Prepping for “First Sundays” as a Family
On the first Sunday of every month, we intentionally welcome Griggs Kids—ages six and older—to sit in the service with their parents.
Our primary goals in this are twofold:
To raise biblically literate children who are integrated into the life of the church.
To support parents in raising their children to participate in corporate worship.
We know this isn’t always easy. Kids who aren’t used to sitting upstairs may feel squirmy or restless. Parents may feel torn between correcting behavior and guiding their children to love the church from the heart.
But we’re all in the same boat. Let’s acknowledge that we all need help to “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
With that in mind, here are some simple, practical steps to help your kids prepare for the Sunday morning service!
Through the Week:
First, prepare your own heart: Throughout the days before the first Sunday, take time to prepare your own heart for the Sunday morning service and how it may look different with your children upstairs that week. Ask prayerfully that God would give you patience and guidance and to have the commandments “on your heart” first to be able to teach it to your children as Deuteronomy 6:6-7 states.
Second, have "practice" services: Find a time that works with your family schedule (maybe during family devotional time), and practice what sitting and listening will look like on Sunday morning and how to help keep our bodies calm and hearts ready to hear the Word of God.
Third, talk about how the Bible is the LIVING WORD of God (Hebrews 4:12): Discuss with your children about how powerful the Word of God is and how when we are studying the Scriptures at home or at church how it can see into our hearts and help us to grow in our understanding of God…and how the word is all about Jesus.
The Night Before:
First, read the passage that will be preached on that Sunday morning: Read through the passage and talk through any words they may not understand, talk about the main themes of the passage, and go over anything that may be hard for them to understand.
Watch a summary video of the book or show of the lesson being preached on: The Bible Project has great summary videos of each book of the Bible and different topics in scripture. Here is a link for 2nd Peter specifically. https://bibleproject.com/videos/2-peter/ Superbook also has lots of episodes that match different passages in Scripture.
Prep a church bag together: Pack a Bible, colored pencils, water, and potentially a few quiet activities (depending on your child’s age) to help keep them engaged during the sermon.
The Morning Of:
Talk about the expectations for the morning: Talk about how excited you are for them to be joining you for worship and discuss how to listen, not disrupt others, how communion works, and how to get your attention quietly if they need something.
On the drive to church, pray as a family: Help prepare everyone’s heart for the morning, by praying for God to give everyone open ears and hearts to the message. You can have each child pray for something specific, have a parent lead the prayer, or have each person pray to themselves.
Make a plan for the service: Talk about the “game plan” for the service with your child. Here is an example one:
Donuts when we arrive
Go to the bathroom before the service starts
We’ll sing 2 songs and have scripture reading, then you can start to color your booklet.
About halfway through the service, you can get something out from your activity bag
Towards the end, mom/dad/gurdian will help you put your things away
We’ll sing more songs and then you can go play with your friends until it's time to go home
These are just a few things you can do to help your child prepare for corporate worship. It can be challenging to disrupt routines, and do new things, but our goals for “First Sunday’s” are worth it!
