Articles/Bulletins
How Old Are Your Children?
“How old are your children?” The Bible Class was shocked by the question. The teacher stated that he was concerned if the fathers knew how old their children were. One dad angrily replied, “of course we know how old our children are!”
The teacher replied, “I don’t mean to irritate you, but you all seem confused about how old they are.”
Another parent challenged, “Tell us how we seem confused.”
“I will,” the teacher said calmly, “but you may not like the answer. I will start with Jake, who is not expected to sit still for thirty minutes during the sermon, because he is too young.”
“He is too young,” interrupted Jake’s father.
“Perhaps. But you expect him to sit for hours in school,” said the teacher. “Then there is Sharon, who is old enough to sing with the radio, but is not expected to sing with the congregation. And what about Michael? He will not even say ‘Hello’ when an adult greets him after services. He learned the rules of soccer, so why can’t he learn basic etiquette? And then there is Sally. Is she too young for the Bible? Her Bible class reads paraphrased Bible stories rather than the Bible itself, yet she is old enough to watch PG movies.”
“Is Jimmy really too young to learn the books of the Bible? He was able to learn the fifty states. And how can Ellen be old enough to write a paper for her school, but too young to look up Scriptures during the sermon?”
There was silence for a few minutes. Another parent said, “I have been treating my child as if he were grown up during the week and as if he were a baby on Sunday. It seems the rest of us have not done much better. God told us to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). No one said a word. The silence that followed was the silence of prayer. - Rod Halliburton
How old are your children? Your children are capable of great things. The easy thing to do is to hand them an iphone, ipad, tablet, or a cell phone and let them play during church. What does that teach them about God? As parents, you have a responsibility towards your children to teach them about God and how to worship Him correctly.
~ Kevin
- Bulletin 9-16-12.pdf.zip (1.54 MB)
