'My two-year-old has a relationship with Jesus - CFN Newsletter Week 125

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 125

> Silver Ring Thing - new US chastity campaign
> News:
> Government backing for Walsall schools project
> River Tyne 'prayer cruise' for Tyneside spiritual regeneration
> Chaplain conducts US marriage ceremony - from Iraq
> Sites:
> London PrayerNet
> New resource from Credit Action on debt
> Could you take in a homeless youngster?
> Marriage MOT: Having fun together
> You've got to laugh: Science exams - true answers
> Members' Zone latest

> OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS WEEK

Check out the UK's only dedicated monthly magazine for Christian women - http://www.womanalive.co.uk

> FROM THE EDITOR

Hi all

If your youngsters are in the midst of exams - SATS, GCSEs, A-levels or degrees - let us know how you're staying sane!

Our latest update packs in the content ...

• from a children's evangelist's views on your child and Jesus, to a review of the latest Harry Potter film
• from new resources to combat teenage drug use to sites to help online p*rn addiction to mid-life crises
• from Eric Spellmann's guide to online music downloads to real-life science exam answers

We hope there's something for everyone!

Meanwhile, if you're not keen on football or tennis - stay away from the TV over the next few weeks ...

Take care

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

Your feedback, positive and negative, enables us to develop CFN in the way that is most useful for you - so please tell us if we're off the rails or on the button!

And don't forget - if we can pass on material (sample copies of Families Together, leaflets) which will help you tell your friends and your church about CFN, just mail Lyn Bedford at marketing@christianmedia.org.uk and she'll be glad to help you out.

> YOU AND YOUR CHILD

‘My two-year-old is serious about Jesus’

• ALISON HULL talks to children's evangelist Sheri Gidney about how real a child's faith in Jesus can be - and the best way you can relate the Gospel to youngsters
  

How do you share your faith with a five-year-old? Or even a two-year-old? And can children that age have any appreciation of what it means to make a commitment to Christ? Aren't we just wasting our time?

Not according to Sheri Gidney, who is a children's evangelist. “It is basically just about sharing the good news of Jesus with children,” Sheri explains, and it is her passion.

She heard God calling her to become an evangelist during an evening celebration at Spring Harvest 94.

“God clearly spoke to me. The preacher was speaking on ‘the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’ and with a burning in my heart I knew that message was for me. During the following song Here I am Lord (I the Lord of sea and sky), I responded.”

Later that year she joined Birmingham City Mission’s student team.

“We worked with a variety of people from all ages and backgrounds, but my passion early on was for the children in the city, and I stayed for a further two years on the staff majoring in children’s work, before training with Children Worldwide specifically in children’s ministry.”

Can small children make a serious commitment to Jesus?

“It depends what you mean by serious! Rachel, our two-year-old daughter, has a relationship with Jesus. She doesn’t understand sanctification or justification but she talks to Jesus about things that matter to her – for example: ‘Jesus Mummy poorly tummy better’.

“Sticking my neck out a bit, I think Jesus talks to her, too. Once on the way to Tesco’s in the car she suddenly started talking to Jesus about a friend of ours … we phoned the friend when we got home and at that time she needed help! Merely a coincidence? I don't think so!

“Rachel knows when she’s been naughty that it upsets Jesus too, and will often say sorry to Jesus before saying sorry to Mummy or Daddy! She has a toddler Bible and gets very upset when she sees Jesus on the cross. She thinks Jesus is special, and knows Jesus thinks she’s special too.

“Is it serious? Yes, Jesus is important to her. Is it a commitment? In her limited understanding, yes. As she gets older and understands more, she’ll need to respond to that one way or the other, but so do we, as adults, as we have a fresh and deeper understanding of Jesus.”

• How do you go about introducting children to Jesus - and what are the common mistakes we make as parents? Find out in the rest of this article in our Resources section at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> Government backing for Walsall schools project

An education project set up in a converted pub has gone top of the class, winning Government backing and receiving independent school status.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> River Tyne 'prayer cruise' for Tyneside spiritual regeneration

Almost 150 Christians from 25 churches set sail on the River Tyne recently to pray for the spiritual resurgence of Tyneside.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

> Chaplain conducts marriage ceremony in US - from Iraq

The bride and groom were dressed for the occasion, reports Associated Press, but most of the other trappings of a wedding ceremony were missing when Jacob Schwartz and Aimee Thornton were married by the bride's father - a chaplain stationed in Iraq.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Having fun together

My husband and I recently sat down to talk about what we enjoyed doing together most, apart from the obvious answers (?!), we discovered that we liked going for walks together, working together on some common project and having a meal alone together.

We also discovered that is was the freedom to be open with each other and know that the other would understand and accept us, that made these times special. Being best friends as well as lovers was so important.

What do you enjoy doing together? What’s special about those times? How do you feel as you think about it?

Why not talk to your loved one today and enjoy the things that make your love for each other special and unique!

> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

True answers given by youngsters in Science exams, part two. Some definitions ...

~ A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
~ Germinate: To become a naturalized German.
~ Liter: A nest of young puppies.
~ Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
~ Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.
~ Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky.
~ Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot.
~ Vacuum: A large, empty space where the Pope lives.

Check out the rest in our Resources section!

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Kate's Marriage advice - Having fun together
> Eric Spellmann looks at online music downloading

> Resources

> Your child and Jesus - children's evangelist Sheri Gidney
> Margaret Storey reviews Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
> Is marriage 'traditional'? A 2-in-2-1 viewpoint
> New course to help keep your child off drugs
> True answers to science exam questions, Pt 2

> News

> Government backing for Walsall schools project
> River Tyne 'prayer cruise' for Tyneside spiritual regeneration
> Chaplain conducts US marriage ceremony - from Iraq

> News extra: YFC project sees crime in Scottish town fall by 25%

> Top sites this week

> London PrayerNet
> New resource from Credit Action on debt
> Could you take in a homeless youngster?
> Focus on Your Child
> Help for online p**n addicts
> Mid-life crisis? Help is here

> Events: What's on near you

> Webwatch index: more than 700 sites categorised at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 1,000-page plus archives

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