3 benefits of being a parent and a volunteer

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On our volunteer team at Restore Church at least half of our volunteers are parents. Most of them serve every Sunday or may be on a rotation to volunteer on a weekly or monthly basis. Most of our volunteers show up by 9:30 a.m. to prepare for our weekly service at 10:30 a.m. For some parents that hour of volunteering and having their children with them may seem daunting, but here are some benefits and why you should bring your children with you as you serve.

1. Fellowship

In the life as a Christian we are constantly striving to be more like Christ, and that results in us being more like-minded. Some of the best fellowship happens when you begin to volunteer along with others and work towards a common goal. Not only do you as a parent get to be in fellowship with other volunteers, but your children also get an opportunity to get to know all of the other children that come with their parents as their parents volunteer.

2. Being a part of our team children's church

Not only are we setting up for service on Sundays, but we also set up for our Restore Kidz and our Nursery every Sunday as well. Our parent volunteers are so valuable with these two areas. Many of our parents volunteer with these two ministries because they know how to work with children, and they love doing it as well. 

3. Your kids will learn from you

1 Corinthians 1:1 "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."

We should be imitators of Christ as we serve being willing, gentle, and loving with other people. Children can often tell when their parents are genuine and when they are not primarily because they see them at home and at church. Your children are watching and imitating you so that they know how to react to certain situations and how they should live their lives. This too may seem daunting but it is an amazing opportunity for our parents to imitate Christ through serving, and for their children too see the love and affection of Christ through them.

When do you feel closest to God?

I am part of a small group that's going through questions about God. One of the questions posed this week was, "when do you feel closest to God?" I had to really stop and think. I can name many instances I've had intimate times with God, but the timing is always the same. I feel closest to God when I've take a big risk for His kingdom. Whether that's inviting someone to church, sharing the gospel, investing actual dollars in missions, or just leading the church into a risky situation that only God could see us through, it always results in a real dependence upon and closeness with God. I believe it happens for a few reasons.

1. My faith is tested. I'm afraid too often I avoid situations that will stretch or test my faith. I enjoy the safety of the status quo. Testing isn't something to avoid. It's something to lean into.

2. My ideal resolution does't happen. In my mind I imagined God would fix this another way. I assumed He'd use some method I can wrap my head around. It rarely happens that way. This forces me to realize it was never my leadership or sensibilities that resolved the situation.

3. My faith is strengthened. God shows up, or guides, or fixes whatever was amiss. The end result is always the same. My faith is strengthened through the testing. This is why I tend to be more of a risk taker (in terms of my faith) the older I get. I've seen Him do amazing work in me and through me. I hope to take more risks and see God do more in the days ahead.

So let me ask you. When do you feel closest to God?

-Pastor Marc

This Week at Restore Kids

So, from what I hear, there were some adults in the "main service" who overheard what was going on in Kids Worship next door. It was a great Sunday in Kids Worship and our attendees got really excited and involved. It is very cool to me that the adults get to hear the kids and vice versa. I am sure as a parent you want to know your child is not being lectured in a silent room for an hour. And for a child to hear adults singing and listening to preaching is something that will stick with them when they are old. Needless to say, the things happening at Restore Church are good and I am thankful to be a part!

Ephesians 6:12 is the memory verse that Restore Kids are learning in the month of November. As you can see this is a long and challenging verse so our volunteers implemented a game with motions and shouting to help the kids learn Gods word. Go through this verse with your kids at home and see if they might remember some of what they learned Sunday.

Our Big Idea for the week was Spiritual Warfare is a daily battle. As an adult this statement should make way more sense than it will for your kids. Mr. Corey taught the kids about putting on the whole Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and the importance of preparing ourselves for the temptations that we will face on a daily basis. Our volunteers used the equipment a baseball catcher uses to describe the Armor of God and compared it to the protection we need to face daily Spiritual Warfare. 

Please take a few minutes to listen to this weekly Podcast to stay up to date on what your kids are learning. I hope you will find this resource useful in taking life lessons and teaching your kids on a daily basis. 

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Have a blessed week!

What do we do when our candidate loses?

No matter who won last night many woke up this morning feeling as though they'd lost. I never promote a candidate or party. I also haven't voted for a major party Presidential candidate in many years. So I'm well accustomed to waking up the day after an election to find that "my candidate" didn't win. And yet, every election I determine that my duties toward these newly elected officials are the same: I will pray for them. I will honor them. I will respect them. (Romans 13:1-7)

I knew months ago that today we'd be dealing with a President-elect that many of us didn't like (Trump and Clinton have some of the lowest likability numbers ever polled). Regardless of who we like, we have a Christian duty to respect our elected leaders (on every level). I can honestly say that I've prayed for, honored and respected President Obama. I will do the same for President-elect Trump. Do I have serious disagreements with their policies and/or behavior? Sure. Does that negate my responsibility as a believer? No.

This morning I have two choices. I can trust God with these results and do my best to be a good citizen. I can also allow worry, fear and doubt to cloud my mind. I can wonder how God would let this happen. I can wallow in my disbelief of what I'm seeing. One of these options requires faith. I choose faith, not doubt.

Here's where I find my comfort:

The kingdom of Jesus is so much bigger than America.

Four years isn't much when compared to the 2,000 plus years the church has been on the move.

God isn't worried one bit.

-Pastor Marc

This Week at Restore Kidz

I should never do this, but I gotta admit that I wasn't very enthusiastic about our Junior Church starting yesterday. We like to have things ready when kids walk in but Sunday was just one of those days that nothing wanted to work. It actually became comical as we continued with our lesson time and I will explain further as I introduce our new Element for the month of November.

Our Element that we will study the entire month of November is Spiritual Warfare. There are some lessons that are difficult to relate to a kid in a way they will understand but Sunday worked out for us. We base a lot of our lesson on visuals displayed on the large screen in the theater room. However, since the projector would not work yesterday it had myself and our Kids Volunteers a little on edge to say the least. As I was starting the lesson knowing that we were going to have to improvise a lot, I just realized that what we were facing could be described as a small taste of "Spiritual Warfare". 

These struggles really hit me hard but I sat down and asked the kids, "what are some things you do when you are mad or angry"? I got a lot of interesting answers and even some funny ones (I love where kids minds go when answering questions in front of their friends). I had to admit that a lot of the answers that were given are exactly how I react when I am mad or angry but that doesn't mean it is the best. I could go on and on with how we related this to your kids and our volunteers but here is what I want to remind parents of:

Spiritual Warfare is real. It really is. Those days you get up and our kids are not moving as quickly as we need them to. We burn their breakfast or they spill their milk in the car on the way to drop them off at school. We are late for work for reasons beyond our control and it often affects the rest of my (our) days. There is nothing that impacts a Christian testimony more than their actions. As parents we are being watched literally 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Parenting is not for the weak. If I could ever encourage you of anything it is during these times that kids are watching us to try our best to make a decision to pray. Our co-workers and neighbors and friends need to know Christ. And let's face it, no matter how frustrating our days are, we have a Hope that many do not have.

Above is the Podcast with a short reminder of what we learned during Restore Kidz yesterday. I hope you will take the time to listen to this in the car or while preparing dinner and help review with your kids what they learned. 

Restore Church wants to be an integral part in helping with resources to raise your kids. If there is ever anything we can do please don't hesitate to ask. We would also love to see all parents join a small group where you can encouraged and challenged during the week. 

Have a great week!

This Week at Restore Kidz

So yesterday at Restore we had an amazing Kids Launch where everyone involved had a blast. Lets take a look at what we learned in Kidz Worship before we recap the Launch. 

We continued our study on Leadership and finished with our final lesson of the month. Our Big Idea this week was epic and not only related to the kids struggles but to parents struggles as well. 

We have all followed good leaders as well as not so good leaders. One of the key things to a Good Leader is their humility. Our lesson came from Luke 18:9-14 and compared two leaders of that day. One of the leaders was Pharisee or religious leader and the other leaders was tax collector. How fitting that we see both their humility in prayer. The Pharisee praying and thanking God that he was not a despicable person like the tax collector while the tax collector prayed and asked God to forgive him of his own sins and shot comings. 

I encourage you to take time to read through this passage with your kids and refresh their memories on the lesson. While their attention was great, I can't blame them for being a little preoccupied this week! Besides, this is a lesson that adults and kids need to be reminded of often. 

Each of our volunteers had a blast hanging out with your kids and the costumes were incredible. From patriotic, to secret service, to superhero, I loved the time and effort put into each of the costumes. If I were to pick a personal favorite it would be the "Odd Squad" who showed up with every detail of their costume together, including the ear pieces. 

Thanks to all of the parents for getting up earlier to get your kids ready for our Kidz Launch!

Thanks to all of our Kids Workers for teaching kids this Sunday  and to all of our help who helped make our "Hall of Candy" a success. 

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you again Sunday!

This Week at Restore Kidz

This week we looked at Jesus as the leader we should pattern our lives after. We studied John 13 with Restore Kidz and looked at how Jesus treated his own disciples. In this passage, Jesus is sitting at the last supper with His disciples. Jesus lesson on leadership in this passage was a lesson of serving. Restore Kids determined that they prefer a leader who serves to a leader who requires something done that they don't do themselves. 

As a parent you know what serving is. Serving is part of being a parent and it is often the most thankless job around. If this can serve as an encouragement, don't be discouraged. Jesus faced questions from His disciples even as He served them. Our job as parents is to teach our kids to follow Jesus and the best way to do that is to lead like Jesus led: Serving Others!

Finally, don't forget to review this verse with your kids. And don't forget about Restore Kids Launch this Sunday at 10:30. Your kids are welcome to wear a costume.

Have a great week!

3 simple steps to establish your devotional life

Do you ever ask yourself How do I start reading my Bible, or How do I start praying to God?

What makes getting into a routine so difficult? We have busy schedules that consist of work, family, and activities that we enjoy. So, where can we fit in extra time for other things? That's easy,  most of us have at least 15-30 minutes every day that we can allot to spending our time with these other things.

Yet, getting into a routine can be so difficult because it asks not how much time we give in a particular day, but how often will we seek to spend time each day and the next on devoting our time to whatever thing we are giving our time to. With as difficult as starting a routine can seem to be, starting a routine is also equally simple. 

Choose a time

What time works best for you? As I said earlier, most of us can find a 15-30 minute window in our busy lives to spend time with our Creator. One of the most crucial aspects of starting a routine is gradually building your endurance up from an easy starting point. A lot of times we can get burnt out of our devotions simply because we try to do everything all at once. Pick a time of day and start small.

I tend to have a tendency to be more awake at night and I prefer to end my day in a way that I can thank God for the things He has done that day. I've also met plenty of people who love to start their day in God's presence so that their day and their decisions throughout their day reflect their time spent with God early in the morning. And there are also others who prefer to spend their time with God in the middle of the day or during their break at work. All of these are good, but remember to choose a time that works best for you.

Choose a place where you are comfortable

Do you have a view that sticks out in your head? How about a comfortable spot you love to sit? Learning to enjoy your routine is vastly important to continuing a healthy routine. Finding that place where you can sit and focus on God is important to enjoying the routine of having your devotion with God. If you don't have a place in mind, look for one.

Read/Pray/Meditate

There isn't a real set order in how you should do these three things, but it is good to do these three things in some order. 

Read. Reading our Bible is the way that we can see what God has spoken to those in the past and how he speaks to us today. Don't just read to read, read so that you can remember what you've read. No matter if you have read 5 verses or 5 chapters. If you are having trouble finding a book to start in you can look back at one of our recent posts about where to start reading your Bible: http://www.restoreportsmouth.com/blog/?offset=1474568064263

Pray. Praying is our way to speak with God. He wants for us to have a relationship with Him and to have an ongoing conversation with Him in our Bible reading and prayer. Praying for our needs is good as well, but remember to also pray for others.

Meditate. I'm not talking about sitting on the floor Indian-style and humming chants or doing yoga. I mean that after you read and pray to reflect on the things that you've learned. Reflect on the Word of God and reflect on what He is doing in your life.

-T.I. (the intern)

This week at Restore Kidz

This week in Kidz Church we looked at the Israelites for our lesson about Leadership. We talked about the Israelites finally making it to Canaan and sending 12 spies to spy out the land that God promised them, Of the 12 only 2 returned ready to follow God's guidance and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. This story came from the book of Numbers which we learned is the 4th book in the Old Testament. Your kids did a great job listening and answering review questions and I know they could tell you more about this lesson. Maybe even remember the names of the 2 good spies (BTW it was Joshua and Caleb).   

So this was the big idea this week. We got the kids feedback of what they consider to be a good leader as well as a bad leader. Needless to say we had some interesting comments for each, but they were thinking. The best way for Restore Kids to learn of good leaders following God is from their parents in every day situations.

Hey, why not take some time to go over this memory verse with your kids this week. Why not let them be the Leader in teaching you the verse and learn it together. Who knows... Maybe they will even teach you the motions they learned with the verse as well!

Have a great week!

Setting Spiritual Goals

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It's always good to set goals whatever our circumstances may be, but what does it look like to set spiritual goals?

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Why set spiritual goals?

We should set spiritual goals for ourselves much like we set goals for our everyday lives. Setting goals gives us a chance to look at who we would like to become as a Christian. As a Christian the goal is to grow in our faith and understanding as followers of Christ. Setting spiritual goals and reaching them allows us to look back on who we were, to what we have become in Christ. 

Here are some spiritual goals to start with:

• Read a book of the Bible
• See family come to Christ
• See prayers answered
• Memorize verses
• Discover spiritual gifts

here are some other ways to start Spiritual Growth in your life:

• Read the Bible
• Obey the Bible
• Active prayer life
• Invite others to Church
• Fasting
• Give your talents, treasures, and time

Here's a video of Pastor Marc's message on Spiritual Growth and setting Spiritual Goals.