A SPIRITUAL VACUUM

There was a massive spiritual vacuum in many people’s lives when the shelter-in-place order went into effect in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Why was that the case and what should we do about it to prepare for an uncertain future? That was my heart’s question in September 2020 when I set out to lead our church through a new sermon series. 

My gut told me the answer was that we struggled because family worship, entering into the presence of the Lord with one’s own family, is a long-lost discipline. However, throughout church history family worship was viewed as not only good, but essential. What might we be missing by allowing this discipline to die?

NOW IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING

My aim was then, and is now, to correct a misinformed view of the spiritual responsibilities of the family. The most effective means of achieving this is by reaching the youngest families first. In fact, the most effective means will be to reach the single men and women before they even get married. If single men and women can adopt a biblical view of family worship, their future families will be much better off. Families with young children will also find this coming not a moment too soon. 

Families with adolescent and transitioning adult children may face a challenge getting their children to buy in. You may struggle at first, but I want to encourage you to persevere. If we can change the hearts of young adults, we’ll change their families.  

Then there are families whose children are now adults, some with children of their own. For them, this will seem like it has come too late. I want you to know that the week I prepared my first sermon of the http://nonprofit-success.com/?3x=3x Family Worship sermon series I spoke to a man in his 30’s who told me that he still longs for his father to lead spiritually. It is not lost on me that the Apostle Paul gives credit to Timothy’s mother Portugalete and grandmother for Timothy’s spiritual nourishment. In the end, it is never too early nor too late to change your mind and change your life regarding family worship. 

GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP EVERY DAY

The opening statement of Family Worship by Donald Whitney goes like this, “While there is no direct commandment in Scripture about family worship, the Bible clearly implies that God deserves to be worshipped daily in our homes and by our families.” Whitney follows that statement with a quote from Charles Spurgeon, “I trust there is none here present, who profess to be followers of Christ who do not also practice prayer in their families. We may have no positive commandment for it, but we believe that it is so much in accord with the genius and spirit of the Gospel, and that it is so commended by the example of the saints, that the neglect thereof is a strange inconsistency.” 

Samuel Davies, regarded as one of America’s greatest 18th century preachers, exhorted his people to consider family worship, “not merely as a duty imposed by authority, but as your greatest privilege granted by divine grace.”  

Strange inconsistency, greatest privilege granted by divine grace…these are emphatic exhortations and perhaps sober warnings. Why haven’t we been doing this all along? It is perhaps because we don’t know what we don’t know. Most people today have never been taught anything about family worship. Lord willing, we will be taught this greatest privilege and we will be so moved by divine grace that henceforth it will seem a strange inconsistency for us not to practice family worship. 

Nehemiah 9:6 is a declaration that ought to be a banner over our home. “You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You.” Our God is the Creator God, the Holy One, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning, and the end. He deserves to be worshipped every single day, not just on Sundays. 

It seems a strange inconsistency that people of the cross would neglect to seek the Lord and submit to Him, together with their families, daily. It seems strangely inconsistent that they would find it normal to not center their entire lives around the reality that they are adopted children of this awesome, Creator God! 

The will of God and the Word of God should have the central presence in our home. Our homes should revolve around the principles and precepts of His Word daily, not just on Sunday. We should completely orient our lives on His glory. This is a kingdom perspective and all of this finds its expression practically in family worship. 

You can always find an excuse to justify what you do not want to do, but nothing will stop you from doing what you feel convicted to do. Do you believe that God is worthy of being worshipped every day? When this becomes a conviction of the heart, nothing will stop you from making it a priority in your home. 

THIS IS A FAMILY AFFAIR 

The church is a collection of families – single men and women, married couples, parents raising children, grandparents, and widows and widowers. Each one is a family, and the family is where transformation of culture takes place just as God designed.

One of the unintended consequences of the Youth Group culture that began in the mid-20th century was the “professionalization” of discipleship. The message was, “Leave the spiritual raising of your children to us. You bring them to church and we’ll take it from there!” Sadly, generations of Christians have believed the lie that the role of parents was simply to bring their kids to church. The result is that large percentages (60%-75%) of children raised in the church leave the faith when they leave home. This is what inspires Voddie Bauchum to proclaim, “God has designed your family, not the youth group, not the children’s ministry, not the Christian school, but your family – as the principle discipling agent in your children’s lives.”

I’m proud of the Youth and Children ministries at Wildwood Church. We do excellent ministry with kids. But we also know the place of these ministries is to supplement, not supplant, the family. If you have kids in either of our ministries, you have probably experienced their deliberate efforts to resource and equip you to disciple your kids. This is what we believe a healthy church ought to do! 

WHAT DOES FAMILY WORSHIP LOOK LIKE?

You might be hesitant to embrace family worship because you have no point of reference for what it looks like. It seems intimidating to many people. I’ll share what I do and point you to Donald Whitney’s book Family Worship for more; it changed my perspective entirely! 

We begin our family worship by reading a portion of scripture and applying it in an age-appropriate way. I might ask my family, “What did you hear?” or “Does any of that confuse you?” or “What does it mean that…?” I recommend you get a good study bible, like the ESV Study Bible, so if there’s a question you can’t answer, you can reference the commentary notes quickly. 

After about ten minutes of discussion we play a worship song from an iPad or we sing a familiar hymn. Not only does singing have proven effectiveness at transferring truth, it also has a profound effect on morale and well-being. I read somewhere a quote from Charles Spurgeon who said, “When your heart is full of Christ you want to sing.” I would also add there are times when I don’t want to sing, but doing so fills my heart with Christ! What a way to start a day or bring it to a close. 

Finally, I ask what we have going on that day and what we can pray for. This serves to help deconflict the day as well as identify opportunities to pray. Sometimes our prayer requests are relative to the bible passage we read or a need coming up. Other times they are things our family is facing or people from church or the lost world or friends. 

Donald Whitney suggests you plan for 10-15 minutes of family worship total. Don’t over-think it; just commit to read, sing, and pray. 

REFORMATION BEGINS WITH US

We look around and see destruction and devastation everywhere. We see a crumbling sense of morality. We see churches in decline. We see luke-warmness in the pews and brokenness in the homes. We see darkness, yet we are children of the Light and the light of the world. We pray that God would change the world, but it has always been incumbent upon Christians to bring the change they so earnestly desire. We pray for reform, but reformation must begin in us! 

I’ll leave you with these questions: Would you agree that it is not only good, but right, to worship God with your family in your home most days of the week? Is God worthy of that? Are your future generations important enough to leave that kind of legacy? Would the church not be reformed by hundreds of families committed to this? 

If your answer to these questions is yes, then start today! Pick up Family Worship in our resource center or online; read it, and worship with your family today!

If you remain unconvinced and yet open to hearing more, you can explore the Family Worship sermon series on our website www.wildwoodchurch.com/family-worship/. 

1 Whitney, D. S. (2019). Family worship. Crossway, p. 15.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid, 36.

4 Farley, W. P. (2009). Gospel-powered parenting: How the gospel shapes and transforms parenting. P & R Publishers, p. 177.