And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
Get downloadable PDF.
Get downloadable PowerPoint presentation.
What Happened:
Bob Sweeney once had plans to become a Roman Catholic brother. However, he grew dissatisfied with the church and hadn’t attended regularly for 40 years until his 13-year-old son, Ryan, made him.
Ryan, who had been raised without religion, asked his father to come with him to the Protestant Union Church in Ossining, N.Y., according to The New York Times. Mr. Sweeney agreed, thinking his son would forget.
He didn’t.
The two haven’t missed a Sunday service for several weeks, and recently Ryan’s mother, Dianne, started coming, too. Both Ryan’s parents are beginning to enjoy services, and Ryan’s set to join the church’s confirmation class. “I don’t want them to think I’m running away.”
Talk About It:
Typically, it’s parents who take their children to church; not the other way around. However, kids can have a big impact on the spiritual lives of their parents. Can you name some ways in which they do?
Experts say many Christians stop going to church when they reach their 20s, often starting to attend again once they begin having children of their own. Why do you think that is?
Experts say that almost all young children—even children of atheists—believe in God. Do you think kids sometimes understand concepts pertaining to God, Jesus and heaven better than adults? Why?
What the Bible Says:
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children” (
“… Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it'” (
“And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me'” (
