Singing The Lord’s Prayer

Thanks again to Marty Reid for sending this to me.  This is totally awesome. 

It is great to SING the infallible Word of God.  This is yet one more reason why the church needs to return to singing from the Almighty’s inspired hymnal.  I am not against singing hymns written by men, there are many great hymns written by men available to the church.  But the total replacement and abandonment of God’s inspired and infallible hymnal in exchange for man’s fallible work is inexcusable.

Be honest, have you ever heard a more beautiful sound than God’s covenant children singing His infallible Word back to Him?  In the words of the apostle Lt. Jonathan Kendrick, “No I have not.”

Side Note:  I know there are all types of “reasons” to send children to another room during “grownup” worship time, but imagine if you will a room full of adults and their covenant children singing together to the Almighty and hearing His Gospel proclaimed together.  Imagine if you will our covenant children being allowed the same privileges accorded to them in the covenant of grace, that being to come before the God of all creation alongside their parents to worship Him.  How can we justify sending them away so that they won’t ”disturb” our worship.  Worship is not built around efficiency.  There is no command or directive in Scripture that would direct us to send the ”little ones” away so the grownups can “get down to business.”   Jesus speaking to His disciples comes to mind:  At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones Who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks!  For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”  Matthew 18: 1-7

There is no warrant or indication whatsoever in God’s Word that would give us a license to send our covenant children away from His presence.  “The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.”  WCF 25:2  This section of the WCF is not saying that parents shouldn’t feed their little ones with the Gospel, but that the ordinary way of salvation is through the preaching of the Gospel that takes place in His worship.  Before anyone flames me, it says ordinary not only.  Please withhold all emails and phone calls with other directions on how/when the Gospel is proclaimed.  The WCF is simply stating that the ordinary means of salvation is through the proclamation of the Gospel by the preacher/pastor/evangelist during the appointed worship of His church.  So, everyone settle down now ya hear.

I would simply ask those who are sending the children away when it comes time to “get serious” in worship to reconsider your position.  It will require time and training on the part of parents to teach the children to be attentive during the worship time, but “church” should not be about expedience.  For too long covenant children have been relegated to second class status and this is not God’s model.  This really is a man-centered invention/model whose time has come to change.

Lord bless you.