Bring the MEN to This Event!!!!!

Moms and Dads,

Today's "relationship" culture for pre-teens, teens and college-aged warrants a conversation.

Important skills are not being developed when it comes to dating and romance.

Hanging-out and hooking-up supposedly spares young men and women from feeling "vulnerable" and "rejected."

Let's talk about the actual results...and how Christian families can navigate differently.

Dave Price, Senior Pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church in Danville, will share insights gained from years of experience with young people and their families as a long-time youth pastor, current senior pastor, pre-marriage counselor, husband, father and soon-to-be grandfather. 

No cost to attend.  Invite friends and spread the word.  We love our community of moms!

GEMs of Wisdom from "Healthy Relationships in a Hang-Out/Hook-Up Culture" by Pastor Dave Price of Rolling Hills Community Church:

This generation of young adults is looking for attachment in a “post-dating” world. They don’t like to label anything because labels convey expectations. They resist labels such as boyfriend, girlfriend, dating.  Even DTR (define the relationship) is resisted.  This is a no-expectations culture.  And dating is absolutely a performance, an audition, an interview.  Dating brings expectations.

This generation is also trying to convince themselves the big things are small things.  Sex is powerful.  Lots of energy is focused on it.  It is pursued, and in that way, it is elevated.  Meanwhile, attempts are also made to view it as casual.  It cannot be both elevated and casual.  Within a marriage, sex strengthens and bonds.  But sex before marriage or outside of marriage harms men and women and harms marriage.   Sex is anything but casual.

Despite their protests against labeling, kids want definitions.  Most of our kids don’t actually want a hook-up culture, but they think it’s what everyone is doing.

In order to define and elevate dating, we must first define and elevate marriage.  Marriage is the apex of God’s creation.  Too often, we emphasize the DONTs.  We should be emphasizing the DOs:  DO date, DO value purity, DO get married. 
30 is not the new 20.  Postponing marriage is hurting our culture.

The #1 influence on a teen is a parent.  When your kids call you “old” or “old fashioned,” it’s true, you are, and that’s fine!   In your family, create “in-house” definitions about what a date is, what sex is.  Talk about and model what a man of integrity is and how a woman of virtue looks and behaves.

For specifics on how moms and dads can cultivate these ideals, ask a mom who attended Tuesday night or come to the upcoming GEM “Reflections” this spring for further discussion and notes to take home. 

Thanks Dave and Debbie Price of Rolling Hills Community Church from all of us at GEM