The Importance of Having Children in the Worship Service

One of the greatest noises we hear on a Sunday morning currently at Mt. Joy is the sound of the children who are with us each week in the arms of their parents or squirming in the pews. I never tire of hearing the cries, coos, fusses, and occasional little chatter of the littlest ones among us. And I am becoming more and more convinced as time goes on that the best place for children on a Sunday morning is in the worship service with their parents. They will gain far more from that and learn the rhythm and patterns of worship than they would if they are taken out of the service into a separate place away from what all is taking place. I have noticed the kids we are blessed to have in our congregation hold the hymnal while we are singing (and in some cases sing along with their own words), hear a hearty “amen” from one of them after the prayers, and even have another give a prayer request! They are learning to worship by participating in the service with their parents. And while much of what they hear may go over their heads, they will grow into these truths and come to understand them the more that they are exposed to them. In fact, they will learn these truths quicker due to the earlier familiarity with them. I am amazed when my wife will tell me that our oldest perks up during the sermon occasionally and excitedly tells her something he recognizes from the sermon or knows, especially when it appears that he is not paying attention at all. Our oldest not too long ago, turned and looked at my wife excitedly saying, “Daddy is talking about ‘David and Goliath’!” when I had referenced this story in the message as an example.

 

And, trust me, I know that it is hard to get and keep a small child sitting in the pew for the entirety of a worship service, especially if you might have one that is hyperactive and struggles with sitting still in general no matter where you may be or take him. There are some days we are just happy to get our oldest to stay in the pew! (And my kids have it the worst because they have to sit through daddy’s preaching. They probably feel that they hear enough of that at home!) But just as we need to work and teach our kids to behave and sit in a restaurant or a grocery store, we can and should do the same in church. The rewards and dividends are too great to neglect this. And I do believe that God will bless us in our efforts as well.

 

Today in several churches many people are quick to desire to drop their children off in some room and then come to worship without having to worry with them. They want the children to be “out of sight” and “out of mind” in the worship service. That’s sad really. We shouldn’t want to deprive children of the blessing of being a part of the worship service where they are exposed to the rich truths of the hymns that we sing. Where they can witness the adults worshiping. Where they can hear what God is saying to them from His Word during the sermon. This is one reason I no longer am in favor of having a Jr. Church for the kids while the service is going on. It would rob them of what they would learn from both what they hear and see taking place. It also will make it more difficult to acclimate them to sitting through the entire service later when they outgrow the children’s church. But if all they have ever known is being in the pew for the duration of the time of worship, it will, eventually, become second nature to them each week. Much more so the earlier a child has to do this. Of course, the nursery is available should the smallest of the kids get really fussy and need to be taken out. I absolutely love what Al Mohler has said about the importance of having children in the worship service. “We should, in church, welcome the wiggling and the squirming. And we should hope that what is happening is that the Word of God is reaching those hearts in ways those children do not even recognize. They are speaking as children. They are thinking as children. They are reasoning as children. But the Word of God can reach where we cannot go.” 

 

            There is evidence in Scripture that God has intended children not to be separated from their families in the regular worship service as well. Have you ever noticed that Paul addresses children specifically and directly in Ephesians 6:1 regarding their obedience to the fifth commandment? Since these letters were originally intended to be read to the whole church gathered together for worship on a Sunday morning, he obviously expected the children to be sitting there with their parents as it is being read. He doesn’t say, “Parents, be sure to tell your children when you see them later that they are to obey you in the Lord.” No, he points the finger right at the children. He is hoping that their ears will perk up as they are listening to the letter being read. That they would have been listening to all of the letter up to this point. They would have been in the assembly with their families. Likewise, Moses commanded in the Old Testament that at the end of every seven years at the feast of tabernacles, all of the nation of Israel were to gather together to hear the words of the law being read (Deuteronomy 31:10-11). He specifies that that includes "the men and the women and little ones and the sojourner who is within your gates" (v. 12). The young children weren't relegated to another place for a lesson of their own but were to be there with the rest of the community to benefit from listening to God's Word as well "so that they may hear and so that they may learn and fear Yahweh your God and be careful to do all the words of this law" (v. 12).   

         I, myself, am a product of being brought to church at a very young age, carried as a babe in arms. We pretty much were there whenever the church doors were open for something. Some of my earliest memories was hearing my pastor preach, standing to sing with the congregation, and putting my dollar in the offering plate when it came around. And while much of what I heard I did not understand at first, around nine I began to pay more attention to the sermons and something started to stir in my soul as the Holy Spirit was using that to instill saving faith in me. I still remember my dad pulling me down the aisle, sitting me on the sink in the bathroom, and giving me a stern talking to (a few times even more than just a talk) for misbehaving in church. And now I never want to leave the church building! In fact, I pretty much live there! Things might have been very different for me had I not had that foundation of church attendance every Lord's Day morning from before I can even remember. It was an indispensable part of my spiritual shaping and development.

            Something parents can do today to encourage their kids in worship is to communicate to them in both words and actions how important such a time is. If you tell your kids that they will not understand the preacher and that the worship service will be boring for them, it will turn out to be a self-defeating prophecy. They will more likely not come to see this time as special and significant for them. If all a child ever hears is that Chuck-E-Cheeses is the last place you would want to be and is no fun whatsoever, they are not going to want to go to Chuck-E-Cheeses. Likewise, if you tell them something similar about the worship service, don’t be surprised when they don’t want to go. (Of course, there will not be a natural desire for them to hear God’s Word and be a part of the service as that results from the new birth. You can’t change their heart but you can instill in them the significance of corporate worship.) Do they see an excitement and enjoyment in you to be with God’s people and to worship Him through the singing of songs, prayers, and attentiveness to the Word? Never forget moms and dads that your children are always watching. And they can tell whether you are being genuine or not. Let’s be sure not to neglect having them in worship each Sunday morning to help develop in them an understanding of the gospel and the transformative power of the Lord Jesus Christ in hopes that the Spirit might use that, along with your faithful instruction at home, to bring them to faith in Him.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee