All these religious rituals and rules they had to follow - it can get confusing trying to understand it all. The author does a great job filling in the context of it all when 40 days after Jesus' birth, the little family is back at the temple. Mary could not afford a lamb, but the child in her arms was the Lamb who would one day be sacrificed to remove her sin, and ours. What a profound thought!
I also thought it was clever the way "the purpose behind the laws" was explained through her illustration. I'll come back to that in the ponder question.
The words and message read under Come to God's House was sensitive and honest. They are "conversations of encouragement" I wish I could have with so many! I am a pastor's wife and one could argue that I have to be at church anyway! How could I understand these real feelings, challenges and emotions that keep others from stepping into God's house weekly? I get it. I really do.
I wasn't always a pastor's wife. I vividly remember a Sunday morning back when my son was around the horribly challenging age of being able to walk/run with a devilish independent streak (imagine a toddler taking off toward the altar stumbling like a drunken sailor, stopping only long enough to look back at his horrified parents and grin). I got up that this particular morning and declared to husband "why bother?! I don't get anything out of it anyway. I'm NOT going." What he said in response is the only time in our marriage he told me what to do without any debate. He told me to go anyway. He'd stay home with Will and take him to the later service. I'd wing it by myself at the early service. I needed to recharge - not by stepping away but stepping into God's presence. His Words calmed, encouraged and gave me clarity for the challenge ahead! The next week our little family was back in the pew together again and recommitted to powering through the difficulties because we knew it was worth it. We model for our children what it means to go with joy to the house of the Lord. (59)
Mothering Like Mary
I appreciate all the ideas mentioned and related to some of them in particular.
As a pastor's wife, I've sat alone with my kids during our ministry. Some weeks were better than others:) At a certain point, I allowed my son the chance to sit with his friend's family - as long as they behaved and it wasn't a disruption. This gave me an opportunity to focus on the baby and was a fun motivation for my older one to look forward to!
My husband types out his sermons and sends them out afterwards. In my early mothering days, I'd get this from him before the sermon and read through it. I got a lot more out of the service the next day! Or I'd read it afterwards and get what I missed. Regardless, I always appreciated the Lord's Supper because I knew that even if it felt like I got nothing out of the service because I was so distracted, God still worked through his body and blood and sustained my faith despite the craziness!
As my children got older, I've taught them seasonal hymns to follow the church year. Their eyes light up when their hymn comes up at a church service and they know it by heart! They get so excited!
Ponder
Evaluate: God no longer requires animal sacrifices, so there's no point in learning about those Old Testament practices.
FALSE. There is so much we can learn by looking closely at the OT practices. I had a tendency to scan over them in reading and move onto stuff that made more sense to me. The first book I really enjoyed reading that linked the OT to the NT was From Sinai to Calvary from NPH. It really opened my eyes to the significance of the Israel way of life. I was shocked to see all the ways God was showing them Jesus way back then!
Most recently, I've read Sarah Habben's other book she co-authored with her husband. Trust me when I say this lady knows what she's talking about when she explained to us the purpose behind the laws in this chapter; she wrote a book about it! In The Bloodstained Path to God also published by NPH, the authors explain the meaning and purpose behind the Mosaic covenant. They walk the reader through their festivals and explain the significance behind them. The reader also follows along with a fictional character (Sarah's part, I would guess;) to better imagine what it would have been like. I highly recommend it for your personal growth and understanding in how it all points to Christ!
I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1
1 comment:
Thank you for the book recommendations, Rachel! I always love your reviews of various resources. :-)
P. 58 – "Mary could not afford a lamb [as her purification offering], but the child in her arms was the Lamb who would one day be sacrificed to remove her sin, and ours." Beautiful!
Mothering like Mary – Something I can add: Our boys have never liked singing, much to my dismay, since I love singing and have sung to them almost every single day since they were babies. Nevertheless, we have always encouraged, but never forced them to sing along with the hymns in church. As they grow older, though, they have started singing along with the hymns! Their willing praises to the Lord are such a sweet sound to this mother's ears!
Ponder
More about the worth of learning about the OT laws and sacrifices: A few passages came to my mind. “All Scripture [including the OT laws] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) and “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
My thoughts on the dangers of waiting until your children can sit still and listen before you bring them to church: a) You miss out on them hearing the words and music of the worship service. If you attend a liturgical service regularly, they may have the words of the liturgy memorized by the time they are preschoolers, and these words will stick with them for life. b) The idea that we only do church if we are comfortable could creep in.
I have really liked it when the churches we’ve attended have the kids participate in a portion of the service, and then they have a “kids church” thing during the sermon and after.
Some churches also have “busy bags” in the back of church for young children. I think that's a splendid idea, particularly if they are maintained and refreshed regularly with a rotation of different items/activities. That could be a good project to help moms in your church. Or holding a baby or sitting with a squirmy toddler is a great idea – if the child will be comfortable with that. I think perhaps that requires a relationship with the children you might need to build outside of worship time. Or what about serving as nursery staff?
The prayer – “Lord, your Word is a lamp to my feet. Take away my inclination to fumble in the dark. Lead me to your light and truth.” This is stated so well! My sinful nature would MUCH rather fumble around than look to, and rely completely on, the light of God's truth. Amen!!!
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