OCTOBER: our home COMMUNITY
"Jesus is the center of our faith,
Christ-centered community is the center of our life,
and reconciliation is the center of our work."
Palmer Becker, August 5, 2005
Christ-centered community is the center of our life,
and reconciliation is the center of our work."
Palmer Becker, August 5, 2005
Concept:
“Christ-centered community is the center of our life.”
The Christ-centered community, for many of us, begins at home. What we practice in churches and the broader community can be an outgrowth of the practices of the household. Living as a Christ-centered community in our homes can sound like a daunting task - so this month, we give some ideas of ways to simply live a life centered in Jesus.
(Photo by Tyson on Unsplash)
“Christ-centered community is the center of our life.”
The Christ-centered community, for many of us, begins at home. What we practice in churches and the broader community can be an outgrowth of the practices of the household. Living as a Christ-centered community in our homes can sound like a daunting task - so this month, we give some ideas of ways to simply live a life centered in Jesus.
(Photo by Tyson on Unsplash)
Read It: Deuteronomy 6:4-8
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 on 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.
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 on 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.
Pray It:
Jesus, we want to build our home on your love. Bring us closer together and closer to you every day. Amen.
Jesus, we want to build our home on your love. Bring us closer together and closer to you every day. Amen.
Do It:
This commandment from Deuteronomy describes a day-in and day-out sort of walking with God, where we let our life of faith be fully integrated. Perhaps the best way to start living this life is to develop some daily habits in our households. The following is a starting place for your household to think about how you might live life with Jesus at the center.
This commandment from Deuteronomy describes a day-in and day-out sort of walking with God, where we let our life of faith be fully integrated. Perhaps the best way to start living this life is to develop some daily habits in our households. The following is a starting place for your household to think about how you might live life with Jesus at the center.
- Morning: Begin the day with gratitude. However you begin together - whether in getting a child out of bed (or them getting you out of bed!), or at a breakfast table together, say, “Thank you, God, for this new day.”
- Additional Activity Idea: Put up a poster in your child’s room and let them add a sticker to it as you say this prayer (this idea is a riff on Traci Smith’s idea from Faithful Families).
- Daytime play: Give your lives together a soundtrack! Here’s a past Building Faith practice that will give you some ideas for building your soundtrack.
- Additional Activity Idea: Cued prayers. See more in this past Building Faith practice.
- Evening mealtime: Eat together! It’s tempting to feed the kids and enjoy a leisurely grown-up meal after bedtime, but eating together is key to creating community. Before you eat, pray a simple prayer like this one: “Thank you, Jesus, for this day. Thank you for this food. Thank you for this family. Amen.”
- Additional Activity Idea: As you eat, take turns sharing one way God showed up today.
- Bedtime: End the day with story, prayer and blessing. Or if doing all three is daunting, pick one!
- Story: We highly recommend MennoMedia’s The Peace Table , and there are lots of other great ones out there! Read a story from a story Bible every night before bed.
- Pray as a household. Keep it simple - as one of my congregants once said, “We don’t always have to pray the whole way around the world and back again.” This simple prayer format has worked well for my family:
- Thank you, God, for this day. Hear our prayers of thanks. (Each family member says a one-line prayer of thanks). Hear our prayers for others. (Each family member says a one-line prayer for other people). Help us rest well tonight. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
- Blessing: Bless your child as you tuck them in. For ideas on what to say, see this past Building Faith practice.
Explore It:
Many of us tend to keep our spiritual walk quiet and are not used to talking openly with others. Having children challenges that practice. While our wordless expressions of faith through our daily living are valuable, children also benefit from explicit expressions of faith. They may understand it in simple terms and through impressions, but over time our authentic sharing helps them develop their own faith and relationship with Christ.
Talashia has given you many practical suggestions through linking to past entries. I’m not adding further resources this month. I’ll simply link to Traci Smith’s website. She provides many excellent resources for families. (Photo by Dmitry Rodionov on Unsplash)
Many of us tend to keep our spiritual walk quiet and are not used to talking openly with others. Having children challenges that practice. While our wordless expressions of faith through our daily living are valuable, children also benefit from explicit expressions of faith. They may understand it in simple terms and through impressions, but over time our authentic sharing helps them develop their own faith and relationship with Christ.
Talashia has given you many practical suggestions through linking to past entries. I’m not adding further resources this month. I’ll simply link to Traci Smith’s website. She provides many excellent resources for families. (Photo by Dmitry Rodionov on Unsplash)
