Connect Up: Family Worship
Ryan Showalter, Associate Pastor | Family Ministry
Just as God the Father had a message for Jesus' disciples at the transfiguration, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him," so the Apostle Paul had a message for Jesus' followers in Ephesians 6:4, writing, "bring them (your children) up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." In other words, teach your kids to listen to Jesus! The words of our Father in heaven are echoed by the Apostle Paul as they point us to an inescapable fact: Jesus demands our full attention, and we are called to lead our children to give their full attention to Jesus as well.
But how do we lead our families to worship God together? Donald Whitney, Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Associate Dean of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, suggests a streamlined time of family worship in his article Simplify Family Worship at Reformation21: read, pray, sing. Whitney suggests reading a passage of appropriate length for your children, perhaps one chapter a day, prayer prompted by that passage, and a song or two together as a family.
With this format in place, you can effectively train your children (and yourself!) to "listen to him" throughout the normal ups and downs of day-to-day life in a fallen world. Sure, you won't always feel like it, and neither will your kids, but God's gracious commands transcend our emotions and point us to what is truly good for us--learning to love the ways of the Lord and walk in them together with your family.
If you have ever tried to start a family worship time and failed, God's grace is for you! If you have never tried to start a family worship time and are not sure how it will work, God's grace is for you! If your family already worships together regularly, God's grace is for you too! May we all be encouraged by God's grace and spurred on by one another as we seek to lead our families to follow God together!
