Value of Children

• Scripture consistently views children as a blessing from God. (Genesis 22:5; 48:9; Joshua 24:3; 1 Sam 2:21; 1 Kings 4:8-37; Ps 113:9, 127:3-4; Is 8:18, 48:19; Is 8:18, 61:9);
• One purpose for the writing of Scripture and commanded obedience to the law was the continuation of faith in the Lord in the next generation (Dt. 6:1-9; Ps 102:18).

Nature of Children

• Created by God in the womb and in His image (Ge 1:27; Ps 139:13-14; Is 44:2);
• Born in sin and possess a sinful nature (Ps 51:5; 58:3; Pr 29:15; Lk 18:20);
• Immature (Pr 20:11, 22:15);
• Dependent and Impressionable (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16; Eph 6:2-3)
• Accountable
  • The laws for children disobeying parents requires punishment  (See section on “The law required obedience to parents” here).
  • 1 Kings 2:23 records account of children who mocked the bald man and then received the consequence of death.
  • Each person is accountable for their own sin–not that of their fathers (Ez 18:17-32).
  • Jeremiah records disaster coming because of fathers’ and children’s disobedience (Jer 16:10-13).
• Inquisitive (Ex 12:26; Ex 13:8; Ex 13:14; Dt 6:20-25; Dt 32:7; Joshua 4:6-7)
• Fully able to know and serve the Lord:
  • Salvation:
    • Speaking of the children who were coming to him, Jesus states that the Kingdom of Heaen belongs to “such as these” (Mt 19:13-15; Mk 10:14);
  • Other examples:
    • Samuel ministered to the Lord as a boy (1 Samuel 2:11, 2: 18, 3:1, 3: 11; 2 Sam 2:21, 2:26);
    • David:
      • sang to God as a boy;
      • was chosen by God as a boy;
      • defeated Israel’s enemy as a child (1 Sam 17:33);
      • Trusted God from the time he was an infant (Ps 22:9-10);
    • The little girl directed Naaman to visit the prophet for healing (1 Ki 5:2-4);
    • Josiah became King at age 8 and did “what was right in the sight of the Lord (1 Kin 22:1-2; 2 Chr 34:1-3);
    • Joash became King at age 7 and did what was right in the sight of the Lord (2 Chr 24:1);
    • The Lord has established strength out of the mouth of babies (Ps 8:2);
    • Along with his own, Isaiah’s children’s lives were to be signs to the people (Is 8:18);
    • Isaiah was called by God prior to his birth (Is 49:1);
    • God commanded Isaiah to include his son in his ministry (Is 7:3, 8:18):
    • Jeremiah was called by God as a boy (Jer 1:6);
    • God reveals things to little children (Mt 11:25-26);
    • The children praised Jesus during the Triumphal Entry, and thusly fulfilled prophecy (Mt 21:16);
    • As a boy, John grew in the Spirit (Lk 1:80);
    • As a boy, the grace of God was upon Jesus (Lk 2:40);
    • As a boy, Jesus was about His Father’s business (Lk 2:40);
    • A boy gave Jesus his lunch for God’s work (Jn 6:9);
    • The young can set an example for others (1 Tim 4:12);
    • Timothy was taught as a child and knew the Scriptures from infancy (2 Timothy 3:15);
  • Promises of children knowing and serving the Lord:
    • God’s Word keeps young people from sinning (Ps 119:9-11);
    • God can make boys and infants rule over the people (Iss 3:4);
    • God will uphold, sustain, carry, and rescue from birth to old age (Is 46:3-4).

Responsibility of Children

• As demonstrated in the legal requirements upon children, children are first expected to obey and respect their parents.
  • Additional Scripture expounds upon these commands:
  • • Disobedience to parents is often listed alongside other grievous sins, such as bloodshed and eagerness to do evil (Mic 7:6), hating God (Romans 1:30-31), and abuse (2 Tim 3:2-5);
    • Proverbs 10: 1 “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
    • Proverbs 19:26, 28:24 Robing parents brings shame and disgrace to them
    • Proverbs 30:17 The one who mocks his father and disobeys his mother will have his eyes picked out by ravens;
    • Malachi 1:6 Sons are to honour their fathers as we should honour God.
  • The New Testament affirms these commands in Ephesians 6:1-3 and Colossians 3:20.
  • Jesus provides the example for parental obedience in Luke 2:51.
• Children are also to heed instruction (Pr 1:8, 3:1, 4:20, 5:1, 5:7, 6:20-23, 7:1, 7:24, 23:22, 23:26)
• Children are to ask questions:
  • Major Hebrew holidays, such as the Passover, were designed for the children to ask their parents questions (Ex 12:26, 13:8, 13:14).
  • Commanded to do so in Dt 32:7;
• Finally, children, like all poeple are called to follow the Lord.  A specific call in Scripture to the children is Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”

We see in these passages that children are capable of knowing and serving the Lord, and are expected to do so.  Parents and church leaders must not overlook this fact, and must respond appropriately to God’s call to teach and lead these precious ones.

“Do you think you will come to Jesus up the ladder of knowledge? Come down. You will meet Him at the base. Do you think you may reach Jesus up the steep hill of experience? Come down, dear climber. He stands in the plain. ‘Oh, but when I am old, I will then be prepared for Christ.’ Stay where you are, young man. Jesus meets you at the door of life. You were never more fit to meet Him than just now. He asks nothing of you but that you will be nothing, and that He may be all in all to you. That is His teaching, and to send back the child because he does not have this or that is to fly in the face of the blessed doctrine of the grace of God.” Charles Spurgeon

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More on A Biblical Look At Children, Families and Education

Part 3: Education

]]> http://thebridgekamloops.com/http:/thebridgekamloops.com/the-value-nature-and-responsibility-of-children-part-3-of-a-biblical-look-at-children-families-and-education/ /feed 0 http://thebridgekamloops.com/http:/thebridgekamloops.com/why-have-cross-generational-worship/ http://thebridgekamloops.com/http:/thebridgekamloops.com/why-have-cross-generational-worship/ #comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:27:02 +0000 Kyla Gleason http://thebridgekamloops.com/?p=1559 Sunday mornings at our church can be a bit rowdy at times! As we gather to sing praises to our Saviour, a toddler may be heard laughing in the back, another child may run across the room to be able to stand by a special adult friend, a mom may help her son climb onto a chair to see the words on the screen, and two squirming siblings may need to be separated by their dad.  Some churches prefer to have the kids–particularly the youngest of them–in a separate location for the entire Sunday morning service to allow for adults to worship free from the many distractions that children can create. And I also agree that there should be times of worship and study reserved for adults–examples of this are even given in Scripture (see for example, Deuteronomy 11 and Nehemiah 8).

So one may wonder…what is the value in a room full of as many children as adults singing praises to the Lord?  Glad you asked.

Cross-generational worship follows the Biblical command

Psalm 148:7-13 states:  “Praise the Lord from the Earth…Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord…” How are young men, maidens, old men and children to praise the Lord together without times of intentional cross-generational worship?

Cross-generational worship follows Biblical examples

Several Old Testament accounts record children and adults worshipping together.  For example, 2 Chronicles 20:13 says that all of Judah “stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children…” for a word from God which then resulted in all present “worshiping the Lord” (vs. 18). Nehemiah 8 and Nehemiah 12 also records times of children worshipping God alongside their parents.

Cross-generational worship provides a time of teaching for the younger ones

Children undoubtedly learn from modeling. This is observed by all parents and those who work with kids, and teaching through modeling is encouraged in Scripture (see Proverbs 23:26, Titus 2:7 and 1 Peter 5:3).  As children spend 20 or 30 minutes each Sunday observing their parents and other respected adults worshipping the Lord, they learn to do the same.

I can remember attending worship one Sunday morning with my Grandmother as a young girl, and I can still hear her voice joyfully singing “Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God!” I remember noticing the joy in her voice as she sang and realizing that the words were not just generic lyrics to a song, but was the testimony of her own life. As a result, this hymn has become a personal favorite as I’m reminded of the example of worship my Grandmother set for me that day.

Whenever I’m blessed to have one our church’s children crawl into my arms or stand beside me during our times of worship, I pray that they sense that same genuineness from me and that it spurs them on to seek a relationship with the Lord themselves. I also pray that all of the children would sense that these times of worship are something special…that they would see their parents and a room full of other adult role-models making the worship of God a priority in their lives. I pray that they would sense God’s presence in our midst and be drawn into their own time of worship.

Sure it may be a bit chaotic at times to have the little ones in the same room worshipping alongside us! But as the body of Christ, we have an obligation to show patience to each other, “bearing with the failings of the weak” (Romans 15:1) and to follow Jesus’ command to welcome the children (Luke 18:16).  May we never have the same attitude as the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 21:15 who became “indignant” at the children worshipping Jesus in the temple. Rather let us welcome the children and model for them the proper attitude of worship, training the child in the way they should go!

Easter is only a few weeks away, April 4! Last Easter there were six individuals who came forward to embrace a personal relationship with Christ. This is that time of year when individuals begin asking the question:who was Jesus, really? Why did he have to die? What’s the purpose for this holiday?

As a result, we encourage you to start praying for friends, family, or neighbors who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ, and to begin thinking about inviting them to Easter Services this year. Or perhaps you’ve stumbled onto our website asking yourself these same questions.  We would like to invite you to join us for our services this special Sunday. Our schedule is as follows:

1. Easter Services will start promptly at 10:30 AM. Come early for coffee. Kid-Mo Kids will remain with us in the sanctuary for the entire service. (Lil’K will continue)

2. A Pot-luck Lunch following Morning worship in the Fellowship Hall. Invite your friends and family to join us. We currently need volunteers to consider cooking a large turkey and/or ham which will be paid for by the church. Everybody can bring side-dishes and desserts (not paid for by church).

3. A giant Easter Egg Hunt following lunch (between now and Easter Sunday we are collecting candy donations to stuff in the eggs).

The Bridge Community Church will be hosting an egg hunt too.  We will gather for worship (Easter Sunday) at 10:30 am – there will be a pot luck lunch following worship – then the egg hunt begins!

If you are looking for a fun and inspiring way to celebrate Easter, then gather with The Bridge Church on Sunday.

1393 Ninth Ave – across from Kamloops Secondary School and Sagebrush Theatre.