chadwickivester

The Duty of Family Worship:

HT:  Phillip M. Way & Tony Reinke

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.(Deut 6:4-9)

. . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Josh 24:15)

Family Worship: The daily meeting together of a family, in the same room, for a time of worship. Family Worship consists of four activities:

1. Bible Reading:
2. Singing of a Spiritual Song:
3. Catechism: a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for teaching children.
4. Prayer:

We believe the greatest cause for the breakdown of the Christian family of our generation is the separation between Family and Church. This should not be! Many have bought into the shallow message of today’s church culture that Worship is reserved for the church facilities and not the home. The Bible teaches that Worship begins in the home.

Here is a compilation of quotes concerning the importance of Family Worship:

Family Worship increases the spirit of reverence for God and His Word. Children copy their parents’ spirit and example. If parents begin the day by invoking God’s blessing, by consecrating the early hour to His service, they show their estimate of the value of worship. If business, society, wealth, and pleasure are deferred for worship, the youth feels that the claims of Deity are above all other claims. Parents thus show that they can do nothing rightly without the divine blessing, and that Divine approval is far more precious than the approval of men. God’s Book is honored. The Bible is for every day, and for the morning hour of every day. If to the parent it is more precious than gold and sweeter also than the honey and the honey comb, will not the child learn to value a volume so honored and treasured? (Rev. M. Simpson, 1882 – The Influence of Family Worship)

As touching the spiritual state of his family; he ought to be very diligent and circumspect, doing his utmost endeavour both to increase faith where it is begun, and to begin it where it is not. Wherefore, to this end, he ought diligently and frequently to lay before his household such things of God, out of his word, as are suitable for each particular.

Thy children have souls, and they must be begotten of God as well as of thee, or they perish. And know also, that unless thou be very circumspect in thy behavior to and before them, they may perish through thee: the thoughts of which should provoke thee, both to instruct, and also to correct them. (John Bunyan – Duties of Fathers and Parents)

Family worship [should be implemented] as soon as possible, as soon as one is married, and continue it after children come along, no matter how young the children are (and the younger the better). The point is not for the youngest children to be able to comprehend (or even to sit still during it!). The point is impress upon them, by paternal example the priority of God and his word in all of life. They learn this, even if they comprehend nothing in the reading, praying and singing, simply by seeing a father pausing day after day to read the Word with his family.

Now there is a whole host of practical questions and problems that come to mind once we determine to begin family worship. How long should it last? It should be regularly brief, as little as 10 minutes when the children are very young. Gradually, it will run a little longer as they grow older and conversations strike up. Don’t kill it by trying to go too long. Pace yourself. Regularity and repetition is the key. When should we do family worship? When it works – morning/breakfast, suppertime or bedtime are the three most common times.

… There are dozens of potential hindrances: a lack of discipline, a lack of sense of the importance of family worship, a lack of experience of family worship in one’s own upbringing and more.

But above all, there is the enemy of idealism. You have this picture of a Puritan family sitting around the table attentively and reverently reading the whole book of 1 Chronicles at a sitting, singing half the Psalter from memory, and praying for ninety minutes, and then you look around your table and your wife is rolling her eyes, your two-year old is throwing left-over spaghetti around the kitchen, your eight-year old is making faces at her sister and your teenager would rather do calculus. Don’t let the gap between the ideal and the reality stop you! Those unattentive children will grow up and thank you for persevering, and the memories of a father who loved them enough to make that kind of an effort will etch a permanent affection in their hearts. (J. Ligon Duncan)

It is our desire for every Christian family to practice Family Worship every day. One good aspect about Family Worship is that it is NEVER too late to start, despite your children’s ages. Therefore, we are issuing a challenge to our readers:

chadwick’s Challenge: Spend at least thirty minutes each day in Family Worship.

19  “ . . . Go therefore and make disciples of [your family], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matt 28:19-20)

Selah,

chadwick