Bring them to church.

 Some of my fondest memories as a kid was being in church, running around playing until we were picked up by our parents. in a little chapel when I was probably 6 0r 7 years old my first Christmas program where we had to memorize a Bible verse, mine was John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life”, I remember saying it over and over to get it right and I remember it to this day. As a younger teen we belonged to a larger church with two morning services and a large youth group. A lot of us would sit through both services just to be together Sunday morning and then meet again Sunday night for youth group. the church had a building called the friendship hall with 4 bowling alleys, snack bar, 4 pool tables in the basement, a lounge with TV, and a small auditorium upstairs where we played 45 rpm's and danced. It, was open every Friday nights to anyone. Parents would chaperone and the pastor was always interacting with the kids in one way or another. We would have 50 to 70 kids from all over town, some from other churches and some from no church at all. When I graduated in 1961 I drifted away from church as a lot of us got jobs or went off to school or the military. In 62 I met Arlene who was sweet sixteen I was nineteen and we were married in 63. Arlene was Catholic so we got married in the Catholic church and went to Catholic church until we moved to Church Road in 72 and started going to The Holland Church. At that time the church had a large Sunday School, about 50 kids. We had three boys and had to sit up front because they were the only empty pews. Our youngest was not in school yet, and for the most part they were pretty good. They sat in front of us so we could keep them in line. I remember one Sunday the pastor called for a moment of silent prayer and in a normal loud voice our youngest, about 4 years old, blurted out “ Why is every one so quiet”, the congregation just softly laughed. The church did really make us feel very welcome and we have been here ever since. The following article Arlene saw on face book and it reminded me of Jamie and Brian and their newborn little girl, Cali who was a perfect little angel as she slept through the whole service and now Hannah and Ethan with Levi as they take turns rocking him in there arms in the back. Don't be discouraged when he may whimper a little or let out a little cry. They belong in church. Bob W. Bring them to church. Saturate their lives with the love of God. Even if they lay on the floor. Even if they need 437 goldfish and a sucker to be quiet. Even if you stand in the back swaying back and forth holding them. Even when it’s hard. Even when your pew looks like a hurricane just came through.
Bring them to church. Let them see you worship. Let them see you pray. Let them see you working at addressing your faults and leaning on our Lord when things are hard because if they don’t see and learn these things from you, who are they going to learn them from?
The world will teach them faithfulness is not a priority. The world will teach them that what they want is more important than what God wants for them. The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough. The world won’t teach them about Jesus. That’s our job. Bring them to church. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Luke 18:16
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Mark 9:37
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Luke 18:17