Corporate Worship: Who is with us? All Ages

Who is with us when we gather for worship? Who is present, welcomed, invited?

All ages Deut. 6:6-9; Ps. 78:1-8. Adults, youth and children. The Bible does not specifically say which age groups are to gather for worship but there are numerous examples of settings where you can see that ages were integrated rather than segregated. Deut. 6:6-9 teach as a way of life, purposefully and intentionally. The people of God and parents are both addressed. In corporate and individual household settings they were to engage in God’s Word.

Deut. 31:12 assemble the men, women and children, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord.

2 Chron. 20:13 All Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants, their wives and children.

Ezra 10:1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel.

Neh. 8:2 Ezra the priest brought the Law before the whole assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard. 8:3 And he read from it…from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book.

Ps. 78:1-8 (spoken to the entire congregation, to parents and the larger assembly).

Feeding of the 5000 (There were 5000 men present, plus women and children).

The Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5-7.

Acts 2:39-46 All whom the Lord our God will call to Himself (including young children who have great capacity for faith. They were all together and had all things in common. No age boundaries given.)

Acts 15:13-16 Lydia and whole household hear and understand the gospel.

Acts 16:30-34 Philippian jailer and whole household hear and believe the gospel and are baptized.

All ages should be together in corporate worship for a reason: God intends for the faith to be passed on from generation to generation, from parent to child, in many settings. 2 Tim. 3:14-16 from childhood Timothy knew the Word of God, taught to him by his mother and grandmother. From their earliest age children are to hear the Word of God in their parents voice, and observe them responding to God. Not just at home, but in many settings, especially when the church gathers. Some say kids shouldn’t be in corporate worship, that it isn’t practical, that they distract (they do if you let them and parents don’t prepare their children before, and shepherd them during and after). They say parents can’t focus, that they don’t want kids in. Jesus said to permit the children to come to Him, do not hinder them. Some say kids can’t understand what goes on here, they understand more than we give them credit for, don’t sell them short just because they may not be able to explain it like adults. Kids learn from their parent’s example. The Christian life is more caught than taught. Parents are to be the primary and most influential teachers of their children at home and church. Other godly people assist in that process.

Our family’s story:
Ten years ago our family decided we needed to worship together as a family. We were serving at a wonderful church but the services were scheduled in such a way that kids were in Sunday School when worship services were held. Some kids never went to worship until Junior High. When our eldest daughter Alexandra was seven and our son Michael was five, we began taking them with us to worship each week. On the first day we took Michael he was very upset that we weren’t allowing him to go to Sunday School twice that day! We got in our seats in the sanctuary and he turned to me and said “I hate you; you are the worst dad in the world”. I wanted to cry. I thought God wanted us t do this and I am getting flack from my five year old! I prayed for God to change his heart. About five minutes later Michael turned to me and said “I am sorry, I love you.” There was still some resistance for a while afterwards but we explained that this is what our family chose to do, even if other families chose not to, because we wanted our kids to learn what it means to be a part of the church and worship God together. We stuck with it and he settled in soon afterwards. Today he doesn’t even remember doing that to me. It was a learning experience. By the time our other children were five, they were asking when they could join us in worship!

One thing we also learned was that we need to prepare our kids for worship. Don’t take them in unprepared. Explain to them what they will see and hear and experience. Prepare them for joining you in worship. Be willing to do the heard work of parenting and prepare them before and shepherd them during and after.

Take a look at one more Biblical example in Eph. 6:1, and Col. 3:20; 4:15-16; What is significant here is children are being addressed directly as responsible members of the church! They were there when God's Word read and explained. [Another example could be 1 John 2:12-14 which either refers to different stages of maturity in the faith or to the actual ages and the different kinds of instruction each age group needed at their level of understanding].

The fact is all Christian parents want the same things for their kids: they want them to love Jesus and the Body of Christ and reach the world with the gospel. They just have different ideas of how best to accomplish that goal. We all know God is the one who does the work, we simply guide them in His direction. What I would say to all parents and grandparents contemplating what to do with their kids during worship is this: Make sure what you choose to do leads them to the goal you have for them of loving Jesus and loving the body of Christ.

A Biblical community is integrated, not isolated; intergenerational. Going to worship as a family can also be a great “togetherness connection”, a shared experience which enables deeper connections to be made on an ongoing basis. When I am not with my kids the most I can expect is a summary of what they experienced. If they tell me about a movie they saw or a book they read I just get a synopsis. But when I go see a movie or read a book with my children, there is a connection that can’t be had by seeing it separately. A deeper connection is made when you process it together – you can go beyond mere summary into greater applicational detail. This is what can happen when all ages worship together, we can go beyond mere summary to what was actually experienced and the nuances of those things. We can go deeper in our understanding of who God is and our application of His Word in our lives.

Whatever you choose to do with your family, may God be honored and people blessed to the glory of God.