What is family worship? (Click the arrow to the left)
As Christians, particularly Christian men, we are responsible to lead our households with strength and resolve in the ways of Christ. Leading our families in devotions and family worship is one way to lead our families, raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Jesus Christ (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7; Ephesians 6:4).
In my house, we do morning and evenings. In the morning after we eat breakfast together, we all have our quiet times. We read our Bibles seperately and journal what we see. In the evenings before bed, we talk about what we saw in our morning Bible reading, I share my insight from my own devotional time, we ask questions from the New City Catechism, we sing a couple worship songs together, and then we pray as a family. Family worship doesn’t have to look like this. It may look different for every household, but I want to invite you to join me in leading our families well. Every weekday on this blog, I want to provide a guide for fathers to lead their families in some form of family worship. If your household doesn’t have a father, I believe the responsibility falls to the mother. Design a routine that works for your family, but be intentional about leading in the only way that matters instead of getting too caught up with the affairs of this world. Every Christian man is the pastor of his home. I believe the most important thing we can do for our children is (1) lead them in the home and (2) be faithful to the church as a family. As the family goes, so goes the nation. Our job as pastors to our family matters.
John 7:10-24
10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. 11 So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” 12 And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” 13 However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of [a]the Jews.
14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this Man become learned, not having been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
19 “Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?”20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one [b]deed, and you all are astonished. 22 For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge [c]with righteous judgment.”
Jesus went to the feast in secret—not wanting to present Himself as a public figure. He started teaching in the Temple, and was thrust up on a pedestal anyway. He invited the crowd, who was in disagreement about Jesus already, to test His words by considering His own character. The one who speaks his own words seeks his own glory. The one who speaks words from the Father seeks the Father’s glory, not his own. The primary way we identify false teaching is by judging a person’s character. Namely, does he seek his own glory or God’s? Every person that presents himself like a public teacher says he is doing God’s will for God’s glory, but many are sadly building their own kingdoms on Christ’s back.
To see whether they speak God’s words or their own, we simply ask, “Are they trying to present themselves as public figures, or are they content to be servants? Jesus was certainly a servant even though He was the rightful king. Let’s be more like Him.
Today’s question from the New City Catechism:
Q- What does Christ’s resurrection mean for us?
A- Christ triumphed over sin and death so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come.
Ephesians 1:20-21 says,
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who [a]are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [b]through Jesus.
Have a question about today’s devotional?
Alex Southern Baptist Chapel 
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