Suggestions to help your family’s time on Sunday morning.
Begin preparing your family the evening before If you want your children to look forward to worshipping the Lord on Sunday morning, then treat it as something special by preparing for it the night before. Instead of having activities outside the home on Saturday night, stay home so that you can prepare physically, mentally, and spiritually in order to be relaxed and not rushed on Sunday morning.
If clothes need to be selected, cleaned, or pressed, do it Saturday night. Go to bed a little earlier than usual so that you can be alert and give the Lord your best on Sunday morning. Get up early enough so that you don’t have to rush Nothing can spoil a Sunday morning faster than running late. Get up early enough so that everyone can get ready without rushing (Mom too!). Leave fifteen minutes earlier than you have to, so that you can drive leisurely.
Your children will be much calmer during the worship service if your family had a calm morning beforehand.
Remind your children about proper manners while driving to the service Even the best-behaved children need to be reminded of their manners and why they are necessary. Before getting out of the car, remind your children how the family is to conduct themselves during and after the service and why the Lord and His people deserve our best manners. We need to teach our children that people are precious to God and that good manners are a way to show people respect and that we care about them.
Bring some things to occupy the younger children during the sermon Some very young children will sit more quietly if they have a book, crayon and paper, or small toy, to occupy them. However, if these things become a distraction to you, don’t use them. With perseverance and consistency, young children can be trained to sit quietly through an entire service.
Be willing to correct your child during the service Often young children will take advantage of a public situation to test their parents. It is comforting to know that the same thing has happened to other families in the church. When your child will not sit still, it is important for the father to remove the child from the sanctuary for correction. After you have regained control of your child, return to the service. Except under special circumstances, it is important not to leave the service permanently, since that will only encourage your child to act up the following Sunday so they can get out of the service.
Expect your children to be full participants in the worship service Our Sunday morning worship service is not something geared only for adults. Rather, it is a time for the whole church (young and old alike) to come together to worship the Lord. Babies and toddlers learn to worship the Lord by sitting quietly. Younger children worship by sitting still, listening, and learning the songs and hymns. As children get older, they begin to understand Gods word, and benefit from the teaching. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:11