Our Blog

By: Pastor Nathan Berg

As parents, God has given us the awesome responsibility to bring up our children in the training and instruction of the Lord. To think that we are personally responsible for another soul can be overwhelming. So how can I follow God’s command to “bring [my children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)? Worship in God’s house is a wonderful resource that can help you. Contrary to popular belief, children have a place in God’s house during worship. They are so observant and have so many questions. One question that of-ten arises is, “Who is up there in the white dress?”
First off, it’s not a dress. It’s a gown or robe that’s called an “alb,” which gets its name from the Latin word for “white.” But all kidding aside, some children might not understand who it is that’s talking to them. We might tell our children to “listen to Jesus’ words,” as the pastor starts his sermon. We know and understand that the pastor is talking about Jesus or sharing Jesus’ words with us. Some children, how-ever, might not understand that. Some children have been known to call their pas-tor, “God or Jesus.” And that understanding might make a child afraid of the pas-tor.
Our children need to understand that the pastor is not Jesus. He’s not God. He’s a person just like they are. And just like they do, he makes mistakes too. He sins. He needs Jesus to save him just as much as they do. A pastor is God’s helper. He’s someone God uses to tell us about Jesus, to remind us of what Jesus has done for us, and to help us tell others about Jesus. He’s someone that our children can trust and talk to about anything. And it’s really not a dress he’s wearing. May God con-tinue to bless your efforts to bring up his children in him!