Monday - A New Idea - The Night That Changed the Powerful
Last week we started a new series called, “The Night that Changed Everything.” We’re looking at the significance of Christmas, a night that changed much more than most of us imagine. We’ll see its impact on five segments of society:
The Night That Changed the Religious
The Night That Changed the Powerful
The Night That Changed the Poor
The Night That Changed You
The Night That Changed the Wise
This week we’re looking at how it changed the powerful.
This one can be hard for us to see. In Western culture, we’re used to thinking that those who celebrate Christmas are far from powerless. They have long been the majority in Western countries, and the Christian church has been a dominant player in society. Christmas is a visible sign of that power – it’s become a huge part of even secular culture, even if that version is stripped of its truth.
But what actually happened at Christmas was the birth of a baby boy – one of the most powerless things you can imagine. Human babies are so helpless and vulnerable, not powerful except in the emotional control they exert without knowing.
As we saw last week, the baby named Jesus was identified early on as a king – given gifts from Magi, and so on. But unlike Prince George, he wasn’t born in a private hospital with attendants and staff looking after it all. He was born powerless, in a stable, laid in a feedtrough.
And yet, he struck fear in the hearts of the powerful. We’ll look at that story this week.
Question: What scares powerful people?
Reminder: We have a great Christmas event coming December 14th, 2013: The Original Christmas Party. Hope you’re coming!
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
