Articles
Teaching Kids to Worship God--Transcript
Good morning everybody.
I have to say one thing I've always loved about God's people is you can travel anywhere you want in the world and you will find a group of people who believe the same things you do, who practice the same things you do, who love and prioritize God first in their lives.
And that is just such a beautiful thing to immediately find people who want to care for you, who want to love you, who want to get to know you on a more deep basis.
And I just love having an opportunity to travel and be with Christians from different parts of the country.
So I want to thank you for inviting me to be here today.
And I pray that at least a handful of things that I share with you today will benefit you or your children and something you can really take with you and apply to your life spiritually speaking.
So what some of you may or may not know about me is I've been preaching the gospel for the past almost 18 years full time now.
I didn't mean to do that.
It just kind of happened.
I thought I'd do that later in life.
All my degrees are in music and I am also a college professor of music.
And the two greatest loves in my life are of course the Lord and music.
And man, when you combine the two, it's one of the most beautiful things there is on earth.
So I have adored being able to do both of those things in my lifetime.
And today we're talking about worship and worship in the more general sense of course.
Of course that incorporates singing, but it incorporates every other aspect of worship as well.
And today starting out, we're going to center our attention on teaching our children to worship.
And I got to tell you something I love about the Curtis family.
I noticed it right away after they were up and moving about.
I heard hymns playing in their house and I love that.
I love when families start out the Lord's day with hymns playing in the background.
I've known other families to incorporate some verses about worship to start out the day to kind of help prepare themselves and their children for what they're about to experience.
And to encourage themselves and their children to be an active part within the worship service.
So I love when families do that.
If you want your kids to grow up to be faithful Christians and continue to have the peace of God in their lives, then you start them out as early as you possibly can.
And every kiddo develops a little bit differently, but nonetheless keep trying to implement God's ways in their life from a very early age and it is an investment that will pay you back a hundred fold later in life.
So take it seriously.
Take it seriously.
I've known too many parents sadly that just kind of thought, you know, the kids will catch on when it's their time and this and that.
And they don't necessarily.
They have to be taught by their parents to really, you know, harness the power of worship and for it to really become a vital part of their lives.
Too many parents just kind of let their kids, especially nowadays, sit there and play on the phone or on the iPad or something like that.
So get them involved as soon as you possibly can.
I'd like to begin our time of worship with a scripture.
We're going to read Deuteronomy chapter six and verses four through eight.
You're welcome to do so on the PowerPoint here or you're welcome to use your own Bible and your own version if you prefer that.
Again, this is Deuteronomy chapter six beginning in verse four.
Notice at the beginning the focus is on the parents' role and example.
It says, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children.
So first it's mom and dad, you do this.
And secondly, now do this.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road.
When you lie down and when you get up, tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the door frames of your house and on your gates.
And it's basically repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 19.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, is it important to God that you share His ways with your children? Does that verse not speak that to a dramatic length? Is it not saying, I don't care where you are, what you're doing, you are implementing God's ways.
You are teaching children how they employ, how God would do things, how Jesus would do things in this situation.
It's not just something we do here on Sundays.
It's something you do every day with your kids.
Again, if you want them to grow up to be faithful children of God, if you want them to grow up to be the next leaders in the church where they're at, the next elders and deacons, start young and implement it in every aspect of their lives.
When it comes to the different acts of worship, most children between the ages of two and four can sing.
I said between two and four, they can already sing.
They can pray.
They can put money into the collection plate.
They can look at children's books with cartoonatures of the Last Supper and see Jesus distributing the bread and the fruit of the vine.
They can look at pictures in their children's books of people like Peter and James and John and Paul preaching the gospel and teaching God's word.
They can interact.
They can be a part of worship very, very young in so many ways.
Sometimes I think we don't realize how quickly children catch on to things.
I remember after we had our son, we couldn't have kids naturally, so we were blessed with an opportunity to adopt.
We were blessed with a beautiful little boy.
We were able to have him since birth.
I will never forget that in the first year of his life, I already had an engagement over in Paris for a month and a half.
I hated missing that time in my son's life because between one and two, they develop so fast that they're almost like a different person.
I missed that vital, special time of growth in my son's life and he was a smart kiddo.
Again, they catch on so quickly.
They begin by mimicking our physical actions like bowing their heads and putting their hands together in prayer.
They're seeing what you're doing visually and they start mimicking what you do.
They start to repeat words or fragments of phrases that we say.
Sometimes it's incredibly cute because you can't quite speak their language yet, but you're starting to gather what they're saying.
It's beautiful to see them start mimicking and repeating spiritual things that mom and dad talk about.
They repeat words or fragments of phrases that we say.
When it comes to singing or music, which is, of course, as I said, my area of specialization, what's fascinating to me is that as early as five or six years old, or months old, excuse me, as early as five to six months old, babies can exhibit dance-like movements when listening to music.
This is hilarious to watch.
It's like they don't know what their body's doing as they're hearing a rhythm and then they start to like it.
Then they get into it.
Sometimes they dance better than us adults.
You're like, how do they do that? They don't know what they're doing.
But that is the power of music and how it motivates.
It's a beautiful aspect of worship.
It's said that 90% of infants exhibit this movement ability at 13 months.
That's just barely more than a year.
Again, I find that amazing, amazing, the power of music to influence even infants.
Two-year-olds can mimic, can sing melodic fragments, even hone in on rhythms and repeat those verbatim.
Three- to five-year-olds can sing entire songs with incredible accuracy.
Six- to nine-year-olds can harmonize.
They can even take voice lessons and audition for children's roles in musicals.
I read somewhere that the earliest Annie was eight years old.
Many of you know that musical Annie.
I think the earliest performer on Broadway was 10 years old.
Can you imagine getting a leading role on Broadway as a 10-year-old? You know how many young people in college and so on dream of getting to sing there? And yet a 10-year-old? Again, it shows how fast they develop and how capable they are of doing what we would deem more adult-level things.
In elementary school choirs, first graders, that's age six to seven, second graders, that's seven to eight.
They're generally introduced to what are called canon songs or rounds.
Many of you know what that is, like, row, row, row your boat, and then the next group picks up and so on.
So there's harmony involved, but it's very simplistic.
And then as they continue to age, you know, fifth graders and sixth graders, that's ages 10 through 12, they're generally taught to sing two-part harmony.
And by the time you're in middle school and high school, you're singing three-part S-A-B or four-part S-A-T-B.
And some very gifted kids are even doing eight-part harmony by the time they're in high school and, of course, also college.
Again, how fast our kids grow and mature, and how quickly we must engage and inspire and encourage that development.
So I want to encourage you always to teach your children to worship God from as early an age as you possibly can.
The Bible tells us to train up children in the way that they should go.
And, of course, this also incorporates the aspects of worship.
Proverbs 22 and 6, some of you probably haven't memorized, train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Now, those of you that are good Bible students, you understand that a proverb is not an absolute.
In other words, that proverb doesn't mean that every single human being who is raised up in the Lord will go on to become a faithful Christian.
But what it is teaching is a general truth that most of the time, if you diligently raise your child to love, to worship, to honor, to prioritize God as their number one, most children will become a faithful child of God.
So teach your children to worship God as early as you can.
Keep trying, stay involved, show them how in services, and at home.
I remember one time, I wasn't raised in the church, just so you guys again know a little bit more about me, and I remember when I first became a Christian, I had gone over to a Christian family's home, and I saw little kids playing in the basement, and they had a chair, and there's one little boy standing up on top of the chair, and he was doing all these arm gestures and showing emotion and stuff, and I couldn't hardly understand him because he was like three, you know.
But I came to realize what they were doing was they were playing church, and I loved that.
They had someone, one of the kids was designated to pray, another kid was designated to lead the singing, and that young man of course was preaching, and I just think that's wonderful.
So don't just teach your kids about it, like I said here.
Make sure it's an active thing that you do at home, so it becomes something that's practiced on a continual basis.
Beautiful thing to see kids play church.
Like we said earlier, they'll first start to mimic your physical actions, your physical actions, and then they'll start to repeat some of your words.
But in time, something wonderful happens.
They're beautiful, super cute, sometimes incredibly funny, yet innocent, original personalities start to come through.
And you listen to some of their prayers, and I know we're supposed to be, you know, humble and lowly and quiet and reverent, but they start to say some things that just make you want to bust out loud in the middle of the prayer.
But they're being so incredibly sincere.
As the beauty of childhood, such incredible innocence and purity and honesty, I'm just going to read for you some rather comical prayers that I came across that kids have prayed just to tickle the funny bone a little bit.
Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Dear God, I want to be just like my daddy when I grow up, without so much hair all over.
Dear God, my grandpa says, you were around when he was a little boy.
How far back do you go? And, dear God, did you mean for giraffes to look like that, or was that an accident? And one last one, dear God, when my mom makes leftovers, do I have to pray for the food again? Don't you love the way kids think again? What's the difference? Such honesty? God, I love it.
But how important are moms and dads to children? How incredibly vital are they in teaching their children to authentically worship and follow our Lord and our God? Mothers and fathers play a vital role in assuring that their children are raised up in the Lord and are taught to worship the Lord.
That's a big part of godly rearing.
Like in our scripture reading from Deuteronomy 6 and 4 through 8, again, it has to be implemented in all aspects of the day and night, every activity God must be taught.
He must be present.
When our kids are little, we are there all in all, you might say, God is the song that we often sing.
God is our all in all.
But to our children and their little, we're there all in all.
They look upon you and me as superheroes.
My mom and dad can do anything.
My dad's stronger than your dad.
How many of you said that back when you were a little kid? You see them as so special.
They see you as so special.
And I think what's imperative when you consider the fact that they're looking at you with such focused eyes on who you are, man, that means we've got to be an example to them.
They've got to see God living in us.
They've got to see us practicing what we preach and what we tell them to do.
It has to be real.
Because if you're not living the way you're telling them to live, guess what? They're not going to live that way when they get older either.
They're going to do what you do, whether it's good or ill in many cases.
So it's imperative that we as Christian parents are the kind of example that these kids need to see.
They want to talk like us.
They want to act like us.
They want to say what we say.
They want to do what we do.
And so remember that.
Speaking of not always setting the best example or not being mindful of things we sometimes say to our kids, this is very comical.
I think every family probably has one of these stories.
But I remember many years ago when my son was, I think, two or three, again, he was a very bright kid.
He walked up to me.
I was getting ready for bed and I just had my pajama bottoms on.
I was brushing my teeth.
He comes up and I feel this little poke in my side.
He goes, hey, Daddy, I go, what's up, buddy? He goes, you got a big belly.
I weighed like 50 pounds more at that time.
And I go, yeah, buddy, your daddy just eats too many snacks.
And he goes, oh, okay.
So the next day, mama's walking him in a stroller through the mall and this super sweet but heavy set lady comes up and goes, your little boy is so cute.
And he looks up at her and he looks at my wife, Shawn, and he goes, mama, she's been eating too many snacks.
I got an earful that night when my wife got home.
Although she thought it was quite hilarious too, just not at the moment because it was embarrassing.
But nonetheless, again, kids will say what we say.
They'll do what we do.
So we must be mindful of that.
So it's imperative that we live out the example that we want our kids to follow.
That goes for moms and dads.
I know sometimes in our modern society we see so many single parent homes and that saddens me because God's design was for a mother and a father.
It's not to say that a single parent can't do a great job raising up a godly son or daughter.
We've seen it before.
There's even an example in the Bible, yes, of a married couple, but one, the father was not a Christian, but the mother and the grandmother were, and I think you know who I'm talking about.
And that son grew up to become a wonderful preacher of God's word.
So it can happen.
It can.
Single parents can work wonders and or families where just one member is a faithful Christian, but God would prefer, of course, that both moms and dads are godly people, of course.
And here's some advice or direction or command that God gives to fathers.
He says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 4 to dads, he says, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.
And I'm going to use the new living translation.
I know it's a transliteration, but I believe it kind of shows the difference here between the two ways we could train up a child as a father.
It says, fathers do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them.
Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
I wasn't raised up in a Christian home, and although I feel very blessed to have had the parents I did, they were very good parents with what they knew to do.
But my dad came from a very violent background growing up, and he promised my mom that he would not be that way.
I mean, yes, we still got spankens and so on, and I'm grateful I got them, because boy, I needed them.
I was an honorary kid, and I love them for that.
But too often, parents raise kids just kind of according to what they're feeling in the moment or what mom or dad raised them like, and their mom and dad might not have been Christians, godly people.
So God says, listen, dads, you need to raise up your child in the way that I'm telling you to do it.
The way that Scripture says to do it.
And if you go back to the book of Proverbs, you've got lots of direction about raising up a child that's going to turn around and be respectful to you, be of use and value to the community in which he lives, be a good parent when he comes of age, a good husband, a good father, and so on.
But nonetheless, Ephesians 6 and 4 are saying, you can't do it your way, a worldly way.
You need to do it my way.
That's how you will truly be successful.
Bring them up in the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord, and that will show forth fruits of righteousness and goodness and godliness in your kids and moms.
God speaks to you too as it pertains to raising them up in every aspect, even in teaching them how to worship the Lord.
He says in Proverbs 29 and 15, the rod and rebuke, they give wisdom, but a child that is left to himself brings shame to his mother.
I think we've all seen children that have been left to themselves.
They bring shame to their moms and their dads, and it's sad.
It's fascinating that we're witnessing in some court cases in modern times, and I'm sure you've seen it in the news, where they are both holding the parents accountable and the adult child accountable for some of the heinous acts that the children have done.
So it's interesting that even our laws or our lawmakers, some of them very liberal in mindset, are still holding the parents accountable for some of the behaviors of the adult children.
I think that says something, doesn't it? So we've got to be careful about how we raise these kids.
Moms, I know you juggle a ton.
My mom juggled a ton.
I remember she was working as a realtor for Century 21.
I know it's an older, you know, realty company.
Some of you probably heard that back in the day.
She worked for them.
She was raising up us three boys, and we were terrors, I'm telling you.
All three of us spent some time in jail.
I kid you not.
It's only one night for me.
I was the better of the three.
Anyway, my poor mother.
So she's raising us up us three honorary kids.
And my dad's pretty honorary too.
She used to argue that she was raising four boys instead of three, because he was as much honoriness as we were.
But nonetheless, you know, raising us three kids, trying to hold down a job, you know, trying to juggle, taking us to sporting events and music events and all kinds of stuff simultaneously.
Moms juggle so much, and I get the struggle.
But I want you to realize something that's so important.
When you're looking at all those things you're doing, guess which one is going to have the biggest impact on your life later on down the road.
It's how you raised your children.
How you prioritized your time with them.
Because when you come of age, and maybe you're too elderly at a given time to take care of yourself, you're going to hope you raised up godly children who turn around to love and care for you in your latter years, and are by your side praising you and thanking you for the way you raised them.
That they're successful now.
That they have a good family of their own.
That they have a good job, a good work ethic.
That they love the Lord.
And that they're there to help you, like you did them when they were a baby.
So you want that kind of treatment when you're older.
You want that kind of closeness to your kids when they're adults.
Prioritize them now, before it's too late.
There's not a whole lot you can do when they're 19, 20, you know, going on and on into their latter years.
They're their own person now.
They're going to make their own choices.
And you sometimes see parents trying to still parent them when they're 20, 25, whatever.
It doesn't work.
They're free now.
They're legally adults.
They can do what they want.
What's important is how you do it back when they're young.
It is the most important investment you will ever make.
I can't stress that enough.
I love Isaiah 54 and verse 13.
It's a simple but beautiful passage.
And it just says what your children are going to be like if you raise them right.
All your children will be taught by the Lord and great will be their peace.
I think all of us have either known someone outside of our family or inside of our family that were not raised up in the Lord, that got caught up in a life of sin, drug abuse, things of that nature.
And we see the turmoil their lives are in.
How they age prematurely.
How they're so stressed out.
How life is filled with such anxiety and angst.
And it hurts to see family members like that, to go through that.
But that's because they don't know the Lord like they could have.
And like I said, the proverb that we read is not always accurate for every single human being.
It is most of the time, but not for all.
And so there are some that are raised right and still turn away.
But man, I love this passage.
Generally speaking, you raise them right.
They're taught in the Lord, great will be their peace.
And I guarantee you, you talk to anyone in this room that strives with all their might to serve the Lord faithfully and raise their kids that way.
They're going to talk to you about what it means to have a life of peace.
Especially as they take a look at say a sibling's life that shows to go a different pathway.
2 Timothy 1 and verse 5 and in just a moment, 2 Timothy 3 and 14 through 17.
This is that beautiful picture that we talked about a few moments ago about a mom and a grandma raising up the son.
The father was not a Christian and yet this young man went on to become a faithful preacher of the Lord.
It's a tribute to what raising people, raising kids up, teaching them to worship from an early age, what it can accomplish in somebody.
In 2 Timothy 1 and verse 5, it says, I am reminded of your sincere faith.
Here's the apostle Paul speaking.
Which first lived in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice.
And I am persuaded it now lives in you also.
Now maybe you think there's something missing from that passage.
Maybe you look at that and you read it and you say, was it genetic? Did grandma have it genetically and pass it on to mom and then son? No, that's silly.
You know, spirituality is not something that is genetic.
No, it's something that's passed on because parents impress it upon their kids about how important it is.
So grandma impressed it upon mom and mom impressed it upon her son.
And grandma I'm sure impressed it upon her grandson.
How do I know that? That that's probably what happened.
Because of chapter 3.
Look at 2 Timothy 3 and verses 14 through 17.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it.
Who did he learn it from? Most likely his mom, most likely his grandma.
And yes, the apostle Paul too.
And how from, I love this, infancy.
You have known the holy scriptures.
How from infancy you have known the holy scriptures? Are you reading your Bible to your infant children? Are you trying to teach them to sing from as early as you possibly can? How important is it that your children grow up to be faithful children of God? I love that.
From infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is God-breathed and it is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
That's the beauty of God's Word.
And that's the beauty of teaching God's Word to yes, even infants.
Start them young and you will see a beautiful, fruitful outcome.
You know, we sometimes witness in athletes this very thing.
I know Tiger Woods has had some ups and downs in his personal life and his career.
But if you go back and you watch some early YouTube videos of him when he was just a tiny little kid, his dad had him out on that golf course constantly.
Before many people would think he was even old enough to hold a club.
I'm terrible at golf, but nonetheless, I just think that's a good example of how he went on to become so incredible at that sport.
Folks, it works that way spiritually speaking too.
Anything that you set your mind and your heart to, anything that you encourage your kids to put first in their life, it's going to come back to bless them.
They're going to be great at it.
If you keep impressing upon them, it's importance.
Now, as we start to kind of bring our time to a close, I want to kind of turn the tables just a little bit.
I've been talking mostly to the parents in the room, obviously.
Now, I want to talk to the kids that we have in the room today.
I was told that I believe like middle schoolers are sewing up are in the group today.
I don't know, sometimes you may think mom and dad are being a little hard on you or impressing upon you to do too much of this and too much of that spiritually speaking kids.
Because maybe you've got other activities you want to be a part of.
But I want to tell you, your mom and dad love you very much.
And the reason they impress upon you, the importance of being at worship on the Lord's Day, of meeting midweek with fellow Christians and singing together, praising God together, studying God's Word, is because moms and dads understand from life experience and they understand from very likely being raised by their own parents, by seeing the example of kids who weren't raised up in godly homes.
They realize the value of training you up in the Lord and helping you to take it seriously.
They love you so much and they want so much for you to grow up and have that happy, beautiful, peaceful life that we read about in Isaiah in chapter 54.
And so I want to impress upon you kids, obey your parents.
Even if you don't see eye to eye with them sometimes, which will probably happen more and more as you get older, but obey them because with that obedience comes a beautiful promise of a happy and a long life.
In Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 1 through 4, a passage that we often encourage our children to memorize, it says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right, honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with what? With a promise.
That's fascinating.
The first commandment with a promise.
Well, what's the promise? So that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life upon the earth.
It may go well with you.
Your life will be less a struggle.
Your life will be less difficult.
Your life will be more peaceable.
And your life will likely last longer than many other people's lives because of the love and respect and honor you showed your mom and dad.
That's what God says.
That's pretty powerful.
In Proverbs chapter 1 and verses 8 and 9, it reads, Listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
That is, of course, a means of figurative language, kiddos.
That's like saying, trust me, the words of wisdom your dad shares with you, the words of love and kindness and gentleness and direction of life your mom shares with you.
This person, likely Solomon, is saying to you, understand that these things are like a beautiful garland around your head, almost like a tiara or a gorgeous crown of jewels upon your head and like a beautiful necklace around your neck.
Something you keep close to you, something you wear.
Remember, a necklace comes over your heart, this, of course, across your head, this sense of a garland here, and so again, the mind and the heart, your father's and your mother's words always being a part of your logic and intellect and a part of your emotion and feeling.
What they say and teach you should always guide you throughout life and be precious to you.
So I want to encourage you, kiddos, trust in what they say.
They've been around the block many more times than you.
They understand life just from basic life practice.
And they love you so much, they want the best for you.
I would imagine every parent in this room would gladly give their lives to keep you alive, to save you.
That's how much parents love you, that's how much parents care about you.
That's something in some respects how instinctual God built within us.
I remember times when my son was little and boy, when he got hurt, I hated it, just a fire would well up within me about how can I fix this situation right away? How can I make things right? How can I make him feel better? And I think every parent feels that.
So kids, we're looking at the long haul, we're looking at your life down the road.
And I know kids oftentimes just look at the here and now, but mom and dads are looking at you and your future and they want you to be blessed.
And that's why they teach you how important it is to worship the Lord and to stay faithful to him all your days.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to thank you for your kind attention this morning.
And I pray that again, something said this morning has really touched your heart, moved you to want to be a better parent.
Kids moved you to want to be a better and more respectful son or daughter.
And may it inspire all of us to be more dedicated to raising our children up in the Lord and to be more faithful worshipers of him from a very early age.
Thank you again for your kind attention.
Lord willing, I'll see you back here in about 15 or 20 minutes or so.
God bless you all.
