faithful families

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Faithful Families Resources August 25 2013

Weekly Inspiration

You cannot make your children love the Bible, I allow. None but the Holy Ghost can give us a heart to delight in the Word. But you can make your children acquainted with the Bible; and be sure they cannot be acquainted with that blessed book too soon, or too well.

~J. C. Ryle

Family Closeness

Game:

The Cereal Box Game

You will need a large empty cereal box for this game. Each family member takes a turn to pick up the box with their teeth without let anything but their feet touch the ground. After each round a few centimetres are cut off the top of the box and everyone has another go. Keep going until the last person can’t pick up the cereal box. Make sure you do it on a carpeted surface and older family members may need to do some warming up and stretching before trying this.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

This is an appropriate one for Australian’s right now in the midst of a short but tedious election campaign.

If you were running for Prime Minister/President what things would you want to change about the country?
What issues do you think should be most important?
Why do you think politicians don’t always do what they say they will do?

Story

With your family read: Luke 14.1,7-14

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/all_puffed_up.htm

Questions for Discussion:

Why do you think Jesus told this parable?
Why do you think humility was important to Jesus?
Why did Jesus tell the Pharisees to invite the poor to their home?

Prayer and Celebration

Psalm Prayers

The Psalms can be great models of prayer, especially for praise and adoration.

Choose a psalm that expresses this and pray it together with your family. Some good P & A psalms are: 8, 19, 23, 29, 33,47, 48, 66, 84, 96 – 100, 104, 108, 111, 134, 135, 145 – 150.

Family Activity

Family Time Line

To help your family think about good things God has given you, work together to make a family time line. Draw a line in the centre of a long sheet of paper. Choose a starting date to write at the left end of the line. Your time line may cover a week, a one month period, or the school holidays, or a year. To help family members think of time line events, ask questions such as: "What was something we did that we really enjoyed? How did someone help us in a special way? Who are some new friends our family made?" Display the time line on a wall or door. Allow younger children to enjoy drawing pictures to illustrate the time line. (Adventures for Growing Families. Wes & Sheryl Haystead.)

(This material is based on and draws from earlier Faithful Families emails by Stephen Harrison & Richard Browning: An Unless Ideas Production.) Unless otherwise noted all material on this blog is copyright Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Faithful Families Resources August 4 2013

Weekly Inspiration

This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, "How will this affect their souls?".

~J. C. Ryle

Family Closeness

Game:

One family member is chosen to be "Simon". Simon then calls out an action for everyone to follow. It could be anything like touch your nose or wave your hands. When giving an action the words “Simon says” must be used before the action. For example: Simon says touch your nose. When this formula is used everyone must do the action. The trick is for Simon to tell people an action without saying “Simon says” first. If anyone then does the action they are out of the game.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

Choose one word that starts with each letter of your name that describes you. For example if your name is Joe you might choose jolly, optimistic and exhausted. Parents might need to help younger ones with possible words.

Story

With your family read: Luke 12.32-40

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/treasure_heart.html

Questions for Discussion:

How do you think you get treasure in heaven?
Jesus says “where your treasure is, there your heart is also”
What do you think this means?
What might is mean to always be ready for Jesus?

Prayer and Celebration

Passing of the Cross

At the dinner table a holding cross is passed from member to member. Whoever holds the cross is the person who prays. This prayer begins with one person who either says a prayer out loud or silently says or imagines a prayer. The cross is passed when the person who holds it is finished. Each person takes their turn. Prompts may be given by parents as the cross is passed.

Eg. See…a friend in need, a hurt that needs healing…etc.

Pray one sentence…prompt: thank you God for

Service

Service Project for Families with Teenagers and Young Adults

Coach a sports team for young children
Speak out about social issues in your community
Use more indepth skills to create items for people in need

Family Activity

Hands and Feet

Draw around the outlines of your children's hands and feet onto cardboard. Cut them out and write words on them that might help them to remember how they help Jesus build his kingdom. They might be words like serve, share, love, grow. Alternatively draw pictures of these things or get your children to draw pictures of these things. Blue tack or sticky tape them around the house so that they might be reminded throughout the week that they are workers in the kingdom of God.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Faithful Families Resources July 28 2013

Weekly Inspiration

Love is one grand secret of successful training. Anger and harshness may frighten, but they will not persuade the child that you are right; and if he sees you often out of temper, you will soon cease to have his respect. A father who speaks to his son as Saul did to Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:30) need not expect to retain his influence over that son's mind.

~J. C. Ryle

Family Closeness

Game:

Zip Zap

This is a basic game consisting of two words- "Zip" and "Zap". Someone will begin the "flow" by turning to the person next to them and saying "Zip". The flow will continue in the same direction with everyone saying "Zip" until someone decides to reverse the flow by saying "Zap." At that time, the person who just got "zapped" will look at the "zap"-er and say "Zip!" Flow then reverses from it's original with everyone saying Zip again. Example: The "Zip" starts clockwise around the circle until 1 person looks the other way and says "Zap." Then the "Zip" flows counterclockwise until someone else says "Zap."

Zip continues the flow, Zap reverses it.

If someone says the wrong word, mumbles, stalls, or looks the wrong way for the word they said, they're out. Continue playing until down to 2 players.

(The Source for Youth Ministry)

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

Family Fill-Ins

With your family complete as many of these statements as you can:

We are a family who

likes…

learns…

cares for…

helps…

would never…

would rather…

loves to…

will someday…

(Adventures for Growing Families. Wes & Sheryl Haystead)

Story

With your family read: Luke 12.13-21

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/biggest_slice_of_the_pie.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What does Jesus warn people against in this story?
What did the man in the story do that Jesus showed to be foolish?
What could he have done with his extra wealth?
What do you think it means to be rich towards God?

Prayer and Celebration

Praying ACTS

Often children get into the habit of always praying thank you prayers or always praying asking prayers. One way to help them broaden their idea of prayer is to teach them this simple way of remembering some different types of prayer.

A – adoration : Prayers telling God how wonderful He is.

C – confession : Prayers saying sorry for the wrong we have done.

T – thanksgiving : Prayers thanking God for all He has done.

S – supplication: Prayers asking God for the things we and others need.

On different days of the week you might like to get your family to talk about and pray each of the different types of prayers. Alternatively you could write the four letters on pieces of paper and pick them out of a hat to determine which one you will use. When it come to confession prayers help your children think not just about their own personal sin but the things we as a people have failed to do – like care for the environment or the needy.

Service

Compliments

Encourage your family to have a week of compliments. Practice by starting with your own family and encourage everyone to find things they want to compliment or encourage each other about. Expand this to the places you work or go to school or play. Compliments could be for anything, even small things. It might be for something someone does well, for something positive in their character, or for something they have done that was beneficial. This may seem like a small way to serve but it is something that even young children can learn to do. It not only is a way of serving but also a way of shaping character.

Family Activity

Plant a Garden Together

It doesn't have to be a huge garden but it might encourage your children to eat more vegetables. Plant the things that are guaranteed to produce like zucchinis, cherry tomatoes and beans. Find some more information on this activity here:

http://www.kidspot.com.au/omofunzone/Build-Grow-your-own-food+7023+566+article.htm

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Faithful Families Resources July 21 2013

Weekly Inspiration

[God] gives your children a mind that will receive impressions like moist clay. He gives them a disposition at the starting-point of life to believe what you tell them, and to take for granted what you advise them, and to trust your word rather than a stranger’s. He gives you, in short, a golden opportunity of doing them good. See that you do not neglect such an opportunity. Once you let it slip, it is gone forever.

~J. C. Ryle

Family Closeness

Game:

Sleeping Lions

This game could be played at the dinner table or on the floor. One family member is up and they are the hunter. Everyone else must either put their hands and heads down on the table and not move or lie completely still on the floor. The hunter must try to make the sleeping lions move by making them laugh. The hunter is not allowed to touch the sleeping lion. Once a lion has been woken they then join the hunter to try to wake the others.

Sharing:

Which of the following do you think would be best, and why?

Dinner with everyone at the table and the TV on with your favourite program.
Dinner in which everybody took what they wanted from the fridge and no one had the same thing.
Dinner with the whole family together and no TV on.

Story

With your family read: Luke 11.1-13

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/knock_knock.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What are some of the things the prayer Jesus taught suggests we should pray for?
What do you think of the story about the friend who asks for bread at midnight?
Do you think we need to pester God to hear our prayers?
Do you think God would ever give you something bad if you prayed for good things?

Prayer and Celebration

Praying for another Family

Help to expand your family’s prayer world by praying for another family in your neighbourhood or church. Maybe you could do a kind of prayer swap. Find a family, it may be like yours or not, it doesn't matter, and ask them if you could pray for each other. Find out each week what they would like prayer for and pray for those things around the dinner table. Tell them what things your family would like pray for. Alternatively adopt some prayer grandparents. Again your family can pray for them and they can pray for you. This is a good way to help your children think about others and understand their life while engaging in the ministry of prayer.

Service

Be the change (pun intended)

Get a large jar and throughout the year toss any spare change your family has in it. At the end of the year or when the jar is full cash it in at the bank and choose a charity to give the money too. It may not be a huge amount but having the jar in a visible place will help your family remember that they have a goal and a charity to support. Your children could also be encouraged to place some of their pocket money in the jar each week.

Family Activity

Make a Time Capsule

Taken from www.realsimple.com

“Preserving your artifacts is a fun way to celebrate your family now and later—just don’t bury the collection. “When it’s unearthed, if ever, it’s usually a soggy mess,” says Paul Stephen Hudson, a cofounder of the Atlanta-based International Time Capsule Society. Pile everything into an archival box, then stow it away in a cool, dark place. Include the big stuff (artwork, school reports, notes to your future selves) and the little (movie stubs, a printout of a Facebook page, a toy with its batteries removed so they don’t corrode). Items that won’t stand the test of time: delicate clothing, food, or tapes and discs that will be outdated by technology. Add a silica-gel pack (which comes with new shoes) to absorb moisture, and set a date for the big reveal in 25 years.”

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/family-activities-00100000086128/page3.html

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Faithful Families Resources July 14 2013

Weekly Inspiration

The question for the child is not "Do I want to be good?" but "Whom do I want to be like?"

- Bruno Bettelheim

Family Closeness

Game:

My Grandmothers Trunk

Someone starts by completing this sentence with an object that begins with the letter A, My grandmother keeps _____ in her trunk.” The next person completes the sentence repeating the A word and adding a word that starts with B. This continues around the circle, each person repeating what the others said and adding another with the next letter of the alphabet. (Youth Ministry Encyclopaedia. Lyman Coleman. JBCE)

Sharing:

Write down these sentence starters and put them in a bowl. Pick one out each night and ask your family members to complete the sentence.

I know God loves me because…
I’m glad that God…
I wish God would…

Story

With your family read: Luke 10:38-42

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at

http://www.sermons4kids.com/focus_on_jesus.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What bothered Martha?
What did Martha want Mary to do?
What did Jesus want Martha to do?
Who are you more like Mary or Martha?

Prayer and Celebration

Prayer Pot

Cards are made, and on them are the names of people and things that are really important to the family. It may just be photos of family members; it may include particular projects or things that have a focus in the family, for example a certain missionary, or World Vision child, or a major event coming up, or particular people who are in need of special prayers. These cards are placed in a special bowl or pot. On any one night, three cards are taken out and used as prompts for conversation or prayer. Children who are learning to pray might be given sentence starters like:

Lord Jesus, thank you for...
Creator God, please help...
Heavenly Father, in your hands we place...

Service

Many churches have a food pantry for people in need. When you go shopping, especially if you take your children shopping, invite them to choose an item to place in the food hamper. It doesn’t matter if they choose something that you might not think appropriate...like coco pops...even people in need like coco pops.

Family Activity

Use an old newspapers to make costumes for your family. Have a fashion parade and take some photos. Make “formal dress” and wear them to the table for a special dinner.

[Having trouble playing? When Jesus said we must change and become like children, he could have meant many things. One of them surely is about playing. Play is a serious way of being together and learning together. This is the principle activity through which children learn and grow. A corollary to that is laughter. The God who brings laughter [see Sarah’s words in Genesis 21.6] speaks through Jesus and tells us to change and . . . play like children? So let go, have fun, and live life with enthusiasm](Living faithfully, simply)

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Faithful Families Resources July 7 2013

Weekly Inspiration

Train up your child with all tenderness, affection, and patience. I do not mean that you are to spoil him/her, but I do mean that you should let him see that you love him. Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct. Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys — these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily — these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his/her heart.

~J.C Ryle

Family Closeness

Game:

When I hear…I think…

This game is about connecting words and ideas. Someone starts off by saying “I am thinking of…” and then saying a word or object, for example “cat”. The next person says “When I hear ‘cat’ I think of” and then say the word or thing they connect with “cat” it might be “whiskers”. The next person then takes up the word whiskers. “When I hear “whiskers” I think of..” Keep going until you drive each other crazy. I wonder where you will end up?

Sharing:

Begin a habit of asking around your family: what is one thing you learnt today? (A story is told of one family who were using this pattern whose children would look through the encyclopaedia before meal time to have something to bring, another family had to bring a new word to the dinner table and so would flip through the dictionary. (The Big Book of Family Fun. Gwen Ellis)

Story

With your family read: Luke 10:25-37

Questions for Discussion:

What does loving God with mind, heart, soul and strength look like?
What might loving your neighbour look like?
What do you think of the story of the good Samaritan?
What might Jesus mean when he said: go and do likewise.

Prayer and Celebration

Last week the practice of building prayer into the routines of life was discussed. Here is another idea along the same line but from a slightly different angle. As children grow there are many habits we want them to learn, that we hope might become automatic in their life, such as washing hands before meal or brushing teeth. Years and years of doing these activities hopefully ingrain the habit for life. In the teaching of these habits is an opportunity to remember God and to prayer. When washing a toddler or young childs hand before a meal take the time to say a prayer out loud. This could be a memorised prayer or it could be a line of scripture like – Psalm 51.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Service

Collect toys for young children who are either hospitalised in foster care or in a crisis nursury
Ask families to make may baskets and fill the baskets with candy and small toys
Invite families to sort through their childrn's outgrown shoes and clothes
Have families with young children draw pictures and make greeting cards for people in your congregations who are sick

Family Activity

If your children’s grandparents or uncles or aunties live some way away (or even if they don’t) get them to record a story about their childhood on a tape recorder or to write it down, and post it to you. Your family can then listen to the story during family sharing time. Your children might like to record one of their own stories to post back to their grandparents.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Faithful Families Resources June 30 2013

Weekly Inspiration

Children Are Like Kites

You spend years trying to get them off the ground.

You run with them until you are both breathless. They crash ... they hit the roof ... you patch, comfort and assure them that someday they will fly.

Finally, they are airborne.

They need more string, and you keep letting it out.

They tug, and with each twist of the twine, there is sadness that goes with joy.

The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won't be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you together and will soar as meant to soar ... free and alone.

Only then do you know that you have done your job.

http://www.inspirationalstories.com/5/553.html

Family Closeness

Game:

Drop It

This game is played in pairs with two family members facing each other. One holds an object in each hand outstretched at shoulder level and the suddenly drops one of the objects. The other person has to catch it before it touches the ground.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

These questions are to stimulate a sense of openness, sharing and discovery about your family. The key is to listen!!

What is the best thing and the worst thing that happened to you this week.
What is something that you might say thank you to God for this week?

Ones for the adults particularly to share:

Where have you been aware of God’s presence in your life this week.
What “God moments” happened to you this week?

Story

With your family read: Luke 10:1-11

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/harvest_time.htm

Questions for Discussion:

Why do you think Jesus sent people out in pairs?
What is the harvest Jesus is talking about?
What are the two different responses Jesus told the disciples they might expect?
What message did Jesus want them to tell both groups no matter how they were treated?
How do you think you would feel going out to tell people about Jesus?

Prayer and Celebration

Make and Memorise

This week learn a prayer off by heart, together. Write or find a prayer that you can use with your family every night at mealtimes and family sharing times. Make it an activity that you do together. The prayer does not have to be complicated, but simple enough for everyone to remember. It might include some lines of thanks or praise or asking. Supplied here are a few prayers that you could start from or use. If your family does not know the Lord’s Prayer it would be a fantastic time to learn it together. (On the right hand side of this blog is a weekly verse of scripture which you might also like to get your family to memorise together.)

Dear God,

Thank you for your love and care.

Thank you for the food we share.

Help us show your love today.

In all we do and think and say.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

For food in a world where many walk in hunger;

For faith in a world where many walk in fear;

For friends in a world where many walk alone;

We give you thanks, O Lord. Amen.

(Source: Huron Hunger Fund, Anglican Church of Canada)

Service

One of the most basic ways to get your family involved in serving in the world is to sponsor a child. There are a range of organisations that provide the means for sponsoring children including:

World Vision - http://www.worldvision.com.au

Compassion - http://www.compassion.com.au

This provides a great opportunity to children to think about how other children in the world live. This can provide a focal point for be thankful for all they have and for helping through giving and prayer. Children if they are given pocket money should be encouraged to give a portion of it back to parents as their contribution to sponsoring the child.

Family Activity

The Bag that’s me. Create a paper bag collage out of newspaper or magazine cuttings. Paste on the outside of the paper bag any cuttings that symbolise how you appear on the outside. Put inside the paper bag any symbols that reveal who you are on the inside. Spend ten minutes tearing out things from a magazine – words, photographs, slogans – anything the reminds you of yourself. Then take about five minutes pasting your cuttings on the outside or inside of your paper bag. Share with your family what is on the outside and inside of your bag. Children can just use pictures of things that they like. (Youth Ministry Encyclopaedia. JBCE)