Dramatised Family Devotions

for Parents and Teachers of Preschoolers and Lower Primaries Parents are commanded to teach their children – to impress the Word of God on them. How do we engrave God’s Word upon their hearts in the casual setting of the home? How do we teach the young and restless? Workshop Synopsis: You will learn 1. A biblical theology of parenting and 2. A suggested format of family devotions and principles on how to make family devotions fun and memorable! Come and listen to Alan Wong’s experience. He had dramatised Bible stories from Genesis to 2 Samuel to teach his two sons, from the time they were preschoolers till they reached Primary 4.Date: Saturday, 27 August 2016 Workshop Instructor: Alan Wong is the NationalTime: 2.30 – 5.30 pm Director of CEF Singapore. He has a Master ofVenue: Glory Presbyterian Church Theology (with a major in Christian Education) from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a member of (near Beauty World MRT Station) Faith Methodist Church and serves as a Sunday School teacher. He is also the webmaster of an Co-hosted by Glory Presbyterian Church education and parenting website. and Orchard Road Presbyterian Church Comments from Past Participants: Very creative and innovative ideas; Excites me with ideas to try out dramatised devotions for my family; Inspiring session; Can’t wait to start; You have given me (children’s pastor) many ideas how to change the programme to make it fun and exciting for our kids.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“May I see your licence, please?”Suppose you were stopped by traffic police and asked, “May I see your licence, please?”You produce it, only to have him say, “This is not the one.” “But this is my driving licence!”“I need your parenting licence,” he explains.On 28 September 2014, Clara Chow, in her Sunday Times column “Seriously Kidding”,explored the wild idea of a parenting licence. But is the idea that far out? If we need tohave a driving licence to drive, then why not a parenting licence to parent?Some years ago, my younger son gave me a fridge magnet with these words on it, “Anyonecan be a father, it takes someone special to be a daddy”. Many would-be parents sitthrough hours of antenatal classes to prepare for the birth of their child. Shouldn’t theycontinue with lessons for the greater challenge of bringing up the child in the years ahead?Clara went on to say that it would be difficult to implement a licensing scheme for parents.She raised the following questions: Who exactly is qualified enough, or impartial enough,to sort all would-be parents into Competent and Incompetent classes? What kind ofquestions do you put on a Parent Licence theory test? Who decides which parenting sinswould get your licence revoked?She concluded, “So, instead of parenting licences, we should have a voluntary parentingaccreditation scheme. Sort of like the one recently announced for preschools with bestpractices.”Why we need parenting educationYes, we believe that parents should go for parenting classes, not to be accredited but to beequipped for the critical task of bringing up the next generation to fear the LORD and keepHis commandments. Yet many parents have delegated this task to Sunday School teachers.As a Sunday School teacher, I have at most 1 hour per week with a child. A working parenthas an estimated 26 hours each week (2 hours per day on weekdays and 8 hours per day onweekends). Compare that 26 hours with my 1 hour, and it is clear that the parent has agreater potential for influence ... 26 times more. Parents, through living with their children,are also better placed to relate the Word of God to their children’s lives. Children, in turn,can see daily to how the Word of God is lived out and practised in their parents’ lives.Parents are thus potentially the best teachers for their children, and it makes sense tochannel resources and training towards them. At the other end, parents (who desire thebest for their children) need to be trained to achieve and maximise their potentialinfluence on their children. Alan S.L. WONG

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 History of family devotionsCEF Singapore Format of the book • 10 chapters of reading materials covering a biblical philosophy of parenting and family devotions • 30 Bible studies for parents on the book of Genesis • 20 devotions for families with preschoolers and lower primaries Subject + Main point 1

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 Man’s wisdom vs God’s wisdomParental advantage SS teachers vs Parents9000 168x Hours Spent8000 SAHP7000 26x60005000 Working4000 Parent300020001000 0 SS Teacher Seize the opportunityCEF Singapore 2

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 What does God say Goal of Christian parenting about Parenting? Israel’s experience Implications for parenting A heart 3 set toward God Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17CEF Singapore

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 External facade Conformity; not transformation Deuteronomy 6:1-2 Possible answers to challenges• 1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes • How do we inculcate a fear and the judgments which the LORD your God of the LORD? has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are – Teach that God is not only the God of love going over to possess it, 2 so that you and but of judgment and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes – that we are accountable to Him (Rom. 14:12) and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your • How do we teach obedience days may be prolonged. to the Word of God? – Children must first learn to obey their parents Our first priority as parentsCEF Singapore 4

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 How to model obedience How to teach God’s Word 1. Diligently ... impress them on your children 2. At all times ... 24/7 • Incidental opportunities vs Intentional parenting • Incidental opportunities vs Planned teaching 3. Use reminders, rituals and stories Christian parenting Questions? • Goal – fear of the LORD 5 • Parental authority – expect and demand obedience • First priority – our own relationship with the LORD • Features – (1) Modeling (2) TeachingCEF Singapore

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 How to prepare Soak and Simmer • Make time to prepare and pray • Look at the Bible story and look at your children • Use pictures to explain • Illustrate with crafts How to dramatise Look, Imagine and Use• Look for action• Imagine to add action• Use what’s available for costumes and props Format of Devotions 6 1. Open with prayer 2. Tell and act out the story 3. Relate and apply 4. End in prayerCEF Singapore

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 1. Open in prayer • Maintain order and control • Establish a quiet and listening atmosphere • Seek God’s guidance in understanding the story2. Tell and act out the story Pointers for acting • Use your Bible and theirs • Demonstrate the action(s) and show how fun it is • Be familiar with the story to tell it in your own words • Have everybody do the action simultaneously • Tell or read the story focusing on the main • Accept a child’s decision not to act idea • Do not be upset over anything ... have fun • Pause at different points of the story as a family and enjoy the time of teaching to act out each scene your children • Vary the presentation, place, etc3. Relate and apply Pointers for questions • Have the whole family seated on the floor • Ask your children to imagine how they would in a circle then end the story feel if they were a particular character in the story • Ask questions for understanding and application • Ask about what is right and what is wrong of the character’s attitudes and actions • Personalise the application geared specifically • Ask the children to suggest alternatives to to your children and their needs or problems wrong attitudes and actions • Focus on the main idea or principle for each devotionCEF Singapore 7

Dramatised Family Devotions 27 August 2016 4. End in prayer • We suggest the other parent (who was not the storyteller) close the time in prayer • Mention the main idea in the closing prayer ... seeking God’s help in application • Pray for the needs of others, especially those whom the children know.Would your Church consider? Email [email protected] Next Talk• How can I help my child spend time with God?• Use of rewards and punishment in discipline• Should I reason with my child?• How can I help develop my child’s EQ?CEF Singapore 8

What is ASSTThe Academy of Sunday School Teachers (ASST) was launchedin February 2014. The acronym ASST (pronounced “assist”)embodies our mission to assist teachers to reach and teachchildren. Our vision is for Sunday School to be more than astrategy to nurture children in our churches. It should also be astrategy to grow – by reaching out to children beyond the wallsof the church.In our vision, we visualise a vibrant Sunday School where ...• children desire to come• they have fun and learn about God• their lives are being transformed• the number of children are growing Details at http://www.cef-singapore.com

2016Don’t know what to do during PSLE marking days?Make your Mark (MM) Camp Oct 18 -19, 10 am -4 pm St Andrew’s Cathedral, North Transept Hall 1 crazy games 2 yummy snacks 3 exciting app 4 new friends Preview the app @ http://www.cef-singapore.com/RR5/ Open to all upper primary students Organized by CEF Singapore For more information, call 6276 1201