Jesus Loves Families

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn. A typical family arrives at a church on Sunday and sits down. Mom and the kids slide into a pew, and Dad sits at the end near the aisle. They look around at all the new faces and feel a bit uncomfortable.  A young mom with two kids, a little boy of four and a girl who's two and a half, comes to church hoping to get closer to God. She struggles to keep her children quiet, worried she might be bothering others or that her kids might be too noisy.  Families from different church backgrounds come in. They're not used to our way of worshipping, which might confuse them.  We don't want them to feel out of place because if they do, they might not come back. Then there's someone who has never been to church before. They've already faced a lot of fear just to step inside. ...