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family worship

Family worship is simpler than you think; and this proves it

by Thomas on 03/08/2010

merle-daubigneAs I continue to read on family worship for our next curriculum series, I often run across books that are particularly good. Merle d’Aubigne’s sermon on family worship is a case in point: clear, simple, and practical, it outlines the reasons behind spending time doing it, then provides direct steps to implementing it. His sermon is filled with honest advice that makes as much sense today as in the 19th century: “Public worship is often too vague and general for children and does not sufficiently interest them. As to the worship of the closet, they do not yet understand it. A lesson learned by rote if unaccompanied by anything else may lead them to look upon religion as a study like those of foreign languages or history…. If they observe that no worship is paid to that God of whom they hear, the very best instruction will prove useless. But by means of Family Worship these young plants will grow ‘like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither.’” His small booklet on family worship can be read via Google books or in HTML. It’s a quick but encouraging little read.

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7 in 10 kids who grow up in church leave it when they get to college

by Thomas on 02/01/2010

family driven faithThat’s what Voddie Baucham quotes in the introduction to his book Family Driven Faith. It’s a sobering thought. 7 out of 10 kids who are now in church won’t be there in the future (he’s not talking about unchurched kids; he’s talking about kids whose parents assume they’re Christians until one day they reject their faith). I thought about my children’s Sunday School classes and all the little kids running around – according to this, 70% won’t make it past college. Wow. One of the reasons I’m reading Baucham’s book is that we’re developing a new curriculum on family worship, and it reminds me that the only way to change these numbers is at a grassroots level, one family at a time. If you’ve got children yourself, I recommend getting Baucham’s book – it’s a good reminder of what’s really at stake for parents, as well as what can be done to build up the little ones in our care.

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Convictions about family worship from a 150-year-old book

by Thomas on 01/12/2010

Screen shot 2010-01-11 at 5.04.43 PMI’m doing research on a new project and have been reading through a number of books on ‘family worship’ (also known as ‘family devotions’ in some circles). Over the years, I have often thought about leading some form of daily worship with my own family of girls (4 including my wife), but beyond evening prayer and songs, never did more than that. Recently, I started reading through Mark and praying with everyone after we finished breakfast, and it’s been good for all of us. In reading books on the topic, however, I’ve been convicted about how much more focus I should have been putting on family worship, and still can. There’s just so much to do as a father, and this always took a back seat – much to my chagrin. The book I’m currently reading, J.W. Alexander’s Thoughts on Family Worship, was published in 1847; his advice and observations are as relevant today as they were 150 years ago. It’s really not hard to do and doesn’t take much time; it’s just a matter of considering it important enough to do. Alexander goes a long way to showing how important it really is. [click to continue…]

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