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Family Ministry Moments - November 2024

Kids Ministry Serving Opportunities

11 AM Worship Hour

• 1st - 2nd Grade Kids Life Group Leader and Assistant Leader
• 3rd - 5th Grade Kids Life Group Assistant Leader

Contact me if you are interested in learning more about these opportunities!

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A few years ago Lifeway Research published a huge study about discipling children who will have a strong faith into adulthood.  The study was published in a book by Jana Magruder called Nothing Less.  They identified 10 spiritual influencers that have an impact on your child's spiritual health.  I did a series of podcasts on these influencers a few years ago.  You can find the first episode at https://ohbcfamilies.podbean.com/e/episode-1-modern-parenting/  

The spiritual influences are things you would expect–parents who encourage prayer, serving, Christian music, and missions are important influencers; however, there was one influence that blew the others away.  The one that moved the needle the most in the area of spiritual health was Bible reading.

Parents who encouraged Bible reading in their homes were far more likely to have children who stuck to their faith into adulthood.  Barna Research indicated in 2019 that the church dropout rate among college students was 64% (https://www.barna.com/research/resilient-disciples/).  There is an epidemic among Christian families that must be addressed, but waiting until children are in college is too late!  We must address this problem early, preferably starting when children are toddlers. 

When children are little it is easy to introduce them to the Bible.  Many parents I know have a bedtime routine that includes reading.  Reading the Bible and praying naturally fits into this time.  As children grow, life gets very busy and times like this can become more difficult.  Parents must make Bible reading a priority. I have seen some families
incorporate a family devotion time at a time that is convenient for them, like dinner time, or in the morning before everyone heads out the door.  In our stage of life, we now have three teenagers, the routine that we like is to have a family prayer time before bed and then encourage everyone (even the adults) to go do a devotion or Bible reading and personal prayer time.

Do we do this every night? I wish, sometimes we forget or our schedule gets messed up.  The point is not to be legalistic about it, the studies indicate that regular (meaning most of the time) Bible reading has a great impact on children’s faith.  So the challenge is for parents to find what works for their family with the time they have.

While this study is very enlightening, we don’t need a study to tell us that God’s Word is important.  God’s Word testifies to its importance. Mediate on these familiar verses:

• Psalm 119:105  - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
• Matthew 4:4 - “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work
  Do you want a strong faith? Do you want your children to have a strong faith? Read God’s Word!!!

Worship Ministry - November 2024

Thanksgiving

This year’s Thanksgiving will be my thirty-first Thanksgiving celebration, and boy has it changed over the years. What food is on my plate has changed; I used to hate sweet
potatoes but now sweet potato crunch is the first thing I reach for! What I am most thankful for has changed a little bit; being grateful for my family has become so much more important than being thankful to be out of school. Who’s around the table has changed! When I was a kid the table was on the smaller side, with my mom, dad, and two siblings joined by my mom's parents some years. Now, it's hard to keep track of all twenty-eight-plus people who are sitting all over the house in anything that resembles a chair! One thing that hasn’t changed? God’s faithfulness! No matter the burdens or trials I have faced, or the family members that have passed on and gone to heaven; God’s faithfulness has always remained.

“22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23

What a great truth to cling to as we head into the holiday season! No matter how your year has been, whether the best year or the worst, God has loved you without end and has shown you mercies anew every day! This should fill our hearts with a great sense of thanksgiving and a desire to live a life of faithfulness for God in return.

I have been blessed to have not only incredible parents who showed me what it meant to live a life of faithfulness toward God, but grandparents who lived it out too. Growing up I was close with my mom’s parents, both geographically and in relationship. For a handful of years, we lived just a few miles away, so we spent lots of time running around their backyard. They would take us fishing during the hot Oklahoma summers and let us pick apples and pears off their fruit trees. My grandma would make sure that we didn’t leave the table hungry and spend time teaching us how to fry the fish that we caught. A few years ago, both of them went on to be with the Lord, but they left behind a legacy of faithfulness. I miss them and our time together, but thankful that they had a testimony of God’s saving grace.

My grandparents had been members of the same church for forty-plus years, and when I would visit during my college summers my grandma especially loved taking me to her Sunday school class to show me off to all her friends. Their church has recently undergone some renovations and construction as they continue on their mission to reach
Broken Arrow and beyond. As I have watched, from five hundred and seventy-two miles away, I have been blessed by knowing that my grandparents contributed to that work with forty years of faithful service. They spent time worshiping the Lord, growing in their faith, and being faithful to the Lord while being a part of His church. They were faithful in life but they were also faithful in their death. As part of their estate planning, they gave ten percent of all that was liquidated to their church. Even in their death, they wanted to support the church's work in reaching the world for the Lord! Even in their death, they wanted to be faithful to the Lord and give back to Him what He blessed them with.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my grandparents who invested in my life. Their investment continues to bear fruit as I raise my kids, whom they didn’t get the chance to meet, because of the legacy of faithfulness they displayed! May we strive to live faithful lives for Christ! Not perfectly, but relying on God to help us grow in our faith and to shine His light for all the world to see.

Who are you thankful for? What blessings has God given to you this year? “1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1

Love you and mean it!