05/04/2026
Hey parents!
We believe that the best discipleship happens at home and you play the biggest role in that. As a student ministry, we want to partner with you by investing in the discipleship that happens within your walls with your kids! Our aim and vision is to inform, equip and creatively involve families as the primary disciple makers of your homes with your children.
This weekend we kicked off a brand new series called Fighting Fair, and right out of the gate we got really deep. We opened with the true story of a family who lost their teenage daughter to a drunk driver and then chose to not only just forgive him, but also build a relationship with him, and eventually share that story publicly together. It's the kind of story that causes you to pause and ask “would I have been able to respond in that way in that situation?”
From there we dove into 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, where the Apostle Paul draws a distinction we don't talk about enough: Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same thing.
Forgiveness is the personal decision to stop holding someone's actions against them even if they never apologize. Reconciliation goes further. It's about actually restoring the relationship. And here's the big idea that students walked away with: we can pursue reconciliation with others because Jesus pursued us first. God didn't just pardon us from a distance. He moved toward us through Jesus and brought us back into a real relationship with Himself.
That's the model for reconciliation. And it changes how we approach the broken and strained relationships in our own lives. We closed by giving students three practical steps: identify the relationships that need attention, pray for those people daily, and be open to having a brave and honest conversation when the opportunity comes.
You may ask your child questions to continue the conversation like:
-If you could repair one broken relationship right now, what would it be?
-What's the difference between forgiving someone and actually reconciling with them?
-Why do you think it's so hard to be the one who goes first in reconciliation?
-How does knowing that God pursued you change how you think about pursuing others?
It can be difficult to remember that you don't have to have all the answers. You just have to be willing to open the door for real conversations to happen. That happens over time with continually engaging your child in conversation day after day, praying that the Lord would open the door to real faith conversations with them. I’m attaching a PDF of our “Disciple @ Home” resource for you to use as you continue the conversation at home this week! We're grateful for the chance to partner with you this week!
You can watch the message, share prayer requests, and more here:
Grace Fellowship Church's youth ministry happening every Sunday night from 6-9p.
