Kia Ora Bay Kids Whanau,
One of the main reasons that I send out these Family Discipleship Emails is that I want to form a strong link between Church and Home, so that what happens on Sundays doesn't just sit in isolation or remain disconnected from what is happening for you over the six other extraordinary and ordinary days.
“Best-case scenario, our kids will spend 100 hours a year in church. But they’ll spend 2000-3000 hours a year with (you), their parents and carers!” This is from Parenting For Faith, who happen to be a great Instagram follow.
Deuteronomy 6:7 says we are to “talk about [God’s word] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
As parents we have the opportunity to make our relationship with God something that we can talk about in the boring, everyday moments of life - not just the high points or only when we’re feeling like we’re winning spiritually. Normalising faith is a beautiful privilege.
PRAYER
I am really thrilled that we are gently building a lovely prayer culture in Bay Kids; and I am really grateful to know that this is a culture that is growing at home as well as Church. In Bay Kids this is becoming an intentional, invitational, and responsive culture that normalises the practising of prayer, creates space for the opportunity of prayer, and is totally ok with the odd giggle, awkward word muck-up, and prayer whispered oh soooooo quietly and sweetly that it’s just there for Jesus’ ears only.
I have been so encouraged by the bravery and boldness in our children. Their willingness to pray for one another, and their openness to ask for prayer is a real blessing, and a bit of a challenge too, to be honest. Their confidence is building week by week, and it’s really special. It’s also a real reminder to me that we pray to a Heavenly Father who loves us just like we are his little children - we can so easily forget this with our big adult complicated brains and layers of self-doubt and protectiveness. Leaning into prayer rhythms with our children reminds us of the grace that is poured out for us too.
So thank you for prioritising prayer in your family. Not necessarily those grandiose moments of wild intercession but just seized opportunities and minutes in the day to pray through an immediate school need - big or small, or to care for a friend, or to ask for help.
Thank you for allowing your children the space to get comfortable with prayer, to see it up close, and to keep on practising - knowing that God listens, and that we don’t need fancy language.
Our next SPARKS Bay Kids Prayer Meeting is on Sunday the 10th March and all our Bay Kids children are welcome. Being immersed in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, as well as observing those around you praying, is a great way for our Preschoolers to start to learn what it means to pray, and it will also give them some ’scaffolding’ as they too practise prayer. It’s an absolute joy to have our littlest ones join us in whatever way works for them.
The word SPARKS is all about igniting little flames of prayer and the value of little prayers because it’s little by little that we become pray-ers. With bravery and encouragement we become pray-ers, with acceptance and opportunity we become pray-ers, with practice and moments we become pray-ers, and in keeping it simple with our eyes on God, we become pray-ers.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
As I mentioned last week in Church, we're going to be teaching our children about the Kingdom of God. This is an important Formational Spiritual understanding for our children as they grow and discover more about God and develop a relationship with Jesus, the King.
My hope is that they feel connected to the idea of their personal citizenship in God's Kingdom and their identity as a "Kingdom Kid".
The Kingdom of God is a massive title and a massive concept, so I’m glad that Jesus told stories and used word pictures in order to help us get our heads around what it all means - even in all the little ways.
Here are some truths about the Kingdom of God that we'll be learning and revisiting:
The Kingdom of God is Good News. It’s Good News for everyone.
God’s Kingdom is for kids.
You have a special invitation to live in God’s Kingdom from the King Himself, who is Jesus!
The Kingdom of God is here.
God’s Kingdom is everywhere around us - It seems invisible, because it doesn't have a castle but, whenever we see God do amazing things in our lives and all around us, we are seeing God’s Kingdom right where we are.
We carry the Kingdom of God within us.
The Bible tells the story of God’s Kingdom.
For example, Jesus said in the Bible, that the Kingdom of God is like a little mustard seed. This seed is very tiny at first but it is the beginning of something big - a huge tree, a tree so big that birds come and sit on its branches!
Jesus is reminding us here that things might look very small at the beginning but they can become something much bigger and end up making a huge difference!
And we get to be part of all of this - we get to do what Jesus did and we wait for Jesus to come and bring the whole Kingdom.
So we’ll keep using this Kingdom language in Bay Kids and teaching these Kingdom ideas, particularly over this next month, as well as spiralling back to them throughout the year as we build our Biblical Literacy.
Can I encourage you to use this language too, and to continue to remind your children of their special belonging in God’s Kingdom and the invitation that is there for them to be a part of God’s Kingdom here on earth in small and significant ways at home and school.
Many blessings on you, your families, and your households.
Arohanui,
Charlotte