FAMILY WORSHIP QUESTIONS
Here are some questions we often get about establishing regular family worship.
Family worship is doing what Christians normally do in the context of the family. What do Christians normally do?
1) We read and hear the GOOD NEWS from the pages of scripture.
2) We pray to our GOOD-NEWS-Savior.
3) We sing thanksgiving and praise for the GOOD NEWS that sustains us.
What is family worship?
How often?
Of course. Deuteronomy 6:4-10 tells us that we should be talking about the GOOD NEWS together when we are at home (when you sit in your house), and when we are out in the world (when you walk by the way). Family worship is deliberately making room in our crowded and hectic routines to remember the GOOD NEWS together by hearing and talking about it while we are home.
Short! Keep it short! 10-15 minutes. If you feel you have to rearrange your schedule to do it, you'll give up on it. If you feel like you can fit it into your schedule, you are more likely to add it to your routine as a new habit. You’ll intuitively feel how much your family is willing to hang in there. When you feel like you are losing them, you are losing them. Draw it to a close and pick up again tomorrow.
How long?
Is it Biblical?
Of course. Deuteronomy 6:4-10 tells us that we should be talking about the GOOD NEWS together when we are at home (when you sit in your house), and when we are out in the world (when you walk by the way). Family worship is making room in our crowded and hectic routines to remember the GOOD NEWS together while we are home.
Like all spiritual formation activities, family worship helps shape our identities as KINGDOM people. It reminds us that we belong to God (more than to ourselves), by following Jesus the Savior. It also teaches us a new language. It teaches us how to speak the GOOD NEWS to one another. Like learning to speak any language, we all stutter and stammer at first, but frequency leads to fluency. Finally, family worship reinforces that the GOOD NEWS is the lens through which we see our lives and the entire world. It’s like a pair of shared eyeglasses that puts in sharp focus our deep need and God’s gracious provision.
What are the benefits?
How will it impact us?
Family worship re-shapes our expectations. Learning to talk about the GOOD NEWS gives us permission to speak the GOOD NEWS to one another, in answer to all of our circumstances. We begin to assume that everything we face and encounter, we will address together in the GOOD NEWS. Finally, family worship should do for us what all of our worship is designed to do – increase our reliance and dependence upon the Father, Son and Spirit. With more reliance and trust comes more peace and rejoicing.
Pick a familiar Bible verse. Memorize it together. It will take a day or two for most of us. Maybe three. No big deal. It’s not a competition. Learn the verse. Recite it. Then ask, “Where do we hear the GOOD NEWS in this verse?” Then pray for what you need, or what you have to be thankful for, and sing a verse or two from a favorite hymn. If your children are toddlers, make it even simpler. Memorize part of a verse. Let your toddlers yell out a word to finish the verse. Then pray toddler sized prayers, and sing Jesus Loves Me. Simple worship is still worship! Over time, we naturally grow into more sophisticated, more eloquent expressions. OR, try a book by Camel + Needle.