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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.

Just because the knowledge of God disappears from a nation does not mean that worship stops. In Romans 1, we see that man turns from worshipping the Creator to worshipping the creature. People will fashion an idol and continue to worship. This is a scary thing to consider. It is evidenced in the Old Testament and warned against in the New Testament. If you forget the one true God, you won't become an atheist. You will simply be worshipping something else.

All of the attributes of God that we can name must be defined by scripture. When we say that God is holy, what does that mean? Does it just mean that God is sinless? Holiness comes from a word that means "to cut." It means, first of all, that He is separated and in a category all to Himself. He is not "like us, but just bigger." He is not like us at all. In that category, He is wholly separated from sin. He has nothing to do with sin. Therefore, He is deserving of all worship and devotion.

Trent Moody explains in this video that Scripture explains how Zacharias and Elizabeth served the Lord and trusted Him. After they faithfully prayed for a son, Zacharias saw a vision of an Angel who told him that his prayers were answered. Their son was John the Baptist. We see a moment of joy for this couple who was faithful to the Lord and were in constant prayer. Malachi 3:10 (NKJV) - "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.'"

Human life is immeasurably valuable. This great worth of a human being is a result of the fact that humans are made in the image of God. God despises the needless slaughter of his image-bearers, and has commanded: "You shall not murder." God hates murder so much that he calls for the death penalty for any who unjustly take a human life (Gen 9:6). And yet in our country, and around the world, there is unrestrained and government-sanctioned murder perpetrated every day against the most innocent and helpless. A silent holocaust against the unborn. Every Christian must stand against this great evil and cry out in defense of those who have no voice of their own.

The norm today is for families to send their children out of the worship service, either to a nursery or some form of children's/youth church. Often the motivations are good, however there is no biblical basis for this practice and it is at odds with the pattern we see in Scripture: Families worship together, children included. Churches need to recover this biblical and historic practice of age-integrated worship, and parents need to help their children by training them to sit, listen, sing, and worship with their family.

Should fathers lead their families in the study of God's Word? Jeff Pollard shares in this video that there was a young couple in his congregation that was reluctant to get involved in family worship. They had never heard of it. Jeff explains that in one of his sermons, he explained that any man can and should lead his family in the reading and study of God's Word. This young father came back to him a few weeks later and said that he led his family in family worship for the first time and now his children ask him every day if he will do family worship with them. God intends fathers to lead their families in the study of God's word. Ephesians 6:4 (NKJV) - "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."

God has commanded the church to be a singing family, but she is not left alone to figure out how to do it. The Bible teaches us how to sing together as a congregation. In this message Scott Brown seeks to explain what the Bible says about congregational singing.  God has set His people aside to sing, as David said, “sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.” Ps 66:2. Congregational singing ushers every true believer to the battle lines for the defense of the true church. This is why the Bible makes singing a sacred event.  When we gather to sing we are declaring what kind of people we want to be, what kind of God we worship, what kind of messages we want to proclaim to one another, what kind of gospel we are proclaiming to the lost among us, and even what kind of family and church we are becoming. Isaac Watts described one element of this in his hymn, Jesus Shall Reign,  “People and realms from every tongue Dwell on His love with sweetest song And infant voices shall proclaim Their early blessings of His name" Isaac Watts, 1719  This message covers the following four matters to bring us up in the training and admonition of the Lord regarding congregational singing,  1. The church is a singing family, Psalm 66:2  2. The Bible teaches us how to sing, Eph. 5:17-19; Col. 3:16  3. Handling matters of discernment and differences, John 4:24  4. God teaches us to pursue beauty, Psalm 33

The Bible teaches us that Christian singing is both self-conscious and intentional. It is designed to be emotionally rich, intellectually deep, theologically sound, relationally connected, evangelistically self-conscious. It is a contact sport. It is important to sing each song in the voice it was written. Our hymns are multifaceted in scope. They are sung from different standpoints. They are sung as personal expressions of praise, admonitions to one another and teaching one another. They are sometimes directed to God or they are unifying moments sung to one another. And there are even songs sung to our own souls. Here are seven ways God wants to grip our hearts and minds as we sing: 1. We sing with our Lord Jesus Christ and He is singing to us, Hebrews 2:10-13 2. We sing to teach one another, Col 3:16, Eph 5:17-18 3. We sing to admonish one another, Col 3:16 4. We sing to God personally, Eph 5:17-18 5. We sing for one another, Col 3:16 6. We sing to the unconverted among us, Rom 15:9 7. We sing to our own souls, Psalm 103:1-5 "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain…” So, the next time you come together to sing with your brethren, remember to sing the song in the voice it is written, and sing for whom the song is written. In short, be self-conscious. Be intentional. Be a blessing. Here are two suggestions directed to leaders who choose and lead the songs.  1. Choose songs thoughtfully and strategically. As you are choosing songs, think through the voice of the songs you choose. Provide the different experiences that songs are designed to bring. 2. Determine to teach and engage the congregation in the richness of the ways we are meant to sing together by helping the congregation to pay attention to the voice of the song. Help them to sing it thoughtfully and intentionally.

Repentance begins at salvation and continues on through life, for, as Martin Luther said, the “entire life of the believer” is to be, “one of repentance.” How should we understand this repentance? What does it do in the lives of Christians? It naturally flows from salvation and then all life long it relieves sorrows, reconciles enemies and heals wounds. It soothes the soul and makes families and churches happy. In short, it refreshes.

Lamentations is a poem expressing personal and national grief for the ravages that disobedience brings. Seeing the devastation that has now fallen on Jerusalem, Jeremiah's weeping continues as he now tries to point the destroyed nation back to its God. Jeremiah is appealing to a nation under the judgment of God to help them to examine how they came to be under judgment, the results of their disobedience, and how they were to move forward.