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Family
Worship Service

We look forward to our family worship service on New Year’s Eve with great anticipation. Perhaps, this is the first time your children will join you in worship, or maybe they regularly attend with you. Either way, we hope this resource will be helpful. We love partnering with you in the discipleship of your children in Summit Kids. It is our great joy to share the gospel with children every week. At the same time, we always want to recognize that you hold the most important position in discipling your children. Your children joining you in worship is a wonderful discipleship opportunity.

We are hopeful that a lot of families will join us. We realize this may bring added distraction caused by movement or noise, and it may be tempting to avoid the gathering. We also see this as a wonderful opportunity for the children of our church to see their parents and caretakers worship the God they love. The greatest stumbling block for our children in worship will not be a short attention span, but instead a parent who does not cherish the worship of God. It is beautiful for them to see their parents bow their heads in earnest prayer, sing God’s truths loudly, open the word and listen intently, and remember Jesus through communion. Children listen to our words, but they watch who we are even more. (Deuteronomy 6: 7-9)

We hope this document will help you prepare your children and yourselves for worship and make the most of this special time together.

 

Before The Gathering

  • Listen and practice singing the songs that we will sing during the Gathering. Your children will be more excited and feel more included when they know the songs. Check out Summit Kids on Facebook or Instagram leading up to the Family Worship Gathering to access the song list.
  • Communicate expectations ahead of time. “What will we do during the singing? What will we do during the prayer?”
  • Read the sermon passage together as a family before you arrive (John 15:1-11)
  • Pray for the Gathering and the leaders. Pray that your children will have ears to hear and understand.

The Day of The Gathering

  • Allow enough time to arrive at the church building
  • Take or send your child to the restroom and to get water before entering the worship center
  • Discourage them from leaving the Gathering
  • Encourage your child to greet others as you are walking in
  • During the Gathering, encourage your child to fully participate by standing and singing along with everyone else.
  • Encourage your child to open their Bibles and follow along; bring an extra pen to take notes using the Summit Kids Gathering Guide

SINGING

God’s people singing God’s truth loudly. We see in Scripture that followers of Christ have sung since the beginning. The Bible commands us to sing to God and each other. We sing to learn and remember. We sing words by God and words about God. We sing to God, to each other, and the world. (Colossians 3:16)

SCRIPTURE READING AND PRAYER

During the Gathering, we speak to God through prayer, and He speaks to us as the Scripture is read. (1 Timothy 4:13)

SERMON

Scripture demands for God’s word to be preached in our gatherings with the intent being to teach truth (learning) and exult (rejoicing) God’s word. (2 Timothy 4:2)

Remind your child(ren):

  • The Bible is the most important book we will ever own or read.
  • The Bible is true.
  • The Bible is God’s word, written for us to know him more.
  • Remind your child to listen carefully, because the sermon will tell them about who God is, who we are, and what God’s plan is for us.

COMMUNION

Communion, also called The Lord’s Supper, is a way that Christians look back at Christ’s death and resurrection and look forward to the day when we will eat and drink with Jesus in His Kingdom. Communion is a way Christians remember the Gospel, practice the Gospel, and celebrate the Gospel with other Christians. Communion is a means of grace.

Whose idea was it? Jesus.
Jesus asked us to take communion and remember him as we participate. (Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-38)

Who gets to take communion? Christians.
Christians are anyone who believes everything that the Bible says about Jesus, have been baptized, and seeks to obey God’s word. (Romans 10:8-17)