Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:
We completed week 4 of the It Starts at Home series on Saturday night.  We were challenged to adjust our lense as parents.  Instead of trying to make our children into perfect, obedient soldiers that will not embarrass us; we need to look through the lense of our children are sinners that struggle with seeing the eternally compared to the earthly.   Matt Chandler stated "The Bible is pretty clear that ultimately what's wrong with our children isn't some sort of moral external action, but really a state of their heart..."
Complete the Light Shining handout that we provided in LG.  You can also find it HERE.
Watch the Session 4 family night activity video on the It Starts At Home site.

The challenge for the week is related to the Denial message Todd gave this weekend.  I challenge you to the spiritual fitness of fasting.  It can be a family or individual fast.  You can fast from food for a day, soda for a week, TV for a week, Facebook, etc.  Make it memorable.  When you think about TV, food, facebook, Dr. Pepper, etc., use that as a reminder to pray and to memorize the scripture we have been learning the last couple months. 

Be Intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

We completed Session 3 of the It Starts at Home series.  Our focus was on the relationship with our children. 

Complete the AROMA Therapy worksheet.  Click on this link.  Click on Session 3 and the handout will open as a pdf.

Complete a family time activity this week.  You can find activities HERE

Things to discuss:

Kurt & Olivia said “Children don’t usually reject Christianity because of bad teaching.  They reject it because of weak relationships.”    Is this true?  Why?

Gary Thomas mentioned that sometimes well-intentioned parents make their kids feel like projects.  What did he mean by that?

Gary passed on something he learned from Kevin Leman:  “If the family doesn’t play together when the kids are young, they won’t want to play together when they get older.”  He talked about how we push our kids to excel in soccer, baseball, math, or music – all outside the home – and we can forget to play together at home.

Do you think that is a problem for families in Rockwall?  In our church?  In our LG?  For you?

What can we do about it?

Our relationship with our children is guided by the same biblical principles about relationships with other people.  Read Colossians 3: 12-14

How does this look in your home?

Be Intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group family & friends:

We completed session 2 titled “Marriage: Your Children Are Watching!”  Gary Thomas told us that “We need a biblical picture of why we stay involved as parents and why we keep our marriages together…”.  After tracing the fact that the Bible is full of dysfunctional families, Gary grabbed the promise in Malachi 4:6 –that the coming Messiah would “turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers.” 

My challenge to you this week:

Question:  What implications does marriage being a biblical picture of grace have for the parents?

Read Ephesians 6:1-4.

The Greek word “exasperate” is a violent word, an emotional twisting.  One translation puts it this way: “Don’t squeeze the hope out of your children”.  We need to operate with love and grace.

Complete the handout found at this link: HANDOUT

Complete one of the family night activities for session 2 located HERE

Be intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

We started a 6 week series this weekend called “It Starts At Home”.  In these six sessions, we will explore biblical and tangible ways that parents can build a legacy of faith for their children.  But we don’t have to do it on our own.  Just as it takes a Christian village, it takes a community of unity (Ephesians 4).  We need to spend time during the week and during class encouraging each other, sharing what works, what did not work, our struggles, and our victories. 

The first part of our challenge this week is for you to spend time on the It Starts At Home website at http://www.itstartsathome.org/ .  Peruse the family night activities and the group handouts.  Each session will give you 4 different family night activities to meet different stages of your children. 

The second part of my challenge is for you to complete the Spiritual Legacy Evaluation that was in the handout.  You can also access a copy at http://emails.bluefishtv.com/Assets/It%20Starts%20at%20Home/Group%20Handouts/Session%201%20Group%20Handout.pdf

Answer the 5 questions by putting the letter G (for Growing Up) next to the appropriate answer.  Go back through a second time and place the letter N (for Now) next to the way you would answer for your family today.

Be Intentional.

Travis