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When discussing family integrated worship one of the first concerns raised it "How do I get my kids to behave in church?" The practical aspect of keeping children in the worship service is an important issue and in many cases a real difficulty, especially if changing from an age segregated meeting. Thankfully, there are simple, practical things that parents and members can do and it all starts with the mindset of recognizing the goodness of having children in the church.

Paul White explains in this video that families need to focus their attention on Christ and see Him as a great treasure in all of life. If they do this, there will be fewer distractions and a greater desire to learn more about the things of God. Time spent studying God's Word, fellowshipping with fellow believers, and in prayer is certainly not wasted time. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) - "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Joel Beeke explains in this video that it is important to understand that parents must not neglect teaching their children spiritual matters. Children need to be consistently taught in both the family and in the church that God is central. The church and the family is a team that works together. Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV) - "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Here are some practical steps to get your family ready to hear the Word of God on Sunday: Familiarize your family with the sermon text before the preaching If you can, familiarize your family with the scripture text the pastor is going to be preaching from. In our church our weekly Men’s Bible Study for this express purpose. We want our men to teach their families what the upcoming scripture text is all about BEFORE the pastor preaches on it. We meet early in the morning and discuss the text to get the meaning. We do this to help our men understand what the text is saying. Our desire is that everyone in the church will come to worship on Sunday already having reviewed the terminology, theology and the central message of the passage. We want them to work through it beforehand. We want them to arrive at some practical applications for their families. Prepare your family to hear Intentionally prepare your family to hear the sermon. Much has been written on “How to listen to a sermon.” Let me paraphrase George Whitefield’s instructions for hearing sermons: Come with a sincere desire to know your duty. Pray before, during, and after the sermon. Listen to the sermon as if you are listening to a king, as the “Lord of Lords” Himself. Why? Because ministers are sent from God. They are ambassadors who speak the words of God. Do not think poorly of the minister when you think of his weaknesses. Cast a vision for the importance of the moment It is critical that you impress” on your children the importance of the moment. God has always gathered His people together to worship Him. Coming to God’s house is a critical and holy and God-ordained moment. It is the most important meeting scheduled all week. Help your children see the priority and importance of the gatherings of God’s people to hear preaching. Help them sense the prioritization, the expectation and the privilege of the moment. If you sense they are like those who, “shrugged their shoulders and stiffened their necks and would not hear,” (Neh. 9:29), then snap into action to help them learn to appreciate it by your own zeal, instruction, and hands-on assistance. Pray for the preacher before the church service. Use this time to give thanks for the preacher and the preparation he has engaged in. Preaching is labor. Most of the time, it is hard labor – and often tort

Preaching of the Word of God is a powerful tool for the transformation of church and family life. For many years we have been advocates of gathering all the generations together for the preaching of the Word of God. The reason is that there are many well documented times when Moses, Joshua, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jesus, and Paul gathered people together where whole families were listening to the preaching. They were united as they were listening to sermons together (Deuteronomy 16:9-11-14; Deuteronomy 31:9-13; Joshua 8:34; Ezra 10:1; Joel 2:15; Ephesians 6:1). Simply put: it is the Lords design to lead both the church and the family through preaching. It is not the only way He leads, but it is perhaps one of the primary ways. God has provided His people with a weekly experience that is designed to be the key factor in leading both the church and the family simultaneously. Here are some tips for making the most of the preaching experience beginning at home. 1. Familiarize your family with the sermon text Fathers, familiarize your family with the scripture passage the pastor is going to be preaching from the coming Sunday. In our church we actually have a weekly Men’s Bible Study on Tuesday mornings for this express purpose. We want our men to teach their families what the upcoming scripture text is all about BEFORE the pastor preaches on it. We meet on Tuesday morning at 6:00am and we walk through the text to get the meaning. We do this to help our men understand what the text is saying. Our desire is that everyone in the church will come to worship on Sunday already having reviewed the terminology, theology and the central message of the passage. We want them to worked through beforehand some of the practical applications for their lives. 2. Prepare your family to hear Intentionally prepare your family to hear the sermon. Much has been written on How to listen to a sermon. You can read this from on how to listen to a sermon, or this from Here is a citation from Richard Baxter, 'Directions for Profitably Hearing the Word Preached' in the Christian Directory: “Come not to hear with careless heart, as if

I remember the Sunday driving home from church when Becky said, “Wow, I think I was able to listen to the whole sermon today.” Our kids had finally reached the age where they were able to sit still in our church’s service without needing attention. Now we’ve “started over” with two more children. There is no doubt that welcoming children into the service is difficult for parents, but I am convinced it is the best thing for the children, the parents, and the whole church. Recently,  Here’s why we should let them come: “Amazing things happen in us as a congregation when the Word of God washes over us as the Spirit of God works within us. When we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached from the whole canon of Scripture, we are changed, by one degree of glory to the next—this is the work of the Spirit in us ().” Why would we want to take this God-ordained, Bible-prescribed means of grace from our children, especially if they are unregenerate? My children need the preached Word of God just as much as I do, and they need it in the context of the whole Body. Can it be be difficult for moms and dads to hear while caring for a younger child? Absolutely. But even that is transforming. Not only is learning to hear the preached Word important and transformative for the children, working to patiently train children to hear the preached Word is sanctifying for their parents. Are human beings easily distracted? You bet, especially in an increasingly entertainment-minded, fast food society. So maybe forcing myself to engage carefully with the sermon while a toddler fusses across the aisle as her mother sorts through her purse looking for the Fishy crackers is sanctifying for me as well. And maybe my encouraging and reassuring smile to the frantic mother is the Body of Christ at work.

Do you love the church? Not simply do you love the concept of the church or an impersonal, idealized church. But do you love your local, gathered church? Do you love the real Christian men and women, redeemed though still struggling with sin who make up your local church? It is easy to let offenses and failures create division and bitterness in a church, and choke out love. On the other hand superficiality in church life can hide many failures, but you can't love that which you only know superficially. Christ loves his church - and every local church - and gave his life for her. God calls us to love his church and to commit ourselves to it. We are members of one body and we ought to love and cherish one another as those for whom Christ died.

 1. The light of nature shews that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. ( Jeremiah 10:7; Mark 12:33; Deuteronomy 12:32; Exodus 20:4-6 ) 2. Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creatures; and since the fall, not without a mediator, nor in the mediation of any other but Christ alone. ( Matthew 4:9, 10; John 6:23; Matthew 28:19; Romans 1:25; Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10; John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5 ) 3. Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue. ( Psalms 95:1-7; Psalms 65:2; John 14:13, 14; Romans 8:26; 1 John 5:14; 1 Corinthians 14:16, 17 ) 4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death. ( 1 Timothy 2:1, 2; 2 Samuel 7:29; 2 Samuel 12:21-23; 1 John 5:16 ) 5. The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; as also the administration of baptism, and the Lord's supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover, solemn humiliation, with fastings, and thanksgivings, upon special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious manner. ( 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2; Luke 8:1

Every area and aspect of the Christian life should bear the fingerprints of a healthy fear of God. The areas of resisting temptation and mortifying sin are no different. When sin seems to continue to get the upper hand in our lives, it is evidence that there is a lack of the fear and awe of God. If we are to succeed in our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, we will need to be gripped by such an awareness of our glorious God. Then we would be able to say like Joseph, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).

The question of how to preach to a family-integrated church, with all ages and life-stages present, is always a challenge to the minister. While the temptation may be strong to give into the pragmatism that drives so much of our era, the preacher must instead focus on the Word of God and seek to explain it clearly and accurately. God works through his word and the faithful exposition of it - the minister has no other weapon with which to prick the hearts of his hearers regardless of their age.

It's a delight to be here, and I like to speak on this subject, and it is one that I care deeply about, and I think you should care deeply about and should know about. Your programs give the subject of this breakout session as, "Is There a Regulative Principle of Worship?" And I think that name, that title needs a little bit of explanation, so I'm going to give it to you. The redefiners and rejecters of the regulative principle of worship in our day have rightly sensed that it requires a different standard of conduct for worship than for the rest of life. Mark Driscoll has a good time making fun of the so-called "red-light view" of the church's worship, that is to say, the regulative principle, and the so-called "green-light view" of the rest of life. Here's what he says: "What I don't understand is why we treat 1 hour a week by a certain set of rules and the other 167 hours of the week by a different set of rules. When you were scattered for Mars Hill Church, you lived by the green-light normative principle. You don't wake up in the morning acting like a regulatavist. You don't wake up in the morning and say, 'Okay. I need to brush my teeth. Where is that in the Bible? It's not in there. Golly, I was hoping I could brush my teeth, but I can't. Well, I guess I'll have breakfast. Well, the Bible doesn't say breakfast. It says to eat, but it doesn't say when. Is it okay to eat in the morning? I better pray about this. Okay. I gotta put pants. Uh-oh, pants aren't in the Bible. Oh no. This is going to be a bad day.' "Why is it that we live by normative green-light principle until we get to church, then we have to live by the regulative red-light principle just for an hour a week as if there's not a blur in between the lines? We also have other church gatherings, meetings, Wednesday night classes, community groups. Do they count red light, green light? The whole thing gets very confusing. I think we live our whole life by the same principles, whether we're scattered or gathered for worship, it's green light. We're free until we see something that is sinful and forbidden, then it's red light. We stop." So Mark Driscoll. Similarly, though claiming to defend the regulative principle, John Frame denies that the regulative principle assumes a difference between worship and the rest of life. He says, "I, therefore, reject the limitation of the regulative princip

Often worship is thought of merely as a duty - just something that we owe to God. It is a duty, but it is much more. Worship, especially the gathered worship of the local church, is not only a duty but also a beautiful, gift of God's grace. Our gathered worship is a sovereignly given mercy intended to make God's people joyful and holy.