The Family: Together in God's Presence

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John & Noel Piper deal with the family and corporate worship @ www.desiringgod.org. Elements include:

The Biggest Stumbling Block

Togetherness

Catch the Spirit

Not an Excessive Expectation

Not Everything Goes Over Their Heads

A Sense of Awe

Some Practical Suggestions from Noel include:

-Getting Started Step by Step

-Preparation All Week Long

-What Happens During Service?

-Goals and Requirements

My training for worship has three main goals:

1. That children learn early and as well as they can to worship God heartily.
2. That parents be able to worship.
3. That families cause no distraction to the people around them.

So there are certain expectations that I teach the young ones and expect of the older ones:

• Sit or stand or close eyes when the service calls for it.
• Sit up straight and still—not lounging or fidgeting or crawling around, but respectful toward God and the worshipers around you.
• Keep bulletin papers and Bible and hymnal pages as quiet as possible.
• Stay awake. Taking notes helps. (I did allow the smallest ones to sleep, but they usually didn't need to!)
• Look toward the worship leaders in the front. No people-gazing or clock-watching.
• If you can read fast enough, sing along with the printed words. At least keep your eyes on the words and try to think them. If you can't read yet, listen very hard.

-Creating an Environment in the Pew

-Afterward

-Closeness and Warmth