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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.

I’ve been pastoring in Vancouver for roughly twelve years now, preaching close to 1000 sermons, to over 50 nationalities, with people of various backgrounds and theological understanding in the pews. And 100s of children (ages 0-13) have been present. We are a Presbyterian church and, as such, believe children belong to the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:14). For us, there really is no question whether children belong in the worship service (Eph. 6:1). It would make more sense for me to cut off my right leg than it would for me to tell my children to leave the worship service (see 1 Cor. 12). As a preacher and a father of four young children, few things have given me more delight in this world than singing with my children in the worship service and looking at them when I’m preaching knowing that they are hearing and listening to the preached word of God. As Presbyterians, besides the fact that we believe worship is a privilege for God’s people, regardless of age, sex, race, class, etc., we also believe there is a unique God-ordained power in the preached Word that transforms the people of God (2 Cor. 3:18). The preached Word has a unique power to “make alive” and “build up,” such that willfully removing ourselves from such a blessing is to remove us from the primary means God has ordained for our salvation (Rom. 10:14ff.). Naturally, when I came across an article offering reasons why one church “let the little ones go from the worship service,” I was rather disappointed. The author (Pastor Paul Carter) “believe[s] in the transforming power of the preached Word of God,” but his church sends those under the age of 10 to Sunday School where, I assume, adults teach and thus also miss out on the preached Word. The implication is that this transforming power is better reserved for those over the age of 10. According to his experience, having “little ones in the service works against the smooth operation of that process” because “every fussing toddler is surrounded by a 20 person circle of distraction” and “of course, no one is listening to the sermon.” Children are “distraction factories,” and so need to be removed for the common good! As a pastor, I would say that much of my own efforts in sermon preparation are geared towards making the sermon simple enough for both children and adults to understand. Having pastored in a church that allows all ages to worship in the sanctuary, I have found that having children

There was a godly 19th century minister named Robert Murray M'Cheyne who said that when you go to pray, you should always pray as if Jesus was standing right next to you. Because He is. He is always right there. There was once a dying man who was an atheist and his little grandchild came to visit him. This little girl, who could barely read, loved the Lord and feared God. The grandfather had a sign above His bed that said "God is Nowhere" and he wanted to convince the little girl that there was no God. He pointed to the sign and said, "Can you read that sign above my head?" The little girl looked up and slowly read aloud, "God is now here." When the man heard that, the Holy Spirit used it to convert him in that moment. If you really understood that God is now here, your whole life would change. Once you realize that God is everywhere and your life changes, God's omnipresence becomes very precious to you because you never have to go anywhere alone.

If a young child asked me, "What does it mean that God is omnipotent?" I would start off by saying that God can do anything that God desires. But we cannot leave it there because the Bible teaches that there are some things that God cannot do. For instance, God cannot lie. Now we have to rework our definition.

First, explain what it means to know something. "Do you know that 1 + 1 equals 2? You know some math! Do you know that the big thing in the yard with green on it is a tree? You know something! But there are a lot of things that you do not know. Isn't that true? "In fact, you do not know how much you do not know. Can you imagine if there was Someone who knows everything....? That is what omniscience means. There is nothing that God does not know. He knows your heart. He knows everything about you. He knows your sin and your desire. He knows what you pray even when you do not talk out loud. "If you are not saved, that is kind of scary because God knows who you are. You need to fly to Jesus as an 8-year-old. You cannot hide anything from God."

When we are trying to explain this to a child we have to understand that we would have difficulty explaining this to a seminary student going for his PhD. All we need is, not to get into the depths of why, but just the fact that it is. The Father, who loves His Son more than all the world, more than countless worlds, loved His people so much that He sent His only Son. Sometimes when I am in a debate I follow a rule: I am never going to open a can I cannot close. At this moment, children do not need to go in-depth into the mysteries of God's works and God's grace that even the greatest theologians have to admit is beyond them. What we must do with a child is to simply proclaim what is.

It is very common for us to tell our children that Jesus Christ died for our sins. The problem is that we are not explaining the background. In many ways it becomes non-sensical or they believe that He died for their sins, but they really do not understand how the death of one person on a tree can pay for the sins of the world. So whenever we are talking about the gospel, we must set the context or the parameters. God is many things: He is holy, He is just, He is merciful, He is compassionate. But all of these attributes exist in God in perfect harmony. This presents a problem: man has sinned and the justice of God demands that that man be punished, but the compassion of God demands that that man be saved.

When it comes to bringing truth to bare in our homes, God has been so kind to give us the precious gift of living with each other in a close environment 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. This means that Christians have the opportunity to be a living billboard of the realities of God to everyone around them. Even though we are very imperfect (as those who live with us know best), through our imperfect yearnings for God Himself and our stumbling efforts to apply the things we are searching after, God brings truth before the eyes of the people we love. With children, we practice family worship and talk about the realities of God throughout the week. We can point them to the memorization of scripture, not just as a whole, but particularly those passages where God reveals Himself in a striking way. We can point them to great hymns and explain that we sing these old songs because they give honest views of the Christian life and high views of our God. More than all of this, our daily lives are able to help our children know how to apply the realities of God to a situation in the daily circumstances of life. For example, dealing with children in their disobedience, point them (and yourself) to the all-sufficiency of an infinite and incomprehensibly great and good God. If I do not know this, how will I talk to my children about this?

If I was asked by an eight-year-old how he can know God, there would be a couple of layers to my answer. The first is knowing about God. This is very important. We want to go beyond knowing about God, but it does start here. We need to know the God who is and that can only happen through His word. If you do not, you end up with a God that very rarely contradicts you, who is always happy with you no matter what patterns of sin persist in your life, and who never asks you to turn away from those sins. Many people who say they know about God do not know about the God of the Bible at all. The second layer is that God must be known in more than an academic sense. We do not study the Bible like a math book. We must think of it as a love letter communicating intimacy and friendship.

Omniscience is derived from two words: omni (which means "all") and science (which means "knowledge"). The fact that God is omniscient means that God knows everything. Here are some important things to know about omniscience. The greatest thing about God's omniscience is that it means God knows everything about Himself. He is infinite and eternal yet He knows who He is. God knows what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. How does He know what will happen in the future? Because He has planned everything that is going to happen. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3) God knows everything that you do. Not only does He know what you do in front of your parents, but He knows what you do behind their back and in your bedroom and when you are playing. Wherever you are, God sees you and knows exactly what you are doing. God knows you and everything you do. These are very important things to tell an eight-year-old about the omniscience of God.

Joel Beeke explains "omnipresence" to children through a story of a young girl driving home with her mother. God is always there. We need to have this awareness of His presence.

One parameter is to explain that, when we are talking about many of the deep things of God, we are talking about a God who is infinite. I would use examples to show the child that even in our own world there are things that we can observe and declare are true, but cannot fully understand. One example of this would be the doctrine of the Trinity. I would show the child in the Scriptures that God is one. Also, I would go through the Scriptures and show where the Father is God by name and deed, where the Son is God by name and deed, and where the Spirit is God by name and deed. Going on what I have already taught him, I would explain that there is an element of mystery, but this is what we can determine: there is one God who manifests Himself in three real, distinct, eternal Persons.