Family worship in the Christian home

The majority of evangelical Christians are aware of the importance of personal worship and corporate worship, but few have heard of family worship. It seems that this sphere of adoration has fallen into disuse! Yet throughout the history of the Church, family worship has been one of the greatest strengths of the Christian family. Just as the Christian's life is characterized by personal worship, and just as our gatherings as a Christian community should be centered on the worship of God, the home of a Christian family should be characterized by family worship. It is nothing more than our family response to God's infinite and wonderful grace. In Neglected Grace , Pastor Jason Helopoulos encourages us to use this means of grace that God provides to us to draw near to Him daily with our family. The author presents the biblical foundations of family worship, while explaining its advantages, importance and blessings for the Christian family. He also offers several practical tips for integrating this habit into our homes.

Contents

  • Preface
  • Introduction
  1. Worshipers: What We Are - Worship: What We Do
  2. Give me a good reason! - This is our joyful responsibility!
  3. Other practical reasons?
  4. And now what do we do?
  5. Our way of worshiping God
  6. What family worship is not
  7. Help for the adventure
  8. What to do if....
  9. Do it!
  • Appendix A: Examples of Family Worship Structures
  • Appendix B: Getting Started with the Bible and Prayer
  • Appendix C: Resources
  • Appendix D: Catechisms and Creeds
  • Notes

Worshipers: What We Are Worship: What We Do

Everyone lives for something. This is how. We may not be aware of what we are living for, but we are living for something. Naturally, what we live for shapes our daily lives. Some people live to save money. They work every day to save and raise money. For others, their reason for being is their family. Everything revolves around their children's education, soccer games, ballet lessons and scout meetings; it’s what dictates their schedule each week. Others live for relaxation and pleasure. They tend to live just to “get through the day”! They just can't wait to get home to sit in front of the television. I was recently at a video game store buying someone a gift, when I overheard an employee say that he couldn't wait to get home to play a particular video game. He even said: “I believe I was put on earth to play this game. » Everyone lives for something and that something shapes our daily activities. That said, not all reasons to live are equal. On the one hand, I'm grateful that we weren't created for the sole purpose of playing video games. Don't get me wrong, I know how to enjoy a good video game, but I believe there is more to life than crushing mushrooms and freeing Princess Toadstool. If we weren't created for video games, what are we doing on earth? There is nothing more crucial to our understanding of life than the fact that we were created by God to worship Him. This is what defines being human. People may live as if the reason for their existence were something else, but we were all created to worship God. Adam was created from the dust of the earth to be a worshipper. Eve was created from his rib to be a worshipper. This is what man is and what his reason for being is. Yet this is not always how we live our lives, or how we understand its ultimate purpose. For what ? Because of the effects of sin. By choosing to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam chose to ignore God's call and rebel (Gen. 3). Instead of worshiping God by resting in His dependence and obeying His command, man chose to be independent of God and thwart His rule. Once a worshiper enjoying perfect communion with God, Adam became a rebel raising his fist to challenge God. In fact, our first parents, Adam and Eve, didn't just choose to abandon worshiping God; they chose to worship something completely different: themselves. The great sin of the Garden of Eden is fundamentally an exchange of objects of worship. And all humanity fell with them into this first sin. All of human history could be described as a story of worship. Will man worship God in accordance with what he was created to do? Will he be a worshiper in spirit and in truth (Jn 4)? Or will man worship himself or creation rather than the Creator (Rom 1)? This is the great drama of human history. What a fateful decision Adam and Eve made that day! However, it did not please God for all of His creation to be silent in praise. So He chose to redeem a people for Himself, so that we could worship Him forever. God himself, in the person of the Son, became flesh, lived on earth, suffered and died so that we might be freed from the guilt, punishment and power of sin. Christians are those whom he saved to “celebrate his glory” (Eph 1.12). This is what we were created and recreated for! This is our reason for being. This is our greatest calling and our eternal purpose: to worship him. For Christians, it is more than a high and eternal calling: it is the desire of our hearts. Our redeeming God has poured out his love in our hearts. God showed his “love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Worshiping Him is not something we have to do, it is something we want to do. If we grasp what He has done for us, we cannot help but love and adore Him. Only a grateful heart transformed by grace seeks God in worship.
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