Did you know we can get you free access to videos to help you grow in your faith? Most of us desire to grow more in our faith. We’d like to remind you of the free gift we offer to all who call Deep Water home–subscriptions to what has been called ‘The Christian Netflix.’

If you want access to 1000s of Christian Bible Studies on topics that interest you, along with kids Resources/Videos, simply let us know. Want a recommendation for the kids this summer? Try What’s in the Bible. While it may feature silly puppets, the content is like getting a masters degree in an entertaining way that kids can understand. Or try Night Owls & Early Birds: The Fruit for a Bible study you can do with your kids on the fruit of the Spirit.

Either contact us or fill out a Connection Card on Sunday and indicate you want access. It’s our free gift to you–we just need a current email address!

Our youth ministry currently includes kids from 5th grade to high school. There will be a meeting for parents of kids in the youth group this coming Sunday (February 10) after the regular worship gathering. Please join us if your kids are a part of the youth group or you’re interested in getting involved.

Our youth ministry currently includes kids from 5th grade to high school. There will be a meeting for parents of kids in the youth group next Sunday (February 10) after the regular worship gathering. Please join us if your kids are a part of the youth group or you’re interested in getting involved.

This Sunday (June 10) will be the last regularly scheduled youth group. Before we break for summer there will be a Party at the Park at our regularly scheduled time. Meet us at Brecknock Park in Camden. (In case of bad weather, we’ll meet at the church building.)

If you want to keep up with youth events this summer, please connect with the Facebook Group.

This past Sunday (October 1), Jeff spoke on growing in our faith. (To listen, go here or to watch on Facebook, go here.) To all who call Deep Water Church home, we are gifting subscriptions to what has been called ‘The Christian Netflix.’

If you want access to 1000s of Christian Bible Studies on topics that interest you, along with kids Resources/Videos, simply let us know. Either contact us or fill out a Connection Card on Sunday and indicate you want access.

After taking a break for the summer, youth group will be starting up again this week (Sunday, September 17) at 4:00pm. Join us as we learn how to understand our faith and live it out, how to overcome the trials of life and how we can all model Christ-likeness in everything we do.

To get involved or for more information, contact Angie Barker. For more information, contact us or comment below! To keep up to date, join the Facebook Group for Parents and Leaders.

I (Jeff) just love what one Dad did to encourage his daughter to dream big–and get some great exercise!

One great way to teach your kids to serve in their community is to serve alongside them doing community service. During the summer, we still serve food to those in need on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Consider volunteering to heat the food with your kids–even if you can’t come serve it with us. (Those under 18 can’t serve it on Wednesday and Fridays, but can come with us on Sundays.) It’s a great way to get them involved–and only takes about an hour!

Contact us or comment below to get or information or to get involved!

We posted a schedule of the youth events for teenagers in the Facebook Group this week. If you want to keep up with the events, weekly discipleship group, etc., please connect with the Facebook Group. If social media isn’t your thing, contact us and we’ll get you the current schedule!

To grow in faith, we encourage people to connect in community and live out the three words to describe our goals for people who attend Deep Water: Gather, Grow and Engage. While many of these may be informal, we do have several that meet informally. (Of course, our “formal” ones are still very causal–just advertised better!) The groups we form focus on one of these words as well–of course, if you’re in a group that gathers for community, you’re likely to grow and possibly engage the community too.

To find out more about groups or see our updated list, click here!

There will be a meeting for parents and volunteers on the evening of September 13 at 6:00pm to discuss the youth ministry (teenagers) for the coming year. We’ll be talking about upcoming teaching, events and ministry opportunities. Youth group will resume on September 20th. For more information, see us on Sunday or contact Angie thru the form below.

[contact-form-7 id=”2638″ title=”Angie Barker”]

There will be a meeting for parents and volunteers on the evening of September 13 to discuss the youth ministry (teenagers) for the coming year. We’ll be discussing upcoming teaching, events and ministry opportunities. Youth group will resume on September 20th. For more information, see us on Sunday or contact Angie thru the form below.

[contact-form-7 id=”2638″ title=”Angie Barker”]

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For last month: September 2014 Parent Cue.
For this month: October 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time September 28.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time October 5.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time August 17.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 24.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday  God Time August 3.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 10.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Parenting is filled with great joy and great challenges. Often we turn to friends and others for advice on how to parent best. One reading plan on YouVersion to help you grow spiritually and as a parent is “Parenting By Design”. The reading free plan gives a daily devotional reading of the Bible and then an explanation of how it applies to parenting. If you’re looking for a way to grow in your faith and work on your parenting skills, check it out here on YouVersion. (I, Jeff, am currently using it periodically to supplement my other reading.) While YouVersion is free, you will need to sign up for an account to use the reading plans to their fullest.

If you haven’t already done so, you can also join the Deep Water Church group and keep up with our weekly “Live Events” through YouVersion. And be sure to download the app if you use a smartphone or tablet computer!

If you’re a parent, a teacher, an aunt or uncle, or even just a person who works with kids a lot, chances are that you have some drawings or coloring pages tacked up on the walls of your cubicle or on the side of your fridge. These may not be framed in a museum anytime soon but they are there because you know who made them. You value the kids who made them. You have a relationship with the people who made them.

To put it another way, you respect the art because you know the artist.

During August, we’re talking about respect—showing others they are important by what you say and do. Honestly, it’s easy to respect a flawed painting when you value the person who made it. But when it comes to respecting people, it gets a bit messier.

This month our memory verse comes from 1 Peter 2:17. It just says, “Show proper respect to everyone.” (NIrV) Pretty simple.

But really, it’s not simple, is it? I mean … Respect. Everyone?

If a painting has a few flaws, those are pretty easy to overlook. But people will do and say things that frustrate, anger or hurt us. People—especially those who have some level of authority—may ask us to do something we don’t want to do, or even worse, they may tell us not to do something we really want to do.

In fact, if you think about people only in terms of how they cooperate with what you want, it’s pretty much impossible to show respect. But if we stop and look at people with the knowledge that God made them, then we see things very differently. Suddenly, we can realize two incredible ideas.

First, that God made them.

Second, that God put them exactly where He wants them to be.

Unfortunately, knowing those two things doesn’t make respect any easier. It doesn’t mean that we will agree with everything our boss says. It doesn’t even mean that we submit in every situation—especially if it goes against God.

What it does mean is that we can respect those who have temporary authority in this life, because we know the One who has the ultimate authority, and we trust in Him.

Thankfully, the Bible incudes stories and principles that can help encourage us as we seek to show respect to everyone in our lives.

In Week 1, we’ll take a look at Matthew 8:5-13. Here, we meet a centurion whose servant is terribly sick. This powerful centurion goes straight to the one man he knows can help: Jesus! And when Jesus asks, “Shall I come and heal him?” the centurion shows unbelievable respect for God!

Our Bottom Line is: Respect God because He’s in charge of everything. God set the world in motion. Respect is the proper response to the awesome character of God.

In Week 2, we discover what Paul says about respect. He writes to the new believers in Rome. It wasn’t always easy living under Roman leadership, but in Romans 13:1-5, Paul gives them encouragement and reminds them that God put those people in charge for a reason.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect those who are in charge. When you respect those who are in charge, you’re actually showing respect toward God.

In Week 3, we take a look at 1 Samuel 24. We find David running from King Saul. David has the perfect opportunity to take care of King Saul but trusts God’s timing. David respects King Saul and spares His life.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect those who are in charge, even when they don’t deserve it. Not everyone in authority will deserve your respect all of the time. But God wants us to respect their position of authority and treat them with value as one created in God’s image.

In Week 4, we learn more about James 3:9-12. Our words can be used to glorify God one minute and talk badly about our friends the next. When we’re talking about respect, often it’s our words that we really need to watch.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect others with your words. Our words have power. Let’s use them to value others and treat them with respect.

In Week 5, we’ll close out the month by returning to the book of James. In Chapter 2:1-5 we’ll learn that with God it doesn’t matter what people look like on the outside. We should respect all people because they are valuable to God.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect others because they are important to God. Everyone has value because they were created in God’s image.

We hope that as kids discover what the Bible says about respect, they’ll head into their new school year knowing they can respect those in charge because they know the One who’s in charge of everything.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: February Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from Sunday: God Time February 23.
Looking forward to next week’s? Forget to pick one up? Check out the one for God Time March 2.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

With our culture’s obsession with sports – and perhaps an excessive amount of sports references in this Sundays’s sermon by me! – here is a good, short article (shorter than last week’s) on what to tell your kids when they’re playing sports.

With little league season upon us, and all the many other sports that kids play year round, I think a lot about what I tell my kids as I encourage them to participate in different sports. Sports offer the opportunity to learn to exercise for our health, learn discipline and the value of hard work–along with other life lessons. Personally, I think a lot about how I parent my kids (including their participation in sports, music, etc.) will affect their self-image and their future. I came across this article that some of you may find interesting: What Parents Should Say as their Kids Perform.

As we start the new year, it’s easy to focus on all the things we need to get done. And some things certainly need to get done, but it’s better to get the right things done. Check out this blog entry for a reminder of what’s important:

Does this routine sound familiar? Fold the laundry, change the diaper, buy the things for that science fair project, make dinner, walk the dog. It never seems to end!

When you’re in the middle of a long to-do list it’s easy to fall into the temptation of measuring a day’s success by how many of those items you manage to cross off. That’s why in this post, I’m not going to share tips with you on how to get it all done.

Instead, my encouragement for you today is … don’t. READ MORE