“Family [worship]…is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion for redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship of the living God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Douglas Kelly, Professor of Theology Reformed Theological Seminary

Pope John Paul II is credited with the statement, “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” This implies that a flourishing society, which includes churches, neighborhoods, cities, and nations, depends on the flourishing of our homes. This is encouraging because it means we, as parents, have the ability to contribute to a thriving society by developing a thriving family. While encouraging, it also puts a great deal of pressure on us leaving us wondering how we go about developing our families to achieve such a goal.

The only way to promote a flourishing home is to intentionally and laboriously put our family at the foot of the cross to be reminded, by the working of the Holy Spirt, of how God’s grace has made available to us through Jesus Christ. As a parent, this is your primary responsibility to your kids. Even more than your responsibilities of teaching your kids how to dress themselves or do their math homework, or drive a car; you have a responsibility before God to “train your child up in the way that they should go” (Proverbs 22:6, Deuteronomy 6). 

One of the primary ways that parents carry out this God-ordained responsibility of teaching our children is through, what our church fathers called, “Family Worship.” Family Worship takes the familiar idea of Sunday worship and moves it around the kitchen table. Family Worship takes the three components of prayer, scripture and worship and puts it in a family setting where parents (especially fathers) function as pastors of their little church.

In the setting of Family Worship, God gives parents the opportunity for biblical teaching and profound discussion for the purpose of making their children into disciples of Jesus Christ. As parents this should be our greatest desire for our children. Our primary desire shouldn’t be that our kids become engineers or doctors or even find a nice spouse; our greatest desire for our kids should be that they would put their faith in Jesus and “walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). God is so gracious that he gives us the opportunity as parents to influence and teach our children in a way that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, could lead to our children putting their faith in Jesus. As we do labor to that end, God has a way of working in the hearts of parents so that they too are affected and pushed deeper into the gospel.

Through this blog series on Family Worship we will explore the theological foundations of Family Worship and then get into the logistics of how to make it a part of our daily and weekly routines.