Pride

Think about the last time you disobeyed your parents or were not nice to a friend…..when you put your thoughts and feelings before others and didn’t really care about how the other person felt or if they might be hurt from your actions.  That is pride.  Did you know that God does not like pride.  When we think and act like we are better than others we start to think and act like we don’t need God.  I don’t know about you, but that is NOT how I want to live my life. 

 

The Tower of Babel was a tower that all the people of Babylonia started to build for themselves to reach to the heavens.  Genesis 11:4, “Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 

 

They were so concerned with being famous and wanted everyone to know how great they were.  People were convinced that they would become great if this tower was built to the heavens.  Their pride had taken over and all they were thinking about was gratifying themselves, and that they would be known in all the world.  My question to you is, is this how you are living your life?  Are you only doing things to benefit yourself and make yourself look good?  Do you want to be a part of things purely to say that you were?  Are you putting your feelings and thoughts before others? 

 

If you have your child training bible, turn to the first tab for pride, 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

 

Pride causes destruction, it does not allow us to be humble.  Humility is the opposite of pride and this is how we should live our life.  Each one of us might be good at some things, but you can be for sure that each one of us is special at something that you are not.  Realize that everyone in your presence, poor, rich, disabled, different races, etc are all Gods people and He loves us all the same and expects us to do the same for others.  And as children of God, we need not have a proud heart that produces sin, but live by God’s word, which says in Jeremiah 9:24 to know “ that I am Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord.”

Salt the Oats

I heard a phrase this week that really has stuck out to me:  Salt the Oats.  What does this mean?  Glad you asked.  How do we get our children to come hungry and thirsty for God's word?  Salt the Oats.  When you add salt to oats it makes you thirsty!  Thirsty for some more!  So how do you salt the oats when pertaining to God’s word?  In my family we started a Christmas devotion for a month, a couple of years ago.  Well, we quickly realized how much our children loved that special time each night and we decided to continue that throughout the year.  I was pleasantly surprised when this time quickly turned into my children’s favorite time of the day and they were eager for Bible Time to get started!  It is a special time of pajamas, snuggles, and picking apart scripture and applying it to our lives.  We share struggles, stories, and praises for the day.  The praises (we just added this component) has really helped behavior during the day.  The kids really want to be praised for serving one another or showing kindness, so they make a lot of attempts throughout the day to get the recognition and eventually that just turns into learned behavior!  Where do you start with Bible Time?  Your Child Training Bible is a great start.  Go through those tabs with your kids.  Share where you struggle.  Write key verses on index cards where everyone struggles and stick them by your beds.  The more you read them and reread them, the stickier they will become!  I also bought a Time Line and it walks you through the entire Bible (http://www.gospellight.com/product_details.aspx?id=11887).  The possibilities are endless and The Bible says God’s word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11-so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.)  Make Bible Time fun and suspenseful.  Sometimes, don’t finish a story and leave them craving for the next night so they can hear what happens at the end!  Memorize scripture together as a family – why not start with Romans 12?!!  And don’t leave out the best part……prayer.  Pray together.  Pray for each other.  Take turns.  The more your kids pray, the more comfortable they will be to pray other places and in front of others.  Go ahead…………..Salt the Oats………………I dare you!!!!!

Sunblock

I went to the beach for a few days with my family.  My kids love the beach and the pool.  We were outside playing from 9-5 everyday soaking up all the beautiful ocean air.  It would have been so easy for me to have woken up each day and told my kids to get their suits on and lets go.  But that couldn't happen.  You see, we have such fair skin.  The sun loves to fry us up!  We use that spray can stuff, but when it comes to all day sun rays, we have to go with the good ole' trusty thick white stuff and we can visibly see that the sunblock had been applied.  We also have 5 kids.  This process of sun block application takes exactly 1 hour!  (My husband sunblocks while I do hair and make lunches)  1 hour every morning to PREPARE our kids for all day fun in the sun.  We were able to rest and relax as soon as our kids hit the sand and went their ways for an all day adventure, because we knew they were PREPARED and PROTECTED!!  What if we took the time each day to pray for our children?  What if before we sent them out for the day, we stopped and prayed WITH THEM and asked for protection as they stepped foot into their schools.  What if we asked them before they left, if they were struggling with anything:  wrong friendships, anger, laziness, or fear and then read them a few verses from our Child Training Bibles?  Wouldn’t that be preparing them for the day?  I felt like I did my job, as a parent, preparing and protecting my kids as they ran around in the sun all day.  I want to do the same as they take on each and every day and lather them in prayer for they are His children. 

Listen with Compassion and Speak with Grace

Saturday I was sitting at my son’s football game enjoying the game and yelling “Run, Run” because we had the ball and it looked like we might get a touchdown. In fact, we did get a touchdown but it was called back. Everyone in the stands groaned as we saw the yellow flag hit the ground. Then we sat in silence to see who the flag was thrown on, us or the other team. The referee did his hand signals and the announcement was made that the penalty would be against us for holding  and the touchdown would be called back.  As soon as the head coach heard this, he walked out on the field and proceeded to yell loudly at the referee. You see, the head coach did not like the call that was made by the referee for several reasons. His son was the one that had ran and got the touchdown, the coach had seen the other team horse collar some of our players and we didn’t get points on the scoreboard. Mr. Coach was mad and he was responding harshly.  The coach yelling at the referee was not called for in my opinion. I understood that he was upset and let his emotions get in the way but for the rest of the game the referees did not like our team and called every small penalty they saw while the other team got by with a lot of penalties. I agree it was not a fair ball game, but I wonder if the outcome would have been different if the coach had reacted differently.

   We often have the idea that if we raise our voice, and yell or scream,  we will achieve a greater response but many times it has the exact opposite effect and will worsen the problem rather than resolving it.  The Bible has a wealth of wisdom for those of us who have ears to hear and receive it. It has to do with “A gentle answer” and not “ A harsh word.” Proverbs 15:1 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” That verse is telling us we need to listen with compassion and speak with grace. This is not always easy to do, especially when someone makes us mad. We want to yell or speak harsh thinking it will get our point across but really it creates anger. Next time someone makes you mad, respond to them in a whisper and see what happens. Let’s commit to speak with grace, God’s grace. Respond to people using “Gentle Words” and not” Harsh Words.” When we do, it will go a long way toward creating a new life in our family, school, where we work, and everywhere we go.

New School Year.........What's New??

 

Calling all kids!!!
We Want to Welcome you to Kid City - Our new Children's Department that is full of lots of wonderful ways to teach you about Jesus!

Come join us for some exciting things happening in the City

 

DOT - Department of Transformation

Dive into Bible studies with small groups on Sunday mornings at 8:30 and 11:00.  See what God's Word is revealing through an in depth study of the Bible.  (grades k-5th grade)

 

Uptown

Special time of praise, worship, and engaging lessons during the Sunday morning church service at 9:30 (for grades k-2)

 

One Way with AWANA

Bible Club for Ages 2 yr.-5th grade Sunday nights 5:30-7:30

 

Main Street 

Teaching kids the Main Things:  Loving Jesus, Serving others, and Reaching the World through worship time, music, and mission projects.  Wednesday nights at 7 (Grades k-5th)