Families Worshipping Together (FWT)
Families Worshipping Together (FWT) is a result of our church’s commitment to God’s word. What you’ll find here are resources that will help you establish regular times of Family Worship. For too many Christian families, family worship may be a puzzling concept. But it doesn’t have to be. Most of us are familiar with the concept of “going to church” where we attend a “worship service.” Family worship is just like that congregational worship service but in the context of a family’s home. Many of the same aspects that we find in corporate worship services exist in times of family worship: the reading of scripture, prayer, and singing. The idea is for the family to be involved in Bible reading throughout the week and set aside one day a week to come together in family worship.
Is there a biblical basis for family worship? After all, it’s important to root this effort in scripture. With this in mind, we offer the following (taken and adapted from http://familyworshipguide.net/biblical-basis/):
Biblical Basis for Family Worship
There is no explicit command in the Bible that we are to set aside times of family worship. But we see clear examples throughout scripture that teaching children about God and His ways was an integral part of family life. God chose Abraham “that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19). In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we find a portion of the Shema, a creed that observant Jews (including Jesus) recited every morning and every night: “Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Any study of biblical leadership requires a careful examination of the life of Joshua. Near the end of the book that bears his name, Joshua exhorts the people of Israel to choose the god they intend to serve and he says this (Joshua 24:14-15): “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The psalmist Asaph writes in Psalm 78:5-7, “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and forget not the works of God, but keep his commandments.”
Asaph writes again in Psalm 145, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4). In the New Testament, Paul admonishes fathers by saying, “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). We have a great responsibility to teach the next generation in the ways the Lord. We do that in several ways: by talking to them as life is happening day in and day out; using “teachable moments” to illustrate patience, kindness, love, and other godly virtues; by keeping them involved in a local church of faithful believers. But one of the best ways to fulfill our obligation to the next generation is to set aside specific times for gathered family worship where the Bible is taught, songs are sung, and prayers are offered.
What follows are resources we’re making available to you and your family as you build into the life of your family this important and needed family worship time. We’re thankful to Dr. David Platt and The Church of Brook Hills for the resources that follow:
v A Simple Guide to Family Worship: (includes additional resources for family worship) Please Click Here.
The following resources are based on the Reading the Bible for Life Reading Plan: Please Click Here. (If you prefer to follow using an online version of this reading plan instead, please check out this link: Please Click Here, scroll down the page and find the heading ‘Read the Word’, then click on the word ‘Reading’.)
v Family Worship Guide: Please Click Here. (This resource is based on the Bible Reading Guide and includes reading, discussion, prayer and music to help you conduct Family Worship this week.)
v Family Worship Songs Archive: Please Click Here. (This resource includes MP3 links to the music that is used in the Family Worship Guide each week.)
Our prayer is that your commitment to His word will bear fruit in your life and in the life of your family as you worship together. Prayerfully consider being a part of this endeavor. To God be the glory!
