So, if our churches really want to be as effective as they possibly are able to be, then yes, they want to be certain the three hours they are with the children we love are hours where they are engaged and no time is wasted. But, we parents and grandparents must address those other 165 hours. We are able to make a significant difference in those other 165 hours - IF we focus upon handing down confident faith to the children we love.
We must not ignore those other 165 hours of the week. And we must do more than only teach the children we love what the Bible says. Many of them do make professions of faith, but far, far too many of them are turning away from the faith they had as a child when they grow up. We are able to make a difference by focusing upon handing down confident faith, by engaging the children we love in ways which make a difference. We are able to do this this. We must do this.
Josh McDowell says, "Belief is knowing what you believe. Conviction is knowing why you believe it." We must help the children we love develop a confident conviction because they know "why" they believe what they believe. Barna says - "In fact, the percentage of young-adult dropouts has increased from 59 to 64 percent. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. 18–29-year-olds who grew up in church tell Barna they have withdrawn from church involvement as an adult after having been active as a child or teen." If we don't want the children we love to be part of this statistic, we must be ask our church to focus upon engaging them when they are at church for those three hours and we must not lose sight of handing down a confident conviction during the other 165 hours in each week.
So find resources you are able to use to to hand down confident faith and ask your church to focus upon equipping parents and grandparents with these resources. Yes, I know, there are not many such resources, but there are a few. Check our bookstore and you will find the following -
#grandmas#handingdownconfidentfaith#itmatterswhatwedo#grandparentingonpurpose
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