Sunday, December 31, 2006
Our New Year's Eve Service... Led by Our Youth...
Posted in Family Altar
This evening at church we had a special service
where the youth in the church led the service.
We had a children’s choir, one of the pastor’s sons led the music,
the pastor’s other son did the preaching, and Ally played the piano.
It was a real blessing to see the youth participate so willingly.
Here is a photo of the younger children
sitting in the front row before the service.
They made up the children’s choir...
Here they are standing on the stage singing…
I'll share the video of them singing in another post.
Our three are on the right.
Will is singing out quite well but the lil’ girls were a bit… shy.
In addition to the congregational and special music,
Ally also played the offeratory…
I'll share the video of her playing in the next post, too.
I thought everyone did so well.
What a blessing it is to see our youth serve the Lord!
“Let no man despise thy youth;
but be thou an example of the believers,
in word, in conversation, in charity,
in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
~ 1 Timothy 4:12
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Lord's Day Family Worship...
Posted in Family Altar
This morning before our home Sunday school lesson,
Ally played a series of hymns for us on the piano.
As hubby and I were in the kitchen,
we could hear the music playing throughout the house
and then heard singing.
I walked into the den to find this...
The children were gathered around the piano singing hymns.
Oh, how it blessed my heart!
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" ~ Psalm 92:1
After our lesson,
the children made these, which went along with our lesson,
to hang on their walls...
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
and in favour with God and man." ~ Luke 2:52
Monday, July 24, 2006
Little Ones in Church...
Posted in Family Altar
Yesterday we attended a new church. We returned for the evening service as well.
This church is a small church and does not really have a nursery worker in the evening service
though the nursery is offered for you to use, if needed...
which we knew before we returned.
I have always loved the idea of family worship but, unfortuneately,
we have not quite incorporated it into our family fully.
We have often, in the past, kept the lil' girls with us during the singing portion
of the service but not through the entire service.
Well, yesterday evening we did sit in the service together as an entire family
with great success, by the grace of God.
I was amazed (though I shouldn't have been - He IS able) that our lil' girls
sat through the entire service very well. We barely got a peep from them!
We do not allow our children to do anything in church except sit and listen
so this was especially a big deal.
What a blessing the Lord gave us!
In addition, while driving home, hubby commented how he really liked
that we were all in the service together... as a family.
Again, I was surprised (though, again, I shouldn't have been)
that hubby saw that as being such a positive thing.
Not just an 'okay' thing, but he really, really liked it!
We sang "Showers of Blessings" in the morning service
and, oh, how it fit the day. The Lord showered His blessings on us... on me.
What a blessed Lord's Day it truly was!
"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."
~ Psalm 122:1
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Our Home Church... response to a posted comment...
Posted in Family Altar
A new, fellow homeschool blogger left the following comment on
'Our Easter Sunday Morning' blog entry:
Hi,
I was wondering if you use a certain program for your Sunday home church lessons? ... How did you get started, and how do you decide what to study?
.........
Hope in NC
About our home church services...
We home church every other Sunday morning and on Wednesday evenings. We attend our local church every Sunday evening and every other Sunday morning.
What we are currently using is "Through the Bible in a Year" by Dana Eynon
ISBN: 0872390284 Publisher: Standard Publishing Co. 1975
It's a 30+ year old book and we have no idea how we came about owning it.
We didn't seek this book out, we simply had it lying around the house
and hubby chose to implement it. And we are enjoying it!
We do the lesson contained in this book which involves searching Scripture
and reading aloud, listening to Dad present the Bible lesson and application,
discussion of the Scripture reading, lesson, and application,
and possible activity or craft.
We try to have print outs for the children to work through.
One of my favorite sites for printouts of Bible lessons and activity sheets is:
Calvary Chapel Children's Ministry Curriculum
We have also used these sheets to compliment our History in the past.
We have used them for years.
On Sunday mornings, after the lesson from Dad, we take a little break, get a snack, and listen to Ally play hymns on the piano as we sing along.
Then we listen to a sermon on cd/tape that has been chosen by Dad. The little girls are allowed to play quietly (and sometimes Will is allowed to finish his color page/activity sheet) while the rest of us listen. I'm a compulsive note-taker, so I take notes, too.
Wednesday evenings vary greatly. Sometimes we may do a lesson from the book or sometimes we may only do some printouts and so forth.Our greatest focus is Sunday morning, however.
And that is it, in a nutshell.
Thank you for leaving a comment/question on my blog, Hope.
I enjoyed sharing this.
Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow, everyone...
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Our Easter Sunday Morning...
Posted in Family Altar
This morning Daddy got called in to work for an hour
so I began doing our home-church lesson and activites with the children.
We began with a coloring page and sang a few songs
(like "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", "The B-I-B-L-E")
as we colored and discussed how much Christ loved us
and what He did for us.
Here are the children coloring their pages...
Then I put in our Easter hymn cd and began our craft.
Ally and I cut out the pieces and the younger ones worked on gluing.
Here are Carolynne and I working on hers together...
Beth did most of hers on her own, then I helped her write some words...
Will and Ally worked on theirs while I helped the younger ones...
Soon Daddy arrived home
and the lil' girls couldn't wait to show him what they had made...
Here were the finished projects...
Ally then spent a little time playing Easter hymns for us...
Afterwards, the little girls were allowed to play in the living room
while the rest of us did our Sunday lesson.
Dad led us through Bible reading and discussion about
Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
(Matthew 27 and 28; Mark 16 mostly)
We also took turns reading many passages of Scripture.
Then Ally and Will worked on their matching word worksheet,
Easter word search, and "The Tomb is Empty" color page.
Now we will be resting until this evening when we attend
the service at church.
Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Are We Raising Daniels?
Posted in Family Altar
This morning in our home church, Sunday school lesson, we read about the captivity of Judah to the Babylonians. We discussed why they were taken into captivity, what it must have been like, etc...
We mostly focused on Daniel (Belteshazzar), Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abed-nego).
I know that I have heard this story a numerous amount of times, but the Lord has a wonderful way of reminding us and teaching us simple, yet profound truths when we are in His Word... whether we've read it hundreds of times or for the first time...
All through our lesson, there were things that dwelled in my mind....
~ Daniel and his friends were taken from their homes, their families, their familiar surroundings... all that they knew..... as CHILDREN!
~ Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego had great courage to stand up for righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world.
~ Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-nego withstood the strong, ungodly influence that surrounded them as children, young men, and as adults.
These facts fascinated me...
How they were ripped from their homes and godly teachings as children, yet, even as children, were SO convinced and convicted that they were willing to do what they knew was right, without heeding to the persuassion and influence of, probably, everyone else they knew.
And as they grew, they remained unfalteringly faithful to the One, True God.... without shame... without question... without hesitance.
They lived in the ungodly culture and influence of the Babylonians and, yet, they remained untainted by the wickedness they lived in.
Those truths got me thinking...
To have such strong, bold, and unapolegetic virtue and moral courage.... as CHILDREN and then as men...
Where did they learn that from? Where were they taught it?
Their parents??
Then the Lord laid some questions on my heart....
"Are you doing all that you can to truly train your children in MY ways, to serve and love me with all their heart, body, soul, and mind?
If they were somehow taken from you as young children, would they have what is needed to stay faithful to the One, True God,
despite strong opposition?
If they are never taken, and simply remain in your care... will they still have the moral courage to take a stand in righteousness
in an unrighteous and wicked world?
Are you doing ALL you can?
Are you consistently FAITHFUL in doing what you can?
Are you raising for ME more Daniels?"
Gulp.....
It's a scary, yet blessed thing when the Lord puts me in a place of self-examination and re-evaluation. When I am brought face to face with the comparisson of what I HAVE been doing, AM doing, SHOULD be doing and CAN be doing.
I praise the Lord that He speaks to me in a still, small voice through His Holy Word. It is my constant prayer that I will always have a teachable and humble heart. And I pray that He will enable me to all I CAN do in the raising, training, and discipling of my precious, precious children that He has entrusted me with.
I pray that I will raise more 'Daniels',
that my children will grow to be...
"... like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm 1:3
and "... be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jeremiah 17:8
And "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:" Psalm 144:12
May I be...
"... stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord..." knowing "...that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:58
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,
and to look well to thy herds."
~ Proverbs 27:23
Tending to our sheep...
