Teach Your Children to Worship

Whitney Hopler

It's a familiar sight - children snacking, coloring, or playing with toys during a worship service. The distractions can help keep them quiet so their parents can concentrate on the service. Maybe the children aren't even present in the sanctuary during worship. They could be back in Sunday School classrooms for the entire time their parents are worshipping God.

But doesn't God want children to worship Him, too? Children shouldn't miss out on the most important experience in church - directly encountering God in worship. As a parent, you can teach your children how to approach God in worship, giving them a gift that will prove far more valuable than simply learning how to be quiet.

Here are some ways you can help your children learn to worship:

Adapted from Parentng in the Pew: Guiding Your Children Into the Joy of Worship, copyrights 2002 and 1993 by Robbie Castleman. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com, 1-800-843-4587.

Robbie Castleman, a mother of two sons, is assistant professor of biblical studies at John Brown University and the national director for the Religious and Theological Studies Fellowship with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Do your children usually stay in the worship service with you at church, or do they most often go back to Sunday School class? Why or why not? How have you tried to help your children learn to worship, and why is it important to you to teach them to do so? Visit Crosswalk's forums to discuss this topic by clicking on the link below.

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