It Takes a Village
The well-known African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” is one most of us have heard, and as parents we know it’s true…parenting is hard on the best of days. Having a community – a village – to help navigate parenthood is incredibly important. Your church community at Grace desires to walk with you during this season.
God impresses the importance of community on us as well. In Deuteronomy 6, Moses shares with his “village” the important truth, and attaches a challenge when he says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut. 6:5-7) He was not only addressing the parents, but the entire faith community…everyone is responsible for the children in our village.
Discipling children is incredibly important and is the primary responsibility of parents, but church leadership and the faith community have an essential part to play in the life of every child that belongs to our village. There is an urgency in investing and discipling our children…we are fighting against the lies of our enemy who is very determined to destroy us all.
Below are a few statistics from the book “Forming Faith…Discipling the Next Generation in a Post-Christian Culture” by Matt Markings, Mike Handler, and Sam Luce:
A person’s moral foundations are generally in place by the time they reach age nine.
Fundamental perspectives on truth, integrity, meaning, justice, morality, and ethics are formed quite early in life
The faith of the graduating high schooler is the matured, Christian worldview of the middle schooler, which is built upon the foundation of the ten-year old fourth or fifth grader, whose footings were dug in the early childhood years.
When should we start discipling our kids? Now! We are excited to announce that at Grace we are launching a new ministry focusing on the families of Grace Community Church with young children.
How should we start discipling our kids and finding our village? Here are two ways we're exploring partnering with you, much more will follow. Our heart is to come alongside of parents and together disciple children and point them to Jesus.
How are you doing with discipling your child? How can the church best support you and not overwhelm you? We’d really love to hear from you. Fill out our survey, so we can serve you better!
Monthly email with encouragement and resources to empower you as the primary discipler for your child.
We’re excited to partner with you, and are praying for you!
Pastor Jen Ingram and the Family Ministry Team
Want to dig deeper?
Here's a printable PDF to teach your kids to pray!
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