At Home with God

In the light of the recent coronavirus outbreak, many churches are changing the way they connect together. For many this means no meetings on a Sunday for a season and even no small group gatherings. What can you do to make the most of this time as a family and grow spiritually? Jesus often withdrew to a lonely place to pray and it seems that for many of us we are entering a season of withdrawing from others. Whilst others are fighting to keep this country going, let's make the most of this season to seek God's face, grow closer to Him and build His kingdom. Whilst there are many new stresses and routines have been broken , let's not forget that we serve a great God and now is the time for the church to rise up and shine for Jesus. Many families will be spending a lot more time together, whilst others will be working at full stretch to keep our country going. In times when a nation is in crisis, it is vitally important that we seek God. This is an opportunity for the...

With the recent announcement from the UK government of the closure of schools for all but essential workers, we know some parents are dreading the practical implications of what this will mean for their family. While I am sure some parents will be delighting in the prolonged holiday together many parents are wondering how they can help keep their children’s education moving forward and continue working from home as well. As a parent who works from home and who has also schooled our children at home over several years I hope the following will be of help. 1) Don’t panic In times of uncertainty it is easy to panic as we try to work out how things will work. Our attitude should not be one of panic, but one of trust and faith in God. He will bring us through this time stronger and more ready to bring His kingdom to the world. When you take this attitude, your children will pick up on it and find the same strength in the Lord. 2) Do structure It would be easy to let the da...

I watched the child at the end of the service. He was only around six or seven years old and he was acting suspiciously. He looked around him to see if anyone was watching then knelt down and dived into a lady’s handbag. He came up triumphant, sneaking a sweet into his pocket and scurrying off to a quiet corner of the church. The lady was not his mother, or a relative, or even a friend of the family. To this boy she was a complete stranger. When I approached the young boy, he was hid in a corner, busy chewing a sweet. He looked up at me, startled from his seclusion. “Where did you get the sweet from?” I asked him. I told him I had been watching him for the past ten minutes and had seen what he had done. He had no answer to give. In my mind, this event was serious. Sure, he had not stolen her purse, or her money, or anything of real value, but he had gone into a stranger’s bag to take something he wanted. ‘I will have to tell you parents about this,’ I said, gravely. ‘Please d...

Children can be leaders. Children should be leaders. Children who follow Jesus will find themselves leading others. I have seen this happen time after a time. This should be no surprise, for those who are of the kingdom of God are called to be leaders in the world: our calling as salt and light is not dependant on age or spiritual maturity. Indeed, Jesus implies that anyone who is following him is the light and salt of the world (not that we need to become it). The only question is whether or now we will hide our light and whether our salt will lose its saltiness.  This means, by definition, our children are called to lead. By leadership I do not mean that children will take over the church eldership and start managing the church budgets. I mean that they are prepared to make a stand for God no matter what comes their way.  This is part of what it means to be adopted. No wonder the rebuke from Paul over the church in Corinth’s inability to judge correctly is so pa...

The worship song had begun and the girl on the camp started to pray for everyone around her. I am all for children praying for each other, but something about what she was doing caught my attention. I stepped off the platform to chat with her and after a brief conversation encouraged her not to worry about anyone else at this time, but to worship God for the remainder of the song. I climbed back on to the platform to carry on leading. Five seconds later she was praying for people again. ‘You are not to pray for people now, now is the time to worship Jesus.’ Moments later the girl was off praying for others. It soon became clear that she had been taught to minister to people, but did not know how to minister to the Lord. In part one of this series we looked at the importance of giving our children opportunities to stretch their faith. If their faith is to develop, it must have a forum in which it can move beyond the theory into action. The hall of faith listed in Hebrews 11 shows t...

Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. If we are to disciple our children we must see them grow in faith. Ineffective faith will result in children falling away from God. Faith comes from hearing God’s word (Hebrews 10:17). That’s why I am so passionate about making sure that we proclaim the Gospel to the next generation and give them an opportunity to engage with the Bible for themselves and see God’s word lived out in their lives. Responding to the Gospel results from hearing God’s word preached. This Faith then needs to be strengthened (Acts 16:5), tested and grown (2 Corinthians 10:15). All of this happens when we have to move our faith from the place of theory and concepts into the place of action and experience. James illustrates this when he says in James 2:17-18, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith b...

One generation ago, the value system for children was, generally speaking, consistent in a child’s life. School, church and home all shared common Christian values (though not necessarily beliefs) and spoke openly about them. This is no longer the case for most of our children. The world they are growing up in is now vastly different. As Christian parents, raising our children, there may be times when the value system of the school not only fails to support, but actively opposes the values we are seeking to instil in our children. Many parents have approached us on how to handle this conflict, so here are our thoughts: 1. Earn influence Support the teachers.  If the first time you speak to your child’s teacher is when you have an issue, it is easier for them to dismiss your concerns because they do not know you. From the start of the school year, or from tomorrow, become the teacher’s greatest supporter. Most teachers are overworked, and underthanked! Even if a teacher is to...