamily members, you can grapplewith it during your time together.
There’s an added benefit to leadthis small group. If you train yourto lead this small group, then yoube ready to lead any small groupkids, teenagers, adults. Plus, youhave learned how to open the doto important faith conversations w
your kids.
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MEDIA MADNESS
MOVIES Title: Muppets Most Wanted Genre: Comedy/Family Rating: PG (for mild action) Cast: Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Bur-
rell Synopsis: The Muppet gang is head-
ed around the world on tour, butthey’re caught up in an internationalcrime caper when Kermit is mistakenfor a master criminal. Our Take: The Muppet movies havealways been family friendly, full of funcameos, and generally absurd. Thisone should be no different. With Kermitbeing mistaken for someone he’s not,you could discuss how sometimes wehave two sides to our personalities.
TV Title: Brain Games
Channel: National Geographic Summary: This TV show digs into theways our brains can trick us—and theways magicians, advertisers, and oth-ers can make our brains trick us. You’llsee optical illusions, ways to boostmemory, and how we can be distractedeven when we know we’re being dis-tracted. Our Take: This is a great show towatch as a family. There’s nothing of-fensive in it, it’s full of ah-ha moments,and there are lots of opportunities totalk to your kids about how we can befooled.
Games, Sites & Apps Yoshi’s NewIsland This installment of theclassic franchise findsYoshi and Baby Marioexploring a rich, cleverworld in search oftreasure and fun.While you can’t playas a family, it’s a greatgame for all ages.Rating: E; Nintendo3DS
timeforkids.com This companion pageto Time Magazine hasarticles from adultsand “kid reporters” ontopics that includenational interests,science, entertain-ment, and just-for -fun.
Gabbit app Whether you’re at thekitchen table, waitingat the doctor’s office,or on a road trip, thisapp will give you lotsof thoughtful questionsto get your family talk-ing. And there areplans for Road Trip,Couples, Dinnertime,and Youth editions. Available in the AppStore.
CULTURE& TRENDS
Millennial moms (between agesand 32) are confident. Ninety-sipercent of moms polled describtheir parenting style as “loving,”percent think they’re“encouraging,” and 90 percent a“supportive,” according to a newsurvey from Baby Center. J.Maureen Henderson, contributoForbes
QUICK STAT
Buckle Up More than one in thrkids killed in car accidents wereproperly restrained. And a quartof parents and caregivers drivearound with unbuckled kids in thcar. (autoblog.com)
Charity Begins at Home Ninetpercent of kids between ages 8and 19 give to charity. Talking tkids about charity has a greaterimpact on their giving than rolemodeling alone. (unfoundation.o
This page is designed to help educate parents and isn’t meantto endorse any movie, music, or product. Our goal is to help
you make informed decisions about what your children watch,read, listen to, and play.
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VBS Coming
Soon Preparations underway for annu-al Vacation Bible School
After enduring a longer -than-normalwinter, the Vacation Bible School
team is excited to begin prepara-tions for this year’s Weird AnimalsVacation Bible School.
God filled the world with a lot of cra-zy creatures...including you! Whenkids feel weird, different, or lost in acrowd—nothing compares to theextraordinary love of Jesus.
Preparations have begun and vol-unteers are being recruited to en-
sure that this year’s Weird AnimalsVBS will be one to remember—amazing crafts, snacks, games, andBible Stories. New this year will bethe KidVid cinema where childrensee real children living our theirfaith every day.
The program will run between June23-27 from 6-8:30 PM each night(note the new time). Additionally,we will host our annual closing party
on Sunday, June 29, 2014 from 4-6
PM.
Weekly Children’s Ministry New Life Faith Center is commied to serving families with children of all ages.
team of children's ministry volunteers work diligently to make sure that each ch
has access to meaningful teaching that is age-appropriate and engaging.
New Life Faith Center uses a curriculum called The Gospel Project to present important Bible teaching with an emphasis on the Gospel and the redempve plan
Jesus. Here's a brief descripon of the program from the publisher's website:
The big picture of God’s story. At last! A Bible study resource that shows how Christ ts into the enre gospel s
ry, pre-creaon to eternity. And where each one of us ts into it, too. The three
year chronological meline ensures that no maer when you jump in, you won’t
miss a thing.
The Gospel Project for Kids is a Christ -centered Bible study resource that follows
chronological meline of Bible events—presenng the story of redempon throu
Jesus like kids have never seen it before! Each week, these stories come to life
through video, music, acvies, and more.
At New Life Faith Center, we have two opportunies each weekend to engage w
this curriculum:
Sunday School: (Sundays at 10:00 AM) Within this small group environment, ch
dren are introduced to a Big Picture queson that will be explored throughout t
lesson. Next, kids review Bible lesson for the day, using a variety of learning tec
niques (acvies, songs, scavenger hunts, videos, etc.). Children also work in sm
group sengs to complete acvies that reinforce the day's Bible Point.
Children's Worship: (Sundays at 11:00 AM) Within a whole group environment,children parcipate in lively worship, Bible teaching, and games. With an emph
on applicaon, students work through the same Big Picture queson that is ex-
plored in Sunday School (reinforcing what has already been learned), while intro
ducing new content and reinforcing the message in a memorable way.
Weird Animals Vacation Bible School
June 23-27,2014 | 6:00-8:30 PM
Closing Party Sunday, June 29, 2016 | 4-6 PM
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