3 Tips For Leading Kids Into Worship

INTRODUCTION: Leading Kids Into Worship

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God.” Psalm 100:1-3 (NIV)

The song written in Psalm 100 reminds us that we were all made to worship the living God. As we are leading kids into worship, we want to give young hearts the opportunity to worship the way He intended them to…with shouts of joy and gladness, knowing that He alone is God.

These are some simple, yet powerful tips for engaging kids in worshiping God through music that we have found consistently connect with the hearts of kids.

BRING YOUR HEART 

We can inspire kids to worship by bringing a genuine love for God and a heart to worship Him. We encourage you to wake up early and get alone with God to pray before Children’s Church. Prepare your heart to worship God and also ask Him to put His love for the kids you are serving into your heart. We want to show kids they are loved by God and that they are loved by us.

BRING YOUR ENERGY

 Our energy for worship can (and should be) much more contagious that a yawn. Once we have prepared our hearts, we want to illustrate the joy we have in worshiping God by bringing our passion to the front of the room. We want to “lift up our hands” in worship as it encouraged us to do in Psalm 63:4 and let His joy shine on our face in the form of a smile. When leading songs with hand motions, be sure to “go big” and create an environment where children feel inspired to enter into worship through your enthusiasm.

BRING GOD’S WORD

 I often quote the verses above from Psalm 100 to encourage young people at the beginning of a worship session to set the tone. At Seeds Family Worship, we love getting to sing God’s Word as we worship. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “God’ Word is living and active”, and we experience the power of worshiping with the Word. We believe we were also designed to memorize through song, and so as kids are worshiping God with His Word they are also “storing it up in their hearts” as we are told to do in Psalm 119.

I once heard a quote that I love to go back to…”instead of focusing a being a worship leader, focus on being a lead worshiper.” When we bring our hearts, our energy, and our love for God’s Word, we will be positioned to bring kids into worshiping our Awesome God!

Author of Blog: Jason Houser (Seeds Missionary)

Jason Houser is the founder of the Seeds Family Worship Ministry (SFW), which began in 2004, and serves Family Pastor at Lighthouse in Twin Falls, Idaho. Jason has been married to his beautiful wife Heidi for 21 years, and together they are raising their three children, Ben (17), Brandon (14), and Abby (11). He leads the SFW creative team in writing and recording Word-for-Word scripture worship songs. He leads multi-generational family worship events across the country geared toward encouraging and equipping families to pass their faith to their children.

Jason also recently co-wrote a parenting book called “Dedicated: Training Children To Trust and Follow Jesus” that was released by Zondervan Publishing last year. Jason draws from his background as a songwriter and music publisher. He has co-written many influential songs, including the 2010 Grammy Nominated Christian song “The Motions” by Matthew West.   He also co-wrote West’s Dove Award Nominated song #1 song “More,” and Joy William’s #1 single “Hide.”

CONCLUSION

Houser loves to make music that challenges and inspires people to seek the Lord more deeply. He is passionate about helping families get into God’s Word and is committed to teaching children how to have an authentic walk with Jesus.