We are a few weeks into a new series on “Becoming Like Family”. This is important as members of our online community begin to share the daily challenges with friends, and we begin to gather our larger community together as one church community. We won’t be bound together by a building, or institution, but rather by five commitments. We’ve talked about commitment to common learning goals, connectedness as a community of small and large groups, connectedness to God in worship, and now this week, we come to grace in lifestyle.
Those who’ve decided to follow Jesus, and walk in his path, are going to have to choose this over other paths. These choices impact many areas of life. That should be no surprise, but sometimes it’s hard to swallow. We can recoil from rules, or worry about restricted freedom.
We’ll explore that this week, but it starts with understanding why we are asked to live by, and with, grace.
But what does grace mean?
There is a classic Seinfeld episode where Elaine is in a job interview, and the interviewer shares her admiration of Jackie O, who had “grace”. Elaine tries to say, “I think I have a little grace” but the interviewer snaps back, “You can’t have a little grace, you either have it or you don’t.” Elaine backpendals, “Alright, I have no grace. I don’t have grace, I don’t want grace. Hey, I don’t even say grace.”
You can see the confusion here – what does grace even mean? Is it poise and kindness? Is it a lovely name for an old lady that is finally making a comeback? Is it a prayer before a meal?
Question: What do you think of when you hear the word grace? What does it mean?
Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.
Read the Bible in Sync Today
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Families learn through routines.
One blog author wrote: “What families regard as important is evidenced by the manner in which they spend their time.” How do we spend our time? Watching TV, playing video games, or shopping? Sadly, many families devote more time to these things than they do teaching their children about God, or just simply spending quality time together.” http://theresurgence.com/2009/08/19/discipleship-starts-at-home-part-1
Yesterday we talked about teaching Christian values in day to day life, but what about teaching them the source of those values? Today we’ll focus on reading the Bible together.
Here are some tips from http://theresurgence.com/2009/08/22/discipleship-starts-at-home-part-2
Find a good children’s Bible.
Remember to have fun with your children while learning the Bible.
Keep the time brief to hold the child's attention.
Recite the verse several times a day in your child's presence so it becomes familiar to them.
Make flash cards with Scripture on one side and the book, chapter, and verse on the other.
Put the verse to music or rhythm. Your child will enjoy singing and clapping their hands.
Think of fun activities to make the verse fun and easy to remember.
Tell them you are proud of them and have them recite it to someone else, like a grandparent or teacher.
Pray with your children every day at meals and before they go to bed at night.
Some other resources: http://www.sermons4kids.com/ and http://www.dltk-kids.com/
Challenge: What routines will you introduce into your personal and/or family life to practice Christian faith? How can RTC support you as a family? What kind of church community would help you disciple your children? Complete our survey here:
Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8TS7K93
