Baby Dedication Celebration
Mother’s Day, May 8th at HarrahChurch.
There will be a class before this celebration that will guide you in this significant journey to teach your children what it means to love God with all their hearts.
Stay tuned, more information to come about this celebration…..
RSVP danelle@harrahchurch.org
read moreReconnect with our Orange Vision
5 Reasons why we Think Orange at Harrah Church – Taken from the Reggie Joiner at the Orange One Day in Dallas
- STRATEGY | It gets our leaders aligned and on the same page.
- MESSAGE | It brings a clear path and map for unforgettable environments for our kids to encounter core spiritual truths in a life-transforming way as they grow up in Harrah Church. Presentation, not just information leads to transformation.
- COMMUNITY | Small groups the greatest gift that we can give to our kids and parents. One of the greatest things we can give our families is another leader in the life of your children who speak life-changing truth in the lives of our children. We stive to put consistent leaders in their life so that they can connect in a deep and meaningful way.
- INFLUENCE | We believe that students have a responsibility to change the world around them. Our students need to understand how TO BE the church. We want to give them something significant to do. At Harrah Church service has a greater role in discipleship.
- FAMILY | The family has 3,000 hours a year in the life of a student, but the church only has 40 hours. Both the church and the family have responsibilities to teach children about God.
We think that our potential to influence the family is linked to what we think about the family. We know that the family and church working together has a greater potential to change our children than if we were working alone. Some people are influenced by the church but everyone is influenced by family. Somewhere along the way everyone developed a picture of what you think family should look like. According the the last US Census taken – 23.5% of families have parents who live with their biological children. If you hold to tightly to an idea picture you set yourself up to become disillusioned. We realize that all kinds of families attend Harrah Church and live in our community and we want to help all families live in the love of the Father above. None of our stories are the same, but God can use all of our families to change our world. There is no perfect picture of families in the Bible. God doesn’t use perfect pictures, He uses broken people.
We desire to help broken people and families tell a story of restoration. God desires to work through every family to demonstrate his story of redemption and restoration.
How are you connecting with our Orange Vision for the church and family? Are you asking your kids what they are learning in church? Are you asking the KidMin and StuMin leaders for resources to reinforce our lessons in the home? Have you looked into the CueBOX? Are you regularly volunteering? Have you sought out a person to be a consistent voice in their life of your student?
Resources:
- Think Orange by Reggie Joiner
- Parenting Beyond Your Capacity
- Shift: What it Takes to Reach Families Today
- The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings
Orange Parents
I ran across a resource for parents who want to know more about our Orange Strategy at Harrah Church. It is http://www.orangeparents.org/ and you will find a blog from the Think Orange pioneers Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof. Here is an excerpt from the About Us page:
Orange is what you get when you combine two primary colors—red and yellow. If you paint only with red, you will get what only red can do. If you paint only with yellow, you will get what only yellow can do. But when you paint with red and yellow, you’ll get new possibilities, fresh solutions, vibrant outcomes.
We use the color orange to symbolize what it means to parent beyond your capacity. Orange parents understand that by tapping into a wider community, they have the potential to make a greater impact in the lives of their children.
I really hope you will jump over and check out the Orange Parents website and blog and that it will become a resource for you as a parent.
read moreOrange Tour Road Trip
One of my favorite conferences experiences from the 2010 was the opportunity to take a large team to the Orange Tour stop in Dallas. This was an opportunity to sit under the teaching from the leaders of the Think Orange movement. Reggie Joiner, Sue Miller, Chuck Bomar and several others walked us through the Essentials of Orange and in our breakout sessions we learned how other churches are implementing the Orange Strategy within their churches. Our team had a great time together, we learned a lot, and a dinner on the way home I could sense how deep the teachings that they heard that day had dug in.
In 2011 the Dallas Orange Tour stop will be on January 20th and I want to take a bigger group. This is an incredible opportunity for you to hear from the leaders of our movement, to network with other Orange Leaders, Small Group Leaders, Story Tellers, Volunteers, and to connect with other volunteers from Harrah Church. It is open to anyone working with students from birth through graduation or anyone considering joining the team. The conference cost for Harrah Church people will be $35, which is a discounted rate. Last year we went down after Wednesday night service and stayed in a hotel close to the host site. We will do the same this year and have details on the lodging costs in the coming weeks.
Last year this event SOLD OUT twice and we will need to get tickets early. Contact Jeremy Davidson or Danelle Rush to register for the Dallas Orange Tour and join us for the road trip.
read moreRespect
This month our children’s programs are focusing on the virtue of respect. Respect is showing others they are important by what you say and do. The memory verse comes from 1 Peter 2:17, “Show proper respect to everyone.” Ask your kids some questions about respect this month.
- Can you name 3 respectful actions?
- Can you name 3 disrespectful actions?
- Why do you think God cares whether we show others respect?
Ask your students each Sunday afternoon where their Fridge Card and God Time Card is and use them to reinforce the lesson at home.
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