Building Faith Families with Steve Demme

The final episode in this series is a compilation of testimonies from parents who have been having times of regular family worship. I hope that as you listen you will be edified and encouraged.

In the podcast 35 we examined the first five possible obstacles in beginning having regular times of family worship in our homes. We will conclude with the final five today.

•  I am not qualified to lead my family.

•  I won’t be able to be successful.

•  What is my husband will not participate?

•  Like Moses, I am not a gifted speaker and wish someone else could do it.

•  It’s too late to get started as the children are older.

These are all questions each of us struggles with to some degree. Facing them and talking through them, robs them of their power to cripple and discourage us. I hope this broadcast will be a help to eliminating these common hurdles.

In the previous 5 episodes we examined ingredients for a successful family worship experience. In this podcast we tackle potential obstacles that I had to face and that may resonate with other families.

• For example, the first one is that we may not have grown up in a home where your parents conducted conducted family devotions so we never saw it modeled.

• Or perhaps we have been told that we are not qualified to teach the bible since we have not been to bible school or sunday school teacher’s academy.

• Maybe we think the job of discipling our children is the job of the church.

• “We are too busy” may sound familiar to all of us.

These and other objections will be examined in more detail this week. I hope you will be encouraged to press on as you listen to our discussion.

The next four ingredients for a successful family devotions experience are: talk about what you read, keep a record of how God has worked for your family, close in prayer, and just do it.

Scripture says that each member of the body of Christ, including all members of your family, have something to contribute to other believers. After we have read the scripture, we now give each member n opportunity to communicate any insights they received that day.

I hope parents are in the facilitating mode at this juncture, so each person has an opportunity to speak. Then if we have time, we like to think back at the end of the week, to how God has helped us. We not only focus on being thankful, but on recording our gratefulness in notebooks.

Then before we head in our separate directions, we pray and commit what we have learned that day.

The final ingredient is to JUST DO IT. And if you are discouraged because you missed several days, do it anyway. I am so encouraged and inspired by Proverbs 24:16 which reads: “A righteous man falls seven times and rises up again”

May God help us to doers of the word and not hearers only. Amen.

The word remember, or some form of this word, occurs over 200 times in scripture. The Psalmist encourages us to praise the works of God from one generation to another. Psalm 145:4

Have you told your children how you came to Christ, or how you met your spouse, or other answers to prayer that you have experienced? Not only are the older folks to recount the mighty acts of God in their own life, it is equally important to record God’s work in the hearts of the children as well.

Teach as you would like to be taught. This is the golden rule applied to having worship times in the home. This does not have to be a dry time, but ask God to give you ideas to make the study of God’s word enjoyable. I have a couple ideas I will be sharing in the podcast.

If we had time, we liked to sing as part of the worship experience. Worship and the word complement each other. Perhaps your family may consider memorizing some worship songs or hymns. We committed 9 to memory years ago and I still recall many of the verses.

“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand” Psalm 149:6

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” Colossians 3:16

Don’t ever forget that the work you are doing is of great value in the sight of God.

“The greatest gift a church can receive is to have a group of families who take their responsibilities with such Christian seriousness that they are willing to completely alter their lifestyle to raise up disciples for Jesus Christ.” —Abraham Kuyper

While we seek to diligently teach our children the word of God, ultimately it is God’s responsibility to reach their hearts.

“For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice.” John 10:2-4

As we teach and read God’s Word, we also want to make sure that we are presenting the good news of the gospel to your families. We all need grace along with truth. Jesus was the perfect balance of grace and truth.

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

“Loving kindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalm 85:10

This is a critical time to explain the forgiveness that only Jesus can extend since He died to take away our sins on the cross. He had no sins of His own and so He could take ours upon Himself.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

Conviction and condemnation. These are big words, but they are the difference between death and life.

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10