September 2024

Having Gospel-Centered Conversations in the Home

Nick Wilbur, Director of Campus Life

Last month, Colonel Hathaway wrote about the important “Cord of Three” mentioned in Ecclesiastes 4:12. He explained that the cord of three in our community is the home, church, and school.

One aspect of our school that I love the most is that our partnership with parents brilliantly weaves all three of these strands together. In this article, I would like to share why it is important for our families to stay engaged and connected with their local church and what the school is doing to support families as they seek to grow their student’s faith in Christ.

In a recent survey of evangelical parents, 70% of those surveyed expressed that it is important for their children to have beliefs similar to their own. As Christian parents, we must understand that the primary responsibility to teach our children the core values of the Christian faith rests on our shoulders. Deuteronomy 6 discusses this at length and tells us that our spiritual conversations should be all-encompassing in our lives with our children. So what are some ways we can practically have gospel-centered conversations in our homes?

Here are three ways you can keep Jesus in the forefront of your family’s life during these formative years:

1. Have regular devotions together. Spend time reading God’s Word together. This can take place in many different ways, but a couple of suggestions would be during a shared meal together or on the busier days, in the car together on the way to or from school.

2. Pray together. Praying together is one of the simplest acts of obedience we can do as a family and models for our children the importance of prayer. Prayer helps to align us with the Lord and draws us closer to Him. Praying over a meal or at bedtime is a simple starting place, but also parents should be willing to be in the habit of praying over specific needs or concerns with their child.

3. Be active in your local church. I am not sure there is a better way to have gospel-centered conversations with our children than on the way home from church. We were designed to have biblical community, and that best happens through the local church. I would encourage you to stay active in your church or re-engage with your church if necessary.

As we partner with parents in our covenant Christian school model. I am most grateful for how our school comes alongside parents to do these similar activities. Knowing some of the spiritual activities your child experiences at school will also help in your gospel-centered conversations at home.

Recently, the school has hosted three separate spiritual retreats for 5th grade, middle school, and high school. At each of these retreats, your students were challenged with ways to keep Christ first in their lives.

Every grade in preschool to 5th grade begins each day with time in God’s Word. This habit helps to form a high view of Scripture for each student. Bible is a required class for every 6th-12th grade student, which also helps to support these same lessons being learned at church and home.

Every student attends school-level Chapel each week. One of my favorite aspects of Prince is that these chapels are not a replacement for the local church but help to nurture your student’s blossoming faith. We strive to always protect our time at Chapel, and rarely do we allow anything to take that special time away during the week.

So what are ways that you can continue to partner with the school in those evangelical conversations? I would suggest you regularly ask your student questions like: What did you learn in Bible? What are you learning about the character of Christ in Bible, in your quiet times, in the chapel program? How have the recent spiritual retreats impacted your walk with Christ? How are your friends assisting you with your walk with Jesus? What do you need from me, your parent, to deepen your relationship with Christ?

As a Prince parent myself, I am so thankful that we have a school that faithfully partners with parents to nurture our student’s faith. During these formative years in our children’s lives, let’s make sure we do our best to lean into the “Cord of Three” in all phases: home, church, and school.

Source: www.pewresearch.org