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TAKE IT HOME EVENT DESCRIPTIONS
Baby Dedication or Infant Baptism (Newborns)
Family Blessings: For Families with Two-Year-Olds
Family Devotions: For Families with Three-Year-Olds
My Church (Preschoolers or Four-Year-Olds)
Family Prayer (Kindergartners or Five-Year-Olds)
Family Service Projects
Family Worship (Second Graders)
My Bible
Money and Me (Fourth and Fifth Graders)
Computer Boundaries (Teenagers)
Faith Mentoring
Talking About Dating, Kissing, Sex & Stuff (Teenagers)
Looking Into the Future (Teenagers)
- Baby Dedication or Infant Baptism (Newborns)
Some churches dedicate young children
to the Lord. Others baptize infants.
Whatever service your church
has to acknowledge the value and
priority of raising children in the ways
of God must be more than simply a
ritual. If it were nothing more than a
ritual, it would have little, if any, lasting
impact. Yet, as we seize the opportunity
to be intentional in dedicating
children, this act can become a powerful
first step in establishing the parents
as the most important faith influencers.
The home is the primary place where
faith is nurtured and the church becomes
a lifelong partner in equipping
parents to pass on the faith to their child.
This Take It Home Event will provide
ideas for how you can approach that
meeting or class as well as the dedication
or baptism itself.
Goal: To establish the partnership between parents and the church in passing on the faith to our children and children's children.
Suggested Resources:
I love to Wiggle and Giggle! Instant Activities for Babies and Toddlers
Faith Begins at Home
I Love to Look! Bible Story Picture Cards
- Family Blessings: For Families with Two-Year-Olds
If begun early, the habit of praying
God’s blessings over children will open
the door for God’s blessing and for intimate
faith talk between parents and
children that will bear fruit in years to
come. This event will provide many
Scriptural blessings a family can use.
Goal: To establish the ritual of parents praying God's blessings over their children on a daily basis.
Suggested Resources:
Blessing Your Children by Jack Hayford
Blessing Your Children DVD
Blessing Your Children VHS
The Family Blessing by Rolf Garborg
- Family Devotions: For Families with Three-Year-Olds
The most precious commodity in our
world today is time. We don’t have
enough of it. And this problem is perhaps
most evident in the lives of families
where the schedules of multiple
persons converge in one home. Families
have a hard time even sitting down at
the table for dinner let alone carving out
time for God together. It is no wonder
that George Barna reports that fewer
than 10 percent of parents who regularly
attend church have consistent family
time with God.1 It wasn’t a part of their
routine at home as a child and so it has
not become a practice in their lives today.
At some point we must help our
families break this cycle. This Take It
Home Event will help families establish
the habit of having family devotions.
Goal: To empower families to have a consistent, effective, successful, positive devotional experience together that will encourage a lasting discipline in their children's lives.
Suggested Resources:
God's Story for Me Bible Storybook
FamilyTime Story Book
Raising Up Spiritual Champions Newsletters
Bible Story Pictures #1
Bible Story Pictures #2
Blessings Every Day by Carla Barnhill and Elena Kucharik
- My Church (Preschoolers or Four-Year-Olds)
What is the church? Is it just a place
we go every Sunday or is it something
more? How do I fit in at my church and
why is it so important? In this Take It
Home Event you will answer some of
these questions about the church and
more importantly help kids and families
experience and understand what a very
important part of the faith community
they are. They will understand that the
church is not just a building, but also
an extended family. You will help families
to be familiar with and feel comfortable
in the building where their
church meets.
While most of the Take It Home
Events focus on equipping and encouraging
parents to implement faith in the
home, this event is a little different. It
is more focused on the experience of
empowering families to live for Christ.
Goal: To allow families to have a memorable experience together at church as they learn how much they matter to the faith community.
Suggested Resources:
Rock-Solid Kids by Larry Fowler
Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna
- Family Prayer (Kindergartners or Five-Year-Olds)
At the very heart of the Christian life
lies communication with God through
prayer. In fact, Martin Luther King, Jr.
once said, “To be a Christian without
prayer is no more possible than to be
alive without breathing.”2 Unfortunately,
many Christians don’t regularly engage
God through prayer because it was not
built into their lives as children. While
many adults must make a concerted
effort to spend regular time in prayer,
our goal for the next generation is that
prayer will become a regular habit, a
reflex reaction, something they naturally
and instinctively engage in because
from a very young age it became a part
of who they are.
As you train parents to pray with
their children, you are basically teaching
them to pray on the most basic
level. Ultimately, it is Prayer Class 101.
The great thing about this from my
experience is that when it comes to
prayer, many parents are in the same
place as these kids. They have very little
personal experience with regular, consistent
prayer. So, as you teach them to
pray with their children, you are simultaneously
training parents how they can
pray personally. It’s beautiful, because
what might come off as childish, silly,
embarrassing or condescending when
being taught to a group of adults alone,
can be effective coming from the angle
of teaching to pray with their kids.
Goal: To empower families to develop the regular habit of prayer and thus connect the next generation to God in a powerful way.
Suggested Resources:
The Lord's Prayer Coloring Book by Shirley Dobson
Growing As God's Child Coloring Book
God Answers My Prayers by Denise Vezey
- Family Service Projects
With our children growing up in a
“what’s in it for me?” society, how can
we help them care about and be willing
to serve others in response to God’s love
for them? This Take It Home Event will
motivate families to go beyond simply
hearing and talking about ways to love
and obey God.
Goal: To inspire and engage the family in being the hands and feet of Christ through church, community and global service as a family.
Suggested Resources:
The Big Book of Service Projects
Missions & Service Projects by Jim Burns and Mike DeVries
The Busy Family's Guide to Volunteering
Random Acts of Kindness
- Family Worship (Second Graders)
Most families don’t worship at home
because no one has equipped them to
do so (“I don’t know how to plan a worship time.
I’ll probably do it wrong.”) This is
a common fear most people have when it
comes to planning and leading a worship
service. These fears are not necessary
because planning and leading worship
in your home is easy, meaningful and
fun. This Take It Home Event will teach
parents what worship is and how to do
it with their family.
Goal: To help families understand and appreciate the important role worship should play in their lives and to equip the family to worship at home.
Suggested Resources:
iExplore Music CD, Volume 1
iExplore Music CD, Volume 2
Next Generation Praise 1 (2 CDs)
Next Generation Praise 2 (2 CDs)
- My Bible
How many people in our world today
wish they knew more about the Bible?
How many Christians wish they had the
discipline to spend more time reading
God’s Word? How many times have
Christians been in situations where they
wish they could reference the authority
and power of Scripture but have been
unable to recall the passage or verse
they are thinking of. What if the Bible
became a part of who we are as people?
What if from a very early age the stories,
history and truth of God’s Story became
a part of our story? What if people, when
they talked about Scripture, didn’t just
refer to a book that sat on the shelf and
collected dust, but were connected to
that book in such a way that it shaped
the very core of who they were? What if
it wasn’t just “the Bible” but truly became
“my Bible”? This Take It Home
Event will make this a reality for families
in your church.
Goal: To empower families to spend time together reading the Bible and memorizing Scripture, truly putting God's Word at the center of their lives.
Suggested Resources:
What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers
The Big Book of Bible Facts and Fun
The Adventure Bible
- Money and Me (Fourth and Fifth Graders)
Habits are formed at home and very
early in life. And more and more kids are
encountering, dealing with and developing
their money-handling habits earlier
and earlier. In addition, very few parents
give their kids any training on how to
handle money effectively. As a result, for
many people in our society, money is not
being controlled by them, but controlling
them. Combine this with the fact
that Jesus frequently addressed the subject
of money and we may safely assume
that how we learn to deal with money will
be a significant factor in our spiritual
growth and development. Families can
learn together how to handle their finances
in this Take It Home Event.
Goal: For kids and families to learn what Jesus has to say about money, be challenged to consider how God might shape their finances and be empowered to develop some God-honoring and freedom-building money management skills at home.
Suggested Resources:
Your Money by Ralph Moore and Alan Tang
The Secret of Handling Money God's Way by Bev Dayton
Making Your Money Count by Kenneth C. Ulmer
- Computer Boundaries (Teenagers)
We often refer to the world of computers
and the Internet as the “cyber” or “virtual”
world. When we do, we sometimes
get the impression that what happens
on the computer isn’t real or somehow
doesn’t count. This is far from true! For
many teens today, the cyber world is
where they really live. They shop, talk,
study, entertain, socialize and do numerous
other activities sitting comfortably
at home in front of a computer
screen. But just like the physical world,
the cyber world can be dangerous and
parents need to set boundaries and
enforce rules to protect their children
from harm and danger. This can be difficult
to do when parents are unfamiliar
with how life on the web works, where
the dangers lie and how to implement
and monitor rules. When I was a kid,
there was a classic commercial on television
encouraging parents to be active
in protecting their kids. The punch line
to this ad asked, “It’s 10 p.m. Do you
know where your children are?” If it
were only that simple today! Sitting
safely in their own room kids can literally
be making plans with friends, talking
with strangers, purchasing forbidden
items, or viewing explicit materials. “It
is 3:00 in the afternoon, do you really
know where your children are?”
As a response to this reality, parents
often act in one of two opposite ways.
They either decide that computers, the
Internet and cyberspace are evil and ban
their children from ever visiting this forbidden
land, or they throw up their
hands and let their kids roam the virtual
world with no supervision or restrictions.
At this Take It Home Event we
want to help parents find a balanced
approach. Fear and avoidance are
responses that stem from not having
enough information and experience.
Goal: To empower parents and give them the information and tools that will help them effectively support and guide their children into good, safe, Christ-honoring decisions on the computer as they spend time online.
Suggested Resources:
Eyes Wide Open by Brienne Murk
iSafe.org
SafeTeens.com
ConnectSafely.org (formerly BlogSafety.com)
TheSafeSide.com - Internet Safety DVD and other resources (geared toward younger kids)
Netsmartz.org
WiredSafety.org
CyberTipline.com
- Faith Mentoring
As teenagers begin the journey into high
school, they naturally begin to seek out
the perspective and “voices” of other
people. Teenagers need other adults in
addition to their parents, teachers and
pastors with whom they can talk about
faith and life issues. In a Search Institute
report only 41 percent of youth felt
that adults in the church cared for them.
This event will help your teens and your
church strengthen relationships between
generations that will spiritually guide
your children as they continue to develop.
It includes an orientation session, a
six-week mentoring program and a wrapup
session.
Goal: To help teenagers identify and establish an adult faith mentor they can turn to for advice and support, and to build a stronger relationship between the youth and adults of your congregation.
Suggested Resources:
Addicted to God by Jim Burns
The Youth Bible
- Talking About Dating, Kissing, Sex & Stuff (Teenagers)
The issues of dating, sex and relationships
are some of the biggest questions,
challenges, and struggles teens face.
Messages, temptations, information and
even opportunities are regularly offered
by society when it comes to sexual experiences,
and yet, the Church has been
reluctant to engage teens in authentic
conversations. Likewise, parents who are
often intimidated, overwhelmed and disengaged
from their kids’ sexual struggles
have received little or no support from
the Church on how to instruct and guide
their children towards healthy sexual
development and activity. How can the
body of Christ help students work through
their struggles, challenging them to discover
how God might guide and direct
their sexual choices? Furthermore, how
might the Church empower parents to
engage in open, honest and value-passing
conversations with their teens, providing
much needed support for them as they
seek to live in a radically counter-cultural
way? This Take It Home Event will be a
starting place in creating an event that is
right for your families.
Goal: To engage teens and challenge them to think through their sexual choices from a Christian worldview. To bridge the gap between teens and their parents, effectively bringing Mom and Dad into the discussion.
Suggested Resources:
The Naked Truth by Lakita Garth (book, leader's guide, student guide, DVD)
Friends Without Benefits by Ron Luce (January 2009)
Preparing for Adolescence by Dr. James Dobson (book, family workbook, group guide, CDs)
 "Parent Resources" download
- Looking Into the Future (Teenagers)
Some teens seem to know just what it is
they want to do with their lives, while
others are overwhelmed by the choices
and decisions they are facing. This Take
It Home Event will provide the reassurance
that God gives gifts to each person
to accomplish amazing things—no matter
what his or her daily job might be.
Goal: To examine and explore spiritual gifts God has given children and the possibilities God may have for using these gifts in the future.
Suggested Resources:
ReCreate Your World:An Action Plan for Teens by Ron Luce
Discover Your Spiritual Gifts by C. Peter Wagner
Finding Your Spiritual Gifts (questionnaire) by C. Peter Wagner
Find Your Fit by Jane Kise and Kevin Johnson
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