“I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.”
Psalm 78:2-44 – (NASB95)
While we normally offer Bridge Kids as the main option for your children during Sunday Morning Worship, we believe that worshiping together is a powerful opportunity for families. Going forward, we are planning to have regularly scheduled Family Sundays. Our prayer and purpose is to encourage parents in your role as primary disciple-maker and to prepare children to be incorporated into the larger church body rather than removed from it. We hope the following suggestions will help you to prepare your family to bring glory to God during our Family Service times!
- Spend time Saturday night and even the week leading up to Family Sunday morning explaining to your children the significance, importance, and expectations for gathering as believers to worship the Lord. This removes the notion that the worship service is something they “must” do while giving them a fuller understanding of what is taking place, and allowing parents to have Scripture, God, and the Gospel as starting points rather than rules and discipline as starting points.
- Consider age-appropriate expectations for how your children will participate in the worship service. Infants and toddlers may just sit in the service and color pages or have little snacks to occupy them. Preschoolers and lower elementary children can participate in singing, praying, and giving. Elementary age students should sit, observe, and participate in every aspect of worship.
- Use Sunday morning worship as an opportunity to disciple your children. Let them know ahead of time that the family will discuss the sermon over lunch. Have them take notes along with you during the message. Discuss what they learned, answer questions they might have, and debrief the sermon for them. Talk about any applications they might make in their own lives.
- Do not be embarrassed if your youngster makes noise, causes a minor disturbance, or gets fidgety. Also, don’t be concerned if you need to escort them from the service and/or discipline them for misbehaving. It will help your child adjust to the service, and it will help other parents feel the freedom to train their children as well.
- If you are a single parent or attend church without your spouse, please give us the opportunity to be a church family and assist you in caring for your children during the service. Maybe chat with another couple before the service about sitting together.
- As parents, take turns keeping an eye on your little ones so that each one has an equal amount of participation in corporate worship.
- Remember the phrase, “more is caught than is taught,” and be examples to your children in conduct and instruction. This Family Sunday is a unique opportunity for them to learn through observation and to worship with the entire church body. Seeing you sing loudly, open God’s Word faithfully, give financially, greet others cheerfully, and listen to the sermon attentively, will leave a lasting impact on their hearts and minds.
This might be a new or different approach to Sunday worship for you, or it may sound difficult based on your own experience and knowledge of your little ones, however, if you prayerfully approach Family Sunday with a humble attitude of gratitude toward God for His Family and your own family, I believe you will be abundantly blessed! If you have any questions or would like other suggestions to approach Family Sunday, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with the Pastor and Elder team at The Bridge.
Pastor Jeff Borchardt (adapted for the Bridge)