How do you teach 8 year olds that God goes on forever? How do you explain the Trinity to them? How do you help children understand what it means that God is holy?
Why not use music?
Last year we at Sovereign Grace Ministries released our first CD for children, ages 7 and up. It was an attempt to teach children about God through song. We called it Awesome God.
I’ve noticed for some time that children often sing songs that assume they have a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That’s due partly to the fact that many adult songs are simply adapted for use by children. Also, many songs written today for congregational worship tend to be responsive rather than objective in nature. “Jesus, you mean more than anything, I love you, You’re my best friend, etc.”
A case can be made for unconverted children singing songs that profess a love for God or an assurance of salvation. They enable children to develop a vocabulary that will have meaning later on in life as they turn to Christ in repentance and faith. However, it seems that a primary purpose of singing is to “teach and admonish.” (Col. 3:16) Music is an ideal way to teach children (adults, too!) about the God of Scripture – who He is, what He does, and how we are to relate to Him.
It was with that intention that we put together the songs for Awesome God. The 12 songs on this CD were written, selected, and arranged to help kids better comprehend the nature and attributes of God, including the fact that He is holy, eternal, the Creator, triune, and our Savior. We wanted the music to be contemporary, accessible, and singable, without it overshadowing the lyrics. We also tried to make most of the songs deep enough so that kids might get more out of the lyrics as they mature.
I’d like to know what YOU think about Awesome God. I’m looking for 50 people who would be willing to receive a copy of the CD (completely free) and post a review of it on their Weblog. You can review it by yourself, or even better, invite family members or children from your church to listen to it and give you feedback. We plan to produce more theologically driven children’s CD’s in the future, and would welcome your feedback on this one.
To receive a copy, simply e-mail bob@worshipmatters.com and include your full name, mailing address, the church you are part of, and the url address for your Blog. Beyond that, you can include any information you’d like. Once you’ve posted your review (which we request you do by January 16), we’d like you to let us know. The deadline is just so you don’t forget.
This will be on the honor system, so if you never get to it, or you don’t actually have a blog, well…the Lord knows.
If you send in your e-mail after the first 50 requests, we’ll send you a nice e-mail thanking you for your desire to participate. But you’ll have to buy the CD from the Sovereign Grace web store.
If you’d like to watch a short Quicktime video we put together for the CD, featuring me and my daughter, McKenzie, you can catch that here
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I always assumed that the reason many children’s songs were written the way they were was theological. If one holds to the paedobaptist understanding of the covenants, then our children are members of the new covenant and are members of the corporate body of Christ.
Doctrinally, I am a Reformed Baptist, so I do not agree with this application of covenant theology. Nevertheless, that is why I assumed songs like “Father Abraham” were written.
Any thoughts?