Children's Worship

I never cease to learn something the weeks we teach in children's worship -- and it's not necessarily about the Bible story. The lessons instead tend to be about ME ... about my relationship with God.

This week was no different. The lesson was on Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and I did learn some new things about that familiar story. But more than that, I learned some principles to help me relate to God.

• God's initiative doesn't negate my work and prayer. God told Elijah to go to Ahab and God would bring rain ... but work was involved in the power encounter on Mount Carmel and Elijah prayed intently before the rain came.
• It's easier for the altar of God to be neglected than for the altar to idols to be destroyed. I was struck by the fact that Elijah had to rebuild the neglected altar to Yahweh. The altar to Baal was apparently intact. I'm sure Israel didn't intend to let Yahweh's altar be so abandoned ... it's just that Baal was so much more demanding, and distant. And in our flesh, we put out so much more effort to earn the attention of those who are distant than we do to love those who are faithful. It's the same in my life. I may be more prone to "support" the demanding idolatries in my life than to care for the altar of God in my heart.
• God doesn't care if I wriggle, so long as I worship! Kids just have to move around - all that energy in such a little package! But the bottom line is worship, and so we just encourage them to move for Jesus. Likewise, sometimes I struggle to "focus" on worship. I forget that God wants even my wriggles to be submitted to Him for worship!
• The heart of worship is delight in God, and the heart of ministry is delight in those we serve. It's part of that big word called "love". Sure, we can practice the acts of love without delight in our hearts, but true worship comes when that love is expressed in delight for God. And true ministry comes when that love is expressed in delight for others. The storyteller today was completely sound doctrinally (which is crucial), well-prepared (which is necessary), and in charge of the group (which is nice to prevent distractions) -- but most of all, he obviously delighted in the kids. Not surprisingly, they gave him their complete attention. They knew he wanted to be there with them, and it made them want to be with him. Even the shy ones eagerly helped "rebuild the altar of God" at the appropriate part of the story. I watched, amazed at how easy it is to go through the motions of ministry and then wonder why people don't respond. Maybe I just need to delight in them a little more!

So there you have it - just a few of the lessons I learned today. I know you learn lessons in ministry every day - I'd love to hear them!

Enjoy being His child today.