Grace

For the month of September, we will be talking about the virtue of Grace.  As a society focused on appearing flawless and giving the illusion of perfection, this virtue is probably the most important one we'll focus on this year.  It is the lack of grace that causes so many to display a facade of themselves rather than being vulnerable and transparent with one another.  The absence of grace has also given the Church and Christians the distinction as being hypocritical, judgemental and fake.  Grace toward one another is fundamental to the way the world views us and the One that we follow.  And, of course, that's not even mentioning the most important aspect - the Grace extended to the world by God through His only son.

As we look at the virtue of Grace over the month, we will examine the parable of the lost coin and the the lost sheep.  These two stories clearly shows how important all of us are to God, that His grace is available to all and that seeking us is His priority, in spite of our sin.  The final three weeks will be spent looking at the parable of the Prodigal Son.  While clearly a story of the father's grace in welcoming his son back home, there are also lessons of grace to be learned in the way the younger son allowed grace to be extended to him and how the older son refused to extend any grace at all.

As you talk with your child, consider the following questions:  Who do you tend to extend grace?  Who do you find it hard to show grace?  What makes grace so hard to give?  What makes grace so hard to accept when you mess up?  Why should we show grace to others?  What would happen if no one showed grace?

SURGE

One of the primary reasons that we, the body of Christ, gather together to do this thing we call "church" is so that we may sharpen one another and encourage each other in our faith.  And while this certainly happens on the weekend during our corporate worship and Bible study times, there is a need for deeper commitment, relationships and discussion of the Word in the lives of Christians.  For adults, this happens in Growth Groups and with accountability partners.  In our student ministry, it takes place within Discipleship Groups, or DGs.  And for our preteens, it happens at Surge!

Surge is a fantastic introduction to discipleship for our grade school-aged kids.  It meets on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 in room 143.  Surge requires weekly commitments to both attendance and study as well as opportunities to serve the local community and participate in a mission trip during Spring Break.

If your child is interested, pick up an application this weekend or visit lpkids.com/firewheel and click on the Surge icon to download a copy of the application.  The cost is $25 a year and the first class begins on September 14th.

Promotion and the month of August

All summer we've been talking about Faith, looking first at the life of Paul and the leaps of faith that he took as he set out to share the gospel with the Gentiles and then at the book of Hebrews and some of the heros of faith recorded there.  While faith, in theory, is relatively easy to discuss, it is somewhat harder to put into action.  For the last two weeks in August, we'll be looking at the lives of Joseph and Moses.

Joseph's faith is one of patience and perseverance, being sold into captivity, falsely accused of crimes, imprisoned for years before finally rising to the second in command over all of Egypt.  But his faith was never wrapped up in his circumstances, but rather, in the fact that even in the midst of his trials, God was with him.

Moses' story looks much different as he is asked to do some big things.  Not just normal big things, but scary, intimidating big things.  Things that might cost him his life.  And while we might think of a leader rushing in to start an uprising that would liberate a people, Moses came in armed with a staff and a mighty God who was holding ten plagues to be used to exclaim His own glory.

What kind of faith do we exhibit on a daily basis?  How do we respond in faith to trials?  How do we respond in faith to great challenges?  What holds us back from having faith?  Who is someone you look up to because of their faith?