Fridays are for Families: Recent Episodes
Family at Pathway
Inspired by our Family Discipleship focus, our collaborative effort between Pathway Kids and Pathway Students, we are releasing a recording every Friday where we seek to equip and empower you as a disciple and disciple-maker of Jesus Christ.
You can access additional resources on our website: familyatpathway.com
Is it inviting God into your heart? Is it a prayer you have to pray over and over again? Does it just save you from eternity separated from God? Is this something to check off the list and then live however you want?This week in our theology conversation, we talk about salvation and how to talk to our kids about this concept. It is something that could be simple, yet is also complex at times, which we have seemed to further complicate with the words we use and the ways we grew up. How can we have this important conversation? Tune in to our final episode from season 3 of Fridays are for Families!Questions you can ask:• What do you think it looks like to follow Jesus?• How do you know if you are saved? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?• Once you are a part of God’s family, what does that mean for you?
Pastor Jeff, or Grandpa Boss??
This week for Fridays are for Families, we interviewed Pastor Jeff. We talk about what discipleship looked like in the McNicol home as their girls grew up and what it looks like now as the parents of adult children.
We also hear some of the backstory behind what his granddaughter calls him! You don't want to miss that story!
This week on Fridays are for Families we talk about The Church. It's more than just our local church - the Church is global, or universal. What does that mean? How can we talk to our kids about The Church? One of the essential things we try to model for and teach to our kids here at Pathway is that they aren't just the Church of the future, but very much are a part of the Church today. That's reflected in how we teach, what we invite them into, and the influence they have in our congregation. Take a moment one Sunday or Thursday at Pathway and look around - how many kids and teens do you see? How can you have more conversations with your kid about what the Church is, what their place is in the Church, and how to live as a member of the Body of Christ today? One way to have more conversations is to listen in to this conversation we have today and invite your kid to watch or listen right alongside.
Check us out online - familyatpathway.com
Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/MWyC9RXx9ks
This month for Friday's are for Families we interviewed Pathway's Executive Pastor, John Westurn, and spent some time talking about what discipleship looked like in the Westurn home as their kids grew up and what it looks like today as grandparents.
Pastor John offers a unique perspective having been a youth pastor for a number of those formative years in the life of his kids. He and Michele also talk about their adoption and how that impacted their family and discipleship. We encourage you to give this a listen!
This month our theology conversation centers around the person of the Holy Spirit. Who is He? What does He do? How do we talk to our kids about Him? What place does He have in our faith and our day-to-day lives? We invite you to join Ben and Jenna as they talk about this theological concept from our Gospel Project curriculum!Questions you can ask:• Would you rather have Jesus with you right now, or the Holy Spirit? Why?• Tell me what you know about the holy spirit• Is it comforting to know that if you believe in Jesus, the Holy spirit is living inside of you?
This week we interviewed Jenine Pyle about what Family Discipleship looks like in the Pyle home. We aren't here to do things perfectly, but to seek to be intentional in the way we disciple in our homes. Though it looks different for different families, our prayer and goal is simply that every family would disciple their kids at home to be and to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
You can access more resources at familyatpathway.com
This month our theology conversation centers around the question of knowing God...how can we know that God actually wants us to know Him? What evidence, or proof do we have? We invite you to join Ben and Jenna as they talk about this concept from our Gospel Project curriculum!Questions you can ask:• What do you think about not being able to see God, and how does that make you feel?• What are some things that Jesus teaches us about who God is?• How does it make you feel to know that God loves you enough that He pursues you?
What's with the hats? You'll have to watch to find out! We talk about everything from Christmas traditions to expectations to our own memories of Christmas as kids growing up. This is a fun one!
This episode of Friday's are for Families focuses in on the birth of Jesus. How do we talk to our kids about Christmastime? How do we talk about the birth of Jesus? What do our kids understand about His birth? Why did Jesus come in the way He did?
We invite you to join Jenna and Ben as they talk about this Advent season and specifically talking in your home about the birth of Jesus.
Access more family discipleship content at familyatpathway.com
This week we interviewed Pastor Jason for our Fridays are for Families focus. He shares what their journey of discipleship has been like as he and Elisa have been navigating how to disciple 8 kids ranging in age from a college senior to a first grader.
Today we continue our theological conversation from the Gospel Project, talking about Jesus as King. We don't talk much about kings and queens, or kingdoms, unless we are talking about the King of England or playing some sort of game or watching a video that involves those things. Kings don't make it all that often into our regular conversation.
And yet.
Jesus is the King of kings. What does that mean? And why does it matter for the discipleship of our families? We talk about that and more in this week's episode of Fridays are for Families.
This week we interviewed one of our elders, Morris Book, about what family discipleship looked like as he and his wife raised their kids. Now a grandparent, Morris provides a helpful perspective for us as we navigate the tensions of time, work, parenting, and more as we try to disciple our families well.
What is a priest? What does it mean that Jesus is our High Priest? We talk about that and what all of it actually means and why it matters as we do family discipleship at home.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:
Do you know what a priest is?
What are stories of priests you know from Scripture?
How does knowing that Jesus is our mediator change the way we should live?
What does family discipleship look like in the Hart home? We'll talk about that, as well as what discipleship things they have fallen into, what they have done intentionally, and some challenges that come having kids in various ages and stages of growth and development.
familyatpathway.com
Watch on YouTube
This is the second part of our new Fridays are for Families focus this season. We will spend time each month talking through the Big Question from the Gospel Project curriculum and how to talk theology with our kids at home.
Theology is the study of the nature of God. Theology matters because what we believe about God matters. We pass on what we believe about God to our kids in the way we talk and teach them. Theology matters!
That's why we believe in these conversations and seek to come alongside you to disciple our kids well.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:
How can we praise and adore Jesus daily, even away from the crowds? What might that look like in our home?
How does knowing Jesus fulfills prophecy increase our trust in God?
What about this is hard to believe?
We are beginning season three of our Family Discipleship series, Fridays are for Families. This season we are excited to bring you new content in a new format: interviews and conversations! We are kicking off with an interview between Jenna Hannum, Children's & Women's Director, and Ben Marshall, Pastor of Student Ministries, as they talk about what family discipleship is, why they do it, and how it looks unique in each of their families.
familyatpathway.com
Watch on YouTube
Summer is a natural time to celebrate change, and specifically milestones. It is a time when our kids move up to the next grade, we take vacations together, and often experience unique and different things as a family.
Summer is an awesome time to reflect on the past year and to identify and celebrate God’s faithfulness, and make and mark milestones. How? That is the topic of today's Friday's are for Families episode.
Our kids change quickly – both in their moods in a given day AND in how soon they grow up from this little baby into this gangly, awkward, awesome teenager.
It’s when we make the most of those quick moments that we make consistent and lasting change in the lives of our kids. How can we maximize those moments? That is the topic of today's Friday's are for Families episode.
We all know that with summer comes a change in routine. And this change typically involves a shift from structure to less structure. What we would encourage you to do, is to think about how you can capitalize on time with your kid(s) this summer.
Don’t let the lack of structure of the summer months keep you from discipling your kids with intentionality.
Summer doesn’t always make things better or easier for our schedules. But summer does provide a different sort of opportunity to engage our kids in family discipleship.
How can you leverage the different sort of time you do have this summer for the purpose of discipleship?
As parents, we are used to noise. From the moment we hear that first scream when our children our born, we realize life will never be the same. Kids bring chaos and noise into our world. Whether it is crying, laughing, asking questions, or asking for snacks, kids are not often quiet.
But, I want you to consider what you do when things are quiet. When you get the chance to be in the car by yourself or the kids are in bed. In those rare moments of silence.
We'll talk about that and more in today's episode of Friday's are for Families.
We were not created and designed for a constant stream of noise and the constant presence of people around us. That is something new on the scene for humanity. We need silence and we need to be alone – even you extroverts! But, if we are going to experience it, we have to fight for it.
We are going to talk about what that looks like and some ways to fight for it on today's episode of Friday's are for Families.
We can’t deny the busy reality of our lives and the constant pull, almost constant anxiety to be doing, moving, checking things off, on to the next thing, and really seeking to be as productive as possible.
Those aren’t necessarily bad things. There are a lot of things to get done in our families and the daily tasks, let alone the emergencies or the extras, seem to take so much time.
But I think in the midst of the busy, what we often miss is the voice of God. How do we slow down in our productive pause and listen to the voice of Yahweh? We talk about that and more in this Friday's are for Families video.
This week we begin a focus on rest, but in a different way than usual. We want to talk about what it means to have a productive pause. Over the course of the next few weeks we'll talk about a productive pause, beginning today with finding rest in Jesus
This week we continue looking at the character of Jesus and how it impacts our family discipleship. Specifically, we are looking at Jesus, the King. How do we disciple our kids to grow in their understanding of Jesus as King, and grow in their understanding of His upside-down Kingdom?
We talk about that and more in today's video!
This week we continue looking at the character of Jesus and how it impacts our family discipleship. Specifically, we are looking at Jesus, Messiah. How do we disciple our kids to grow in their understanding of Jesus as the Messiah?
Also, does Jesus have a last name??
We talk about that and more in today's video!
This week we continue looking at the character of Jesus and how it impacts our family discipleship. Specifically, we are looking at Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. How do we disciple our kids to grow in their understanding of Jesus as the Lamb of God? We talk about that and more in today's video!
Today we focus in on a title Jesus gives to Himself in John 10: The Good Shepherd. What does that mean and what does it have to do with family discipleship? We talk about that and more in today's video!
What does the Lenten season have to do with family discipleship? In this video Jenna Hannum introduces Lent and the idea of utilizing this season for the benefit of family discipleship.
We encourage you to give it a listen, and check out the other Lenten resources from Pathway Church on our main Life at Pathway YouTube channel or Facebook page.
What are we talking about when we start talking about politics? Often times we are talking about political party, and one being the preferred party over the other.
But, as we understand what politics is meant to impact, we begin to see and understand that Christianity is itself a politic. Jesus came to set forth a new way of communal life that brings an answer to all those questions regarding life together, offenses, money, enemies, violence, marriage, families, social structures, authority, and more. We talk about that and more in this week's Friday's are for Families.
This week we enter into the uncomfortable conversation around abortion. How do you talk to your kids about such emotionally tense topics? The posture you go into the conversation with matters in a significant way. Consider your tone, your own emotion, and the way you have this conversation.
Our goal as parents and primary disciplers is to keep the conversation going. We want to encourage you not to shut down the conversation because of your reactions or own emotions, but keep the conversation going by listening, engaging thoughtfully, and continually going back to Scripture.
This week we are talking about a hard conversation around gender identity. What is your posture around this conversation? Chances are, you and your kids are formulating different thoughts and opinions on this topic because of your life experiences and the different cultures you've grown up in.
As the primary discipler, how can you navigate this question well and keep the conversation with your kid ongoing around the topic of gender identity?
This week our Friday video focuses on how to navigate hard cultural moments with our kids.
They aren't easy conversations to have, and we may want to try to avoid them, but if we are going to be the primary disciplers of our kids, having these conversations is an absolute necessity.
in today's Friday's are for Families episode, we talk about the connection between technology and mental health and some of the research being done in that context
we invite you to share this with others and reach out if you have any questions or want more information
access/share on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Zg7T3jfHYq8
Social media is an amazing tool. There are some incredible uses for it. But the same amazing tool has a dark side. We must be cautious. As parents, as those who seek to be not just the primary disciplers of our kids but the primary influencers of our kids, we must be careful about what we are filling our eyes and minds and hearts with.
We must be careful in how we are being discipled so that we can disciple the kids in our care well.
When it comes to technology, it can be tempting to just create a series of rules we demand our children follow or to just turn a blind eye to our kids’ consumption of technology because it seems too overwhelming to control. I want to suggest that there’s a better way- and that is through creating boundaries with your kids.
In this family discipleship conversation today we talk about boundaries and developing a cell phone policy with your kid.
When it comes to technology and rules, it is definitely important to know what we expect from our kids and to make sure those expectations are clearly defined. In this video, we are going to talk about technology and the importance of creating good boundaries for our kids, but also the significance of relationships with our kids when it comes to technology.
We invite you to listen in and to share with a friend!
This week we continue our Advent focus, joining with all of Pathway Church, to focus on the phrase: Celebrate Joyously. We invite you to listen in to what that means for you as you disciple your kids through this holiday season.
This week we continue our Advent focus, joining with all of Pathway Church, to focus on the phrase: Believe Simply. We invite you to listen in to what that means for you as you disciple your kids through this holiday season.
This video is part of our Family Discipleship class series. In this class we talked about sexual integrity...what it is, what it means, and how to disciple our kids in a holistic way
This week we continue our Advent focus, joining with all of Pathway Church, to focus on the phrase: Live Compassionately. We invite you to listen in to what that means for you as you disciple your kids through this holiday season.
This week we continue our Advent focus, joining with all of Pathway Church, to focus on the phrase: Hope Expectantly. We invite you to listen in to what that means for you as you disciple your kids through this holiday season.
This week we kick off our Advent focus, joining with all of Pathway Church, to focus on the phrase: Worship Freely. We invite you to listen in to what that means for you as you disciple your kids through this holiday season.
Raising kids is done in the trenches. It is very hands on. And honestly it can be overwhelming and exhausting at times, can’t it? It is the very moments that are difficult which are the moments we are called to give thanks for.
We'll talk about that and more in this short Friday's are for Families video.
Sports pulls at our human design to worship. But sports can be a false god that will leave us always wanting. You certainly can be a fully devoted follower of Jesus and an amazing professional athlete, no doubt about that. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
But when we pursue athlete, or making our kids into the best athlete they can be, at the expense of disciple [or making a disciple of our kids]…that is a cost we may not want to pay years down the road. We talk about that and more in today's video from our Friday's are for Families series.
It is often tempting to disengage from our kid’s world and engage in our own. We do this all the time. We do it in the car when we put on a movie for them so that we have a moment of silence. Or at the dinner table when everyone is scrolling on their phones instead of talking.
Engaging our kids takes work and intentionality. In this video we suggest two different ways in which we can be intentional about engaging the world of our kids.
We all have things that are important to us when it comes to parenting. It might be eating organic foods, or the activities our children are involved in, or the type of schooling our children receive. We are passionate about the things that matter to us.
What does the Bible say about what is most important when it comes to parenting and discipling our kids? Check out this video to find out more!
Regardless of what your schedule looks like, I think there is one thing that seems to be the norm. It hasn’t always been this way, but it feels like often the word we use to describe ourselves and our family and our schedules is this one four-letter-word: B-U-S-Y.
Your calendar reveals what your priorities are. What does your calendar reveal about your priorities?
We have time for what we want to make time for. What are you making time for? We are tackling that and more in today's video.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ergJQ914Vu0
Visit our website: familyatpathway.com
In this special class, as part of our Family Discipleship series, we dove into the topic of Gender Identity and how to navigate this topic as parents. There are no quick-fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions. But as we examine our position and our posture, we want to ensure as parents that we can maintain a firm biblical position while living with a gracious posture.
We aren't meant to have all the answers immediately, but, rather, we want to keep the conversation going, seek understanding, and respond with grace and wisdom. Parenting is hard. We're thankful to be on this journey together!
As our kids grow and develop there are going to be times when we don’t understand our kids or what they are experiencing. It might be because our personalities are different from those of our children. Whatever the reason, we will be faced with times where we just don't understand where our kids are coming from.
So how do we parent when we don’t understand? That is the question we seek to answer in today's video.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fx6E-E9xcUg
Visit our Website: familyatpathway.com
How you manage your own doubt in your faith and with your kids will go a long way in the form of family discipleship. You are leading by example that you don’t have all the answers, questions are okay, doubt is okay, and pursuing honest answers and capital “T” Truth is a worthy endeavor.
Don’t let doubt discourage you. And don’t let doubt just sit there. Pursue the question until you find the answer. Be willing to ask hard questions and embrace hard truths. That is one impactful way to disciple your kid through their own doubts as you set the example.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b-Uj8G-xWYM
Visit our website: familyatpathway.com
As parents, we all want to see our kids flourish in their faith. We want to see them take the faith that we are passing down to them and take ownership of it. We want to see them fall in love with Jesus and live lives that glorify him.
But how do we respond when our kids ask difficult questions or express doubt? What do we do when we see them wrestling with their faith? Those are the questions we seek to dive into in today's message.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AHprkJOYfAo
Visit our website: familyatpathway.com
Parenting takes on many different forms. And it changes in significant ways depending on the phase you are in as a parent, the phase your kid is in, the number of kids you have, and whether you’re parenting as a single parent or with a spouse. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting.
However, today what we want to talk about is the heart of parenting. Though there isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy or approach to parenting, I believe there is one common heart we can have as parents toward our kids.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/miNLK6pUAtM
Visit our website: familyatpathway.com
Distinctive Opportunities are defined as opportunities to help kids to know God, relate to God, and experience God’s love as they move through each phase.
How can we help our kids to know God with all their heart, soul, and strength? Well, we need to recognize that with each new phase, our kids might need help figuring out how to know God in the current phase they are. It won’t be perfect all the time, but being aware of the different needs of each of your kids will help guide your family time.
Each phase is unique and different and each phase has a new distinctive opportunity that can be used to help our children mature in their relationship with God. God doesn’t change, but we do! As your children change and grow, don’t miss the opportunities you have to help them rediscover how to love God with each passing phase.
PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/
PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NGVNUR-JAYA
A “present reality” is defined as knowing where your kid is right now and seeking to understand how they are changing physically, mentally, relationally, spiritually, culturally, emotionally, morally, etc. in their current phase.
As we guide our kids along in these present realities, we do so from a foundation of the love of God toward us. It is through that love and by that love that we guide our kids to know God and fall in love with Him.
Take a minute to evaluate your relationships:
FIRST, with God. Are you spending enough time with Him? Are you engaging in prayer and Bible study as more than just checking off your list but instead as something that actually transforms you?
SECOND, with your kid(s). Are you engaging them intentionally in relationship? How can you make intentional engagement and discipleship a part of your parenting norm?
PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/
PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-QOZJ0GDKEs
Every Phase has significant relationships that are influential and, as parents, we want to be one of them!
If we want to have influence over our kids, we need to reinvent the way we relate to our kids as they move through different phases. When we parent young kids, we spend time meeting their physical needs. However, the older our kids get, the more relational we want our influence to be.
We need to be intentional with the time we do have. We also need to keep in mind that the older our kids get, the more voices there will be influencing them. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a voice my kids value. And in order to be a voice that is valued, we need to do the work to engage our kids when they are young so that we build relational trust for the future.
Phase Website: https://justaphase.com/
Phase book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/scYNqNC0RQc
A parent has about 936 weeks between a child’s birth and that child’s graduation. We don’t want you to miss what’s happening during the critical phases of growing up.
In this week's video, we talk about these phases and the three distinctives of every phase.
Questions to discuss: What would it look like to maximize discipleship at your kid(s) current phase? How have you seen them growing and changing over the past few months or year?
Your kid doesn’t need you to be perfect through the phase, they need you to be present in their phase and walk them through it.
PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/
PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/scYNqNC0RQc
Today we talk about something that happens literally every day, and how to use that for discipleship. This is the key of family discipleship: not adding to our already full calendars, but utilizing what is already there with intentionality for discipleship.
Bedtime. What does the bedtime routine for your kids look like and how might it be able to be used for redemptive purposes of pointing them to Christ? Let’s jump into our Fridays are for Families episode to talk more about it!
Every week there are opportunities to have a captive audience with your kid(s). But are we, as disciple-makers, making the best use of the time? Car rides are one of those rare times when we have every kid captive. It’s during car rides that we can hear about what their friends are doing, their day at school, or field questions and talk about things they are worried about.
These conversations, and this sacred discipleship space, don’t happen accidentally. It means being intentional as a disciple-maker about using this time well. That is what we talk about in today’s video of Fridays are for Families.
The “hard stuff” of family discipleship happens in little moments that build. It is in those little moments, the ones that aren’t immediately life-changing, that we build a foundation of moments and memories for our kids to see our faith, hear about God’s promises, pray, and more.
One of those moments we can use for discipleship is getting outside with our kids. Our family loves to take walks. We don’t always use them the best, and not every walk goes smoothly. But, today we talk about how family discipleship could go during family walks.
This month we want to encourage you that discipleship happens in everyday moments, and not just during family devotions. God commands us in the book of Deuteronomy to teach our kids about him when we are sitting, walking, lying down, and rising. In short, we are to point our kids to Jesus all the time.
Today we’re going to talk about family discipleship during family meals at the table.
PathwayKids #PathwayStudents #FridaysareforFamilies #FamilyDiscipleship
The path of Family Discipleship zigs and zags, twists and turns, goes up and comes down. The intention of this purposeful discipleship isn’t that the path is straight and easy…the intention is the destination.
That's what we talk about on today's episode of Fridays are for Families.
Kids are tricky, aren’t they? We love them so deeply, and yet they frustrate us so much. We are so thankful for them, and yet they seem specially designed to push many of our buttons.
This is what we talk about today on Friday's are for Families.
We all know that kids aren’t always easy. Whether it is their behavior, their emotions, or special circumstances, all kids go through phases that make parenting more difficult. So how do we continue to point our kids to Jesus when our kid’s behaviors make getting through the day hard?
That's what we talk about in this week’s episode of Fridays are for Families.
I believe that it is in our struggles that our kids see clearest whether or not we actually believe what the Bible says. It’s in these moments of pain and struggle, things not going well, our plans failing, circumstances beyond our control continually hitting, that our faith is revealed.
Today we'll talk about that and more in this new episode of Friday's are for Families.
Have you ever gone through a rough period of life and wondered how you were ever going to get through it, let alone continue to parent your kids? We all go through trials and suffering. In fact, Jesus tells us it is part of following Him. So, in the hard times of life, how do we faithfully continue to disciple our children?
We will cover that in this week’s episode of Friday’s are for Families!
We know that we were created to need rest.
We see this modeled for us in the Scriptures when God created the world and rested on the 7th day. God does not and did not need a respite, but He did this to demonstrate the rhythm of work and rest He knows we need.
So what do rest and technology have in common? That's what we cover in today's conversation in our series: Fridays are for Families.
As you parent in this digital world, realize that each of your kids is unique, so the rules and boundaries will need to be applied differently. As much as we may want to have fair and consistent rules for each of our kids, the reality is each of them will need more specific and individualized boundaries.
Our conversation today details three different modes, or postures, we can take as we seek to parent our kids over the course of time in this digital world.
The decision to give your child a smartphone is a family decision that should be well thought out and tailored to the maturity of each of our children. However, our kids certainly know how to provide pressure to this decision, don’t they?
In this video we talk about this and some suggestions you can give your kids to talk to their friends about why maybe they don't have a smartphone yet.
How do we navigate this digital world? You as a parent come to this digital world as a digital immigrant. Your kids are growing up as digital natives. Navigating this world is a challenge, to be certain. As we think critically about navigating this new frontier as digital immigrants, we have to take into account that our kids are trying to make sense of the only world they know.
In this video we'll give some practical tips as well as resources to assist you as parents to help your kids navigate the digital world we live in.
As we ask the question about dating, we have to ask if we have prepared our kid to be a good steward of what God has given.
We ask a number of questions within this audio. I encourage you to be honest with your answer to these questions, as they’ll help you come to the conclusion on whether your kid is ready to date.
We don’t arrive at our answer flippantly, but with wisdom and time. Is your kid ready to date? I’m not sure. But it doesn’t hurt to wait and answer these questions before giving them the green light.
God’s design for our bodies is miraculous. In Genesis we see two people, made in God’s image, who unashamedly display God’s glory and creativity. However, we know that with the fall came shame and sin. Sexuality, which was designed as a beautiful gift from God, has now become an area in which there is so much sin.
We want to give our kids a healthy view of their bodies, yet we also know that there are important boundaries they need in order to protect themselves.
We invite you to listen in as we dive deeper into the topic of body safety.
You were warned last week, but I will warn you again -- this month we’re tackling topics about sexuality that may be of the more mature variety. If you’re listening with your kid present, you might want to pause and listen later when you are alone.
When did you first hear the “talk” as a kid? Were you a teen? Did you even receive the talk? Was it a one-time conversation or a series of conversations? What about your kids? What have they heard from you about sex and God’s design for sexuality? We shared last week that our culture is screaming about what it believes about sexuality- so what are you doing in response? How are you shaping your child’s view of biblical sexuality?
Are you wondering when is a good time? Finish the video for more insight into when and how we think you should have "The Talk."
As we begin this week, I want to make you aware that this month we’re going to be talking a bit about some topics that may be of the more mature variety. If you’re planning to listen with your kid present, we just wanted to give that warning as we begin.
“If the church is sexually avoidant, our culture is sexually obsessive… When the church whispers about sex and the culture yells about it, whose voice is going to be heard? And parents wonder what happened to their children." - David T. Lamb
This quote didn’t even mention home… our homes cannot be a place we avoid this topic. We can’t be silent on something as important and significant, with its beauty but also its consequences, as our bodies and sexuality.
So, we want to encourage you to open your Bibles. Study what the Word of God says about sex and sexuality. And start the conversation.
When our children need discipline, it is the perfect opportunity to retell them the story of God’s grace. It is a time where we can remind them that they are sinners in need of a Savior. We can tell them of God’s love for them and the grace He offers.
Can you imagine the effect we could have on our kids, if every time we disciplined them, we also reminded them of this beautiful truth?
Can you imagine the effect on you as a parent if, every time you discipline your kid, you reflect on and are reminded of this same beautiful truth as you share it with your kid?
Parenting is tough. There’s always going to be something new. There’s always going to be something you struggle with, something you’ve never heard of, new territory. It’s hard to feel behind and out of control. Perhaps you feel helpless as a parent, misunderstood, ill-equipped, or unprepared. But if you are a parent, God has shaped the soul that has been birthed or adopted into your family.
Your posture as a parent is a big deal. It makes a big impact in the life of your kid. What kind of posture are you taking toward raising your kid? Fight, flight, or engagement?
3 John 1:4says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." That is one of our greatest hopes as parents. It is one passage of Scripture we ought to memorize and pour over and pray over.
The challenge of this verse is the lack of a guarantee. It is the hope and joy of every parent, that their kid will walk in the Truth. But it is not a guarantee. That's a hard truth to swallow.
The good news is Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) developed some research called Sticky Faith and found a strong, positive connection between the number of caring adults in the life of a kid and the stickiness of their faith. They discovered a 5:1 ratio of caring adults to kid was ideal.
One of the keys to cultivating sticky faith in the lives of our kids is making sure other adults are building into and mentoring them in the faith. Are there 5 caring adults who are invested and intentional in the spiritual life of your kids on an ongoing basis? Who are those 5?
What you do and how you disciple at home will have a greater, longer-lasting impact than what we do here at church. Both matter, and have significant opportunities for impact. But what you do at home forms and shapes them more than you may realize.
Parents, you are the ones who have the most opportunity for impact. It is in the everyday, mundane moments of life where your kids see you live out your faith in a tangible way that makes an impact.
We pray you use your time well this year, as the primary discipler of your kid.
Parenting is incredibly sanctifying. And we need help.
The heart of our Kids and Students Ministries at Pathway is Family Discipleship.
Over the past few months we’ve been sharing an article each Friday, but starting next week we’re going to share videos all under the title of “Fridays are for Families.”
We hope to equip, empower, and encourage you in this discipleship journey through relevant resources and conversations.
Check back here every Friday as we share more content. Remember, Fridays are for Families!
You can access these on our YouTube Channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/pathwaystudentministries