What Does the Bible Say About Family Worship?

That’s true. This is just where I want to exhort today. Families across this faith family. So this would apply to families with children. This would apply to couples without children, even to singles who live maybe with roommates. This is a good habit to develop. Worship in your home with whoever’s in your home.

So just as you set aside a time and a place to be alone with God, to set aside a time and a place to gather in your home. Maybe it’s in the morning, maybe it’s in the evening. Maybe it’s every day, maybe it’s once a week, just some regular time where you do these things. So one, you read the word together, say, “What do we do? What do we do? How do we do this and all?” So just practically, this very simple pastoral practical application. So, we read the word together. So just read it. Include your children in reading it with you. So read the word together. Let that lead you.

Family Worship Includes Studying The Word Together

Secondly, to study the word together. So examine the word just like you do in your personal time with the Lord. That simple guide to personal worship that is also on the same place you can download and it uses that acrostic REAP. R-E-A-P. Read, examine, apply, pray. So think through those E and A, examine and apply. So this is not something you have to, “Okay, well, David, I appreciate you encouraging us to do family worship, but you know how to preach. I don’t know what to do when I sit down in front of my kids or just with my wife. I don’t know how to teach the word.” Just read the word and then ask, “What does this text teach us about God? What does this text teach us about ourselves? What does this text teach us about who Jesus is and why we need him? What does this text teach us about what it means to follow God? What does this text teach us about why this matters in eternity?”

So those five questions that talk about threads of the gospel. God, man, Christ, faith, eternity. And then they’re all in that simple guide to personal worship. So just ask those questions and see what happens as you talk about that. And then you begin to apply it. “Okay, how does this apply to our lives?” This is where it’s a great opportunity for you to share even what the Lord has been teaching you in your personal time with Him, to let this family time be the overflow of that. Read the word together, study the word together. Teach your children to study the Bible. What is more important than this? Teaching your kids to be able to study this word, to know this God. Study the word together. Maybe even memorize.

Family Worship Includes Memorizing The Word Together

So third, memorize the word together. Commit God’s word to memory together. Maybe make a game out of it. Put in some meaningful competition, that always helps. Do this in your home. I can still quote King James version Bible verses today that were instilled in my mind 30 years ago in my home. This will last. This will last. Memorize together. And then after you’ve read, studied, memorized the word together, then pray together.

Family Worship Includes Praying Together

So I think it’s fourth… Just simple exhortation. Pray together. Pray with your family. Pray with your spouse, pray with your roommates. Pray together. Have a time where you just pray with one another. And maybe, remember that other acrostic that’s in that simple guide to personal worship? Pray? P-R-A-Y. Praise. And we’ve used this at different points in our worship gatherings and prayer gatherings. Praise God. Let that lead to repentance.

So just spend some time with your family. Let’s just go around and let’s call out names of God. Let’s just go around and thank God for specific things in our lives. The teaching in our home. We want to be thankful in all circumstances. We’re teaching, right? Praise and repent, to confess sins to one another, to confess when we fall short of God’s glory and God’s word. And then to ask, to pray for each other, “What can we be praying for in each other’s hearts and minds and life right now?” I was asking my kids last night to pray for something specific for me. So ask for each other. Ask for others. “So how can we pray for our neighbors? How can we pray for your friends? How can we pray for the city? How can we pray for the nations?”

So let something like Operation World or Window on the World, or even I don’t want to have it with me, the worship guide you hold in your hand, you turn back from the notes page there, and there’s a whole list of things that we’re praying together through as a faith family for our lives, for this church, and for our city, for the nations. So let that be a guide for you, all that leading to yield. P, praise, R, repent, A, ask, Y, yield your life. “Lord, here’s our family. However, you want to use us.” I mean, this is, well, we’ll get to… Just simplicity here. So read, study, memorize, pray together, and then sing together.

Family Worship Includes Singing Together

So this is where things can get awkward and enjoyable at the same time. To sing acapella or play a song on CD or phone. And if you have kids, then make this fun. So yes, yes, yes. Sing good, strong theological hymns with meat. But every once in a while sing a good, strong, silly song with motions. Right? So it doesn’t have to be all… I’m going to take a risk right now. I’m going to take a risk and try to loosen things up a little in this room and do something that I’m a little nervous about. So, all right, you are now in the Platt home for family worship, and we spent some time reading, studying word together, and we pray together. And now it’s that time where we sing together. So on this song, you’re going to have to stand up. So go ahead and stand up with me, all right?

Sining “With The Jesus In Your Boat”

Now, if you are not a Christian, you’re going to think this is really weird and so it’s okay if you just kind of look on. But, all right. So followers of Christ. All right, here we go. We’re going to sing a song, one of our favorites in family worship called, “With the Jesus In Your Boat.” Okay? And the way the song goes. So here’s the words and then I’m going to teach it to you, okay? And it’s going to involve some motions. So I’ll give you the word, you just repeat phrase after phrase after me. You’ll pick it up. So with Jesus in your boat… There we go. All right. Sorry, I almost messed up the whole song. All right. All right. First phrase, with Jesus in your boat.

With Jesus in your boat.

You can smile in the storm.

You can smile in the storm.

Smile in the storm.

Smile in the storm.

Smile in the storm.

Smile in the storm.

With Jesus in your boat.

With Jesus in your boat.

You can smile in the storm.

You can smile in the storm.

When you’re sailing home.

When you’re sailing home.

Sailing, sailing home.

Sailing, sailing home.

Sailing, sailing home.

Sailing, sailing home.

With Jesus in your boat, you can smile in the storm when you’re sailing home. See if you can get it. With Jesus in your, boat you can smile in the storm when you’re sailing home. All right, so now here’s how it goes. I’m going to sing it one time by myself. This is horrible. Okay.

This is not my gifting at all. So the way it goes is (singing).

All right. That’s the only solo I’ll ever do in this room.

So, okay. Now you’re going to join in, okay? You’re joining in, okay? So we’ll go kind of slow, but just try to catch in. All right? (singing)

All right, well done. So I’m going to clap for you. You did a great job. Okay. Now, this time we’re going to start speeding up a little bit. So you’re going to catch on, but this time, instead of saying Jesus, you point up, okay? Because Jesus is down on the cross, risen from the grave, He’s ascended on high. So up, okay, so we’re going to go up. So don’t say Jesus, just point up. So when you get to that point, no sound, just point up. You ready? (singing)

All right, I heard some Jesus out there, okay?

No, no, no, Jesus. Okay? I mean, point up, you know what I mean. So, all right, this time instead of boat, we’re going to make a boat like this. Everybody make a boat, okay? You ready? All right, so this time it’ll be with in your… Okay, don’t say boat, do boat. Okay, you ready? Here we go (singing).

All right. No Jesus, no boat, okay?

Okay. (singing). Instead of smile, you’re going to be a big smile on your face and point to it. Okay? So this right here. All right? So that smile. Don’t say smile, just smile and point to your face. All right? Here we go. (singing).

All right? Now, this is where it gets really fun. On storm. Instead of saying storm, you’re going to go… So you’re going to blow twice. So you got wind storm, okay. So… All right? So that’s storm. All right, you ready? (singing)

All right, this time instead of sailing, you’re going to do water, like this, and you’re going to hum, just go, “Hmm.” Okay, just like that on tone, just perfect like that, like I just did. Okay, so you’re going to do water, hm, hm, okay? You ready? (singing).

All right, last one. This time, instead of home, you’re going to make a house. Okay? And you’re going to hum on that one too, so, hmm, hmm, hmm. Okay, ready? You got it. So, hmm, that’s home. All right, here we go. (singing)

All right, well done. Now we’re going to do it two more times. Two more times. But the first time we’re going to step it up about twice as fast. And the last time is going to be ultra-fast. Okay? So this is where it gets fun. Okay? Here we go. So we’re going to speed up a little bit, see if you can catch up. Stay up. All right. Here we go. (singing).

All right, now you ready for ultra-fast? Here we go. Ultra-fast. All right. Here we go. (singing)

All right! Well done, well done. All right, you can have a seat.