Righteousness = you and me?
Attending church looks very different for our family now than it did one year ago...
Brian and I both grew up in your typical small town churches (except in my church- women led worship........ that was not at all typical in traditional churches but I know God used that to make me who I am today) and was taught the bible, scripture memory, memorization of the books of the bible, etc. We attended Sunday school and then we sat in the worship service with our parents and the little old ladies that had the bags of wrapped candies that would be handed out to all of us littles that sat in the pews. We sang the hymns and we listened to the sermons that were preached so passionately from the pulpit. The children's church sermons took place at the beginning of every church service down at the altar. Children would come down front, listen to a short lesson about people of the bible and would then return to their seats with their parents.
As we got older, that picture changed drastically. We moved to larger towns and larger churches- children's church took on an entirely different image. Parents dropped their kids off in the church childcare centers where they placed a sticker on their back and on their belongings and the children would attended age appropriate classes that included snack time and play time and a short mini lesson. Parents would attend a separate service and then pick up the children by showing a sticker or card that matched the children's sticker. It was a well oiled machine.
We had children and each of our kiddos went to their classes while Brian and I served- we only attended services with our kiddos when it was a holiday or something special like that. And- that worked. Now, none of the churches we served in cared if children attended the services with their parents. It was never an issue if a child made noise in the service or anything like that- the children's service was provided so that parents could have a moment to sit and listen to God's word being preached without distraction and for children to have a good time and learn on a "child's level".
Now- here we are, 2014 and living in the 405. Brian and I have friends we attended church with years ago that live in the 405. They asked if we had a church that we would be attending and they suggested a church their friends were pastoring. Brian and I got up on a bitter cold Sunday morning, got our kids dressed and made our way to church. We walked in and discovered they did not have "children's church" and that the children sat with their parents. Our kids looked at us as if we were crazy and had lost our minds! We didn't come prepared with anything for them to do so there we were- visitors, running late, walking in where everyone could see us with 3 kids who were "whispering" (in kid volume- which means LOUD) asking what we were doing. We spotted a row of seats towards the back of the room and filed in. We sat down and started participating in worship.
At that time I was almost 10 months pregnant. Attempting to round up our kiddos and keep them quiet was next to impossible for me. Brian and I were attempting to divide and conquer during the service. Oh, did I mention it was a Presbyterian church? We had NEVER attended a Presbyterian church service so we had no clue what we were doing. A sweet family sitting right behind us felt our pain (they, too, had multiple children) so they would lean up and explain what was taking place in the service and I would nod while holding on to the back of Elijah's collar on his shirt as he was trying to climb from chair to chair. Brasen was making eye contact with us and his eyes said "are you kidding me right now?" Alex, was doing what she does best and was watching people all over the room and trying to make sense of it all. At one point, during prayer, Elijah "whispered" loudly, "MOM, I am ready to get out of this place!" My huge belly was bouncing all over the place while I was trying to quietly die laughing. I cannot even begin to make eye contact with the hubs because we both would have LOST it! Survival- just survive this service and never look back... at least that is what we thought.
The pastors wife reached out to us and brought us a meal after Arden was born and on a BITTER cold and windy 405 day, nonetheless. When she dropped the meal of our kids watched her. She talked to each of them and acted interested in what they were doing- even Elijah who was on a mission to save the world dressed as a red Power Ranger. I found myself really liking her and finding things in common with her- DANG IT!!!!! Did this mean we have to go back?????? Brian and I decided we would try a few other churches "for the kids" because they "needed something to do (aka We need something to keep them busy so that we aren't embarrassed by their behavior in church). We visited some of the larger and more recognized churches in the area. The problem was always the same- the kids had lots of fun but weren't learning much and we found it impossible to really get to know other couples our age. Then, one week, I got a text from the pastors wife of the Presbyterian church and she asked if we were free that Friday evening. They were inviting some other couples over and wanted to see if we wanted to come to get to know a few more people in the area. What? Um, we live in the dreaded 405 and in a suburb, nonetheless. People here were supposed to be snotty and stuck up and certainly not call a perfect stranger for dinner. This really got our attention so we decided to give the church another try..... and yes, we went for dinner. Beautiful time of kids running around and playing. Adults were gathered around a table eating a fabulous meal together and having some of the best spiritual conversations I had had in a while. What was happening? Were we falling for the church we were least attracted to? How could this happen in the day and age of "bigger is better," and "more lights and more fog meant more powerful moments of worship," and "you have to have a slide in the kids area in order for the kids to learn about Jesus." (yes, I just went there- no dirty emails please and if you want to stop following this blog- don't ask me how because I don't know but you are more than welcome to.....)......
We left that home that night feeling like we were starting to belong to a community of true Christ followers in the northern 405. We went to church that next Sunday and I would love to say that it was stress free with our kids and that we didn't have moments of wanting to run up to the communion and just break the law of "do not get drunk on wine" by drinking every small cup of wine up there but- that wasn't the case. The difference this time- we knew that in that church, they loved kids. They loved that kids had energy and would say weird things at the worst time possible during prayer and cried for bottles or snacks or needed to go to the bathroom. The people there loved people- and we knew it because they lived out God's greatest commandment- LOVE they neighbor as yourself- and we were recipients of that love. The older people there smiled and spoke to our children. The older pre-teenage kids took time to say hi to my son and he thought that was just AWESOME!!!!! And on top of that- my kids were sitting next to me and my husband and we were actively involved in a corporate time of worship together. We were learning the same lessons and when they didn't understand what the preacher was saying- they leaned over and asked us. We were able to take communion with our oldest child for the first time and the pastor served us communion. It was a beautiful time of worship.
Yes, our kids are still getting the hang of it but they love it. Brasen loves getting to see older kids in church- and here's the secret- the older kids are impacting my son and they don't even know it.... just by Brasen seeing pre-teens and teenagers worshiping and listening to the sermon teaches him a great deal. Now, Alex still spills crayons all over the floor every week while she colors her biblical coloring pages we bring with us (okay, sometimes there is a spongebob coloring page in there but we do try to make sure that we have a bible verse coloring page for her and Elijah mixed in with the other characters). And Elijah, oh Elijah- two weeks ago, during the singing of one of the traditional hymns he tugs on my arm and loudly whispers, "Mom, I don't know how to sing this song, but I can dance to it." Well, son- hold on to that thought and you can just rock it out when we get home to some hymns. And one week, during communion, the pastor said "come, partake and taste that the Lord is good..." Well, Brasen was starving and was out of snacks so he quietly leans over and said (as serious as can be) "Oh my gosh mom, can we PLEASE go taste how good God is!?"What do you do- SURVIVAL people! And, no, you can't make this stuff up...
A few weeks ago I had written Isaiah 32:17 on our marker board as my verse for that week. It says:
"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of the righteousness will be quietness and confidence- forever."
At that time I needed the reminder and the kids saw the verse everyday. But, as hard as I tried, I couldn't quite find the words to explain the focus on the word "righteousness" to my kids. As hard as I would try it came across as "religious" talk in my head. Blah, blah, blah- Jesus- blah blah blah. I am sure that's what they heard when I tried to explain to them why we should live in peace and stand in confidence. But today, sitting in church with the spilled crayons, crumbled doughnuts, baby spit up and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book- they got it. The associate pastor stood up after the time of silent prayer and read 2 Corinthian 5:21:
"For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
He then broke it down in a way that made me feel absolutely foolish. My kids got it. (and I secretly wanted to lean over and say "See, that's what I've been trying to tell you!) In the midst of what some church congregations would see as chaotic and messy my kids heard what I had been trying to explain to them........ and they were sitting next to us when it happened. And, to bring the message home even more- the senior pastor then gave a powerful sermon about the gift of salvation, grace and freedom to live in Christ..... and again, we were there when our children heard it.
I love knowing that at a very young age, my children are learning that we are made whole, and can be called righteous because we stand in the beautiful light of the salvation we receive because God sent his son for us. I love that even though I know what these verses mean to me, my kids can hear it from someone else as well- and that helps to drive it home even more. I love that the traditional bible stories that we read about every day in home are brought to life even more when they sit in a service and hear about grace, mercy, freedom and love with regards to these stories. We teach our kids at home- church drives it home even more.
Now, don't go crazy. I am not saying that all of the churches that have children's programs are pagans and will pay some day for that. Mercy- not at all!!!! We have been involved in churches where the kids loved children's church so much that they went home and begged their mommy or daddy to come with them and entire families have come to know Christ through the children's ministry and they are now serving at the food pantry together at that very church. Absolutely powerful and beautiful and God is using that! INCREDIBLE!
All I am saying is that today, while sitting in (what some might say, and I might have even said 1 year ago) a boring church service- my kids heard that by the sacrifice God gave we can call ourselves righteous if we live with him and his love inside of us.... and it didn't just come from their mommy and daddy. They saw grandparents, other mommies and daddies, teenagers and small children listening about God's love- and they got it.
Churches- don't freak out when your children's workers don't show up and children have to attend services with their parents. And parents, don't keep your kids (and yourselves) out of church for fear of your kids disrupting church....just think of the poor Presbyterian church in the snotty 405 suburb who now has to deal with our dancing, hungry, spilling crayons family and that should make you feel much better.
Christians- we have Christ in us- we are considered righteous despite of ourselves. It's a beautiful thing. We can live in total peace (despite that chaos of Sunday mornings or terrible life events). We can live with confidence because why would we live otherwise??? The maker of the universe sent his only son to die for us- he wants us to live confident that He loves us and that is all that matters!!!!! We can live with an odd quietness in our spirit when everything and everyone around us is telling us that we should be freaking out. That only comes by having Christ living inside of us.
so yes, Righteousness does belong to you and me (and my three crazy littles).
Brian and I both grew up in your typical small town churches (except in my church- women led worship........ that was not at all typical in traditional churches but I know God used that to make me who I am today) and was taught the bible, scripture memory, memorization of the books of the bible, etc. We attended Sunday school and then we sat in the worship service with our parents and the little old ladies that had the bags of wrapped candies that would be handed out to all of us littles that sat in the pews. We sang the hymns and we listened to the sermons that were preached so passionately from the pulpit. The children's church sermons took place at the beginning of every church service down at the altar. Children would come down front, listen to a short lesson about people of the bible and would then return to their seats with their parents.
As we got older, that picture changed drastically. We moved to larger towns and larger churches- children's church took on an entirely different image. Parents dropped their kids off in the church childcare centers where they placed a sticker on their back and on their belongings and the children would attended age appropriate classes that included snack time and play time and a short mini lesson. Parents would attend a separate service and then pick up the children by showing a sticker or card that matched the children's sticker. It was a well oiled machine.
We had children and each of our kiddos went to their classes while Brian and I served- we only attended services with our kiddos when it was a holiday or something special like that. And- that worked. Now, none of the churches we served in cared if children attended the services with their parents. It was never an issue if a child made noise in the service or anything like that- the children's service was provided so that parents could have a moment to sit and listen to God's word being preached without distraction and for children to have a good time and learn on a "child's level".
Now- here we are, 2014 and living in the 405. Brian and I have friends we attended church with years ago that live in the 405. They asked if we had a church that we would be attending and they suggested a church their friends were pastoring. Brian and I got up on a bitter cold Sunday morning, got our kids dressed and made our way to church. We walked in and discovered they did not have "children's church" and that the children sat with their parents. Our kids looked at us as if we were crazy and had lost our minds! We didn't come prepared with anything for them to do so there we were- visitors, running late, walking in where everyone could see us with 3 kids who were "whispering" (in kid volume- which means LOUD) asking what we were doing. We spotted a row of seats towards the back of the room and filed in. We sat down and started participating in worship.
At that time I was almost 10 months pregnant. Attempting to round up our kiddos and keep them quiet was next to impossible for me. Brian and I were attempting to divide and conquer during the service. Oh, did I mention it was a Presbyterian church? We had NEVER attended a Presbyterian church service so we had no clue what we were doing. A sweet family sitting right behind us felt our pain (they, too, had multiple children) so they would lean up and explain what was taking place in the service and I would nod while holding on to the back of Elijah's collar on his shirt as he was trying to climb from chair to chair. Brasen was making eye contact with us and his eyes said "are you kidding me right now?" Alex, was doing what she does best and was watching people all over the room and trying to make sense of it all. At one point, during prayer, Elijah "whispered" loudly, "MOM, I am ready to get out of this place!" My huge belly was bouncing all over the place while I was trying to quietly die laughing. I cannot even begin to make eye contact with the hubs because we both would have LOST it! Survival- just survive this service and never look back... at least that is what we thought.
The pastors wife reached out to us and brought us a meal after Arden was born and on a BITTER cold and windy 405 day, nonetheless. When she dropped the meal of our kids watched her. She talked to each of them and acted interested in what they were doing- even Elijah who was on a mission to save the world dressed as a red Power Ranger. I found myself really liking her and finding things in common with her- DANG IT!!!!! Did this mean we have to go back?????? Brian and I decided we would try a few other churches "for the kids" because they "needed something to do (aka We need something to keep them busy so that we aren't embarrassed by their behavior in church). We visited some of the larger and more recognized churches in the area. The problem was always the same- the kids had lots of fun but weren't learning much and we found it impossible to really get to know other couples our age. Then, one week, I got a text from the pastors wife of the Presbyterian church and she asked if we were free that Friday evening. They were inviting some other couples over and wanted to see if we wanted to come to get to know a few more people in the area. What? Um, we live in the dreaded 405 and in a suburb, nonetheless. People here were supposed to be snotty and stuck up and certainly not call a perfect stranger for dinner. This really got our attention so we decided to give the church another try..... and yes, we went for dinner. Beautiful time of kids running around and playing. Adults were gathered around a table eating a fabulous meal together and having some of the best spiritual conversations I had had in a while. What was happening? Were we falling for the church we were least attracted to? How could this happen in the day and age of "bigger is better," and "more lights and more fog meant more powerful moments of worship," and "you have to have a slide in the kids area in order for the kids to learn about Jesus." (yes, I just went there- no dirty emails please and if you want to stop following this blog- don't ask me how because I don't know but you are more than welcome to.....)......
We left that home that night feeling like we were starting to belong to a community of true Christ followers in the northern 405. We went to church that next Sunday and I would love to say that it was stress free with our kids and that we didn't have moments of wanting to run up to the communion and just break the law of "do not get drunk on wine" by drinking every small cup of wine up there but- that wasn't the case. The difference this time- we knew that in that church, they loved kids. They loved that kids had energy and would say weird things at the worst time possible during prayer and cried for bottles or snacks or needed to go to the bathroom. The people there loved people- and we knew it because they lived out God's greatest commandment- LOVE they neighbor as yourself- and we were recipients of that love. The older people there smiled and spoke to our children. The older pre-teenage kids took time to say hi to my son and he thought that was just AWESOME!!!!! And on top of that- my kids were sitting next to me and my husband and we were actively involved in a corporate time of worship together. We were learning the same lessons and when they didn't understand what the preacher was saying- they leaned over and asked us. We were able to take communion with our oldest child for the first time and the pastor served us communion. It was a beautiful time of worship.
Yes, our kids are still getting the hang of it but they love it. Brasen loves getting to see older kids in church- and here's the secret- the older kids are impacting my son and they don't even know it.... just by Brasen seeing pre-teens and teenagers worshiping and listening to the sermon teaches him a great deal. Now, Alex still spills crayons all over the floor every week while she colors her biblical coloring pages we bring with us (okay, sometimes there is a spongebob coloring page in there but we do try to make sure that we have a bible verse coloring page for her and Elijah mixed in with the other characters). And Elijah, oh Elijah- two weeks ago, during the singing of one of the traditional hymns he tugs on my arm and loudly whispers, "Mom, I don't know how to sing this song, but I can dance to it." Well, son- hold on to that thought and you can just rock it out when we get home to some hymns. And one week, during communion, the pastor said "come, partake and taste that the Lord is good..." Well, Brasen was starving and was out of snacks so he quietly leans over and said (as serious as can be) "Oh my gosh mom, can we PLEASE go taste how good God is!?"What do you do- SURVIVAL people! And, no, you can't make this stuff up...
A few weeks ago I had written Isaiah 32:17 on our marker board as my verse for that week. It says:
"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of the righteousness will be quietness and confidence- forever."
At that time I needed the reminder and the kids saw the verse everyday. But, as hard as I tried, I couldn't quite find the words to explain the focus on the word "righteousness" to my kids. As hard as I would try it came across as "religious" talk in my head. Blah, blah, blah- Jesus- blah blah blah. I am sure that's what they heard when I tried to explain to them why we should live in peace and stand in confidence. But today, sitting in church with the spilled crayons, crumbled doughnuts, baby spit up and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book- they got it. The associate pastor stood up after the time of silent prayer and read 2 Corinthian 5:21:
"For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
He then broke it down in a way that made me feel absolutely foolish. My kids got it. (and I secretly wanted to lean over and say "See, that's what I've been trying to tell you!) In the midst of what some church congregations would see as chaotic and messy my kids heard what I had been trying to explain to them........ and they were sitting next to us when it happened. And, to bring the message home even more- the senior pastor then gave a powerful sermon about the gift of salvation, grace and freedom to live in Christ..... and again, we were there when our children heard it.
I love knowing that at a very young age, my children are learning that we are made whole, and can be called righteous because we stand in the beautiful light of the salvation we receive because God sent his son for us. I love that even though I know what these verses mean to me, my kids can hear it from someone else as well- and that helps to drive it home even more. I love that the traditional bible stories that we read about every day in home are brought to life even more when they sit in a service and hear about grace, mercy, freedom and love with regards to these stories. We teach our kids at home- church drives it home even more.
Now, don't go crazy. I am not saying that all of the churches that have children's programs are pagans and will pay some day for that. Mercy- not at all!!!! We have been involved in churches where the kids loved children's church so much that they went home and begged their mommy or daddy to come with them and entire families have come to know Christ through the children's ministry and they are now serving at the food pantry together at that very church. Absolutely powerful and beautiful and God is using that! INCREDIBLE!
All I am saying is that today, while sitting in (what some might say, and I might have even said 1 year ago) a boring church service- my kids heard that by the sacrifice God gave we can call ourselves righteous if we live with him and his love inside of us.... and it didn't just come from their mommy and daddy. They saw grandparents, other mommies and daddies, teenagers and small children listening about God's love- and they got it.
Churches- don't freak out when your children's workers don't show up and children have to attend services with their parents. And parents, don't keep your kids (and yourselves) out of church for fear of your kids disrupting church....just think of the poor Presbyterian church in the snotty 405 suburb who now has to deal with our dancing, hungry, spilling crayons family and that should make you feel much better.
Christians- we have Christ in us- we are considered righteous despite of ourselves. It's a beautiful thing. We can live in total peace (despite that chaos of Sunday mornings or terrible life events). We can live with confidence because why would we live otherwise??? The maker of the universe sent his only son to die for us- he wants us to live confident that He loves us and that is all that matters!!!!! We can live with an odd quietness in our spirit when everything and everyone around us is telling us that we should be freaking out. That only comes by having Christ living inside of us.
so yes, Righteousness does belong to you and me (and my three crazy littles).
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