What in the World are You Doing?
Over the summer our children were asked the question, “What in the world are you doing?” It is now time to turn the tables. Parents. What in the world are you doing? How are you making your home the primary place where your kids learn about God?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Our goal at Harrah Church is to help parents live out this commandment. The material we choose for our children and students was chosen with this in mind. There are components to each curriculum designed to help parents reinforce the lesson at home. We believe that the best way to change a child is by changing the home. The average kid spends 40 hours a year with the church and more than 3,000 hours with their parents.
Here are a few of the resources we use to help parents at home:
-Cue Box | http://www.studio252.tv/
-Refrigerator Cards | We pass these out each week to our Grade School kids
-God Time Cards | We pass these out each week to our Grade School kids to use for their devotionals at home
-Family Times | http://familytimes.org/
Small Talk Sheets | Each month we pass out a copy to our preschool parents
Home XP | A weekly resource for parents of JH/HS students that we post on the Renovate Students website http://renovatestudents.org
I hope that you will use these resources to develop your kids in Christ and to create a a better home, a better church, and a better community.
Background Checks
The safety of the children at HarrahChurch is a priority. We believe that when the kids feel they are in a safe environment they will be able to open themselves up and engage in our lessons and activities without barriers. One of the keys to building a safe environment is being able to trust those that are shepherding over them. With safety and trust in mind we are asking all HarrahChurch volunteers to complete a Background Check Application. These applications will be returned to Family Pastor Jeremy Davidson and processed through SecureSearch. All applications and results will be kept confidential and only viewed by a small, select 5-person team and stored in a secure location
We know that this step will help create a safe environment where parents have a deeper level of trust in our ability to keep their children from harm and provide an incredible learning environment.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Associate Pastor Jeremy Davidson at jeremy@harrahchurch.com or by calling the HarrahChurch offices at (405) 454-6690.
Shout Praises Kids
Each week in the HarrahKids worship environment we use the Shout Praises Kids. It is a great series of worship tools and songs for children’s ministries. I want to encourage you to pick a couple up to use in your Family Worship Times. You can find a list of the songs that we are currently using on the Volunteer Resources page.
HarrahKids Bucks
You may have heard of or encountered some strange new forms of currency called “Harrah Bucks” for short. These bucks are the basis of a point system that we use to reward students for good behavior, Scripture memory and completion of God Time Card activities. Students will be able to redeem their Harrah Bucks for prizes at different times of the year. These prizes will range from some candy to a Nerf Gun to Dolls to a Game System.
We believe that this point system will add us in controlling behavior and will provide incentives to students to study at home.
Ask your son or daughter each week if they earned any Harrah Bucks this week.
Students will need to return their HarrahBucks to the Worship Apprentice at the end of each activity. The Worship Apprentice will record each student’s earnings and take the HarrahBucks from them for use during the next week.
Family Times Virtue Packs
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Family Times Virtue Packs are a monthly curriculum designed for the family to use at home to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom. Each month you will get material designed to help your steer conversations with your children around the Virtue of the month at the Breakfast Table, in the Car, in the Dining Room, and at Bed Time. The #1 thing that the Family Ministry of HARRAHCHURCH will do each week is to support parents in their efforts to teach their children a Biblical worldview in the home. Family Times Virtue Packs are our first line of offense in that strategy. At the end of the day it is the parent and not the church that will stand before God and make an account of the condition of the heart of the child. WOW! As a church we understand the weight of that statement and will strive to help every parent in their efforts with their children.
You can order a subscription to FTVP at http://www.familytimes.org/ or you can contact Jeremy Davidson at (405) 454-6690 or jeremy@harrahchurch.org about ordering your subscription through the church at a reduced rate. We will have a limited number of copies for sale each month in the Cafe.
-Jeremy Davidson
