SPEAKER_03: Hello again and welcome to another Parent Podcast.
SPEAKER_03: This is Pastor Tommy here at Celebration Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_03: And again, I've got a couple of my friends with me.
SPEAKER_03: Who do we got today?
SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone.
SPEAKER_00: This is Sherry, the preschool director at Celebration, and And I am Landon.
SPEAKER_01: I am the children's interim director at the moment, and I also serve in after school.
SPEAKER_03: Well, welcome again.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you guys so much for joining us.
SPEAKER_03: So today we want to tell you about the next series, the next unit we're kicking off in May.
SPEAKER_03: It goes from Mother's Day to Father's Day, six weeks, and it's all about the family.
SPEAKER_03: What's the uh name of the unit, guys?
SPEAKER_00: Family Vision.
SPEAKER_03: You almost said WandaVision.
SPEAKER_00: I sure did.
SPEAKER_03: Because it really is tied off if you've watched the Disney thing, WandaVision, which I can't recommend for little kids.
SPEAKER_03: But if you're big kids, I liked it, but I wouldn't watch it with my little kids, just a little disclaimer there.
SPEAKER_03: But it's kind of a play on that idea of going back to old school values, like the old TV shows, Leave It to Beaver, you know, my what was it, my four dads or two dads, or what was that called?
SPEAKER_00: My three sons.
SPEAKER_00: That was the name of that show.
SPEAKER_00: My three sons.
SPEAKER_00: My four dads.
SPEAKER_03: But about having quality character traits in your family.
SPEAKER_03: So for the next six weeks, we're gonna go through them real quick about what we're gonna be talking about.
SPEAKER_03: And we're starting off on Mother's Day with this idea about praying for your kids.
SPEAKER_03: Landon, tell us a little about May 9th.
SPEAKER_03: What are we doing on that day?
SPEAKER_01: Well, like you said, Pastor Tommy, that is Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_01: So we are gonna be giving a message kind of about praying for our moms and moms praying for your children.
SPEAKER_01: We have a main point, which is our Bible point, that is I will pray for my parents.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know about you guys.
SPEAKER_03: So, I mean my mom was a believer, but I don't know if my mom, at least she never prayed with us or over us.
SPEAKER_03: Did you guys have moms that did that, landed in?
SPEAKER_00: No, not in.
SPEAKER_03: No.
SPEAKER_03: And I mean it's okay, but you know, we can learn from our family, and if just because something didn't happen to us in the past doesn't mean that we can't start that tradition.
SPEAKER_03: So on Mother's Day, we're actually going to give out.
SPEAKER_03: We're giving out like 250 books.
SPEAKER_03: And so we've got 125 books in the first week.
SPEAKER_03: And what's that book called?
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm really excited about these books.
SPEAKER_00: Um, the one of them is Prayers for Your Children, and another one is Praying the Prayers of the Bible for kids.
SPEAKER_00: And this one is really cute for our preschool moms because it's full of little poems that go along with the Bible verses.
SPEAKER_03: So I know for our family, once my kids were being born from right away, you know, I just felt very strongly I should be blessing and praying over my kids.
SPEAKER_03: So I still go to my kids' rooms and pray over them at night.
SPEAKER_03: I just think that's important, parents.
SPEAKER_03: If that's something you're not doing, this book's really gonna help you because it's basically just praying scriptures over your children.
SPEAKER_03: So looking forward to kicking this series off on Mother's Day, get a copy of that book and just start blessing and praying for your children.
SPEAKER_03: As we go through the next uh few weeks here, May 16th, Landon, what's gonna be that one about?
SPEAKER_01: Uh it is talking about our confidence in God's word.
SPEAKER_01: So our Bible point is I can trust that the Bible is true.
SPEAKER_03: Really, kind of just basic theology.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, if you don't believe in the word of God, well, the rest of you know this life and eternity and all the core values, then it's gonna be shaken by that one thought.
SPEAKER_03: It's can I trust the Bible?
SPEAKER_03: Can I have confidence in God's word?
SPEAKER_03: And so in our families, that's what we're talking about that day, May 23rd.
SPEAKER_03: What are we talking about, Landon?
SPEAKER_01: We are talking about hospitality and our love for the church.
SPEAKER_01: Our Bible point is I will help my friends.
SPEAKER_03: We have a word that, you know, Pastor David likes to use a lot around here.
SPEAKER_03: It's called, what's that word again?
SPEAKER_00: Casserole.
SPEAKER_03: Casserole.
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, if you ever get in need or something happens to your family, who comes to your help?
SPEAKER_03: It's the church.
SPEAKER_03: So it's important to be a part of the church and show hospitality and give casseroles when casseroles are appropriate.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know that I would actually want a casserole.
SPEAKER_03: Maybe a gift card is better, right?
SPEAKER_03: But no, no casserole.
SPEAKER_03: Depends on what the casserole is.
SPEAKER_03: So those are the first three weeks, and let's keep moving.
SPEAKER_03: Uh Sherry, what do you got on May 30th?
SPEAKER_03: What are we talking about?
SPEAKER_00: On May 30th, we're talking about respect for others and authority and in the kids' world especially, just things.
SPEAKER_00: So I will the Bible point is I will respect authority in my life.
SPEAKER_03: That is such a basic building block of life.
SPEAKER_03: If kids and parents, if we'll just learn this one trait about respecting those in our life, respecting God, his authority, teachers, and those placed over us, man, that just makes a big difference in the way that we treat others and the way that we are treated as well.
SPEAKER_03: So we have three more weeks after that.
SPEAKER_03: We move into June.
SPEAKER_03: June 6th, Landon, what are we talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Well, June 6th is our grad day, and we are talking about integrity or having a life of integrity.
SPEAKER_01: And our Bible point is I will show integrity.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, actually, hoping to have a uh a video from a coach.
SPEAKER_03: I can't give out the name yet, but a little highlight that week.
SPEAKER_03: Talks about you know how in the college football world, when you coach in that environment, it's hard to have integrity.
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's hard.
SPEAKER_03: So that's one of those environments where there's just constantly yelling and competition and it's just nonstop.
SPEAKER_03: And so looking forward to that clip on that day, uh, we get to interview a football coach that some of you might know.
SPEAKER_03: Uh June 13th, what's up next there, Landon?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, June 13th, we are talking about eternal hope.
SPEAKER_01: So we find out this week our Bible point is my eternal hope is in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Can I get an Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's true though.
SPEAKER_03: What do we put our hope in?
SPEAKER_03: You know, sometimes it is our abilities, uh, it's our family or things that we have, but the truth is you gotta think eternal.
SPEAKER_03: And so eventually we want everybody to realize your hope had better be in something that's gonna outlive you.
SPEAKER_03: So our hope is in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: Then we wrap up on Father's Day.
SPEAKER_03: Sherry, what are we talking about on Father's Day?
SPEAKER_00: We are finishing off with the prodigal son, and our main point that week is I will show grace to others.
SPEAKER_03: And we mentioned that book we're giving out on week one on Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_03: There's another book we're giving out on that day.
SPEAKER_03: It's by the same author who's gonna be joining us here in just a minute.
SPEAKER_03: But his book, that book is called Praying for Prodigals.
SPEAKER_03: You know, the idea that if you've got some kids, especially older kids who maybe strayed, you know, from the faith, what do you do?
SPEAKER_03: You know, do you throw in the towel?
SPEAKER_03: Do you keep praying?
SPEAKER_03: And so looking forward to that day, just to get some real life examples and testimonies of people who have been dealing with it and how we can deal with it if our kids, if you will, take the path of their own choice and not of God's following.
SPEAKER_03: Well, those are the uh weeks for that.
SPEAKER_03: What is that?
SPEAKER_03: That's one, two, three, four, that's seven weeks, not six.
SPEAKER_03: So seven weeks of family vision uh coming your way.
SPEAKER_03: We do have a couple events we want to make sure you know about, and that first one is called Family Outdoor Day.
SPEAKER_03: And this is on Father's Day weekend, June 19th, Saturday morning, 9 to noon.
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be at the Millstone Plantation, which is literally just south of Walmart off of Thomasville Road.
SPEAKER_03: So it's just right down the road from the church.
SPEAKER_03: We've got some guys that are partnered with us, they're gonna have a BB gun range, a real shooting gun range.
SPEAKER_03: You can take your kids fishing, there'll be archery, we're gonna have um disc golf and cornhole and some horseshoes, all kinds of activities for your family, and lunch is provided, and it's only five dollars a person to get in.
SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna see if this goes well, make this an annual kind of Father's Day weekend.
SPEAKER_03: We have taken the car show that we used to do there, and we've moved it to the month of October.
SPEAKER_03: So looking forward, that's June 19th.
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be called Family Outdoor Day.
SPEAKER_03: You can sign up on the church app or get info through the church.
SPEAKER_03: But it's gonna be a great family day weekend, and again, lunch is provided, all those activities, everything's provided for only$5 a person to get in.
SPEAKER_03: So hope to see you out there at the Family Outdoor Day.
SPEAKER_03: But also, parents have been asking, and yes, we are doing Adventure Week.
SPEAKER_03: So, Sherry, tell us something about Adventure Week.
SPEAKER_03: Tell us about the theme.
SPEAKER_03: What are we doing?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Adventure Week this year is July 26th through the 29th, and we have a big change.
SPEAKER_00: It is from 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: to 12 p.m.
SPEAKER_03: What?
SPEAKER_03: You telling me there's no lunch?
SPEAKER_00: There is no lunch this year, but we are going to pack those three hours full of a lot of fun and learning.
SPEAKER_03: So 9 to noon, July 26th through 29th.
SPEAKER_03: How do I sign up?
SPEAKER_00: You can go to the church app or the church website on May 1st.
SPEAKER_03: So it's already open.
SPEAKER_03: Registration is out there.
SPEAKER_03: Go sign up now.
SPEAKER_03: Lana, what are we gonna be talking about that week at Adventure Week?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, our Adventure Week theme is not your average Joe.
SPEAKER_01: We are gonna be carrying comparing the life of Joseph to the prodigal son.
SPEAKER_01: How one strayed further away from God and one stayed on his path.
SPEAKER_01: Both have very similar stories, just different outcomes.
SPEAKER_03: So you're talking about the guy with the coat of many colors?
SPEAKER_01: That's the guy.
SPEAKER_03: Not your average Joe.
SPEAKER_01: Not your average Joe.
SPEAKER_03: Man, we've been planning, it's gonna be a ton of fun.
SPEAKER_03: So make sure you get signed up.
SPEAKER_03: That's for kids entering grades one through five.
SPEAKER_03: And so if you want your students to work, we take eighth grade through twelfth grade students can sign up to work.
SPEAKER_03: And again, the cost is 25 bucks.
SPEAKER_03: So 25 bucks for your kid.
SPEAKER_03: And if you want your kids to go free, well, what do you gotta do, Sherry?
SPEAKER_00: Uh you just have to sign up to work with us that week.
SPEAKER_03: That's right.
SPEAKER_03: So if you volunteer that week, your kids and your students are free.
SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, 25 bucks, but still gonna be a great deal.
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be a ton of fun learning about the life of Joseph, not your average Joe.
SPEAKER_00: And if you sign up, you can get a cup of Joe every morning.
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna have a little snack shop.
SPEAKER_03: Cup of Joe.
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: I like that.
SPEAKER_03: Well, speaking of some fun here, let's go ahead and get our author of the books.
SPEAKER_03: He's gonna join us here, and so we're gonna welcome him in.
SPEAKER_03: Well, welcome our podcast guest for this unit.
SPEAKER_03: We have the author of the books we're gonna be handing out.
SPEAKER_03: So his name is James Banks.
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna let him introduce himself a little bit.
SPEAKER_03: I know he's a pastor.
SPEAKER_03: I believe he started the church, Peace Church, and he's the author and speaker as well.
SPEAKER_03: But one of the big things he loves to speak and write about is obviously about prayer.
SPEAKER_03: And so, James, I want to welcome you to the podcast here.
SPEAKER_03: And anything you want to do to introduce yourself, please go ahead and do so.
SPEAKER_02: Uh thank you, Tommy.
SPEAKER_02: It's it's great to be with you.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm James Banks, and uh I'm a pastor and a writer for our daily bread.
SPEAKER_02: And um I love to encourage people to pray, uh, not because I'm I'm good at it, but because I'm learning.
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's one of those lifelong lessons I think that we go through.
SPEAKER_02: And uh so I I love to encourage uh families to pray for each other.
SPEAKER_02: And uh so glad that that you all are going to be uh digging into some of my books.
SPEAKER_02: And uh one of the things I really love to encourage people to do is to pray the word of God because there is power in praying God's word.
SPEAKER_02: His spirit moves through his word unlike any other place.
SPEAKER_02: And when we apply that to our lives, man, I'll tell you, you you can you can look for beautiful things to happen.
SPEAKER_03: James, I I've just read a little bit about you.
SPEAKER_03: I know you're you're married, your wife is from Cuba, I believe.
SPEAKER_03: Her name is Carrie, and you guys have a couple of adult kids.
SPEAKER_03: Uh tell us a little bit about your family.
SPEAKER_02: That's right, that's right.
SPEAKER_02: Uh we have uh two adult kids, one one uh grandson, and uh my uh daughter, uh Stephanie, is uh uh about uh Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Well, she just turned 30.
SPEAKER_02: And um my son Jeff is uh uh 29, and he uh actually is in the ministry as well, but he wasn't for a long time, and that's a big part of where prayer became so important to us.
SPEAKER_02: Um Jeff was addicted to opiates for years and uh became a heroin addict, and uh things got really dark.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was in uh you know, it was a place where he was was sharing needles, and uh Jeff would tell you that uh he would not be alive today if if not for our prayers.
SPEAKER_02: And um God took us, uh walked with us through this season that was just you know so tough.
SPEAKER_02: And um yet we got to see sometimes you go down these roads in life, there uh, you know, you never would have chosen, you never would have gone down.
SPEAKER_02: And and then you see God bring good out of them that could not have come any other way.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the incredible thing.
SPEAKER_02: Um Jeff is a stronger man, a better man today because of the mistakes that he's made.
SPEAKER_02: And uh we actually recently wrote a book together about you know what we went through.
SPEAKER_02: But he's uh you know, he's in family ministry today.
SPEAKER_02: And uh I just praise God for what he's done and answered a prayer.
SPEAKER_03: What's the name of that book?
SPEAKER_03: Is that the hero book that just came out?
SPEAKER_02: Uh that's yeah, that that book is called Hope Lies Ahead.
SPEAKER_02: And uh uh Jeff and I actually write about uh, you know, we both share a chapter, and uh I write from my perspective, he writes from his perspective, and it's about this incredible redemptive work of God in changing his whole identity from believing, you know, I'm an addict, that's all I'll ever be, to no, I'm a child of God, I'm a new creation in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And and because of that, I have a future before me that that I never imagined.
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, so I maybe in introducing myself, you know, I shouldn't say, you know, the uh the old guy in the parable of the prodigal son, well, that's me.
SPEAKER_03: Well, I was wondering who writes a book about prodigals?
SPEAKER_03: It's usually somebody maybe who has some personal experience.
SPEAKER_03: So I I appreciate your honesty in sharing that with us today.
SPEAKER_03: Uh let me uh in your first I don't know if it's your first book, but the book we're gonna be giving out on Mother's Day is your prayers for your children book.
SPEAKER_03: Uh let me just start right there, James.
SPEAKER_03: We've had a lot of families who have preschoolers, a lot of preschoolers in our church.
SPEAKER_03: And let's say they're just getting started and they've really never prayed for or over their kids.
SPEAKER_03: What would you recommend, or what's a great way to start?
SPEAKER_03: If I want to start praying on a regular basis for my children, what would your advice be?
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, first of all, I would encourage you to just do it.
SPEAKER_02: You know, how however the Lord leads you to do it.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, pray for them, of course, at bedtime, you know, pray for them when they're sleeping, pray for them when you're just looking at them.
SPEAKER_02: Uh be, you know, be spontaneous in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: When you hear a siren, you know, pray for for uh the first responders and pray for the person that they're going to see.
SPEAKER_02: Uh and just try to let the Lord in.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we it's so important.
SPEAKER_02: If we're living in a personal relationship with Jesus, that we we live with him and communicate that to our kids.
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, the goal is for prayer to be this organic, spontaneous thing where we're really living there.
SPEAKER_02: Uh and, you know, so uh I think um sometimes we can we can make prayer to be this quote unquote religious thing, and as such it's a little separated from reality.
SPEAKER_02: So we really want our prayers to be as as real as they possibly can.
SPEAKER_02: And um so prayers for your children was was written to take some of the great passages from scripture and just bless our kids with them.
SPEAKER_02: You know, whether you're looking at the love chapter, you know, praying God's love into their lives, or you know, you're looking at uh say the the fruit of the spirit in Galatians and and praying those into your child's life.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, the 23rd Psalm, you know, praying that they'll know the good shepherd and and love him.
SPEAKER_02: Uh this is all just vital.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_02: Who can pray for your kids like you can?
SPEAKER_02: Who knows them like you do?
SPEAKER_02: You know, who will pray with the kind of passion and heart that they need?
SPEAKER_02: No one can pray for them like you can as a parent.
SPEAKER_02: And so they need that.
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I mean and and the amazing thing, of course, sometimes they'll push back and and sometimes um you know you you may feel like you you falter in this, and that's one of the reasons why prayers for your children is written, was to just kind of help you jumpstart your prayers.
SPEAKER_02: Go to the Word of God, pray the Word of God, um, and you know, let Scripture inform your prayers, and uh you know, to just encourage you when you kind of run out of words, because we sometimes when we pray, we you know we sort of get stuck.
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's to help you get unstuck everyone.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I love the idea of just praying scripture over your children.
SPEAKER_03: You're right.
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes parents we don't know what to say, and you know the words already there, so just by quoting, reading scripture over our children, I love that idea.
SPEAKER_03: Parents, you're gonna like this book because really you it's just put it in your hand.
SPEAKER_03: You just read, it's gonna give you ideas on a lot of different topics, a lot of different ways to pray for your children.
SPEAKER_03: James, as we move up the ladder a little bit, let's say we've got some parents with some, maybe some teenagers, and they've never really prayed for their children, at least out loud or over them.
SPEAKER_03: Uh what would you recommend or how to start uh praying together with your older children?
SPEAKER_02: Wow, that that's a challenge, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: Because again, you you think about uh how kids push back, and that's a that's a great question, Tommy.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I think in terms of praying with your children, again, being honest and being real, I mean, the main thing that we want is that our children know that that we love Jesus, you know, and that our our faith isn't just this Sunday thing, that it's this thing that is is lived out.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you think about Timothy, you know, and and what Paul wrote to him uh in just the beginning of the first chapter of 2 Timothy, where he talks about you know the faith that lives in your grandmother Lois and and uh in your mother Eunice, you know, and so there's this generational kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02: So I would just encourage parents, you know, as they're seeking uh to pray with their kids, find out what's going on in your kids' life as best you can.
SPEAKER_02: Those places of need, those places where um you know they're they're struggling.
SPEAKER_02: And not you know, not those places where maybe you're wanting them to do better, uh, but try to see it through their eyes.
SPEAKER_02: Where, you know, what's tough and how can you come alongside them and encourage them in that?
SPEAKER_02: And I'd I'd also say, you know, let let them catch you praying for them.
SPEAKER_02: I mean um, you know, i I just today I was uh thinking about uh some of my doctoral work was in the area of studying revivals in history, and and um one of the revivals uh I was looking at with a friend was the um the prayer meeting revival that occurred in 1857 through 59.
SPEAKER_02: And uh it was this uh letter from this guy who who had written to the church uh about his mother, uh, because his mother had died decades before, but he walks into this prayer meeting at this church and he says, My sweet mother's prayers, my sweet mother's prayers, I have not heard her pray in years, but tonight I heard her prayers all over again.
SPEAKER_02: And so the the point was that he heard the Spirit of God at work in these people as they were praying, and you never know what kind of fruit, I mean, decades later, your prayers may bring in your child's life.
SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03: Well, kind of where you went with that answer there, going decades forward.
SPEAKER_03: We do have a lot of people in our church uh who have a prodigal, if you will, and one of the weeks on Father's Day weekend, we're gonna be talking about you know, how do you deal, how do you handle if you have a prodigal child in your family?
SPEAKER_03: And you shared a little bit earlier about your experience.
SPEAKER_03: But tell me about this book, Praying for Prodigals, and how can that help us if we've got a kid maybe who's went the wrong way?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, wow, uh it is so important to pray for our prodigals faithfully, and that's hard because you you get to a point where you feel like you're all prayed out, and you wonder, is God really listening, or is, you know, is it something I did?
SPEAKER_02: Uh and you know, our churches need to be places.
SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad you're giving that book away because our our churches need to be places where people can come with their prodigals, um, with their needs.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe their prodigals aren't coming at all, even and and just know that people aren't judging them, that they're they're loving them, that they're praying for them.
SPEAKER_02: I I can tell you, as somebody who works with Paris of Prodigals a lot, that um a lot of parents carry so much guilt and thinking, you know, if only I had done this differently.
SPEAKER_02: And so this is where we run to Jesus and we run to him for our kids and we cry out to him.
SPEAKER_02: That book was really a you know, cry from the heart when we were going through it with our son and um also with our daughter at times.
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, it's the strength of it again is the word of God, is scripture, and and just praying the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: Into those situations.
SPEAKER_02: I've been amazed at what God has done with that book.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's been translated into Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, you know, I think another language as well.
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of parents of prodigals kind of suffer in silence, but they're out there.
SPEAKER_02: That's the point.
SPEAKER_02: And if we can love them with our prayers, and you can see, as I mentioned, my son, what God has done in answer to prayer is just breathtaking.
SPEAKER_02: And I uh, you know, it took years.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, when we did the audio version for Prayers for Prodigals, I had to stop recording it a number of times.
SPEAKER_02: We did the audio version about um, I don't know, maybe seven years or so after the book first came out.
SPEAKER_02: And I I had to stop because as I kept reading through it, I saw the number of prayers that God had answered that I'd written.
SPEAKER_02: And at the time that I was written, writing them, it was like, you know, oh Lord, please, but now I'm in this different place.
SPEAKER_02: I'm looking back and I'm seeing what God did.
SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, my voice would break up.
SPEAKER_02: And even now, as I'm telling you this, I'm cheering up because I'm thinking, you know, of what God did.
SPEAKER_02: And my faith was uh scripture says that he's able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes I look back and what he did is so much more than I imagined.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: And I think of how he took even the little bit of faith and and turned it and and used it.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes it takes years.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we pray for seven years for our son, and there are families that that pray for much longer, and um, you know, we need to love and support each other, and we will see God do great things.
SPEAKER_03: That's good stuff, James.
SPEAKER_03: I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_03: You know, I have seven children.
SPEAKER_03: My oldest is getting ready to turn 21.
SPEAKER_03: And so I haven't we haven't personally experienced something where, you know, like a major uh, I guess, drift from a child or something yet.
SPEAKER_03: You know, we always just keep reminding ourselves, you know, they're really God's children.
SPEAKER_03: You know, we can do our part as parents, but at the end of the day, they're gonna make their own choices and decisions.
SPEAKER_03: And I know in our church we have a lot of families with older children who still have not come back.
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, you mentioned your son's now in the ministry, you're on the other side of that.
SPEAKER_03: But what do you say to that family with that 30-year-old, 35-year-old, you know, who still wants nothing to do with the Lord or a relationship with Christ?
SPEAKER_03: You know, what would you say to that family?
SPEAKER_02: Keep going, keep loving, let the Lord love through you.
SPEAKER_02: Um never give up your prayers.
SPEAKER_02: You may not see them answered on earth, but you will from heaven.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I that's that's not to say that they're um how can I put this?
SPEAKER_02: You know, our kids have their own free will, and and they must decide, but our part never give up.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have to keep praying.
SPEAKER_02: And I have a prodigal that uh prodigal child, I'm still praying for.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so I want to emphasize that as I say that.
SPEAKER_02: But I also want to emphasize the words of uh a Baptist preacher that uh I met when I was in college and dearly loved, Jay Siblow Baxter.
SPEAKER_02: And um Baxter wrote, uh, our loved ones may reject our arguments, um scorn our appeals, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.
SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, because when when we pray, the power of God and the spirit of God are brought to bear on those situations in ways that are deeper than we know, more loving than we know.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the important thing to realize.
SPEAKER_02: He loves our kids even more than we do.
SPEAKER_02: You know, the story of the prodigal son, really, that's about all of us.
SPEAKER_02: But think about what happens in in Luke 15, 20.
SPEAKER_02: It says, when he was still a long way off, his father was filled with compassion.
SPEAKER_02: His father saw him, was filled with compassion, and ran him and threw his arms around him.
SPEAKER_02: That's our father.
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's his heart.
SPEAKER_02: And and that kind of heart is is what he wants us to have for our kids.
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, as as we pray that way, and that's not to say, you know, that that we don't have boundaries in place, and and sometimes, especially if we're dealing with addictions we did, man, it's tough.
SPEAKER_02: But God is still good.
SPEAKER_02: That's so true.
SPEAKER_02: I just want to encourage you, you know, keep praying, keep praying.
SPEAKER_03: Well, parents, as you're listening to this, you know, there are gonna be these books gonna be available during the sermon series.
SPEAKER_03: We also have one for the kids.
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna be giving away.
SPEAKER_03: It's called Praying, the Prayers of the Bible for Kids.
SPEAKER_03: Uh James, how about a quick word about that book?
SPEAKER_03: Just uh how to use it.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02: That that book uh was actually written for my grandson.
SPEAKER_02: Uh I I wrote it um working with Cindy Kenney, who was a veggie tales author.
SPEAKER_02: And um she and I uh basically what we wanted to do was to help parents, I mean, as I was thinking about this book and writing it, the the vision I got was kind of helping parents get real with prayer with their kids when they're very young.
SPEAKER_02: And so we took some very simple scripture prayers, um, you know, like uh you know, uh I love you, Lord, you give me strength out of Psalm 18.
SPEAKER_02: And we tried to reuse really simple uh scripture versions, you know, we use several different ones, but just to help our kids um understand and uh what it means to have uh a relationship with God that that is real.
SPEAKER_02: And the illustrations for this book are great.
SPEAKER_02: They're uh they're black and white, but uh you know, kids can color them in.
SPEAKER_02: And um they're just cool.
SPEAKER_02: But the whole the whole idea uh is to help parents sit down with their kids and teach them how to pray when they're young and you know, talk about stuff that matters, whether it's confessing our sins to God or or praising Him or thanking Him or You know, just praying about stuff that that we're worried about.
SPEAKER_02: Um so it's it's a cool little book.
SPEAKER_02: And uh I I'm I'm so glad you're using it because it's a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_03: So, parents, just to remind you again, so these books will be available during uh the sermon series, the Mother's Day book, we're gonna be handing out the prayers for your children.
SPEAKER_03: And then on Father's Day, we'll be giving out the prayers for prodigals, and then in the kid world, we're gonna be giving these books to the kids.
SPEAKER_03: Uh, James, I cannot thank you enough for carving out some time and sharing with our families today.
SPEAKER_03: Uh I appreciate your ministry and what you've done.
SPEAKER_03: You know, I want to ask you if you would just to go ahead and pray for us as families here at our church.
SPEAKER_03: Maybe close us in prayer.
SPEAKER_03: But I I thank you for giving some time today and encouraging us through prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, thank you, Tommy.
SPEAKER_02: And again, I'm I'm just uh so grateful that that um God is leading you all at celebration in this, and uh I'd be honored.
SPEAKER_02: Let's let's pray right now.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, please bless celebration, bless every family, every child, every prodigal, every parent, every grandparent, and Lord, those also who maybe they don't have kids, but they've just adopted others of their own that they're praying for.
SPEAKER_02: Um Lord, please um just just bless, bless this endeavor to bear fruit, uh, as your word says, immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to your power that is at work within us.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, we will praise you for it, we will give you glory for it.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you that we get to do this, we get to pray, and we look forward to meeting you there in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: That was great to hear from author James Banks.
SPEAKER_03: You know, appreciated what he had to say.
SPEAKER_03: Hey, as we wrap up today, our last parent podcast, we gave away or were given away some gift cards.
SPEAKER_03: Sherry, do we know who won?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we have a magic little uh prize wheel here.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna spin for the names.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I have everyone's names listed out.
SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna spin the wheel.
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: Names are on it.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Are we ready to spin it?
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
SPEAKER_00: Take over.
SPEAKER_03: All right, here we go.
SPEAKER_00: Uh oh, and our first winner is Ray Petty.
SPEAKER_03: Ray Petty, alright.
SPEAKER_03: So that's$50.
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be an Amazon gift card.
SPEAKER_03: Mr.
SPEAKER_03: Ray, it's coming your way.
SPEAKER_03: We got one more winner, right?
SPEAKER_03: Yes, spin it again.
SPEAKER_03: Here we go.
SPEAKER_00: Congratulations, Lisa Eaton.
SPEAKER_03: All right, well, hey, both of those are blast leaders, so that's cool.
SPEAKER_00: They are.
SPEAKER_03: I like that.
SPEAKER_03: So speaking of Blast and Blast Jr., if you guys' parents want to jump in, we'd love to have you come and serve.
SPEAKER_03: Uh the numbers have been kind of ticking back up as people come back to church.
SPEAKER_03: So we're excited that both of those are growing.
SPEAKER_03: So all you gotta do is go to Team Celebration, uh, fill out that volunteer app.
SPEAKER_03: We'd love to have you join join us in Blast and Blast Jr.
SPEAKER_03: So, guys, anything else to add before we check out today?
SPEAKER_00: Sure, let's do another um contest.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you want to do a contest for this one?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: Alright, let's do it.
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
SPEAKER_03: So, what do we say we're gonna give away?
SPEAKER_00: Um, we'll give away a couple of parenting packs, so that'll be some parenting books along with some gift cards.
SPEAKER_03: And one of those books in there is really good, I heard.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_03: I got I don't know, is it's is it my book?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, Be the Dad, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say, I kinda know them.
SPEAKER_00: I can maybe get your audio.
SPEAKER_03: I even sign that book for that.
SPEAKER_03: But there'll be other stuff in there too, so don't worry, it's an actual prize.
SPEAKER_03: So how do we uh how do I win that or get in the drawing for that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, our keyword this time is gonna be Not your Average Joe.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Not your average Joe.
SPEAKER_03: I like it.
SPEAKER_03: You like a game show host or something?
SPEAKER_03: So how do I what do I do?
SPEAKER_03: I text it to what?
SPEAKER_00: Text it to 678-522-9355.
SPEAKER_03: Better say that one more time.
SPEAKER_03: Let me pull my phone out.
SPEAKER_03: Hang on a second.
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, go.
SPEAKER_00: 678-522-9355.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Parents, and for so much for checking out the Parent Podcast.
SPEAKER_03: So we're excited the next seven weeks talking about family vision.
SPEAKER_03: So thanks for listening to the Parent Podcast.
SPEAKER_03: Don't forget to text in.
SPEAKER_03: Keyword NotLav is Joe, and we'll see you next time on the Parents Podcast.
SPEAKER_03: Bye.
SPEAKER_03: Bye-bye.