There are over 10,000 minutes in a week but we only spend 200 of them at church. Those 200 minutes are incredibly important in forming our faith and growing community in the body of Christ, but they were never intended to be the only time during the week to experience spiritual growth. We believe that God does some of His greatest work in the most ordinary places of our lives. We all desire for our families to be more intentional with our time but most of us don’t know where to begin or how we could fit anything else into the schedule. The goal for Family Discipleship at MBCC is to redeem our daily rhythms by creating habits that allow us to experience God’s power and presence in the ordinary minutes of life.

WHERE TO START – redeeming our rhythms 

• Spend the first few minutes of the day in prayer and reading God’s word
• Pray over your kids as you make their lunches in the morning
• Utilize the time in the car to  check in and encourage your kids
• Find opportunities during the day to pause and pray
• Pray for God’s grace to be expressed when disciplining your kids
• Create a daily rhythm to check in and pray with your spouse 
• Find time during the day to spend a few minutes one-on-one with each of your kids
• Have phone free time each day to intentionally engage with the people around you

Please see the following resources below:  Family Values Resources, Rule of Life Resources, Rule of Life for Technology Resources 

Unfortunately, our culture has compartmentalized Christianity to Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. This is a recent innovation and was never the original intent for a thriving relationship with Jesus. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, there is a commandment to Love God with everything and further instruction of how to do so. We are to structure our lives around teaching the gospel to our children, talking about God throughout the day and even writing these principles on our door frames! I’m not suggesting that we start painting Bible verses on our houses, but we do need to incorporate ordinary liturgies into our lives.

A liturgy is a practice or ritual that creates a framework for worship.

During corporate worship we participate in these practices during communion, baptism and corporate prayers. At home we see them in our morning routine, at the dinner table and while tucking our kids into bed at night. Our goal is to cultivate intentional moments in ordinary places in order to see God move in extraordinary ways. 

DAILY MOMENTS 

• Morning Routine – gathering for prayer as a family
• Commute – using that opportunity to talk, pray or worship
• Mealtimes – create a liturgy for weekly mealtimes
• Bedtime – create a liturgy for bedtime routine

WEEKLY/MONTLY MOMENTS 

• Family Worship – find a time to gather for prayer or worship
• Service – create a regular rhythm of serving as a family
• Everyday Adventures – get outside and explore God’s creation
• Sabbath – set aside a day to unplug and reconnect with God
• Date Night – create a habit of reconnecting with your spouse 

YEARLY MOMENTS   

• Holiday Traditions
• Family Retreats
• Family Mission Trips

Please see the following resources below:  Bedtime Liturgy Resources & Mealtime Liturgy Resources

In Joshua 4, after crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites took 12 stones to make a monument to commemorate the miracle that they experienced. As generations passed, the stones remained to remind God’s people of his power and provision in that place. At MBCC, we follow the same model by creating spiritual milestones in the life of our kids and families. These milestones give families an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness while encouraging growth through the stages of life. 

MILESTONES at MBCC

• Baby Dedication – Take the bible verse that was read during the baby dedication and put it in a frame in your child’s room. Take a few minutes each day to intentionally pray that passage over your child.
• 3rd Grade Bible Presentation – Start a bible reading plan together as a family. Use the bookmark reading plan given to your child with their bible to start and use additional plans provided on resource page as the grow.
• Baptism – Frame a picture, testimony and certificate from the baptism and place it somewhere special to remember the redeeming work of God.
• High School Graduation – High School seniors and parents can participate in the “Last Year at Home”. It’s an opportunity for parents to create intentional moments during their kids last year at home that will equip and encourage them for the next season of life.

MILESTONES at Home

• Birthdays and Anniversaries – Celebrating a milestone is more than just eating cake and ice cream. It creates an opportunity as a family to look back on the previous year and look ahead at what is next. Begin a practice of writing a letter to family members on their birthday (or for your spouse on anniversaries) by celebrating the accomplishments of the past year and writing out a prayer for the next.
• Rights of passage  – Create a milestone for your kids/grandkids when they reach a certain age. It might be when they become a teenager or when they enter youth group. Use this milestone to create a tradition in your family by going on a trip or spending one-on-one time with them in a special way. Use that time to encourage their God given gifts and begin to help them understand his/her calling in life.

Dedicate some time as a family to create your own family values by answering the questions below  that will help you determine  the things that matter most to your family and will help you come up with a mission statement for your family.

• In a perfect world, what words describe the ideal family?
• What words currently describe your family?
• What values are most important to your family? 
• What do you love to do as a family? 
• What do you want your family to be known for? 

Highlight any words or themes that were the same from questions 1-5 and use those words to create your family values. You can write them out as a mission statement or simply list them out as important pillars. However you do it, make sure that they can be memorized and practiced by everyone in the family.

A rule of life is a set of practices and relational rhythms that help us create space in our busy world for us to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. A rule of life is different from the goals, intentions, or resolutions we tend to set for ourselves because those methods are task-based and measurable, and they’re often focused on what we do. A rule of life, on the other hand, helps you become. It consists of several simple statements that guide the posture of your life and the living of your days. When we develop a Rule of Life, we begin to align our values with our schedule and live more intentionally everyday. (Click images below to enlarge.)

Family Discipleship Books

• Habits of the Household – Justin Whitmel Early
• Parenting – Paul David Tripp
• Age of Opportunity – Paul David Tripp
• Family Discipleship – Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin
• Show Them Jesus – Jack Klumpenhower
• Grandparenting with Grace – Larry E. McCall
• Equipping Grandparents – Dr. Josh Mulvihill

Liturgical Books

• Every Moment Holy – Douglas Kaine McKelvey
• Liturgy of the Ordinary – Tish Harrison Warren

For Adults

• The Table with Jesus: 66 Days to Draw Closer to Christ and Fortify Your Faith – Louie Giglio
• New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp
• Truth for Life: 365 Daily Devotions – Alistair Begg
• Jesus Calling – Sarah Young

For Families

• One Year of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters: A Daily Family Devotional with 365 Opportunities to Grow Closer to God as a Family – Nancy Guthrie
• The Family Bible Devotional: Stories from the Bible to Help Kids and Parents Engage and Love Scripture  -Sarah M. Wells
• Our Daily Bread for Kids: 365 Meaningful Moments with God – Crystal Bowman and Teri McKinley

For Kids

• You Can Count on God: 100 Devotions for Kids – Max Lucado
• The Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids – Rick Warren

For Youth

• Live in Light: 5-Minute Devotions for Teen Girls, A Christian Girl’s Guide to the Teenage Years – Melanie M. Redd
• Walk in Faith: 5-Minute Devotions for Teen Guys – Andy Dooley

• Raising Boys and Girls – Sissy Goff and David Thomas
• The Intentional Father – Jon Tyson
• Gospel Shaped Home Podcast – Providence Church
• Dad Tired – Jerrad Lopes
• Legacy Grand parenting – Legacy Coalition
• Girl Mom -Kari Kampakis
• Don’t Mom Alone – Heather MacFadyen