I heard this statement many times while growing
up: "Children should be seen, and not heard." This could
apply to many aspects of life, but it should never be the case
in worship service. Proverbs 22:6 plainly says, "Train up
a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not
depart from it." We should be teaching or "training"
our children to participate in worship services.
The older generation in the church finds joy in
seeing and hearing the children pray, sing, and participate. When
we fail to teach or to encourage our children to join in the worship
service, we are robbing the older generation the joy and happiness
of knowing that there will be a church of tomorrow. After all,
that is what our children are. Many times, we bring things to
occupy our children so they will be "quiet" during services.
Instead of occupying our children, I am passionate that we can
be training up our children in the church during services.
Ephesians 5:19 "... singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord." We are commanded to sing. Encourage
your child to sing. I cannot think of a more enjoyable sound than
to hear a small child singing with the church. How can we expect
them to want to sing when we have not trained them? Many older
people will tell you it puts smiles on their faces and joy in
their hearts to hear a child "sing with the spirit."
If PowerPoint is used in your church and your
child cannot read, that is OK. Pick up a songbook and show him
or her the words. Follow along with your fingers. It will not
be long before your child will smile and say, "Mom and Dad,
did you hear me sing?"
Teaching our children to pray is another area
of worship we are commanded to do. This also starts when they
are young. When teaching the two and three year olds I thought
about this command. "How do you teach a child to pray?"
I wondered. Much like our Lord did in Matthew 6:9-15, I gave them
an example. Then, I let each of the children say a prayer. When
one of them said, "I do not want to pray," I explained
that it makes God very sad when His children do not want to talk
to Him. Then I asked them, "How do you think it would make
your Mom and Dad feel if you didn't want to talk to them?"
It is very important to expect our children to pray in Bible class
and at home. I can still remember one of my daughter's prayers
at home, which went as follows: "Dear God, Thank you for
listening to my prayer. Thank you for the chicken, the potatoes
and the milk, and the carrots that I do not like but my Momma
is going to make me eat them any way. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
Wow, she had learned a valuable lesson! We should be thankful
for everything. If we never train our children to pray, then how
can we expect our children to pray when they are older and they
need to?
The next area of worship service that is very
important is attendance and giving back to the Lord. This falls
back on us. We all know the importance of attending Bible classes
and church services, but how often do we neglect gospel meetings
or vacation Bible school? What excuses do we use? My child has
school tomorrow ... It is too late ...They need their sleep ...
They have piano lessons ... football practice ... etc. The list
could go on forever.
Paul found joy in returning to the churches at
Ephesus, Corinth, and Philippi. Our visiting speakers can take
joy in seeing our children develop in the church when they visit.
However, many times we deprive these people of that joy because
they have never seen the children that we have. John 3:16 states,
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life." How can our Lord, visiting speakers, or
the older generation have hope in tomorrow, unless we show them
that there would be one? I understand that we cannot be at every
service and every meeting all the time, but let us examine ourselves
to see if we can be present more often than we are.
How can we expect our children to want to give
themselves to the Lord when we have not shown them how to give
themselves? Do not just bring your children to church; involve
your children in worship service. In training our children to
participate in worship service now, we are preparing them for
what they will do in heaven. Loving your child means giving him
or her back to the Lord.
Please ask yourselves, "Am I training my
child to be the church of tomorrow?" If not, let us practice
Proverbs 22:6: "Train up your child in the way he should
go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." -PO
Box 942, Hedgesville, WV 25427.