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This section of our website
is dedicated to helping you preserve your most priceless
asset: your family. We encourage you as a family to
pray together, be active, enjoy the beauty of God's
world, and find out about local events and church activities.
Family activities don't have to cost a fortune and they
can help nurture lifelong relationships. Visit the Our
Community page for ideas on what you can do together
in Mexico, NY and Oswego
County.
Believers Chapel North
is a family of families. One of our desires and prayers
is that we would be able to help strengthen your family
by extending God’s family values to you. We want
to uphold Christian family values as well as preserve
the institution of the traditional family in our nation.
No nation is stronger than its homes. One Chinese
proverb says,“If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.” The family
unit is the basic foundation on which human society
is built. The fragmentation of our families, however,
will prove to be the destruction of our civilization.
~Luis
Palau
A Challenge to the American Family
America has become a nation of families where two
incomes are not only common, but also necessary. In
many households, not only are both parents out of the
house for their jobs, they are also involved with activities
that promote individualism. As a nation we have forgotten
some of the basic foundational aspects of a family.
There was a time when families sat down together in
the evening and read the Bible. A time when extended
family gathered for dinner every Sunday and the immediate
family had dinner together every evening. Times have
changed and families are often running in many different
directions, passing each other in the hallway on the
way to the bathroom for a quick hello.
Even in the Christian family, we are sometimes spread
so thin we don't have time to pray together, listen
to each other, or even go to church together. We may
get busy straddling the world
and "church." We may even get so busy serving
that we forget some of the basic fundamentals of our
faith - rest on the Sabbath, prayer and worship. We
may be so busy "doing" things that we don't
stop to nurture family relationships.
With everything moving so quickly around us, if we
don't purpose to make our relationships with God and
our family a priority, both will quickly slip away from
us.
In addition to our busyness, we are bombarded with
the world’s views on the radio, cd’s, television,
in our books, magazines, videos, and on the Internet.
What we watch, read or listen to effects how we think.
We must remember that every sin begins in the mind and
what we allow into our hearts and minds comes out in
our words and actions:
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed
the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders,
adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well
as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
All these evil things proceed from within and defile
the man. Mark 7:21-23
If we don’t take control of what we allow into
our minds, the enemy will. We must be diligent, then,
to monitor what we allow into our homes from the world.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if
there is any excellence and if anything worthy of
praise, dwell on these things. The things you have
learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice
these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8
Priorities
 How
do your priorities line up compared to the picture to
the right? One way to accurately answer this question
is to ask yourself where you spend your free time? While
we spend at least 40 hours a week at a full time job,
we can't feasibly spend equal or more time with God,
our spouse, and our children. So consider how you spend
your free time. Does your spouse feel like a priority
in your life? Do your children?
Marriage
Marriage is not a contract. The word contract is not
found in the Bible. Contracts are based on distrust
and a 50/50 relationship. The Bible and God's view of
marriage is that it is a covenant. A covenant is based
on complete trust between both parties and a 100/100
relationship. The word covenant means a strong commitment;
loyalty unto death.
With this in mind, how are you prioritizing your relationship
with your spouse? Do you have adequate time together?
Examine your weekly schedule and find time to be together,
to do things together – just the two of you.
How important is prayer in your marriage?
In our marriage, praying together brought the
heart-to-heart connection for which I longed. Ecclesiastes
4:12 says, “A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.” With every prayer my husband and I
uttered together, Christ became the third strand of
a braided cord that brought more spiritual and physical
connection into our marriage. Stormie
Omartian, Today’s Christian Woman,
September/October 2002
How about Bible study? There are many great devotionals
for couples on the market. Even if you have a limited
budget, you can spend time in God’s Word together.
Do a study on love or read Song of Solomon together.
And make time for discussion to encourage heart communication
and the growth of love in your relationship.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act
unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered, does
not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with
the truth; bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Children
Our children are precious treasures that we must guard
at all costs; a lasting legacy entrusted to us for a
short time to raise on God’s behalf. The outcome
of future generations will be determined by how we respond
to God’s calling to discipline and instruct our
children in His ways. (Ephesians 6:2-3)
Each stage of a child’s development has special
joys and challenges that will form their memories of
your life together. Love for our children is often spelled
T-I-M-E. Don’t let the day-to-day urgencies keep
you from the long-term importance of building strong,
loving relationship with your children.
The Scriptures urge us to see our relationship and
responsibility to our children the way God does:
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the
fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3
Train up a child in the way he should go, even
when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs
22:6
Do you have a time for family devotions where you
read God’s Word with your children? They will
remember what you teach them by word and example. You
are the primary spiritual leaders of your children.
Don’t take this responsibility lightly. But you
don’t have to do it alone. The local church is
here to help you.
Do you encourage your children to attend church, Sunday
school, youth group, summer camp or other special events
designed especially to encourage them children to grow
in their relationship with God and their peers? Make
this a committed priority for your family.
Challenge your children to follow God if you see them
begin to stray in the their attitude and actions. When
necessary get godly counsel from a pastor, marriage
and family small group, or from mature parents who are
a few steps ahead of you. Above all, seek to build positive
memories through your years together.
It’s not easy to raise children in the 21st century.
Although your parenting may not be perfect and every
moment may not be positive, your children will have
many positive memories that will outweigh your shortcomings.
While pressures abound, many resources are available
to help you make it through the minefield of child raising.
Here are a few…
Abstinence Education
Do you need help talking to your children about abstinence?
Would you like a partner that would help advocate abstinence
education in your child's school? Call the Pregnancy
Care Center of Oswego
County
at (315) 343-4866.
Drugs and Kids
It’s a reality every parent must face - head-on.
You can’t deny it. You can’t ignore it.
But you can raise drug-free children. As parents, you
are your children’s greatest resource. Visit the
D.A.R.E.
website
for more information and if you need a safe website
for your kids, check out all the activities available
in their special kids
section.
Giving
Teach your children early about giving. There are many
ways to do this – even on a limited budget. Have
your children outgrown some of their toys? Help collect
them and donate them to a child in need, or to the Rescue
Mission or Salvation
Army.
And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for
with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews
13:16
Does your child receive an allowance? Teach them about
tithing and have them give 10% of their earnings to
God.
Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed
of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s;
it is holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30
Volunteering
Another great way to spend time with your children as
well as help out in your neighborhood is through volunteering.
Look for people around you who are in need or contact
any of the agencies below for more information. If they
ask you why you're serving, tell them Jesus sent you!
Love each other just as much as I love you.
Your strong love for each other will prove to the
world that you are my disciples. John 13:34-35
Habitat
for Humanity
PO Box 5255
Oswego, NY 13126
Rescue Mission
374 West First Street
Oswego, NY 13126
(315)342-6625
United Way of Greater Oswego County, Inc.
1 South First Street
Fulton, NY 13069
(315)593-1900
United Way of Oswego County, Inc.
100 East First Street
Oswego, NY 13126
(315)342-4697
Believers Chapel North
The Chapel also has many opportunities for a family
to serve together, either for one-time projects or
for an ongoing need. Volunteer to help by contacting
the Chapel for more ideas on where you can serve.
Resources:
Children
Family
Answers
Family
Life
Junior Youth
(grades 5-8)
Men
Senior
Youth (grades 9-12)
Women
Book: Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie
Omartian
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