How to Help Children Transition to the Worship Service

As parents, our deepest longing is for our children to trust Christ to save them from their sins. We believe that this trust/faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). So, our goal in bringing children into the service is so that they hear the word of Christ and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
As we bring our children into the gathering of the saints, the word of Christ will be preached and we need to train our children to listen.
Positively, this will mean bringing activities, items, etc. that will encourage listening. This is why we provide a sermon sheet for kids to fill out each week as they are listening to the sermon. Of course, people do not listen 100% of the time. So, if children are not paying attention, help them to be respectful to foster a listening environment.
- Additionally, creating opportunities for your children to listen throughout the week is helpful. Family worship is a perfect opportunity to foster a disposition in your children that, when we open the word of God, it is time to listen.
Negatively, this means disciplining behavior that will distract or detract from their own listening or from the listening of others. If discipline has not been a regular component in your household, then this will be difficult but not impossible. Start disciplining your children at home so that they learn to be obedient in public. If you start trying to discipline them in public when they embarrass you, it will not go well.

Ephesians 3:10 says that it is through the church the manifold wisdom of God [is made known] to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
God’s church is God’s wisdom on display and we want children to behold God and His wisdom as we bring them into the gathering of Christ’s church. Experiencing the glory of God is another main goal of bringing children into the service that we hope leads them to place their faith and trust in Jesus.

As children enter into the worship, another goal is to help children learn and experience from a young age what Christian life looks like. A normative part of the Christian life is joining together with the saints to worship God by singing together, listening together, confessing together, and encouraging one another.
When children grow up joining the gathering of the saints, they learn that the Christian life involves going to church each week, which is exactly what Hebrews 10:24-25 expects and demands: And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

You can get more from this article written by John Piper and his wife, Noël, about children in the worship service: The Family: Together in God’s Presence