Intentional Families for Christ

A special thanks needs to be offered to the Perkins family for hosting our Youth and Family Devotional on Sunday afternoon. We were blessed with amazing scenery and weather as we lifted our voices in Praise to God. I want to thank all of the teens and parents who joined us as we discussed ways we could live out our faith more intentionally in our personal lives and as families in this community. To do this we all realized there were many
sacrifices that must be made. Here are the questions we discussed and some of the goals that were set as a result of our discussion:
1.         What can I personally do to live out my faith more intentionally at home, school, and work? 
            □ Take my Bible with me to school
            □ Act the way I know I should around non-Christian friends
            □ Be committed to spending time in God’s word every morning
            □ Deliberately identify people in my life that I need to talk to about Jesus
            □ Be respectful to my parents even when I disagree with them
            □ Stop contributing to gossip and choose my friends wisely  
2. What sacrifices must I make to live this way?
            □ My popular reputation of being cool with people that draw me farther away from God
            □ Get up 30 minutes earlier to read my Bible and pray
            □ Give up my pride and have a more humble attitude with my parents, friends, & teachers  
3. What can we do as a family to live out our faith more intentionally?
            □ Pray together
            □ Eat together
            □ Simply schedule more time together
            □ Attend already planned events like family retreats, family focus nights, & small groups   
4. What sacrifices must we make to do this?
            □ Turn off cell phones, computers, IPods, and TV
            □ Spend less time with friends and plan more family time
 5. What could we do as an organized event with other Christian families to share the love of Christ in our community?
            □ Volunteer at the rescue mission
            □ Go with families to clean up someone’s yard outside our church family
            □ Preparing meals for the homeless in our area on a regular basis
   
I pray that these things will become much more than simple words on paper.  May we all move forward with the unconditional love of Christ in our hearts and actions.
— Will Tucker