How are we going to pray pt2: Give God some space

One of the other suggestions is to pray for half an hour either at 12pm or 1pm. Now this presents a challenge for some of our children. If we are full time at home with our children and they are not yet at school and not taking a nap then it may just be possible to pray at 1pm. However for most of us these times will not work with our family and in truth neither will praying for half an hour.
Fasting is a discipline that the bible talks a lot about and it is a good idea to somehow have it form part of our prayer life. When Jesus talked about it in Matthew 6v16 he said 'When you fast' he seems to be implying that it happens. He also goes on to say that it isn't about scoring points with God or looking 'holy'. This is not the purpose of fasting, as Henry wrote:

'The purpose of fasting is to deny ourselves something as a way of telling God that our desire for him and for his purposes in our lives is greater than even our normal human appetites.'

So how can we do this as a family? Instead of giving up half an hour to pray and hoping the kids will just keep up why not find half an hour in which your kids might ordinarily watch there favourite cartoon, zoom around in the garden or make Michelin star food in their play kitchen and gather together. That means us adults leaving our smartphones, putting the newspaper down, and switching off the TV so we can ALL gather together.

Now if you have young children or a range of ages it might not quite work out as an uninterrupted half hour of prayer. That's alright because this is not about a religious and legalistic action. This is an opportunity for us to make some space. It might be a little, it might be a lot, as long as we find some. In creating some space we're saying to God, you matter to us and there are lots of things that matter to you and we want them to matter to us as well. 

• If you're nursing why not make sure your baby is with you whilst you pray. Even if they can't actively pray themselves you can pray with them and let them be with you as you pray. Play some music and sing the things you want to see God do through his church here.
• Read a bible story together and ask your children what they think the Holy Spirit is saying through the story and then pray together about that.
• Set out some art and craft materials on a table. Talk about the three main prayer points (A new church building, God's provision, more Holy Spirit power). Play some music and together make your prayers into pictures. 
• Use the half hour of prayer as your mealtime but perhaps just eat basic food like plain rice or plain toast and pray together.
• Share communion together.

These are just some ideas of things you could do to fill the SPACE you want to give to God. Let's be creative, we all have it in us because we were made by the creator! Jesus teach us how to pray as a family. This could be the start of something new! 

How are we going to pray pt 1

One of the ways we are being encouraged to pray is to say the Lord's prayer. Instead of doing this on your own, find a time that works with your children and pray it together. Here is a copy of the prayer from the Jesus Story Book Bible which might help. You could pray it together over breakfast or before the kids go to bed.

Pray and fast with us as a family

I recently posted here a note from our Vicar, Henry and Associate Vicar, Colin who are inviting us as a church to join together and pray through the month of February. Here is a reminder of what they said:

As a church we are currently facing a number of key strategic issues, and feel an urgency to bring these before God. So much so that we are calling the church to a month of prayer, starting with the church prayer meeting on Wednesday 5 February and concluding in a Worship Evening on Saturday 8 March, the day before our St Barnabas Sunday on 9 March.

We believe it is vital that, if we are going to succeed in the bringing of his will on earth, we occasionally gather as a church family to pray in agreement together.

Psalm 127 reminds us that, unless the Lord builds the house the workers labour in vain. It is with great excitement, then, that we invite you to pray that the Lord would indeed come and build in and through all we seek to do as his people. We are also encouraging any who want to, to engage in some form of fasting.  

Henry & Colin

If you are part of  St Barnabas then we would encourage you to call your family to pray through this season and equip your children. We would like to help support you to do this and will be using this blog to provide resources and encouragement for you as your family prays for:

• More of the Holy Spirit
• God's financial provision
• The church redevelopment plan

Let us pray...

This is an urgent call to prayer from Henry and Colin for St Barnabas Church:

'As you may have seen in last Sunday’s St Bs Bulletin, we are calling the whole church to join in prayer on the evening of Wednesday 5 February, from 8pm. It will be a time for us to pray for the coming of his kingdom in particular areas of our church life/ministry and beyond. 

 

There are key strategic issues facing the church, and we feel an urgency to bring these before God. So much so that we are calling the church to a month of prayer, starting with this prayer meeting and concluding in a Worship Evening on Saturday 8 March the day before our St Barnabas Sunday on 9 March. This first prayer meeting will therefore be a launch-pad for a concentrated season of prayer.

 

We believe it is vital that, if we are going to succeed in the bringing of his will on earth, we occasionally gather as a church family to pray in agreement together. Put this date in your diary and make join us.

 

Psalm 127 reminds us that, unless the Lord builds the house the workers labour in vain. It is with great excitement, then, that we invite you to come and pray that the Lord would indeed come and build in and through all we seek to do as his people.'

Home for good!

If this article by Krish Kandiah is anything to go by then his book sounds like worth while purchase. If we are concerned about justice for children and families then surely the issues of adoption and fostering need to matter to us. Have a read of the article and if you've read the book why not let us know what you thought of it.

Live right and walk with God

Genesis 6-9

Something to say

God looked everywhere for someone to help him with his plan. God saw that Noah listened to him and that Noah loved him. God gave Noah some crazy instructions to build a massive boat. It seemed so silly and people laughed at Noah. But God kept Noah and his family a safe place inside the ark when the flood came all because Noah had made the right choice and trusted God.

Something to show

Make a simple obstacle course. Blindfold a child and ask them to get from one side of the course to the other on their own. Once they have tried and failed ask another child to come and lead them round the course. Explain that doing things without God can be tricky but when we trust and walk with God life is much easier.

Something to pray

Lead the children in asking the Holy Spirit to help us follow God, even when it would be easier to do things our own way.

A verse to remember

Noah was a righteous man and he walked with God. Genesis 6:9

Kids Church Worship

We love Kids Church, spending time with the kids each week as they learn more about just how much God loves them. We have the privilege of seeing them worship God and grow in their faith the more they discover how good He is and how real He is. We want to disciple children but also equip families to grow together and live Jesus centered lives. Our aim for worship in Kids Church is to use songs that 'children don't have to stand on tiptoes to sing and parents don't have to bend down to sing'. What that means is we want to pick songs that are accessible to both kids and adults. Here we have posted some links for some of the new songs we will be using in Kids Church this term. Why not take a look together to help you worship as a family.

Guardian by Ben Cantelon

Love goes on by Hillsong Young and Free

We love this new song from Hillsong Young and Free and are using it for worship workout

Welcome to the blog

We are pleased to announce the new St Barnabas Kids and Families blog. This is the place where you can discover upcoming events, hear good new stories, find resources and keep up to date with all that's happening at St Barnabas North London. You can also visit out Facebook page located here to become even more well connected! We're really excited about this Blog and plan to use it a lot over the course of the year so keep checking in with us.

How important is Children's Ministry?

Hear what George Barna has to say about it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmgEO7no0vg

Sin makes a mess

Genesis 3

Something to say

God gave Adam and Eve one instruction to obey, not to eat from one of the trees, but the devil came and lied to Eve. He asked her if she believed that God really loved her. And then she made a choice, the wrong one and through that choice sin entered the world. When God found out what had happened he was sad because his perfect world was now messed up. Sin caused a separation from God. It caused Adam and Eve to hide from God when he called out to them. Sin makes a mess by separating us from God. It's like when we know we've done something or said something we know is wrong. When we get caught it makes us feel bad and ashamed and we want to hide away (give examples). But God doesn't leave us like that, in a messy state. He has given us a way back to him through Jesus because he loves us. Jesus came to clean up the mess.

Something to show

Crumble biscuits over a table and get someone to come and clean them up with a dustpan and brush. Explain that the biscuits have made a mess just like sin and that Jesus came to clean it up.

Something to pray

Lead the children in asking the Holy Spirit to always remind them that although there is sin in the world, and it has made a massive mess, God didn't leave the world like that. Thank God that he sent Jesus to clean up the mess and bring us back to him. God is with us and in us through the Holy Spirit.

A verse to remember

‘Then God said to the woman "What have you done?".’ Genesis 3:13

God the powerful maker

Genesis 2 and 3

Something to say

Imagine nothing but a big empty space, dark and cold. Before God made the world that's all there was. god was there but nothing else. He wasn't sad or lonely but he decided to fill the big empty space. He created everything. He looked at everything he had made and said that it was good! God knows everything, so if he says something is good, then it is. If I wanted to build a house I would have to find bricks and cement and wood and glass, but God had nothing. God is so powerful that he made everything just by speaking. He said 'let there be light' and the sun burst into being. He just used his voice, how amazing! God saved making the best thing till the end. He made people and he made us for a special reason; to be his friends, his children, to love him and be loved by him. When God made the world he spoke everything into being but when God made people he did something amazing. He breathed into them! So God, the powerful maker put some of his life into people, into us. God likes everything he has made but he is especially proud of us. He loves us simply because he made us. We are his.

Something to show

Hold up a lightbulb and explain if we want to create light then we need to screw this into a light, which needs wires, which needs a switch etc. God didn't need any of that. He just spoke and light came! 

Something to pray

Thank God for the beautiful world he made with love and care for us to live in. Ask the Holy Spirit to come a remind us every day that we are loved by God just because we are his.

A verse to remember

‘And God said "let there by light" and there was light.’ Genesis 3:1

God's story is the best

Psalm 119 v 97-104

Something to say

What is your favourite story? Share your favourite stories with the children and then invite them to share what their favourite stories are. The Bible tells a wonderful story and like every good story this one has a great hero. Does anybody know who the hero of God’s story is? Jesus. The bible is full of good advice and it has lots of stories. Some of the stories fill us with courage; some help us when we’re finding life tough, some are difficult to understand (you could give a few examples here). What is amazing is that we have a story in the bible that is about the most powerful and wonderful person in the entire world, God. When we read the story of God we get to know God better, to know who he is and what he has done which shows us how much he cares and loves us. Let’s learn to love God’s story.

Something to show

Use a range of different sweets and invite some children to come and taste how sweet they are. You could also ask people to share what other sweet things we enjoy in life. The bible is called God’s word and Psalm 119v103 says that God’s word is sweet. As excited as we might get when we taste our favourite sweets the person who wrote Psalm 119 loved God’s word so much that he said it was ‘sweeter than honey’. That is how much he enjoyed God’s story.

Something to pray

Hold up a pot of honey as something for the children to focus on. Read the key verse from the bible bit. Invite the Holy Spirit to come and show the children how amazing God’s story is.

A verse to remember

‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.’ Psalm 119v103