Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Our Children's Ministry Team Retreat

I've had a couple people comment wondering how the Retreat went that I mentioned in our Super Word Saturday post! Thanks so much for your interest!

I think the retreat went great! I work with a wonderful group of Christ loving, and Christ serving women, who love Children and want to serve the Lord! We had a wonderful home that was opened up to us, and we were made to feel right at home! These retreats are days that we set aside to pray and discuss where we feel the Lord is directing us in our roles at Lighthouse Community Church.


God laid it on one heart to challenge the rest of us to pray for:

The church body to become full of passion
The leadership to be passionate for these kids
The kids to be passionate about God's Word

I believe we came away from the retreat knowing that God wants us to diligently teach our children, starting in the home, and being encouraged and supported at church!

I read from Deuteronomy 6,

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates

and had other passages in Duet. to read but God brought me to Eph 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

While there I looked over and saw this verse:

Eph 5:14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:

"Wake up, O sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you."

I saw this and then thought to read around it, so as not to take it out of context. Here is the context from verse 8-20:

8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We the church and parents need to wake up! We are living in increasingly evil times! Our children are bombarded everyday with all types of evil things in school, on TV, possibly even in our homes! We need to make a point of knowing God, knowing His word, and being authentic in our life!

We as the Children's Ministries of Lighthouse and as parents pledge to be faithful to God in all He calls us to do! That's really it in a nutshell! Now comes the part of putting feet to the words!

God bless!

4 comments:

Mari said...

Sounds like a really good retreat. We do need to be awake to what goes on with our kids and realize the things they are hit with every day.

Denise said...

Thanks for the update, I will be praying for the children.

Susannah said...

Thanks for sharing about your ministry to children. They're like sponges for the Truth, aren't they? I love working with kids too!

Blessings,

e-Mom @ Chrysalis

Heather said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time on your retreat!
I gave you an award! Stop by and check it out!