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
It's always good to set goals whatever our circumstances may be, but what does it look like to set spiritual goals?
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.
5 benefits of small groups
Why join a group?
Every week we encourage people to join small groups. We do it when we have lots of guests. We do it when we have lots of regulars. We continually encourage people to join groups because groups are where growth happens. We believe we can grow in a few specific ways at group:
groups are where we grow closer to each other
We all want friends. Well, most of us do. It's tough to foster deep relationships at church once a week. Small group creates an atmosphere for connection. It offers us a chance to get to know people we may see often, but know very little about. Everybody needs 3am friends. 3am friends are friends you can call at 3 am when your world is upside down. Often, those relationships begin at small group. These are the people doing life together with you.
groups are where we grow closer to God
Church is amazing. However, many assume those 60-80 minutes are all that are needed to have a powerful relationship with God. Throughout the New Testament God instructs the church to meet together as a large group, but we also find regular mentions of smaller informal groups. Jesus had about 120 followers, 12 disciples, and 3 in the inner circle. This isn't coincidence. It's easy to fade into the crowd at church. However, at group, we are all visible and, yes, vulnerable. We are open to accountability and community. God uses the Word to grow us. He also uses the encouragement of other believers to draw us closer to Himself.
groups are where we grow closer to God's church
Too often, we envision the church as a place or a service. The church is so much more. It is God's people. It is Jesus bride, His passion. When we get into groups we put faces with the church. We see the mission of the church lived out: people growing closer to God and each other. Jesus longs for us to not just be part of the church, but to be passionate about the church, it's people and it's mission.
groups are where we learn how to wrestle with Scriptures
It's one thing to hear good preaching. Let's call that belief 1.0. It's another thing to read God's Word. Let's call that belief 2.0. Small group takes it to the next level. This is were people read and discuss God's Word. In a group others have experiences, insights and knowledge that allow them to really unpack a passage in a way that maybe we'd never considered. This is where growth begins to take root.
groups are where prayer becomes personal
When someone in group asks for prayer, it's more than just another request. These are the people you've grown to know and cherish. They feel the same about you. Your prayer request is urgent to them because they care about you. Their request will likely be on your mind as you pray daily. Prayer for the ones we care about should be a regular occurrence. Groups will always encourage a strong prayer life.
When you're ready to embrace all the benefits group has to offer, head over to our small group page and sign up for a group.
This week at Restore Kidz
This week we talked about Leadership at Restore Kidz. Leadership as we will learn this month is "influencing others toward right." It was fun watching and listening to the kids talk about how they like to lead at school and among their friends as well as talk about other leaders that they respect. Moms and dads were mentioned too:)
Throughout the week I hope you will create opportunities for your children to practice their leadership skills through everyday activities. Here is an audio recap of what your kids learned in Junior Church.
What's your next step?
This week at Restore we had FOUR people (Terry, Jenny, Caleb, and Alex) take their next step with baptism!!
What's your next step? Pastor Marc taught us this week from Ephesians 2:4-10 on how we can take the steps to having a better relationship with God. Here's what you missed!
“God said, ‘I want you to be Mine and I want to be yours.””
SPend time with God
The more time that we spend with God, the more we come to realize how perfect He is and how far we are from Him. But that isn't supposed to discourage us, it's supposed to encourage us to strive to be more like God in how loving, merciful, and gracious we are with other people.
Jesus has called you to change your world
Our focus shouldn't be to change the whole world, but to change our community, our workplace, our families, and ourselves for Jesus.
it starts with your relationship with god
Before we can change our world God has to change us first. God wants to rescue you from who you were. God wants to redeem you into who you were called to be. And through you God wants change the world.
Here's a video of this weeks message.
Where do I start reading the Bible?
You've determined to start reading the Scriptures. Great! ...but where to start? There are dozens of books and over 1,000 chapters you could begin reading. Each of them has much to offer, but which are the easiest to read for someone new to the Scriptures?
Here are a few recommended starting points:
John- one of the easiest gospels to read (21 chapters)
I, II & III John- three short letters to new believers with deep truths (7 chapters)
Mark- another easy to understand gospel that focuses on the story of Jesus (16 chapters)
Acts- the story of the early church (28 chapters)
James- a practical letter discussing the Christian life that faith brings about (5 chapters)
Galatians- a short book focusing on grace (6 chapters)
Philippians- a letter focusing on joy and humility in the midst of trials and struggles (4 chapters)
If I were to recommend a pattern, I'd start here:
John- Start here because it's the basic story of Jesus and the gospel.
Acts- Move right into the next book in your Bible and discover the early church.
Romans- Take a giant leap into the teachings of the gospel. Paul details how sin, grace and faith play a role in the gospel story.
From there I'd head to the Old Testament and begin reading the book of Psalms, as well as Proverbs. Once you've tackled these books, you'll be well on your way to a healthy devotional life.
“A final recommendation relates to how much you read at a time. Too many people get discouraged because they attempt to begin reading 3, 4, 5 or more chapters every day. That’s a worthy endeavor, but focus on quality not quantity your first few weeks reading Scripture. I’d rather read one chapter and understand it than rush through 3 or 4 chapters to say I read them. Our goal is to be changed by what we read, not impressed by how much we’ve read.”