Just some thoughts on getting our kids to church on time . . .
Why do we all find it such a difficult challenge to be on time for Sunday school and church? Most husbands (and many wives) leave for work before sunup each weekday morning; and the kids can make it to the bus stop or the homeschool desk, combed and clean, bright and early, five days a week . . . . And then Sunday morning arrives. ...Even though church typically starts at least an hour or two later than our school days, we still find ourselves struggling all morning. Someone can’t find a hair brush, or a barrette. Who forgot to fold the black socks? Where’s my Bible? She’s taking too long in the bathroom! Even attitudes can naturally just seem edgier on Sunday mornings, if we’re not careful. And despite that extra hour to get ready . . . Sunday morning becomes a battlefield.
Because . . . That’s exactly what it is.
Although many people question how valuable church attendance really is anymore now that we have online “fellowship” and TV or live-streamed preaching, there still remain two tenacious individuals who believe with all their hearts that church attendance really does matter: God and Satan. You and I are in the cross-hairs of Satan’s attack against God, in what others have well-coined his “long war” against God.
Before we believe that these Sunday morning “battles” are just not worth the struggle, let’s remember first of all that Christ loves the church died specifically for her. He commanded us not to neglect “the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is . . .” (Heb. 10:25). He deliberately “added to the church” the new converts of Acts 2. Most of Paul’s epistles are addressed to churches. The spiritual gifts are specifically to be used to build up the church (I Corinthians 14:12). Church is where we collectively worship God, give tithes and offerings to support His work, pray for the needy and lost, and encourage others. Entire passages of the New Testament outline how the church is to be run—right down to the qualifications for being a pastor or deacon, and how to take care of widows.
This explains why Satan hates church so much, and why church attendance is almost always the first area he attacks in a Christian’s life. Shut down American churches, and missionaries come home from the field because of lack of support; local communities lose their Gospel witness; and sin abounds as Christians experience defeat and discouragement and backsliding. Church matters, and Satan is happy to use whatever tools lie at his disposal to keep us out of church: other hypocrites; an offensive word; neglect of Christians toward one another; or even an uncooperative toddler on a rainy Sunday morning.
I’ve parented a few of those unhappy toddlers. My diaper bag, for many years, included an extra stick of deodorant—and could have used a mobile shower, had they been invented. The Sunday morning marathon is rugged work. To compound my dilemma, my husband is in the ministry, which means that he has always gone early to the church. Getting newborns and toddlers and preschoolers fed, dressed, and ready at the door for his return pick-up at 9:00 was the most intimidating challenge of my week until my kids were old enough to get ready on their own. Nowadays, since my kids are older and more independent, I’m more like a cheerleader (although not always the perky, happy kind . . .), shuttling people through the bathroom and out the front door.
Maybe your Sunday routine could use some strategies. I hope that some of these ideas can help you as you teach your children to learn, from an early age, that going to church is more than an essential habit: it’s a privilege worth getting up early for.
1. Fight spiritual warfare spiritually.
When every Sunday morning seems to result in a temper flare-up, or a lost set of keys, or a baby with exploding “dyna-diapers”—your problem is more than a coincidental breakdown of organization. Satan hates seeing you in church, and so he attacks. The Bible promises us two things: First, that if you “resist the devil . . .he will flee from you.” Don’t roll over and play dead. Go to church—running late, minus the shoe, with whacky hair—but don’t let the devil act like he won. Jesus already won the battle against Satan at the cross, and “greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world.” And secondly, the Bible promises us that when we fight our spiritual battles God’s way (Ephesians 6), we will “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Someday, it may be that harried, crazy Sunday morning that God brings to mind in the life of your child as a reminder to him or her how important the Lord’s work really was to you.
2. Plan ahead.
If someone were scheduled to hand out bricks of gold this Tuesday morning at 9:15 on your county courthouse lawn, would you be there? I would be there—and every one of my kids would be in line too! I would make sure my calendar was free; and then we’d be sure to get a good night’s rest the night before—and set an extra alarm or two, so we wouldn’t miss it. I might even set out clothes the night before, or place the kids’ shoes on the dresser, like I do when we go on vacation.
David wrote about God’s judgments that they are “more to be desired . . .than gold.” We plan ahead for what we desire in life. Hearing God’s Word is the most important thing we can desire for our Sunday morning.
Someone has said, “Your morning starts the night before.” If you are struggling with Sundays, it might help to look at your Saturday nights. It’s easy to stay up too late (or let the kids stay up too late) with friends, or watching a DVD, or just running behind on jobs that need to be done. Strategizing Saturday nights is one of the keys to getting to church on time. God has not eliminated the call for sacrifice from the Christian life. Getting to church on time will require a sacrifice of something we would enjoy doing.
Thinking through your morning, step-by-step, helps too. What are the kids going to wear? Is it washed and ironed already, to save a step on Sunday? Maybe take a minute on Saturday night to hunt down those infamous shoes/socks/diaper bag/keys—whatever has been growing feet and wandering off lately.
3. Simplify.
Pancakes and sausages might be a family favorite—but if your Sunday mornings are lacking punctuality, maybe . . . peanut butter on toast, or a cup of yogurt, or cold cereal instead.
It’s easy for us to forget our true mission on Sundays: getting to church and worshipping God. If we get distracted, Sunday breakfast and dinner can become a seven-course banquet; and Sunday dress can turn into a fashion show. We do dress up for church to honor God and the holiness that He represents, but when French-braiding a toddler’s hair becomes the reason we are running late . . . we’ve missed something. It may help to just start chopping everything out of your morning that does not enhance your goal of getting the kids into church on time.
4. Surrender the Day.
Old Testament saints worshipped on the “Sabbath,” their Saturday of rest. But when Jesus rose from the dead on Resurrection Sunday morning, Christians began from that time forward to celebrate the Lord’s Day on Sunday. Christians brought their tithes to church on “the first day of the week.” Just as God asks for the first of our income (the first 10%), He also asks for the first of our week (Sunday).
Recent cultural shifts have reduced “the Lord’s Day” to just one hour, usually a 10:30 – 11:30 AM worship service, but in actuality God has asked us to give Him the whole day in rest, worship, and spiritual renewal. Instead of thinking of just how to survive “that one hour,” surrender your Lord’s Day back to Him. It was His in the first place.
5. Make the Choice.
Luke 10:38 – 42 tells us the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha. They were hosting a meal for Jesus in their home. While Martha was busy, “cumbered about much serving”—probably cleaning and cooking and setting up for the meal—Mary was sitting at Jesus feet listening to Him. Martha wanted Jesus to rebuke her sister for not helping with the responsibilities around her.
I’m intrigued by Jesus’ answer. He did not scold Mary for not helping; and He did not seem bothered that not everything would get done. He simply pointed to the choice before them. He rebuked Martha and said, “Thou art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part . . .”
Did you know that you can’t do everything? In our Christian life, we are constantly presented with choices—and rarely is it a choice between “good” and “bad.” Most of us will never have to choose between going to church and . . . robbing a bank, or killing someone. But we might have to choose between going to church and . . . getting caught up on laundry, or visiting with a family member. Our lives are constantly filled with the tension of choosing between what is “good” and what is “BEST.” Serving a banquet to Jesus was a good idea—but it was not the best idea at that time.
God uses those choices to expose our hearts. When given the choice, what will you pick?
Why do we all find it such a difficult challenge to be on time for Sunday school and church? Most husbands (and many wives) leave for work before sunup each weekday morning; and the kids can make it to the bus stop or the homeschool desk, combed and clean, bright and early, five days a week . . . . And then Sunday morning arrives. ...Even though church typically starts at least an hour or two later than our school days, we still find ourselves struggling all morning. Someone can’t find a hair brush, or a barrette. Who forgot to fold the black socks? Where’s my Bible? She’s taking too long in the bathroom! Even attitudes can naturally just seem edgier on Sunday mornings, if we’re not careful. And despite that extra hour to get ready . . . Sunday morning becomes a battlefield.
Because . . . That’s exactly what it is.
Although many people question how valuable church attendance really is anymore now that we have online “fellowship” and TV or live-streamed preaching, there still remain two tenacious individuals who believe with all their hearts that church attendance really does matter: God and Satan. You and I are in the cross-hairs of Satan’s attack against God, in what others have well-coined his “long war” against God.
Before we believe that these Sunday morning “battles” are just not worth the struggle, let’s remember first of all that Christ loves the church died specifically for her. He commanded us not to neglect “the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is . . .” (Heb. 10:25). He deliberately “added to the church” the new converts of Acts 2. Most of Paul’s epistles are addressed to churches. The spiritual gifts are specifically to be used to build up the church (I Corinthians 14:12). Church is where we collectively worship God, give tithes and offerings to support His work, pray for the needy and lost, and encourage others. Entire passages of the New Testament outline how the church is to be run—right down to the qualifications for being a pastor or deacon, and how to take care of widows.
This explains why Satan hates church so much, and why church attendance is almost always the first area he attacks in a Christian’s life. Shut down American churches, and missionaries come home from the field because of lack of support; local communities lose their Gospel witness; and sin abounds as Christians experience defeat and discouragement and backsliding. Church matters, and Satan is happy to use whatever tools lie at his disposal to keep us out of church: other hypocrites; an offensive word; neglect of Christians toward one another; or even an uncooperative toddler on a rainy Sunday morning.
I’ve parented a few of those unhappy toddlers. My diaper bag, for many years, included an extra stick of deodorant—and could have used a mobile shower, had they been invented. The Sunday morning marathon is rugged work. To compound my dilemma, my husband is in the ministry, which means that he has always gone early to the church. Getting newborns and toddlers and preschoolers fed, dressed, and ready at the door for his return pick-up at 9:00 was the most intimidating challenge of my week until my kids were old enough to get ready on their own. Nowadays, since my kids are older and more independent, I’m more like a cheerleader (although not always the perky, happy kind . . .), shuttling people through the bathroom and out the front door.
Maybe your Sunday routine could use some strategies. I hope that some of these ideas can help you as you teach your children to learn, from an early age, that going to church is more than an essential habit: it’s a privilege worth getting up early for.
1. Fight spiritual warfare spiritually.
When every Sunday morning seems to result in a temper flare-up, or a lost set of keys, or a baby with exploding “dyna-diapers”—your problem is more than a coincidental breakdown of organization. Satan hates seeing you in church, and so he attacks. The Bible promises us two things: First, that if you “resist the devil . . .he will flee from you.” Don’t roll over and play dead. Go to church—running late, minus the shoe, with whacky hair—but don’t let the devil act like he won. Jesus already won the battle against Satan at the cross, and “greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world.” And secondly, the Bible promises us that when we fight our spiritual battles God’s way (Ephesians 6), we will “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Someday, it may be that harried, crazy Sunday morning that God brings to mind in the life of your child as a reminder to him or her how important the Lord’s work really was to you.
2. Plan ahead.
If someone were scheduled to hand out bricks of gold this Tuesday morning at 9:15 on your county courthouse lawn, would you be there? I would be there—and every one of my kids would be in line too! I would make sure my calendar was free; and then we’d be sure to get a good night’s rest the night before—and set an extra alarm or two, so we wouldn’t miss it. I might even set out clothes the night before, or place the kids’ shoes on the dresser, like I do when we go on vacation.
David wrote about God’s judgments that they are “more to be desired . . .than gold.” We plan ahead for what we desire in life. Hearing God’s Word is the most important thing we can desire for our Sunday morning.
Someone has said, “Your morning starts the night before.” If you are struggling with Sundays, it might help to look at your Saturday nights. It’s easy to stay up too late (or let the kids stay up too late) with friends, or watching a DVD, or just running behind on jobs that need to be done. Strategizing Saturday nights is one of the keys to getting to church on time. God has not eliminated the call for sacrifice from the Christian life. Getting to church on time will require a sacrifice of something we would enjoy doing.
Thinking through your morning, step-by-step, helps too. What are the kids going to wear? Is it washed and ironed already, to save a step on Sunday? Maybe take a minute on Saturday night to hunt down those infamous shoes/socks/diaper bag/keys—whatever has been growing feet and wandering off lately.
3. Simplify.
Pancakes and sausages might be a family favorite—but if your Sunday mornings are lacking punctuality, maybe . . . peanut butter on toast, or a cup of yogurt, or cold cereal instead.
It’s easy for us to forget our true mission on Sundays: getting to church and worshipping God. If we get distracted, Sunday breakfast and dinner can become a seven-course banquet; and Sunday dress can turn into a fashion show. We do dress up for church to honor God and the holiness that He represents, but when French-braiding a toddler’s hair becomes the reason we are running late . . . we’ve missed something. It may help to just start chopping everything out of your morning that does not enhance your goal of getting the kids into church on time.
4. Surrender the Day.
Old Testament saints worshipped on the “Sabbath,” their Saturday of rest. But when Jesus rose from the dead on Resurrection Sunday morning, Christians began from that time forward to celebrate the Lord’s Day on Sunday. Christians brought their tithes to church on “the first day of the week.” Just as God asks for the first of our income (the first 10%), He also asks for the first of our week (Sunday).
Recent cultural shifts have reduced “the Lord’s Day” to just one hour, usually a 10:30 – 11:30 AM worship service, but in actuality God has asked us to give Him the whole day in rest, worship, and spiritual renewal. Instead of thinking of just how to survive “that one hour,” surrender your Lord’s Day back to Him. It was His in the first place.
5. Make the Choice.
Luke 10:38 – 42 tells us the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha. They were hosting a meal for Jesus in their home. While Martha was busy, “cumbered about much serving”—probably cleaning and cooking and setting up for the meal—Mary was sitting at Jesus feet listening to Him. Martha wanted Jesus to rebuke her sister for not helping with the responsibilities around her.
I’m intrigued by Jesus’ answer. He did not scold Mary for not helping; and He did not seem bothered that not everything would get done. He simply pointed to the choice before them. He rebuked Martha and said, “Thou art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part . . .”
Did you know that you can’t do everything? In our Christian life, we are constantly presented with choices—and rarely is it a choice between “good” and “bad.” Most of us will never have to choose between going to church and . . . robbing a bank, or killing someone. But we might have to choose between going to church and . . . getting caught up on laundry, or visiting with a family member. Our lives are constantly filled with the tension of choosing between what is “good” and what is “BEST.” Serving a banquet to Jesus was a good idea—but it was not the best idea at that time.
God uses those choices to expose our hearts. When given the choice, what will you pick?
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