"Tell the Coming Generation"

I was meditating on Psalm 78 yesterday and the first thing I noticed as I began was that the title of the Psalm is Tell the Coming Generation. That immediately struck a chord so as I read I tried to answer the questions:
What should we tell them?
How should we do it?
Why should we tell them?

This Psalm provides a great example of how to teach our children what God has done in the Scriptures and let those events reveal His character and love. I would encourage you to spend some time in Psalm 78 by yourself, and then with your children.

What should we tell them?
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. (verse 4)

How should we do it?
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. (verse 3) (the rest of the Psalm gives a great example of how to tell a story)

Why should we tell them?
So that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments. (verse 7)

May we shepherd our children with upright heart and guide them with a skillful hand (Psalm 78:72).

A Helpful Link for Moms with Toddlers

Here is a short blog post from the people at Desiring God.
It is entitled 7 Ideas for Teaching Toddlers and might prove useful as you establish storytime routines with your little one.

Happy teaching!

Nicodemus Follow-up

Children 2-years-old thru 1st grade are learning the story of Nicodemus found in John 3. You can help your child further understand and apply the truths of this story as you go throughout your day. Here are some ideas:

• The key phrase for this unit is, "Jesus Makes Me New!" Talk about the things you see that go through changes, such as flowers, animals, food, etc. Relate the way these things change to the way Jesus changes our hearts when we love and trust Him.

• Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Talk about the difference between light and darkness. Why did Nicodemus come at night? Talk about how Jesus is the light in a world darkened by sin.

• Act out the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, stopping every verse or 2 to explain in your own words what Jesus means.

Scripture & Music

I've written before about the importance of singing with your children. I won't go into much detail again but I did want to expand on one thing.
Scripture promises the following about itself:

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

With those promises in mind, I encourage you to sing Scripture over your children and even have it playing in the background as you go throughout your day. There are several groups that publish verses put to song. Because we have the promise that God's Word will not return empty, why wouldn't we want to let it go forth over our children on a regular basis? So grab some cds, turn the volume up, sing along and have faith that His Word will penetrate the hearts of our little ones.

Recommendations:

Seeds Family Worship

Godprints - Scripture Memory Songs for kids (no site - available on ITunes)

Sick, Sad Hearts

In the preschool, we are learning the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a very smart teacher who knew all the right answers and followed all the right rules. One night, Nicodemus went to visit Jesus to ask Him about eternal life. Jesus explained that it doesn't matter how much we know or how good we are, what matters is loving and trusting Jesus. We did an activity with the children that you can do again at home:
Make a large heart using 2 sheets of paper glued together. One sheet should be brown and one white. Put a sad face on the brown side of the heart.
Name specific sins and for each sin make a mark on the sad side using crayons, markers or stamps. Depending on your child's age, you can make simple marks or draw pictures of the sins you are talking about. Talk about how sad a heart looks when it is full of sin. This is what God sees when we have hearts that don't love him.
Then, turn the heart over and use your child’s favorite color or paint to add to a heart that is beautiful because it loves Jesus most and trusts Him for everything. Draw a smiley face on this side and talk about how God sees this beautiful heart after we have decided to love him most and follow him.
Talk about how without Jesus, our hearts are sick and sad because they are full of sin. But when we decide to love and trust Jesus, He cleans our hearts and makes us new and makes our hearts beautiful.

Quiet Time & Your Preschooler - Not a paradox!

Developing the discipline of setting aside time every day to spend in prayer, study and meditation can be a difficult thing. Modeling that discipline daily before our children can be even more difficult. And instilling a similar discipline in your preschooler or elementary-aged child can seem nothing short of impossible.
But teaching a child the importance of spending uninterrupted time with God every day is very important. Beginning to establish the home as a place where we can hear and speak to God in the quiet of our hearts is a powerful thing. I want to encourage you to consider working on this discipline with your children. Here are some tips:

• Model this practice. Show your child that it is important to you to spend uninterrupted, quiet time with God. When your child sees you doing and enjoying it, he will be more apt to emulate it.
• Start small. It is not realistic to assume that on day one your child will sit still and quiet for any extended period of time. Set measurable, attainable goals and work your way up. Ten minutes a day is an appropriate amount of time a preschooler can be expected to sit quietly.
• Give specific ideas of things for your child to do. Some ideas are: flip through a picture Bible, draw pictures of Bible stories you've recently read together, draw pictures of things you're thankful for or praying for. Drawing, looking at pictures or encouraging specific ways to think and pray are good places to start.
• Talk about what you both learned, felt or experienced in your quiet times. If you child knows he will be sharing his experience with you, he is more likely to take it seriously.
  
• Call it a quiet time. Whether the practice is already established or is new, make sure it looks and feels differently than normal self-play or "alone time."
• Pray together before each day's quiet time, setting the tone for your child and committing your time to the Lord.

Entering into a time of quiet worship and study can change the atmosphere of a home and usher in countless opportunities for growth and discussion. Try not to be intimidated by the idea. Start small, be faithful, and trust the Lord to work in your heart and the heart of your little one as you both set time aside to be with Him.
May the Lord bless you in your times with Him!

Teaching Our Children About Giving

Thanks to Brittany Colberg, for writing this awesome blog post on how she teaches her daughters to tithe!

Teaching Our Children About Giving
Brittany Colberg

Giving tithes and offerings is an honor and a reflection of our hearts as Christ-followers; so how do we instill this into our children’s hearts?

~We need to emulate cheerful giving in front of our children: They need to see our words put into action by giving graciously (whether it is to church, charity organization, someone in need, etc.).

~We need to study scripture with our children on tithing: For younger children, stories about the widow’s mite from Mark 12:41-44 would be good. For older children, I would suggest a more in depth study using the Sermon on the Mount from Matt. 6:19-21 as well as reading Exodus 36:3-7 to describe how the Israelites gave more than enough needed and the blessing in that.

~ We need to train their hearts to be givers: We should start by cautioning them against being like the Pharisees; who gave everything according to the law, but their hearts were not it in (Matt. 23:23). Then, we should impress upon them how we are to give; that Jesus says it was better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), and we also know from 2 Corinthians 9:5-15 that we are to give cheerfully. That cheerful giving not only supplies ministry needs & shows obedience, but the text tells us it brings about thanksgiving and glory to God.

If you have a child that is reluctant to give, pray with them that God will change their heart. Teach them that Jesus gave His life for them, and that everything we have is God’s in the first place; we are just entrusted with His gifts to be shown faithful stewards and advance the Kingdom. For older children, you may read them 1 John 3:17-18 and James 2:15-16 to further instill the purpose of giving.

This is how it looks in our home: we pay our children “contract labor” for optional duties above and beyond household chores. Erich will sit down with them on “paydays” to help them divvy up their allotted tithe portion, savings portion, and earnings portion. Any “gift money” that they receive falls under the same instruction. The children then get the privilege of giving God’s money back to Him by supporting the church, and they will personally put their tithe portion in the offering box on Sundays. We also encourage them to give when they feel led to other ministry needs to help instill that it’s not just about “Sunday”.

*Remember to pray with your children thanking God for entrusting us with money, giving us opportunities to advance His kingdom with our tithes and offerings, and asking Him to work in our hearts that we may be cheerful and gracious givers.