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Children in Worship
Worship is central to our Christian faith. Worship is directed toward God, and as a result, demands action on our part. We are to do everything to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), offering our bodies to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2).
At MRPC we train our covenant children in the elements of authentic worship along with what it means to worship God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24). Each Sunday morning we hold a special service for children in K4 & K5. Children are dismissed just prior to the Scripture lesson for a special time of prayer, singing and teaching. Our teaching is based on questions from the Children's Catechism.
While we provide a special service for the children, we encourage parents to keep their children with them and worship God as a family (Deut. 31:12-13; Josh. 8:30-35; Neh. 12:40-43; Acts 21:5).
For Further Study
THE FAMILY: TOGETHER IN GOD'S PRESENCE, by John and Noël Piper
PARENTING IN THE PEW, by Robbie Castleman
Catechism Memory
First Catechism
Recommended help: HOW TO TEACH THE CATECHISM TO CHILDREN, by Mrs. Frank Horton.
K5/T1, Questions 1-21
1st, Questions 22-46
2nd, Questions 47-71
3rd, Questions 72-104
4th, Questions 105-145
Westminster Shorter Catechism, Modern Version
Recommended help: TRAINING HEARTS, TEACHING MINDS, by Starr Meade.
5th, Questions 1-40
Covenant Baptism
In the Old Testament, the covenant sign of circumcision was to be administered to believers and their offspring (Gen. 17:10-13; 21:4). Circumcision was applied to believers such as Abraham (Rom. 4:11) as well as to his infant son Isaac who had yet to exercise faith (Gen. 21:4).
Circumcision was an outward sign that pointed to one's need for circumcision of the heart (Lev. 26:41; Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 6:10; 9:25-26; Ezek. 44:7; Acts 7:51; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11). Circumcision was also the old covenant sacrament that pointed to the righteousness that comes by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:11). Thus, while circumcision carried with it certain national ethnic overtones in that it identified Israel as the people of God, its ultimate significance was spiritual.
Although the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) does place an emphasis on "knowing the Lord," there remains a concern for believers and their offspring (Jer. 32:38-40). Moreover, the Biblical pattern of administrating the covenant sign to believers and their offspring is maintained in the new covenant sign of baptism (Acts 2:39).
Children of believing parents are set apart as holy before the Lord (1 Cor. 7:14). They are welcomed into and received by the Church through the new covenant sign of baptism, and as such are called covenant children. This sacrament of water baptism into the "visible Church" is a physical sign pointing to one's ultimate need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is that act of God's free grace by which sinners are regenerated and united with Christ and the "invisible Church" of true believers (1 Cor. 12:13).
Baptism is to the new covenant what circumcision was to the old covenant (Col. 2:11-12). Circumcision was a bloody covenant sign that pointed forward to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is an unbloody covenant sign that looks back to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both circumcision and baptism are outward symbols that point to ultimate inward realities that God must bring about in the hearts of sinful humans.
Whether administered to an infant or to a new believer, baptism, as a sacrament in and of itself, does not save. We are saved by God's grace through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Thus parents who desire to bring their children under the new covenant sign of baptism must realize that their baptized child is not automatically saved via administration of the sacrament. Parents are to raise and nurture their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, praying that the Lord will bring them to faith in Christ.
For Further Study
Westminster Confession of Faith 28.1
The Book of Church Order 56-63
CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE by Robert R. Booth
INFANT BAPTISM: WHAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD KNOW by John P. Sartelle
Covenant Children and the Lord's Supper
Children of believing parents are set apart as holy before the Lord (1 Cor. 7:14). They are welcomed into and received as members by the visible Church through the new covenant sign of baptism, and as such are called covenant children. However, in order for a child to become a communicant member of the Church, that is, partakers of the Lord's Table, they must have a credible profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 11:28-29). MRPC requires children seeking to receive the sacrament to complete a communicants' training class and undergo an interview by members of the Session and Pastoral Staff.
Further Study
THE LORD'S SUPPER, ETERNAL WORD IN BROKEN BREAD by Robert Letham
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