The Holy Spirit, Our GPS! Doctrines #7&8: Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the Initial Physical Evidence of Speaking in Tongues!

This Sunday!

As Pentecostals, we believe the Pentecostal experience is available to all believers.  However, if children have no scriptural basis for this belief, they may be hesitant or defensive when confronted with questions or ridicule from non-Pentecostals.  Instead of being able to explain the reasons why they believe as they do, kids with only a vague knowledge of the term Pentecostal may be confused and silent about this experience.  This Sunday we are going to help them to understand that the Holy Spirit is given to us as a Companion to give us help and strength for witnessing.

This week as we look at Doctrines #7 & 8 we will help our kids develop a biblical perspective of the Pentecostal experience.  This lesson can, not only prepare your children to answer questions about the baptism in the Holy Spirit but, lay a foundation that will help them as they desire and receive this glorious experience for themselves.

And then to wrap everything up, they can go straight from getting saved and filled into the adult service for water baptisms!  We have a couple of our kids following Christ in obedience through water baptism.  It’s going to be an awesome Sunday!

CANS FOR CHRIST!

Time to turn those collected cans in for $$

You can either collect them, crush them and take them into the recycle place yourself and then turn in the money, or bring in your bags of cans by NEXT WEDNESDAY AT

 and PK will make a huge delivery to the place and collect the money for missions ON THURSDAY! 

Congrats to the Clubbers of the Month!

Some Kids Drain Energy Out of Family Life

Some children have the ability to suck the energy right out of family life. These children are demanding of your time, need a lot of correction, and seem to be magnets for conflict. They are often emotionally explosive but almost always drain the energy out of parents and other family members. Unfortunately then, these children develop a negative view of themselves based on the high amount of negative feedback they receive.

One solution is to teach them to add energy back into family life. We use the term "honor" to describe the process of thinking of others above yourself. If Jack seems to get people riled up each afternoon before dinner, set an appointment with him at 4:00 pm for several days in a row and ask him to look for three things he can do to add to family life. He may decorate the dinner table, encourage his brother, or prepare something nice for Dad's arrival home.

If Jack continually antagonizes his sister, tell him that he needs to think of three nice things to do for her before he can go on with family life. Don’t tell him exactly what he needs to do. If you decide what Jack needs to do and tell him to do it, that's obedience. When Jack chooses, that's honor. Honor treats people as special and does more than what's expected. Jack needs to learn how to add energy to family life instead of taking it away. Challenging children in this way helps them to think differently.

Teens need to learn honor because it will make them more effective in life. Hidden within honor are the secret ingredients that make people more successful in relationships. Teaching honor is worth the work, because honor changes people.

This idea comes from the 13-week children's program called, The Kids Honor Club, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. It contains Bible stories, activities, crafts, and games to raise the awareness level of honor in your family. Just watch what happens to your kids as they learn to develop honor in their lives in fun ways. This material is great for a church children's program or even for an individual family.

THIS SUNDAY!!

Jesus instituted the ordinance of communion as an act of remembrance.  When we take communion, we are to look back to what Jesus had done for us by His death on the cross.  But communion is also a time of looking forward as we anticipate His return.  “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:26 (This week’s memory verse.)

In this week’s lesson we will be teaching the connection between the first Passover and our Communion celebration – that Jesus is our Passover Lamb.  We will help your children realize that before taking communion, we must first examine our lives, acknowledge and repent of any sins, and ask God’s forgiveness.  Only then do we eat the bread and drink the juice in remembrance and in honor of the great sacrifice Jesus made in dying for us.  We will start the process (that we hope you will continue to discuss with your kids) and encourage them not to take Communion lightly but to partake by first seeking forgiveness and then remembering how much Jesus suffered to provide our freedom from sin. 

How to Talk to Your Kids about Sex

How do you talk to kids about sex?

No parent looks forward to this conversation, and many Christian parents have their heads in the sand.

They tend to put this conversation until it’s too late, which can be dangerous.

If parents aren’t talking to their kids about sex, then they are getting information from other sources.

The problem is that many parents don’t know how to approach this topic with their children.

What age should you talk to kids about sex?

What should you do and what should you not do when talking with children about sex?

Those questions and many more go through the minds of parents.

Here are the points covered in the Purity for Parents class:

1) Don’t wait until your kids start puberty to talk to them about sex. If you do, they will be too embarrassed to talk to. You need to have this conversation with your children when they are 10 years old. My suggestion is for fathers to go out of town for a weekend with their son. Make a father/son bonding time and at some point have the “sex talk”. Mothers need to do the same thing with their daughters.  (If you are a single parent, talk about it with them as much as you can, but then ask another relative of the same gender that you trust to talk to them, maybe a grand-parent or Aunt or Uncle or a close family friend that you absolutely trust.  They need to have this conversation with someone responsible before their peers and media expose them to misinformation! - PK)

2) Talk about how their bodies are going to change during puberty and how they will begin to like girls. Talk about how babies are created and that they need to wait until they are married to have sex.

3) Teach your kids that sex is God’s idea. God created Adam and put him in this amazing garden. Adam wakes up one day and sees a naked woman. Adam’s immediate response is “WO-man!” (He liked what he saw.) God told Adam. “Be fruitful and multiply.” God is telling Adam to have sex with Eve and to make babies.

4) Teach your kids about boundaries. Establishing healthy boundaries is the best thing you can to do to give your children the ability to make wise choices. The truth is you cannot make you kids not have sex. If they want to have sex they will find a way. Your goal is to influence them that it is in their best interest to wait until marriage. The most basic boundary word is the word “no”. Allow your kids to say “no” sometimes. If you always make your kids say “yes” you will teach them to say “yes’ to everyone.

5) Read the Bible. The Bible has a lot to say about sex. During family devotions read scriptures from time to time that deal with sexual issues. Ask questions and let your kids ask question.

6) Keep the communication lines open! Don’t freak out if your daughter tells you that she likes a boy. You want your kids to talk with you about their feelings.

7) Watch what you let yourself watch. If you are watching sexually explicit movies your kids will do the same thing. Children learn by imitating others, but they imitate their parents more than anyone else. Make no mistake about it. Your kids will do what you do.  (Do not underestimate the power of curiosity also!!  If you allow your kids to be exposed to heavy kissing and romantic movies that they don’t fully understand, you can very quickly create a desire to know what comes next which can lead to exploration and experimentation with others or virtually that you may not find out about until it is too late and they are addicted or worse! – PK)

8) Your plan needs to change as your kids grow.

• Ages 1 – 7 – Protect their innocence. Answer their questions but don’t give them ideas. (Many parents never graduate from this stage.)

• Ages 8 – 9 – Read Bible stories that directly deal with sexual issues. Ask you children if they have any questions. Here are some good scriptures to read: Proverbs 6:20 – 35, Proverbs 7:1-27, 2 Samuel 11 – 13

• Ages 10 -11 – Have “the talk” with your kids.

• Ages 12 and up – Listen more and talk less. Keep communication lines open.

Sin had entered the world, and death through sin.  All must die because all have sinned.  But Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment of sin for us.  He who did not deserve to die, died in our place.  He was buried, but then rose again to a new life.  Now we, who deserve the punishment of death for our sins, can also rise again to a new life if we put our faith in Jesus Christ.

We no longer need to fear death for we have already died – to sin and to our old nature.  Now we live a life pleasing to God for He has washed our sins away.  So we follow Christ in the practice of water baptism.  Water baptism does not cleanse us from sin like a car wash cleans your car from dirt, but it is an outward sign of the cleansing that has already taken place in our spirits.  Through Christ we are made clean.  Now we are buried with Him through baptism and we rise again.  Each time a Christian practices water baptism he is telling the Christ story to all who are watching.  This week, we will encourage your children to follow the Lord in water baptism, especially if they are in the upper grades. 

We hope that if you have kids that are old enough you will encourage them as well to be a part of the water baptism service coming up at the end of the month.  If they show interest, talk to Pastor Kevin this week.

CANS FOR CHRIST HAS BEGUN!

Talk to your kids about collecting aluminum cans for BGMC!

You can either collect them, crush them and take them into the recycle place yourself and then turn in the money, or bring in your bags of cans at the end of the month and PK will make a huge delivery to the place and collect the money for missions at the end of the month after it’s over.  

We raised $77.00 last Sunday at the car show!

PK & Aimee did their part, now you’ve got to get out and do yours.  Collect those CANS!!

Getting Kids to Listen without Yelling

When we teach parents to avoid responding to their children in anger we get a common reaction: "But my kids won't obey unless I get angry."

And you're probably right, but only because you've taught your children to wait until you're angry before they have to obey. You give your kids cues to know when you mean business. Those cues tell your child that it's time to respond because your action point is coming next.

There is a definite connection between action point and anger. Many parents use the energy from anger to finally take action. When parents learn to tighten up their action point, then they don't have to use anger as the motivator. In fact, anger can often be a flag that your action point isn't tight enough.

If you find that you're relying on anger to motivate your children, then it's time to make a change. First, though, you need to develop a new plan. What signals do you want to use to indicate that it's time to clean up, or it's time to go? Maybe you'll use the child's name, obtain eye contact, and use the word "now" in the instruction.

When you're ready to make the change, talk with your children. Explain that you have been wrong in teaching them to wait until you get angry before they start obeying. From now on you are going to tell them once, then comes the action. If your child doesn't respond to the new cues then move right to your follow through.

    You may use a warning at first as your children are learning to respond to new cues. This helps them see that you mean business, but don't add several warnings or you defeat the purpose. Develop a routine with your kids so that they know when discussion or delays are over and obedience is required.

    We don't encourage parents to always demand obedience. Children also learn from negotiation, compromise, and cooperation, but there is a time for children to respond whether they like it or not. Your kids need to know when that is and clarifying your action point will help them learn it.


This parenting tip comes from Chapter 1 in the book Home Improvement, the Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.