Family Worship-God's Commands
In our family worship, we are focusing on God's Word. As I reflect on churches and society, one of the most disappointing and discouraging things I see is getting rid of absolute truth. What is absolute truth? Josh McDowell defines it as "that which is true for all people, for all times, for all places." So, as we talk about truth, we have been reading from Psalm 119 which focuses on God's commands and precepts.
After singing together, we then moved on to our teaching time. On the first night, we focused on why we have rules. We went around the table and allowed each family member to make a rule for the table. It worked well for awhile and then the rules started to rub against each other. For example, Bethany said we must have one hand on the table and I said we needed to hold hands. The kids figured out how to do both, but these rules were starting to be a challenge. So, I asked why parents have rules? Then, I followed it up with why God has given us rules such as the 10 Commandments. The kids had some great answers. I then pointed to another thing I learned from reading Josh McDowell and it is this, God gives us rules to protect us and to provide for us. This is a very different understanding than most people have about rules. They see them us a mean, bad, ruining the fun, etc. If God gives us a command to follow, He has great reasons and knows the harm that can come if we choose to disobey and He also has something better in mind for us. Following this discussion, we read several verses from Psalm 119. As we usually do, we closed by praying together.
The next time we gathered together, we focused on absolute truth. I explained to the kids what absolute truth (see definition above) is. I then had each one of them go into a room in the house and make a rule for that room. We then went around to each room and read their rules. They were things such as don't jump on the bed, don't spin in the chair, keep the water in the bathtub, etc. I asked, is this a rule in our home? They answered yes. Then I told them to take their rule which is true in one room in the house to another room. For example, the rule for the bedroom was taken to the bathroom. I then asked if this was true in this room. As you can guess, they were not true. We then returned to the table and I asked what this activity was to teach us and they said that those house rules were not absolute because they were not true in all places. We then went around the table and the kids wrote down something they believed was absolute truth. I then would ask: is that true in Hesston, KS? How about Africa? Or was that true during Jesus' time? How about in 2010? Would this be true for Eskimos? How about Asians? I then explained that absolute truth comes from God's Word and cannot come from our personal opinions or preferences. We read several more verses from Psalm 119.
The last focus on God's commands has yet to happen, but will sometime later in the week. We are going to go into our storeroom in our basement and turn off all the lights. I will have a flashlight in my pocket. We will talk about how there could be a lot of things that could trip us or make us fall. It would be nice to have a light to guide our steps. I will then read Psalm 119:105 and we will talk about how God's commands and His Word is a light for our path as we walk in this dark world.
I have enjoyed these times of family worship as we talk about truth that is found in God's Word. Psalm 119 is a great place to look for examples of how God's commands protect and provide for us. For ideas or resources for family worship, please contact me and I can share several that I have used and have found helpful.
After singing together, we then moved on to our teaching time. On the first night, we focused on why we have rules. We went around the table and allowed each family member to make a rule for the table. It worked well for awhile and then the rules started to rub against each other. For example, Bethany said we must have one hand on the table and I said we needed to hold hands. The kids figured out how to do both, but these rules were starting to be a challenge. So, I asked why parents have rules? Then, I followed it up with why God has given us rules such as the 10 Commandments. The kids had some great answers. I then pointed to another thing I learned from reading Josh McDowell and it is this, God gives us rules to protect us and to provide for us. This is a very different understanding than most people have about rules. They see them us a mean, bad, ruining the fun, etc. If God gives us a command to follow, He has great reasons and knows the harm that can come if we choose to disobey and He also has something better in mind for us. Following this discussion, we read several verses from Psalm 119. As we usually do, we closed by praying together.
The next time we gathered together, we focused on absolute truth. I explained to the kids what absolute truth (see definition above) is. I then had each one of them go into a room in the house and make a rule for that room. We then went around to each room and read their rules. They were things such as don't jump on the bed, don't spin in the chair, keep the water in the bathtub, etc. I asked, is this a rule in our home? They answered yes. Then I told them to take their rule which is true in one room in the house to another room. For example, the rule for the bedroom was taken to the bathroom. I then asked if this was true in this room. As you can guess, they were not true. We then returned to the table and I asked what this activity was to teach us and they said that those house rules were not absolute because they were not true in all places. We then went around the table and the kids wrote down something they believed was absolute truth. I then would ask: is that true in Hesston, KS? How about Africa? Or was that true during Jesus' time? How about in 2010? Would this be true for Eskimos? How about Asians? I then explained that absolute truth comes from God's Word and cannot come from our personal opinions or preferences. We read several more verses from Psalm 119.
The last focus on God's commands has yet to happen, but will sometime later in the week. We are going to go into our storeroom in our basement and turn off all the lights. I will have a flashlight in my pocket. We will talk about how there could be a lot of things that could trip us or make us fall. It would be nice to have a light to guide our steps. I will then read Psalm 119:105 and we will talk about how God's commands and His Word is a light for our path as we walk in this dark world.
I have enjoyed these times of family worship as we talk about truth that is found in God's Word. Psalm 119 is a great place to look for examples of how God's commands protect and provide for us. For ideas or resources for family worship, please contact me and I can share several that I have used and have found helpful.
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