Welcome, Tracy!

We welcome Tracy West to the Grace Church Children’s Ministry Staff!  Tracy has joined the staff this week as our Elementary Coordinator.  A graduate of Anderson University, Tracy brings years of ministry experience in equipping gospel-center ministries as well as the local church, a passion for the Lord and an artistic gifting to the team.  Please introduce yourself to Tracy and welcome her to our body.

-Children's Ministry Staff

Parent Link Invitation and Reminder!

Parents of kids of all ages, don't miss a great opportunity tomorrow night called Parent Link...a Quarterly Parenting Conversation.

Parenting in today's world is one of the most difficult things we are called to do.  If you're anything like me, you have more questions than answers, and "HELP" is the daily (sometimes hourly) cry of your heart.  Parent Link is a new equipping event offering for parents with kids of ALL AGES who want to hear from others in their shoes.  Relevant and current topics will be addressed candidly as we hear from a panel of seasoned parents who have learned much from their past successes and failures.  

Join parents from each of our campuses as we tackle some tough issues and grow together towards loving and leading our kids toward Jesus.  This parenting conversation will be offered quarterly this year, beginning with our first gathering on Tuesday evening, January 31, at 7:00 PM on the Pelham campus.  

Register (and submit your own questions) online at gracechurchsc.org/parentlink.  Don't miss this great opportunity to learn from scripture and from others who have gone before us on this great adventure of raising the next generation.  We encourage you to invite others and bring them with you (other parents, neighbors, friends, folks from work).  There is no charge for this event, but online registration is recommended.

 

- Ed Sweeny, Pastor of Families

Is our call greater than Carpe Diem?

Do you find yourself thinking there must be something more?  Are you living in survival mode, doing all you can to manage to get through the day?  We run from school, to work, to this practice or to a lesson, squeezing in dinner and homework here or there.  With demanding schedules driven by outside forces or our own desires for order and pursuit of the well-adjusted child, we can easily loose sight of our purpose and goals.  That raises the question, what is our goal?  Have we set a goal?  Our ultimate purpose as parents is to shape and prepare our children for a relationship with Christ, parenting today for the coming years and for an eternal future.

How can you be more tuned in to the reality of our ultimate destination?  Look for ways to incorporate Jesus into everyday life—and on an everyday basis. Read Deuteronomy 6 and ask God to give you insight into opportunities to point to Him throughout the day, in every opportunity.  Experience and communicate a sense of awe of His power with every sunrise, sunset, or rainstorm you encounter with your kids.  Evaluate if your schedule provides time for you to enjoy the gift of your children.  Use the tools sent home with your children from the weekend and talk about the attributes and principles they are studying during weekend services.  Parent Pages, S'more Cards and bookmarks can be found online at our website. 

Feel the freedom to seek God and do something different, do something intentional.  Be intentional with your choices, your time, and their energy. Arrange your plans around the big-picture goal. If activities start to interfere with what’s really important, reevaluate and rework your family’s schedule. When faith becomes the top priority for your family, it’ll also become the top priority for your children.  It may mean giving up a sport they have played for a couple years.  It may mean giving up one of your hobbies.  It may mean adding new activities to your calendar, intentional time to love, laugh and grow together.  Live it out, mirror His image, and maintain your eternal perspective and sense of awe in our Amazing God and share it with your family.

Are you seeking more encouragement in your journey of intentional parenting?  Join us, Tuesday, January 31st at Parent Link. http://gracechurchsc.org/parentlink

- Lee Anne Cavin, Children's Ministry Director

Your Kids and Baptism

As a father of three children, it is my constant mission to provide for each of them in the very best way that I can.  I am compelled to do everything in my strength and ability to give them all that they need for protection, direction, health, and success in this life.  But one thing I can not do for them is secure their salvation and give them a relationship with Jesus, their Lord and Savior. 

I want to.  I really wish I could.  I have tried.  But I can’t.  This decision...the most important decision our kids will ever make in their lifetimes...is theirs alone to make.  My role as a parent is to love them, lead them, pray for them, and live out what God is doing in my life.  But I will never have the power to control or manipulate what only God can do.  Only God can draw my children to Himself, and only God can save them.

Which brings me to baptism.  This coming weekend, we have an opportunity as a church to witness the saving power of our Lord in the baptism of believers.  Baptism services are always amazing.  It is a powerful thing to see and hear stories of how God has used others to point the way to Jesus.  It is powerful as well to see friends and families surround those who have chosen to trust Christ and celebrate with them.  But what is most powerful of all is the fact that God has moved and worked in people’s lives to redeem them.  God has done what was necessary to secure this salvation that each of us was made for.  God alone is mighty to save.  And this weekend, when we witness this powerful act at every service on every campus, God alone should receive the glory and the praise. 

As a parent, with children who are growing and learning and on the journey toward finding lifelong personal faith in Jesus, I have the privilege this weekend to give my kids a window into what God is up to in the lives of people.  When we watch the video testimonies, we learn that it is important to know what God is up and to be able to communicate what He has done.  When we watch each person go under the water, we get to see how important it is that our old self, with all it’s sin and selfishness, must die.  When we release our held breath as we see the splashing water and the rising believer come up, we can point our kids to the truth that though we must die, as believers we are raised up into new life with Christ.  We can watch together in that moment the reality that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now that is something I CAN do as a parent.  I can use the open window of baptism to give my kids a view into what God is really up to.  What a blessing that God gives us baptism as an outward sign of an internal reality that he has done the work sufficient to save us.  Be encouraged as you teach your children the truth that God alone can reach them and redeem them.  You can only point them toward him.

Additional Reading:
        Colossians 2:12
        Matthew 28:19-20

-Ed Sweeny, Pastor of Families

Your Kids and Communion

We began this new year on a Sunday, January 1.  At Grace, we typically celebrate Communion on the first weekend of every month.  So we began 2012 as a church with the Lord’s Supper, and since there was no elementary programming this past week, many of us had our children with us.  This may have presented you with an opportunity to teach and explain something that has been a vital part of Christianity since Christ’s final days in earth.  If your family is anything like mine, then you have lots more questions than answers, so I thought I’d stir the pot a bit on how to approach communion with your growing kids.

Communion is an ordinance (a public ceremony) instituted by Christ to serve as a continual remembrance of his saving death and as a means to draw us into fellowship and communion with him.  By taking the elements, we remember Jesus’ perfect, sinless life (the bread) and his redemptive sacrifice and blood (the grape juice) that paid the price for our sins.  These elements are symbols of the real truth that Jesus had to die in our place and was sufficient to do so.  If there is anything that we need to be intentional to teach our kids, this is it.  That all of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that the price of our sin is death (Romans 6:23).  It is only as our children begin to understand this tragic truth that they can begin to understand and receive the great news of the Gospel...that their sins have been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross and that by his grace, we are redeemed and restored forever in the relationship we were made to have with him. 

As a parent, it is ultimately your responsibility to discern for each of your children when communion is appropriate for them and when it is not.  At Grace, we celebrate with an “open table”.  This means that anyone who has a personal relationship with Christ, those who have confessed and believed that Christ’s work on the cross was for their sin, can partake in Communion.  Believing children are welcome at the open table. Those who have not personally and publicly identified with Christ as their Savior should not be allowed to partake.  If this produces tension or questions from your child, then take advantage of this perfect opportunity to explain the Gospel to your kids.  This may be the moment that God uses to reveal himself personally to your child.  What a gift to get to be a part of his work in their life!

How good of God to give our church and our families a fresh start to this new year by allowing us to observe and remember the new life we have been given through his necessary death in our place.  Blessings to all of you parents as you probe the depths of our mysterious and amazing God with your growing and teachable children.  Let’s not miss any opportunity that he gives us to proclaim the truth of who he is and our deep need for him.

Ed Sweeny, Grace Church Pastor to Families

Are You Smarter Than Your 1st-4th Grader??

This week in Camp Grace, our campers competed in a Genesis review game of “Who Wants to be a Bible Scholar?”  At the end of class, they brought home a bookmark for their continued reading and study, which can also be found online, but there was no S’more Card for this week.  Instead, test your knowledge with these questions and see if you and your camper can answer them all (answers are at the end so you can check).  Did you miss a few more than you thought?  Improve your score and connect with your camper by studying the S’more Card together each week.  Look for the S’more Card at the end of class next week or online.  Let’s all “get some more of God”!

Question 1

We started the year studying about the Trinity.  The Trinity means that God is three persons in one.  He is God the Father, God the Son and _____________________.

A.    God the Creator.

B.     God the Holy Spirit.

C.     God the Big Guy in the Sky.

D.    God the Merciful.

Question 2

God created Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden. He told them they could eat from any tree, except for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan tempted Eve into eating fruit from this tree, and sinning for the first time. What was Satan disguised as?

A. Skunk

B. Seal

C. Salamander

D. Serpent

Question 3

Adam and Eve had two sons, one of whom killed the other out of jealousy and anger. What were their son's names, and who killed whom?

A. Abel and Caleb; Abel killed Caleb

B. Casey and Alex; Alex killed Casey

C. Abel and Cain; Cain killed Abel

D. Joseph and Judah; Joseph killed Judah

Question 4

The world was filled with evil, and God decided to destroy every living thing. He spared Noah and his family because Noah was righteous. God showed Noah and his family grace by saving them. What is grace?

A. Being given something you deserve

B. Getting whatever you want

C. Being given something you don't deserve

D. Being mean to someone else

Question 5

After Noah and his family came off of the ark, what was the first thing Noah did?

A. Built an altar and worshipped himself

B. Built a house for his family

C. Built an altar and worshipped God

D. Built a barn to put the animals in

Question 6

God created us to worship Him. To worship in truth means:

A. To worship in a town called Truth

B. To worship from the heart

C. To take a lie detector test before worshipping

D. To find the old Christian group, Truth, and ask if you can join

Question 7

God appeared to Abram and changed his name to Abraham, which means "Father of many nations," because God promised Abraham many descendants. How old was Abraham when God appeared to him?

A. 77 years old

B. 99 years old

C. 111 years old

D. 44 years old

Question 8

When Abraham and his nephew Lot had to separate ways, they had to decide how to divide the land. How did they make that decision?

A. Abraham was selfless and let Lot choose first, even though he would probably not get what he wanted

B. Abraham chose first because he was older

C. They raced on horses

D. They played paper-rock-scissors

Question 9

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham:

A. Laughed and told God, "You must be kidding."

B. Packed up everything, left town, and tried to hide from God

C. Obeyed God's command because he loved and trusted God

D. Asked if he could sacrifice Lot instead

Question 10

Abraham sent his servant to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac. This servant displayed great Godly character in finding Isaac's wife. What was the name of this servant, and what was the name of the wife he found for Isaac?

A. Elliott and Rebekah

B. Eliezer and Rachel

C. Eric and Ruth

D. Eliezer and Rebekah

Question 11

Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons named Jacob and Esau. They were very different from one another, and Jacob was jealous of Esau. What did Jacob trick Esau into giving him?

A. Food

B. Birthright

C. Money

D. House

Question 12

Jacob left his family to live with his Uncle Laban. There he married Laban's daughters, Leah and Rachel, and had 12 children. God told him to return to his homeland, so Jacob obeyed. When he returned and saw Esau, he was humble and bowed to Esau. How did Esau respond?

A. He ran to Jacob and kissed him

B. He ran to Jacob and killed him

C. He turned his back to Jacob

D. He told Jacob to leave and never return

Question 13

After Satan tempted Eve and she sinned for the first time, what happened when God called to Adam and Eve?

 A. They ran up to Him and gave him a hug

 B. They hid from Him

 C. They played tag with Him

 D. They gave Him a piece of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

                

Question 14

Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. What happened before Cain killed Abel?

A. God warned Cain not to let sin take control

B. Cain told God he was going to kill Abel

C. Cain was angry and threw a tantrum

D. Abel gave Cain a present

Question 15

When the world had become filled with evil, and God decided to destroy every living thing, He sent a flood to do this. Before he brought the flood, how long did he give the people to confess their sins and repent?

A. 100 years

B. 260 years

C. 120 years

D. 85 years

Question 16

After the flood, the first thing Noah did was worship God. God then made a covenant (promise) to never again destroy all living things with a flood. What did he leave us as the sign of His promise?

A. Clouds

B. Rainbows

C. Waterfalls

D. Earthquakes

Question 17

God told Abram to leave his family and everything behind to go to Canaan. A famine struck Canaan, and Abram was forced to go to Egypt. What did Abram do in Egypt that showed He did not trust in God?

A. Abram lied to the Egyptians and told them he was born in Egypt

B. Abram told his wife Sarai to steal food for them

C. Abram stole food because he was afraid

D. Abram lied to the Egyptians and told the pharaoh his wife Sarai was his sister

Question 18

When Lot was captured, Abram fought the army who had Lot and won. He freed Lot and got back everything that had been taken. Which king blessed Abram after his victory?

A. King of Sodom

B. Melchizedek

C. King of Salem

D. Kedorlaomer

Question 19

God blessed Abraham and Sarah in their old age with a son. They named him Isaac.  What does Isaac's name mean?

A. Sad

B. Funny

C. Laughter

D. Waiting

Question 20

When Abraham sent Eliezer to go to his homeland to look for a wife for Isaac, Eliezer obeyed all of Abraham's commands. Where did he meet Isaac's wife, Rebekah?

A. At a stream

B. In a courtyard

C. On a hill

D. At a well

Answers- 1)B    2)D   3)C   4)C    5)C   6) B   7)B   8)A   9)C   10)D   11) B    12) A  13)B   14)A   15)C   16) B   17) D   18) B   19)C   20) D

Future Women Conference: One Dad's Reflection

This past weekend, my wife and I attended the Future Women Conference along with almost 500 other parents, grandparents, and ministry leaders. Like most parents, we are not just looking to raise “good kids” who do not get into trouble, or even ones that know lots of answers to Bible questions. Instead we want to parent them in a Gospel-centered way that equips them to evaluate their own hearts, their relationships, and their culture in light of who God is and who we are in relationship to Him.

As a father, I also realize that I am accountable for how I shepherd my family. I did not grow up in a family or culture that thought this way, and it is a life-changing experience for me to be a part of a community that takes equipping the next generation, seriously. That all sounds lofty and altruistic as I write it, and in practice it is work...which requires a lot of thought and creativity in the moment. Sometimes I feel like I do that well, and other times I fail miserably.

There were several great take-aways from the conference, but one of the most significant “ah ha” moments for me came when Ed Sweeny said we need to take time to say “yes” to our children. I have felt that before, but could not have put words to it. There are days that I feel like all I say is “no,” followed by discipline, followed by more sayings of “no,” with a few “you know you are not allowed to do that” comments sprinkled in. I knew something did not feel right about that as it was happening, but if you asked, I could not tell you what it was. All I knew was it felt like I was beginning to exasperate them (Colossians 3:21), but did not know how to fix it.

Saying “no” is easy...especially for Dad. We carry a lot of weight, we are tired, we are also (thanks to the fall) predisposed to be passive, feel free to fill in your favorite excuse here. I realize as I am typing this that the days I am most short-tempered and most likely to be agitated are the days that I am least engaged with my children. It takes time and effort to say “yes.” It means I am going to have to close the laptop, not finish that email just yet, turn off the TV, and engage. I will have to ask questions, listen to the answers, and ask follow-up questions. Sometimes it is as simple as getting off of the couch and laying in the floor for 30 minutes while they use me as their trampoline.

“Yes” requires thought and creativity. It requires time and effort. It requires my best when I am feeling my worst. It requires me to evaluate the request and redirect it in a better direction.

Is “yes” always the right answer? No. But “no” is easy and I use it way too much.

- Rob Allen, Children's Ministry Staff

For more information about Men's Roundtable, click the image below.