One thing that I love about Eastland is that we all worship together. I realize that might seem like an obvious thing to some, but here's why I think it's worth talking about:

In many churches, it is the common practice to remove the children from the main worship service and put them into a special "children's church" where they do things that are considered more "age appropriate" for them. This obviously creates less distraction for the adults in worship, but it means removing the children from where they can worship with their parents and the other members of the church.

Here's why we all worship together at Eastland.

Children need to be challenged with the word of God just like adults do. If the worship is challenging for our children, we parents must teach them to rise to the occasion—not lower the occasion so they are comfortable. If we remove the challenges of life and spirituality, how will they learn to rise to those challenges and overcome them?

Children need to be shown how to take worship seriously. I don't mean that they need to be shown how to be stoic in worship; I mean that they need to see what it looks like when people open their hearts and bow their heads to God. They need to see what it looks like when people sing about the gospel of the Lord because they accept and live by that gospel. They need to see what it looks like when we give something of value (and let's be honest, our money is valuable when we have a family to feed) to God because we love him.

Children need to see their parents' faith in action. Regardless of how hard we try, there will always be interruptions that mean we are not able to share our faith with our kids as fully as we want to in the home. If, when we go to worship, our children are isolated from their parents and again lose an opportunity to see our faith in action, when will they see it? Above all other causes, the main reason children leave the faith of their parents when they grow up is because they have never seen it in action. Children should see us worship, pray, give, read the Bible, help the poor, cry with a brother or sister, celebrate someone's repentance, and say "amen" when God is praised! Moms and dads, our kids desperately need that from us!

One thing I love about Eastland is that even with the potential for distractions and difficulties associated with having children in the worship with us, we still worship together. We share in the singing of praise together. We humbly bow in prayer together. We remember Jesus' cross together. We learn about his Good News together. It's an integral part of who we are.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.'"  (Matt. 19:14)

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

Many musicians have noted the importance of a mother’s voice in their formative years. While a woman may have no formal training in music, she can instill a love for learning and music in her children just by acclimatizing them to her songs. It is my opinion that my mother’s singing—which she did for me in abundance—is largely responsible for my love of music and my love of the Lord to this day. Day by day, I heard what was important to her— the joy of singing and the joy of singing to the Lord.

Hannah—one of the great women and great mothers of the Bible—is also connected with song. When God blesses her with a son after an emotional road to motherhood, she pens the following:

My heart exults in the Lord;
My strength is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like the Lord;
there is no besides you;
there is no rock like our God. (1 Sam. 2:1-2)

The Bible doesn’t give us any indication that Samuel heard his mother’s song. But later in the same book, he says, “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your hear. For consider what great things he has done for you” (1 Sam. 12:24). Whether or not Samuel was directly influenced by the song of his mother, he grew into a faith that expressed the same kind of praise and passion for the God about whom she sang.

Moms, can I encourage you to share what’s important to you with your kids—even with your grown children? Share the joy of knowing the Lord. Be the kind of woman in whom they can see and hear a genuine passion for God. Be the kind of mother whose life personifies a song of praise to him.

- Dan Lankford