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Two Guys From Vista
Listen in every Mon.-Fri., 2:30-3 PM on 1210 AM KPRZ, to hear the Two Guys from Vista show. It features our very own teaching pastors, Larry & Chris!
Print this pageLife Change | Nanny 911 | March 8-9, 2008 |
Growth Group Homework
For the week of March 9, 2008
Special Note About this Week's Topic of Parenting: This week's homework and Growth Group discussion are designed to be helpful for all of us regardless of our family status or age. For those who don't have children, it could be helpful in preparing for a possible future family, providing insights on the family we grew up in, or even impacting a variety of our significant relationships.
QUICK REVIEW: Take a look at your sermon notes from this week. Was there a point in the sermon or a passage Chris read that you really took to heart? Was there anything else that challenged you or caught your attention?
MY STORY
1. It's pretty hard to talk about parenting without first taking a look back at how we were raised. What do you consider to be your parents' strengths? Is there anything you wish they had done differently?
Can you identify any ways that your views on parenting may have been shaped by your parents' strengths or weaknesses in raising you?
2. This week a number of our high school students were asked to finish these two statements:
I wish my parents would______________.
I wish my parents knew ______________.If you could go back to your teen years, how might you have filled in those blanks?
What was your reaction to the responses Chris read from our teens?
DIGGING DEEPER
1. Pastor Chris encouraged us to "run alongside" our kids. One of our challenges as parents is doing this throughout their lives. Thinking back on how you were parented, how you raised your own kids, or how you would like to parent future children, how could the application of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Proverbs 22:6 change throughout a child's development in....
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [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 doorframes of your houses and on your gates. [NIV]
Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it. [NIV]
the Preschool or Elementary Years
the Teen Years
the Young Adult Years
the Older Adult Years
2. "Every kid wants to know if they are loved and if they can get their own way." A parent's job is to give them the love they need and to set up clear and consistent boundaries and consequences. What does Hebrews 12:7-11 teach us about the goals of discipline?
Hebrews 12:7-11
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? [8] If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! [10] Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. [NIV]
What are some questions we could ask ourselves that would help us determine if we are giving discipline out of love or not?
3. We saw this weekend that encouragement is one of the keys in having positive influence on our children and others. What do these verses say about the power of encouragement?
2 Chronicles 32:6-8
He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: [7] "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. [8] With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. [NIV]
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. [NIV]
Proverbs 25:11
A word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver. [NIV]
Hebrews 3:12-13
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. [13] But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. [NIV]
Do you see any dangers of focusing our encouragement on someone's "performance" over their "purpose" or character qualities?
TAKING IT HOME
1. Giving specific affirmation is an important ingredient in meaningful encouragement. It shows others that we really know them and value who they are. Use the list below to help you name 2-4 specific things that you appreciate about each of your children or a couple friends.
Honest | Kind | Compassionate |
How are you doing at affirming these qualities in your kids/friends?
What steps does Proverbs 3:27 motivate you to take with each of the individuals you thought about above?
Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act. [NIV]
2. Is there one of the five keys from this weekend that you can begin to practice in your life as a parent and/or as a son or daughter?
Women's Retreat
March 28-30, 2008
Murrieta Hot Springs - Calvary Chapel Conference Center
Cost varies depending on room size.
Life comes at you fast. Are you ready? Join us for insightful teaching with guest speaker Robyn Henk, outstanding praise and worship, spiritual renewal, a great time with God, and connection with friends, old and new. Sign up online or at the weekend services.