January is Family Worship Month

Family Worship Month is a humble call to the church and to the head of household to spend time with those you love reading the Bible, praying, and/or singing.  As you will learn from these pages, Family Worship has a rich history in the church, it can be easy to implement, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it can transform your life, your family, and your church.  Sign the Declaration and join a worldwide movement back to Family Worship.   If you currently come together for family worship, tell someone. Share your experiences with your pastor and friends.  If you are just getting started, you have come to the right place.

January 29th, is Family Worship Sunday. Please talk to you pastor or your congregation about the importance of spending time together reading Scripture and praying.

The Intentionality of Family Worship – AiG

Every aspect of our lives as believers requires the full counsel of God. This certainly applies to worship. Those who would worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).  The whole bible is His truth to us, instructing in acceptable corporate worship, personal worship, family worship and everything else necessary for life and godliness (2 Tim. 3:16,17).  All facets of our lives must be informed by the full counsel of God.

A Neglected Tool in Modern Reformation – Jerry Marcellino

A Neglected Tool in Modern Reformation – Family Worship by Pastor Jerry Marcellino (to F.I.R.E. pastors)

The work of reforming Christ’s church will be our calling until the end of history.¹  This was the conviction of our reformed forefathers and must be ours today. Therefore, as an overseer of Christ’s church, our chief ministerial concern and continual cry should be ecclesia reformata et semper reformata, or “the church reformed and always reforming.”

Such a conviction about, and efforts in, church reform, our Lord instructs us, will ultimately triumph: “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). Thus, we should never lose heart (Galatians 6:9) in such a great endeavor. Instead, we should always aim to strengthen each other’s hands in the wonderful work of building and reforming Christ’s church.

From Age to Age: A Biblical Framework for Family Worship – Ray Rhodes

Family worship embraces a multigenerational view of family life with a vision to learn of God’s faithfulness from ages past, invest biblical truth in the present age with an eye to the future age. The Hebrew view of family life was from age to age. God had taught their forefathers. They had passed the faith down to their children. The present generation was recipients of that trust and had a responsibility to future generations. Age to age!

Resting on that foundation consider this biblical framework for family worship.

Equipped to Lead (excerpt) – J. Mark Fox

Men, we are to be the ones who, more than anyone else, teach God’s Word to our families. Think about it. I get one hour a week as a pastor to teach God’s Word to the people of Antioch Community Church. The dads in the church get the other 167. The problem is, the typical dad in the typical congregation is not using any of those 167 hours to train up godly children. Why not?

Here’s the key: he must be convicted that it is his job. Ephesians 6:4 says, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” The Word commands us to do it. But the Word commands us to do a lot of things that we don’t do, or we start doing and then stop. If it is a conviction that you must bring your children up in the training and admonition of the Lord, that you are the prophet of your house, responsible for hearing from God through His Word and prayer, and communicating with the rest of the family what He is teaching you, then family devotions are essential. You will be able to start and maintain family devotions if this is your conviction. But it must be a conviction. What if it’s not, and you want it to be?

The Essential 100 Challenge (E 100) – from Scripture Union

First steps.  One of the most effective ways to grow as a Christian is by reading and reflection on the scriptures.    For families, time spent reading the Bible at home blesses your family.   Why not begin on January 29th with Family Worship Sunday by reading through the scriptures using The “Essential 100 Challenge” (E 100) from Scripture Union (founded 1867).  The E 100 Challenge is a proven approach taking readers through the Bible who are not accustomed to spending time in the Word.   The E 100 is a carefully selected list of short Bible passages – 50 Old Testament and 50 New Testament….usually one or two chapters in length.   Reading these passages will help your congregation get the big picture of the Bible without becoming overwhelmed or intimidated.
This is a great tool for families to use during Family Worship Month especially SU’s BIG BIBLE CHALLENGE written for parents to read with their elementary age children.
For more information go to e100challenge.com

On Family Worship – Ted Tripp

In my library I have a book by an obscure puritan minister, Philip Henry. The book, Christ All in All, extols all that Christ is to the believer. You may have never heard of Philip Henry,but you may know of his son, Matthew Henry, well-known for his five volume set of commentaries on the Old and New Testaments.

In the preface of Christ All in All there is a description of the Henry’s family life. Each day began with morning prayers so that the worship of God “should not stand by and wait for other things.” After supper it was time for evening prayers; Philip Henry said evening prayers was “like a hem to all other business and kept it from raveling.” Everyone in the household participated, the servants, and visiting guests or relatives, all were included in daily prayers.

An Open Letter to Pastors regarding Family Worship Month – Joel R. Beeke

As goes the home, so goes the church, and so goes the nation. Therefore it is of vital importance to us that we, the ministers of the Word, promote family worship in our congregations.

Of course, family worship is not a substitute for other parental responsibilities such as personal prayer, a solid marriage, setting a godly example, and exercising righteous and compassionate discipline in the home. But just as the Word is the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), so family worship is the foundation of biblical child-rearing. For in family devotions children regularly hear the sacred words of God from the lips of their own father and mother.

Brothers, Christ has laid upon us a commission to teach Christ’s disciples “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). Surely this includes the responsibility to teach parents to bring their children to Jesus (Matt. 19:13–14).

First, let us begin with ourselves. Are we faithful fathers bringing up our children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”? Robert Murray M`Cheyne observed that a congregation will rarely rise above the level of holiness of its minister. If perhaps you have seldom (or never) gathered your family for worship in your home, then let this be a time of new beginnings. Then say to your flock with humility, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

Second, consider preaching on this important subject. Surely this is worthy of a sermon. We are charged to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Is not one of the great tasks of the church the evangelization and edification of its children? Who is better positioned to do this than their Christian father and mother? If you need instruction yourself, then read one of the books featured on this website and dig into the Scriptures.
There are other means of promoting family worship in addition to preaching. Give away a book on this vital topic to each family in the church. Have the couples’ class listen to a sermon downloaded from sermonaudio.com and discuss it. Do something to encourage families to turn off the TV, sit down together, and meet with God.

Third, be willing to train families in their homes. What I mean is this. Let your congregation know that you would be happy to visit any of their homes to help them start worshiping as a family. When you go, lead them like the father in family devotions. Keep it simple, interesting, and no more than 15–20 minutes. Then pass the baton to the head of the household to do what you did. Perhaps visit again in a month just to observe. Some parents desire to start family worship, but need more than teaching. They need to see it done.

Promote family worship and then pray that every household may become a little temple, and every family a seed-bed for future servants of the living Christ.