Family Ministries Blog
All are invited to the FX Family Fun Night, tomorrow night (Friday), 6-7:30pm at Old Bethel UMC. Come join us for free food, fun, activities, friends, and teaching on the life app for the month which is perseverance.
As mentioned the theme of the month for our Family ministries (April) is perseverance. We say that perseverance is refusing to give up when life gets hard. It can be hard to persevere in life, because we know life can throw some pretty significant curve balls our way. So, how can we teach perseverance to our kids?
First: We need to teach our kids that they are not designed to do life alone. Teaching kids the
importance of being a good friend, and looking for certain characteristics in a good friend, will
equip them to walk through life with others in mind.
Second: We need to teach our kids that it’s important to pray to God for strength. God is the
one who gives us strength, and we access that strength to persevere because His Spirit is with us all through the day (even at school).
Third: We need to teach our kids that they can talk to us (grownups) any time they feel
struggle/defeated. Nurturing a feedback loop where kids, from a young age, can practice
saying whatever is on their hearts (especially burdensome things) will be great for their
perseverance. Because, if kids feel like they can talk about anything, to safe adults, then they
are less likely to suppress emotions/feelings into the depth of their hearts. This nurturing of a
feedback loop will not only help perseverance, but will also set a platform for kids to live into
healthy relationships in the present/future.
We hope you will keep sharing the importance of perseverance this month, with your kids and
yourselves. Then, when life will get inevitably hard, our kids will have some tools to keep going.
Have a Blessed week!
Pastor Matthew
Events and small groups:
The last family devotion time, at the Gathering, will be April the 20th.
Middle school small group (grades 5-8): Tuesday nights 5:45pm -7pm at Old Bethel UMC
High school small group/study (grades 9-12): Sunday’s after the 11am service, lunch included
College Connect small group/study (for all college students): Sunday’s after the 11am service, lunch included
Coming Up:
FX: The next FX (Family Fun Night) will be Friday April the 8th 6:00pm – 7:30pm. Join us for a night of free fun, food, participation, and live presentation of the Orange theme of the month
Spaghetti Dinner Dessert Auction & Bake Sale: The spaghetti dinner for the Annual Youth Mission Trip will be held Sunday, April 24th from 4-6 pm. Pre-sale tickets will be sold this Sunday. Come and join us as we support our youth in their upcoming mission trip!
Staffing needs:
11am Kids Church: We need assistants and lead teachers to rotate. Please contact Pastor
Matthew to set up a time to drink coffee (or tea) and find out more.
Middle school small group: Tuesday nights we need small group leaders and assistants to
rotate. Please contact Pastor Matthew to set up a time to drink coffee (or tea) and find out
more.
Contact the Family Ministries team: We would love to hear from you :)
Pastor Matthew Phipps: mphipps@oldbethel.org
Bri Markland: brianamarkland@gmail.com
