3. Leading Family Worship

I believe the lost practice of family worship or family devotions has caused more damage to the body of Christ than the average Christian realizes. The reason I say lost is because the church talks so little about it. How many mega-church conferences are devoted in equipping fathers to lead their family in worship? How many Sunday school classes or small group lessons are devoted to this? Not many. Why? Many parents feel church activities that are geared towards child discipleship (children’s church, youth group, Awana, Sunday School, VBS etc…) provide enough discipleship to equip their children. Unfortunately, this mindset is wrong and unbiblical.

Many churches, whether purposefully or inadvertently, have become the primary disciplers of many youth who have Godly parents. And I believe this unbiblical practice is one of the primary reasons so many youth are leaving the faith after they leave home. You can read more about this (with statistics) here. Our children need us to guide them spiritually. Our children need to worship with us, pray with us, study God’s Word with us, evangelize the lost with us, and learn how to live out their faith with us. All of this starts and finishes at HOME. Think about it. Two hours of church services per week isn’t going to mold your child into the next Apostle Paul. They need constant daily discipleship from their parents.

Meditate on these verses and answer the questions below. I encourage you to utilize the additional resources available (Books or Sermons) on family worship. Also, spend a few moments and read some great quotes on family worship here. Finally, for ideas and advice on Family Worship schedules, lessons, music etc…click here.

Questions:  

1. What is the purpose of Family Worship? Read: Deut 4:9, Deut 6:4-7, Deut 11:19, Psalm 78:4-6. What happens when Family Worship is neglected? Read: Hosea 4:1,6, Proverbs 1:29.

2. Who is responsible in leading Family Worship/Discipleship? Read: Ephesians 6:4.

3. What are some Biblical elements of Family Worship? Read: Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19.

• Word (1 Timothy 4:16, John 15:3, James 1:22, Hebrews 4:12)
• Worship (John 4:23-24, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 150)
• Prayer (Acts 1:14, Acts 2:42, Acts 12:5)

4. What are some other admonishments from the scriptures when it comes to family life and worship?

• Believer’s should love one another (John 13:34, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:21)
• Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
• Encourage and build one another up (1 Thess 5:11)
• Pray for one another, confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
• Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32)
• Be honest with one another (Colossians 3:9)
• Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)

5. What are some other biblical mandates families should focus on during their worship time?

• Praying for the Great Commission (Matthew 9:37-38) Joshua Project is an awesome resource to help your family pray for unreached people groups.
• Praying for the persecuted church (Hebrews 13:3, Matthew 25:36) Voice of the Martyrs is a great website which highlights the persecuted church.
• Remembers the Saints who’ve already passed.  Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Mission Autobiographies.
• Memorize Scripture together (Psalm 119:11, Psalm 119:105)

Pray:

• Pray that God would give you the wisdom and insight needed to lead your family in worship
• For God to begin opening up your wife’s heart to the idea of family worship

Doers of the Word:

• Lead your family in worship at least once this week.
• Read this short article on Family Worship. 11 Reasons to Worship with Your Family. Write a short paragraph about what you learned.
• Spend some time listening to some sermons on family worship. These sermons vary in length. You can find the sermons here.