Family Worship
This month, I will be sharing snippets from a booklet on Family Worship.
This is one of three booklets from the Family Guidance Series, written by Joel R. Beeke (link below).
As mentioned, over the coming weeks we will go through the book Family Worship by Joel. R. Beeke. The booklet is divided into five chapters, or sections and they are as follows:
- Theological Foundations for Family Worship
- The Duty of Family Worship
- Implementing Family Worship
- Objections Against Family Worship
- Motivations for Family Worship
#3 Implementing Family Worship
In this section, Beeke lays out his approach for implementing a time for family worship. He is very thorough and outlines how one should prepare before the time of worship takes place. “Then we should plan for the what, where, and when of family worship” (p17). He goes into a lot of details as to what type of material should be used for worship in pages 18 and 19.
After preparing the materials for worship, there should be a standard place where the family has their worship. Beeke writes in a time where families still eat dinner around the table every evening (p19), and if you do that, then great. Realistically, it seems we are always on the go, so finding a place to worship seems a little less important to me, than having the materials and time in place. He does offer us a little reprieve later in the chapter:
“For some families, family worship is scarcely possible more than once a day, after the evening meal. Either way, heads of households must be sensitive to the family schedule and keep everyone involved. Practice the principle of Matthew 6:33 (Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”.
The final two sections are what happens during family worship and what to do after the worship ends.
My biggest take-away from the section is consistency. Finding a time for your worship and making it a sacred time on the family calendar. We should also ensure there are Scriptures and songs and that everyone participates.