The importance of family

Many people struggle with their identity in Christ. 

We have  learned that God loves us, wants to bless us and that there is nothing we can do to earn his favour.  We have been taught many things about God but unless the information we are taught becomes revelation it remains information we have learned rather than a deep inner truth that guides our life.

So why do so many people struggle to have this information become revelation?  Why do they struggle with their identity in Christ?

Much has been said about the relationship with our parents formulating our view of God.  When we are born again, the way we have viewed our parents will be the way we view God.  If we have had a loving relationship with our parents then we will not find it difficult to accept that God loves us and wants to bless us, that He accepts us as we are.  If the relationship with our parents was not loving and  accepting but harsh and conditional, that is the view of God we will have in our relationship with him, we will not be able to relate to a loving Father God,

For this reason it is important for your children to know you love and accept them just as they are.

With our busy lives it’s easy to fall into the trap of managing family life rather than building  loving relationships and reflecting God’s unconditional grace to our spouse and our children.

In Malachi the ministry of John the Baptist was described in terms of putting families right with God and each other in preparation for the coming Messiah. He said, “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and hearts of the children to their fathers.” Malachi 4:6

Our families ability to receive God’s love is  directly linked to making family authority, love and faithfulness a priority.

Jan East

Children and Families Pastor

Doing church together

Many families arrive at church together, and then the children go one way and the parents another.  It can easily transpire that your children experience no connection with the main worship service. At age 12 or  13, children’s church is over for them and we expect them to sit still in church and be engrossed in a culture they have little connection with.

Fortunately during the forma  tive years (0-12) many children enjoy doing things with their parents.  This is this key time for parents to be  involved in their child’s  church experience.

Here at Churchlands we provide a Christ centred, Bible based program for children from 18 months to 12 year olds. We have a dedicated team of volunteers who come prepared each week to teach the children from the scriptures; however, only 25% of these volunteers are parents of the children in Kids Alive. A further 25% are young people under 18 years of age.

I want to challenge parents, become involved in your child’s church experience.  Church is far more than learning information; it’s where the habit of attending church as a priority in life is established.

This is not a recruiting campaign, but a genuine desire to see you and your children experiencing church together.  Join the Kids Alive team or come and be part of the fun once a term.

Jan East

Children and Families Pastor.

jan@churchlands.org.au

How the church can help

It’s a joy to work with children who are polite, respectful , love God and have a thirst to know more of His word.  The first 12 years of a child’s life are the time to plant God’s word into open hearts that have not yet learned to be sceptical or cynical and to ground them in character and faith.

When the call of God finally came to Samuel he was a young man. During his first 12 years under the tutelage of his parents then Eli the Priest, he was growing in the  wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. 

Church statistics tell us however that 50% of children leave the church and the faith sometime soon after the age of 12 years.  This is the time when peer pressure begins to take  affect and  children start making some of their own decisions.

I have agonised with many parents as their children,  who have come to church, been to Christian schools, given every opportunity to succeed, turn their back on the faith to follow the ways of the world.

Sometimes people are inclined to blame the church for not providing a suitable program for their young teenagers.  “They loved coming to Sunday School but after that they drifted away”. 

Yes, that can be a problem.  Here at Churchlands plan to hold a graduation service for young people graduating from the Kids Alive program into the Youth Progam to acknowledge their entrance into a new phase of church life.  In the last semester of the each year, our Youth Pastor will regularly meet with the year 7s to begin building relationship with him and his team so that relationships exist when they start attending the Friday night meeting.

In the first semester after these young people have finished in Kids Alive we will run a course on the basics of the faith so that with more mature thinking processes they can carefully consider what it means to be a Christian and how they will respond to that.

I believe we can stem the flow of young people out the church doors by equipping them with the courage, character and conviction of faith to withstand the pressures of life that will come.



Family Relationships - The Key to Spiritual Heritage

Strong and lasting spiritual development is fostered in the family and not in church attendance or attending a Christian School.

The Apostle Paul commends Timothy’s mother and grandmother for the faith which was evident in this young man.  He didn’t tell Timothy that he was lucky to have attended such a good Torah School or had a skilfully executed circumcision.  Timothy’s faith was credited to his mother and grandmother.

God did not place Jesus in the care of wolves and then bring him into his public ministry.  Mary and Joseph were carefully selected by God to be the earthly family of the Christ child.  God wanted them to teach Jesus their values and beliefs; it was not left to chance.

Conversely, Hophni and Phineas were the ‘worthless’ sons of Eli the priest, 1 Sam 2:12. They spent all their days in the temple. They grew up in ‘church’ but their father was negligent in his parenting.  God judged the future generations of Eli’s family because of his disobedient and rebellious sons. 

Going to a good church and receiving solid Christian teaching alone is not going to be the key to a lasting faith in your children.

While a Child’s relationship with God is growing and until he or she has learned to trust God, decisions about life will be based on what they’ve learned from you, their parents – not from church or school.

The first 12 years are the time to build a strong relationship with your children, lead them to Jesus and set an example that they will need during the teenage years when peer pressure increases.  Your relationship with them and the foundation you’ve laid needs to be stronger than the pull of the crowd.