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 11:1-7
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He *said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
Jesus seems to have divine knowledge that Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. Further, Jesus provides a purpose for Lazarus’s sickness. This sickness is for God’s glory and the glorification of God the Son particularly. Jesus did not hurry to Lazarus’s side even though He loved him. The obviously ordained events soon to take place served a greater purpose than saving a life on this earth.
We all experience sickness of body and mind. Each of us has asked God to heal or restore a loved one. God often waits when we want Him to restore physical or mental health. Even when our loved ones stray and we want them restored sooner rather than later, God seems to tarry. He does not wait because He is slow or doesn’t care. He does not refuse requests for immediate healing because He is malicious. He has a purpose greater than our immediate satisfaction, physical healing, or quick restoration.
Lazarus’s sickness would not end in death, but death is not the end for any of us. The process, the journey no matter how difficult, works for God’s glory in Christ and the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (cf. Romans 8:28ff).
Take great comfort in this. God is not slow as we count slowness. He is patient, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). His ways are higher than ours.
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Alex Southern Baptist Chapel 
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