It was right about when I entered Junior-high that I started to question what my parents told me to do. It’s not that I didn’t trust what they said, it’s just for some reason I wanted to make my own decisions. I would even do the opposite of what they said just to make them mad! Today, I see students doing exactly what I did. The other day I had a parent come up to me sharing with me how her son has hit the rebellious stage and needs help in talking some sense into his life.

As a parent, maybe your child has started to do this rebellious thing. Maybe you have become wise to this and started doing a little reverse psychology…”Billy, DON’T clean your room.” “No, Mom, i’m GOING to clean it, and i’m gong to do right now!”. Well, if that hasn’t been working, I want you to know that our desire as a church is to partner with you in caring for your child. We want to encourage them in honoring their parents and become who God calls them to be. If things ever get tough and you need someone to help, be sure to talk to your students small group leader or let a Family Ministries Staff member know. We want to partner with you in raising your child to be who God desires them to be!

Derek Bareman

Central Students-Summerlin

I like to think I have a great sense of humor. My husband and kids might not always agree with that, but I still like to think it! God, on the other hand, has an INCREDIBLE sense of humor! Seriously, the next time you are visiting a zoo, just look at some of the things He created for our amusement. What was He thinking when He created some of the animals He created? Was He chuckling to himself when He made the giraffe and then the hippopotamus?

But if you REALLY want to experience God’s sense of humor, all you have to do is look at kids…especially your own! My husband and I have been parents for over 25 years now. Our oldest daughter is all grown up and married. Our son will be entering Jr. High in the fall and our youngest daughter will be in 5th grade. You would think we have parenting all figured out by now, wouldn’t you? But just about the time we think we’ve got it together as parents, God decides to serve up a slice of humble pie with a phone call from school or a conversation with a kid’s leader at church…yes, even my own colleagues in Family Ministries have brought to my attention, some of the antics of our two youngest children. I can picture God at those times having, what I like to refer to as, a belly laugh!

God’s sense of humor is revealed in the fact that children are a reflection of their parents. If they hear you say it or see you do it, you can be assured that at some point, your child(ren) will say or do something that will make you want to go back home, crawl back in bed, pull the cover up over your heads and start the day over again! When that happens, let me encourage you to push pause, laugh a little and then thank God for the incredible blessing of children! Thank God for laughter!

If you’d like to experience, first-hand, some of that humor, then I have a perfect opportunity for you. Join our Summer Serve team in Children’s Ministry to help give our regular team members a break during the summer. Serve in your child’s room or choose another age group to work with. I guarantee you’ll walk away with some great stories and you will have made a difference in the lives of children.

Laura Murphy

The Superbowl is the biggest sporting event in the world! It attracts more people then any other sporting event. The 2008 Superbowl had almost 100 million people watching it. A simple TV commercial cost, on average, $2.4 million. 30 seconds . .. $2.4 million. AMAZING!! The build up! The Hype! The millions of people gathering together to watch this event.

Camp . . .for Family Ministries is our Suberbowl. There is not another event the has the potential spiritual impact like camp. Kids and students choosing to experience a week where distractions are set aside and where God has an uninhibited opportunity to move in the lives of all involved.

Personally . . .camp changed my life. It was the summer between my Sophomore and Junior year of High school and I was at a camp experience. During that week I made a commitment to God to serve Him in full time ministry. I had know idea what they exactly would look like or what I would do. What I did know, I was giving God my life. Almost 20 years later . . . that one decision is still guiding my life!

This summer over 700 students and 150 adults will experience camp. I would like to challenge you with a couple thoughts.

1. Encourage your child – teenager to go! Camp can be a “scary” experience. Understandable! But, I have never had a student who was scared to go to camp – who went – who wasn’t glad that he/she went after! NEVER!

2. Give a Scholarship: We have many kids and teenagers who want to go, but their family can not afford to send them.

3. Pray: Pray for kids, teenagers and adult leaders that God would work in their hearts!

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email. chris.trethewey@centralchristian.com

Chris Trethewey

My wife is at a defining moment in her life right now.  She is watching her father’s health deteriorate, which has brought about a realization no one ever wants to consider when it comes to a loved one: her father won’t be around forever.  All of this has sparked several conversations about her relationship with her dad when she was younger. 

In one of these, my wife told me that she has always felt close to her dad because, no matter what he was doing, he invited her to be a part of it.  For instance, if my wife approached her dad while he was watching football, he wouldn’t yell at her to leave him alone.  Instead, he invited her to sit with him and then would patiently take the time to explain what was happening in the game and why.  This is probably the reason why my wife smokes me when it comes to knowing the rules of football!  She also learned how to cook some great meals because her dad invited her into the kitchen to be with him as he cooked. 

As I reflect on her words, I can’t help but think this insight applies to the spiritual journey those of us who are Christ followers have undertaken.  If we also happen to be parents, this spiritual journey is under constant observation by our children.  Maybe it’s time to invite them to do more than just observe us on our journey.  In fact, this is what God seems to expect from us in Deuteronomy chapter 6.  

In this passage, God calls us to to invite our kids into our thoughts and experiences as we continue in our journey to love Him more deeply:  “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

I don’t know about you, but to me, this seems tough to do.  Faith seems like such an intimate thing and many times we are still struggling to figure out our own beliefs for ourselves.  It seems risky to invite our kids into the areas of our lives where we feel inadequate or have unanswered questions.  Yet, there’s something to be said about being that vulnerable in front of our kids.  Think of the intimacy we could be developing in our relationships with them!  And maybe it’s not as hard as we might think at first. 

For instance, if you have a younger child, maybe it’s as simple as sharing a story you read in the Bible recently, without having to explain it.  If you have older children maybe it’s saying something like this to them, “I read this verse in the Bible this week and I’m trying to understand what it means.  What do you think about it?”  These kind of conversations could help us develop deeper relationships with our kids than we ever thought we could.  They could also help launch our kids into greater levels of faith than we will ever have.  And they may very well create memories that will be with us and our children forever. 

Inviting our children into our spiritual journeys will take time and it will take effort.  It may even involve more risk that we feel comfortable with, but before we decide not to try, we need to ask ourselves this question.  “When I get closer to the end of my life, what do I want my kids remembering about me and my relationship with them?”  Thanks to the example of my father-in-law, I now think I know the answer to that question for myself.

Kurt Pflegl

Summer is almost upon us!  For Central Students, small groups are finishing and we are ramping up to Ignite!  Sometimes when summer hits it feels like it’s time to take a break from life . . . but I want to really encourage you to make sure your students are staying involved!  Summer can be the best time for students to build lasting relationships . . . besides, what else are they gonna do?

You can play an important role in encouraging your kids to stay involved and continue to grow their relationships with others and with Christ.  Don’t take the summer off!!

Josh Bollen

About a year ago I started mountain biking.  I wanted to do something that causes me to exercise without the main reason of me doing it to be exercising.  I don’t mind running while I play a sport, but I can’t get motivated to just run.  A friend invited me to mountain bike with him and I had a good time.  It is definitely some exercise.  So over the past year I have gone about once a week to mountain bike.  The past few times out I have really started to feel like I was in good mountain biking shape and really comfortable and confident on the bike.  It’s been a year, on and off some, but I am just now getting to where I want to be.

This month our series in Central Kidz is all about getting our faith in motion, getting things moving.  We all know a thing or two about God, but it’s a whole new level to live it out.  A lot of things are new for our lives and it takes some practice and doing to really begin to live it out.  We have to put our faith and our beliefs in gear.  It takes just starting to do some things everyday.  As parents you can jump start your kid’s faith by helping them spend some time with God each day.

If I spent some time each day on my bike it wouldn’t have taken me a year to feel at home on the trails.  I could have gotten there much faster.  Your kids, and you, can take big steps fast if you will commit to spending time each day together growing in your relationship with God.  Our faith is meant to be lived out each day.  A small amount of time each day talking with God, reading the Bible, and talking about how to live your faith each day can propel your child into a relationship with God that will allow them to live their whole life God’s way.   

Daniel Carnahan

Last night brought to a close another great year in Small Groups for student ministries! 10 houses throughout the valley with over 400 junior high and high school students building relationships, growing deeper with God, and of course having a blast doing it! It has been a great year, and we will finish it off with big celebration parties in the park next Wednesday, May 21st. If your student has been apart of groups all year, or even since the RE:NEW campaign, I hope you have had a great experience with our leaders and host homes. If your student was not invovled this year, please make it a priority to get them plugged in when we pick back up in the fall. We want to partner with you in helping your student grow to full devotion with Christ, and Small Groups are an essential piece to that.

Frank Tappe                                                                                                        

Element Team

Well, it’s here.  Over the past year the CFM team has been thinking about ways to connect with you – the parent. One of our guiding values is to provide tools and resources to help you in your parenting journey.

For Kim and I the journey has been amazing. Parenting has brought with it the greatest moments filled with laughter and memories that will last a life time.  Parenting, also has pushed us to edge . . .not sure if we were were loosing our minds.  Know what I mean?

The Central Parents website and blog is about linking arms with you to help you in the parenting journey.  We will have words of encouragement, creative ideas, tools and resources, and all the information you need about Centrals Family Ministries.

Check out what your child learned this past weekend under INSIDE WEEKEND. You can download the parent talk sheet, watch the Central Kidz video lesson and listen to the student message.  Plus, so much more.

If you have any ideas for the Central Parent’s website, please let us know.  Drop us an email at cfm@centralchristian.com.

Chris Trethewey
Executive Pastor of Family Ministries

Hello and welcome to our website created just for you, the parents! Here you will find more info on what’s happening in Family Ministries at Central. Check back often to see what is new.