Family Worship

In theology. I'm Pastor Alan Nelson, pastor of Perryville Synagogue Church in central Arkansas. Today we want to talk about the subject of family worship. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 says this, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4 and the Duty to Raise Children in the Lord

That's a command written to a local church at Ephesus and Paul commands the dads in the church to raise their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Now how was that accomplished? Well some may think well you just accomplished that by you know just randomly talking about God at times with your kids and you know when you're taking them fishing or when you're changing the tire or you're cleaning you just kind of talk about God and those sorts of things and those are wonderful and I don't want to discount those things at all.

However, to bring your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, in my opinion, requires a more formal time of family worship, a regular time of family worship with your children. Now what does this look like?

Deuteronomy 6 and the Old Testament Pattern for Family Worship

First of all, this stems not just from the New Testament but even the Old Testament. If you read the Shema and Deuteronomy chapter 6 and how it says, Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one and then it goes on talking about how you're to teach these truths to your children.

So God having families teach their children the things of Yahweh, the things of the Lord, is not a new concept. So what does family worship look like in the home? Well it's going to look different. There's not a one-size-fits-all for every family but there are some basic aspects of worship that ought to be included in family worship.

Prayer, Singing, and Bible Reading in the Home

They are these. First, prayer. Secondly, singing. Third, Bible reading. That's it. That could take sometimes five minutes and then there's been times that might take upwards of an hour depending on the conversations and things.

If your kids are young, you pray with them, read them a short passage from the Bible, maybe even just a verse, maybe a chapter, half a chapter, talk about it, sing a song. I remember we wore out when our kids were young.

Jesus loves me. But you obviously can sing even better songs than that. And as your kids get a little older, you can incorporate the Baptist catechism in that or incorporate catechism. It's a very, very simple aspect and a very, very simple concept but it's profound.

Intentional and Regular Family Worship

And it's a necessary aspect of faithfully obeying Ephesians 6 -4, raising your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And so whatever this looks like in your family, you need to be intentional and you need to be regular in teaching your children the truths of the Lord.