The Vision for the Chicago Church is clear: "We envision generations of authentic disciples..." Here is an update on the Chicago Vision for their teen and family ministry.
It is an amazing honor to be called the children of God. No doubt each of us can distinctly remember our calling and our adoption. We can vividly recount our first impressions of God's family and the love we felt as we became part of it. We can recall the gratitude that filled our hearts as we first processed what we had received. We were eager to share it. We longed to see others taste it. We were saved.
Our Father's passion has always been for us to bask in His grace and goodness. He desires our hearts to be surrendered to Him and His family. And He greatly desires for us to spread His mercy to our children. God called Abraham to leave his physical family and begin a new spiritual family that would be known as God's people, God's family. He told Abraham in Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 that this group of people would be filled with His offspring-His children, His grandchildren and His great-grandchildren.
God later made a covenant with Moses and His people at Sinai (Exodus 19-33), establishing spiritual boundaries, civil laws and a moral code so they would know how to honor Him and treat each other. As He was about to deliver them into the Promised Land, He reminded them of this covenant and called them to teach their children all of these things, as is recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
This scripture became the creed of the Israelite people. They took it to heart. It is called the Sh'ma (Shema), which is the Hebrew word for hear, the first word of the passage. This was the first prayer that a child would learn. It was recited every morning when they woke up and every night when they went to bed. They made small, leather boxes called tefillin or phylacteries with this scripture inside which they would attach to their foreheads and arms (near the heart) while they would pray. They also placed small metal boxes called mezuzahs on the doorframes of their houses, also containing this scripture. It is quite apparent from this and other passages of scripture that God fully intends for us to pass on our faith and our relationship with Him to the next generation.
As a parent of two girls (Hannah, 12, and Madeline, 10), and also needing to regularly address my own weaknesses and sins, I understand the monumental task that's involved in passing on my faith to my children. There are so many factors that form their spirituality! Here are a few:
Parents: We have been teaching them God's word, praying with them, praying for them, getting advice, having people in our home and modeling our faith daily since they were born.
Other Families: We take family vacations with other disciples' families, have families into our home and have discipling relationships with other families, all of which are being used to influence our children.
Older Kids: We try to make sure our kids spend time with teen and college disciples, to give them heroes in the faith and something tangible to look forward to.
Kingdom Kids: I'm amazed at the incredible teaching curriculum we have in our church. I went through it a few months ago just to see what our kids learn from the cradle to the sixth grade. It's fantastic! I am so grateful to all of the incredible servants who work tirelessly to teach our kids. Thank you!
The Church: We are at every service, no matter where we are in the world. It is who we are. Our kids make it a part of who they are by imitation. They love the church. Every disciple who talks with them and reaches out to them shares God's family with them.
Camp: They talk about camp all year long. Madeline wasn't old enough for our camp, so she went to the Ohio camp last summer. Our kids need to be connected to relationships all over the world.
Other: So many others have helped-babysitters, people who've driven them places, people who've had them over to their homes, singles who've planned outings with them and much, much more.
Our children need to be enveloped in God's family. In each of the ministry centers, we are building our Youth and Family Ministries to share these values. We have been talking about family more. We have been teaching about these biblical concepts. We are training the teen leaders to work more with families. We have also been educating the church on the need for all of the generations represented to reach across and serve one another. We are also in the process of building a partnership in each ministry center. We are striving to have a mature couple working with the families and another couple to coordinate teen activities and Bible studies. In many ministries, we already have this in place.
In summary, The Vision for the Chicago Church is clear: "We envision generations of authentic disciples..."
Dave Pocta -- Youth and Family Minister