By Jason and Jami Balmet
5
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The podcast currently has 11 episodes available.
Episode 6 of Household Hermeneutics is here, and today we're taking a look at the New Testament canon of Scripture!
We believe that the 27 books we have in our New Testament are exactly the right books to have. We are going to look back at history and in the Bible itself to find out how the New Testament canon was formed, and why we can have confidence in it's inspired accuracy, and the accuracy of the entire Canon.
You can Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode! Or listen on Spotify, Google, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
The first few weeks in the life of a new podcast is very important. So if you have 5 minutes to leave a rating and a review over on iTunes, that would help so much!!
What we cover in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Note for parents
After each episode of Household Hermeneutics, we are going to have a second, much smaller episode that will encapsulate the topic of the main episode and provide some resources and other useful things that you can use to teach your kids in a family worship setting. This week’s main episode covered the Old Testament canon of Scripture, so today’s family worship episode is going to be about how the Bible is perfect, true, and does not contain any errors. Then we will work on a new memory verse together, and we will also memorize a question and answer from a catechism. As we usually do here, we will end with a hymn.
Family Worship - The Old Testament Canon of Scripture
In our last episode, we answered the question: “Are there any errors in the Bible?” We determined that the answer is “no,” because the Bible is inspired by God, it is His own words, and since God cannot lie, then His word cannot contain any errors. The Bible is 100% true and trustworthy, because it was inspired by and given to us by a perfect and truthful God.
Today, we’re going to look at the books that make up the Bible, specifically in the Old Testament. We’re going to ask ourselves “what is the Old Testament?”
Chapter 1, Section 2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith says this on the Canon:
“Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:
Of the Old Testament Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth I Samuel II Samuel I Kings II Kings I Chronicles II Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.”
Let’s look at the Old Testament more closely. It is made up of 39 books, and they are broken into a few different groups. The first 5 books are the books of the Law. Moses wrote them and this sets up the framework of the nation of Israel.
The next 12 books are the books of history, and they cover the time from Joshua up through the building of the second temple. They talk about the history of God’s people and the story of how God is moving towards Jesus. We believe they were written primarily by Samuel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
The next 5 books are the Wisdom books. These are the books that offer us wisdom about God and the wise way to live our lives. We believe they were written by David, Solomon, and Moses.
The next 5 books are called the Major Prophets, and they’re called that because they are longer than the minor prophets. They give warnings to God’s people and the surrounding nations of what God plans to do.
The last several books of the Old Testament are called the Minor Prophets. Minor prophets have a shorter message of warning to deliver. They are under 10 chapters each and are usually to one specific people group.
Now that we understand what the books of the Old Testament are, and what they are about, let’s look at why we can be confident that they are the exact books God wanted us to have in our Old Testament, and there aren’t any missing.
Deuteronomy 4:2 - “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
Moses and then Joshua wrote several books in the OT, and then the rest were written mostly by the prophets. There are many places in Scripture that talk about the books being written and added to the canon. When Moses wrote the first five books, for example, they were placed into the Ark of the Covenant, right alongside the Ten Commandments.
Another reason we can trust the OT list of books is that the earliest peoples and historians believed that they were the true Words of God.
Also, Jesus and the authors of the NT books frequently quoted the OT Scriptures, over 295 times, and 100% of the time they are quoting from OT canon books, never from works in the apocrypha or other historical writings.
So, when we consider the Old Testament, we can trust that all 39 books it contains are there because God wanted them to be. They are his inspired, inerrant, books, and we trust that they are the correct ones because the Bible says they are, history shows that the earliest people reading the books considered them to be canon, and because they are quoted as Holy Scripture so many times by the writers of the New Testament.
Memory Verse
Deuteronomy 4:2 - “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
Catechisms
Keach’s Catechism
Q. 4. What is the Word of God?
A. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
Worship Song
Holy, holy, holy!
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinfulness thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed trinity!
Credits: Words by Reginald Heber (1826), Music by John Bacchus Dykes (1861)
Public Domain
Resource Recommendations
Holy, Holy Holy - https://youtu.be/sI6ZkTbUgW4
Books of the Bible Memory Song - https://youtu.be/i7ZtWRSCH7E
Episode 5 of Household Hermeneutics is here, and today we're taking a look at the Old Testament canon of Scripture!
We believe that the 39 books we have in our Old Testament are the exact right books to have. We are going to look back at history and in the Bible itself to find out how the Old Testament canon was formed, and why we can have confidence in it's inspired accuracy.
You can Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode! Or listen on Spotify, Google, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
The first few weeks in the life of a new podcast is very important. So if you have 5 minutes to leave a rating and a review over on iTunes, that would help so much!!
What we cover in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Note for parents
After each episode of Household Hermeneutics, we are going to have a second, much smaller episode that will encapsulate the topic of the main episode and provide some resources and other useful things that you can use to teach your kids in a family worship setting. This week’s main episode covered the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, so today’s family worship episode is going to be about how the Bible is perfect, true, and does not contain any errors. Then we will work on a new memory verse together, and we will also memorize a question and answer from a catechism. As we usually do here, we will end with a hymn.
Family Worship - The Inerrancy of Scripture
In our couple lessons, we’ve been talking about the Bible. We’ve talked about how the Bible is divinely inspired by God, and how important it is to study and know it. Today, we’re going to answer the question, “Does the Bible contain any errors?”
So to start thinking properly about this, let’s start with an illustration or 2. Imagine that you are trying to bake homemade cookies, and you are following a recipe from a famous baker who makes the most amazing chocolate chip cookies in the entire world. You have all the ingredients laid out in front of you, the oven is preheating, and you open the cookbook to the page with the recipe on it. Just as you’ve read through the first few steps and are starting to follow them, your mom walks into the kitchen and tells you that the recipe you’re following has some mistakes in it, and then walks away.
We’ll come back to this illustration in a little bit, but first, let’s look at what the Bible has to say for itself on this topic. John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
Hebrews 6:18 says, “… it is impossible for God to lie…”
1 John 5:20 says, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Proverbs 30:5a says, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
Okay, what do all four of these verse have in common? They clearly tell us that God does not lie, he cannot lie, as it is not in his nature, and thus every word he speaks is true. So, with that in mind, let’s go back to the question that I asked at the beginning: Does the Bible contain any errors?
We’ve already established that the Bible was entirely inspired by God, right? Every word of Scripture is God’s Word. Now we’ve also shown that God never lies. So, how could the Bible, which is the word of God, a God who is always true, possibly contain any errors? If there were mistakes or errors or things that weren’t actually true in the Bible, that would make God a liar, and we know that he’s not. That would be impossible, right? Therefore, we can have confidence that the Bible does not contain a single error, and that it is trustworthy.
The fact the Bible is inerrant, that it can be fully trusted to be true, is extremely important, and let me tell you why. If the Bible contained errors, then how could you know with any confidence what was true, and what was not true? You are reading and studying God’s Word, and trying to learn how to glorify and enjoy the Lord, but how can you if there are mistakes? What do you do, and what do you ignore? How can you trust any of it, if you can’t trust some of it?
Let’s circle back around to my cookie baking illustration from earlier. If the recipe you were using to make the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookies had errors in it, then the cookies wouldn’t turn out well, would they? In fact, there wouldn’t be any point in even bothering to make them. The same is true of the Bible. There is no real point in trying to understand and live your life by the words in a book that you can’t trust to be true.
So, with all that said, we can be very thankful to God that we can trust him to always be truthful, and that we can His Word to be entirely true.
Memory Verse
John 14:6 - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
Catechisms
Keach’s Catechism
Q. 5. How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?
A. The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, its power to convert sinners and to edify saints; but the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the Word of God.
Worship Song
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Credits: Words by Joseph M. Scriven (1855), Music by Charles C. Converse (1868)
Public Domain
Fun fact: preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother
Resource Recommendations
What a Friend We Have in Jesus - https://youtu.be/znWu2HCJ92c
What is Inerrancy? - https://youtu.be/zzIxAB3Mh0U
Episode 4 of Household Hermeneutics is here, and we're continuing our deep dive into bibliology!
We believe that the what the Bible says comes with the full authority of God, and that it contains no errors. We are going to talk how we can know that what the Bible says is true, why we can have confidence in the truthfulness of Scripture, the lack of errors in the Bible, and of course what all this means for the lives of our families.
You can Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode! Or listen on Spotify, Google, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
The first few weeks in the life of a new podcast is very important. So if you have 5 minutes to leave a rating and a review over on iTunes, that would help so much!!
What we cover in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Family Worship - Divine Inspiration of the Bible
In our last family worship episode, we talked about studying the Bible. Remember, we are called to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And, since God’s Word is the only way to learn how to glorify and enjoy Him, we need to make sure to study the Bible, so that we may learn how to do so. We even went through some great ways to study God’s Word, such as always reading it regularly, memorizing Bible verses, and reading Bible studies and listening to sermons.
Now, all of this begs the question why. What is it about the Bible that makes it the source we should use and trust so that we can live our lives to glorify and enjoy the Lord?
If the Bible is just a really old book written by some smart people a long time ago, then we probably wouldn’t care too much about what it said. We certainly wouldn’t need to study it, and try to live according to what it said.
But that is not the case. The Bible was divinely inspired by God, and what I mean by that is that every word in the Bible came from God. It is God’s own Word. And that is why we can trust it, and use it to glorify and enjoy the Lord.
Let’s look at some verses in the Bible that help us understand this. You should recognize this first one, since it’s part of our memory verse from last time. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” It says right there at the beginning that all Scripture is breathed out by God, meaning that it all came from God.
2 Peter 1:21 says, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We can see here that none of the Bible came from man’s will, but from God’s.
Let’s look at the Psalms for a moment. Here’s a good one. We see in Psalm 12:6 that “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.” What does this mean? It says that God’s words are pure, which means they have no flaws. They are all God’s words, and they are all true.
Now, as we like to do here in these lessons, let’s take a look at some of the historical catechisms, to see what they have to say about the inspiration of Scripture. First, let’s check the Catechism for Boys and Girls, question 15:
15.Q. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit
This is confirming what we’ve read in the Bible verses. God taught the men who wrote the Bible exactly what to say.
Let’s move over to Keach’s Catechism next. In Question 4 it says:
Q. 5. How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?
A. The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, its power to convert sinners and to edify saints; but the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the Word of God.
Before we conclude, we’re going to look at one of the great historical confessional documents. Chapter 1, Section 1 of the Second Helvetic Confession (1566) says, “We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spoke to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures.”
Okay, so what does this all tell us? We’ve seen from Scripture itself that God divinely inspired all of the Bible. It is literally “God’s Word.” The catechisms agree, that God recorded His words through holy men that He taught.
So when we consider the Bible, we don’t have to wonder if it was just written by humans and doesn’t actually contain the Truth we need to live by. We know that it is God’s Word, His own words, that He made sure were written down so that we can read them and study them and learn how to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. I don’t know about you, but I find that very encouraging and comforting.
Memory Verse
2 Peter 1:21 - For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Catechisms
The Catechism for Boys and Girls
15. Q. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit
Keach’s Catechism
Q. 5. How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?
A. The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, its power to convert sinners and to edify saints; but the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the Word of God.
Worship Song
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Credits: Words by Fanny Crosby (1873), Music by Phoebe Knapp (1873)
Public Domain
Resource Recommendations
Blessed Assurance - Celtic Worship: https://youtu.be/LOuw3rLY7Zg
The Untold Story behind the Author of the song "Blessed Assurance" - https://youtu.be/g3keZTYkwQw
How is the Bible divinely inspired: https://youtu.be/6Rt0tIOosg8
Episode 3 of Household Hermeneutics is here, and we're finally diving into an actual doctrine: Bibliology!
We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired revelation from God, and we dive deep into that in this episode. We are going to talk what the Bible means by the Word of God, why we can trust that Scripture is divinely inspired, the purpose of God's Word, and of course how this can affect our lives and the lives of our children.
You can Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode! Or listen on Spotify, Google, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
The first few weeks in the life of a new podcast is very important. So if you have 5 minutes to leave a rating and a review over on iTunes, that would help so much!!
What we cover in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Note for parents
After each episode of Household Hermeneutics, we are going to have a second, much smaller episode that will encapsulate the topic of the main episode and provide some resources and other useful things that you can use to teach your kids in a family worship setting. This week’s main episode wasn’t on a specific topic, but more of a look at different ways to study and understand theology, so today’s family worship episode is going to be on the topic of how and why we should study the Bible. In future episodes that are on a specific theological topic, the family worship episode will be on the same topic.
Family Worship - Studying God’s Word
When we’re in school, we study and prepare for tests, right? Why do we do that? There could be many reasons, such as hoping to get good grades, wanting a quality education and understanding the topics we’re learning, hoping to graduate, and you can probably come up with more. Well, studying God’s Word, the Bible, is even more important than studying in school.
Why do you think that is? In our last episode, we learned that the primary purpose that we have is the glorify God and enjoy Him forever, right? Well, studying the Bible is the best way to learn how to do that.
Just like last time, let’s look at a couple historical catechisms to see what they say about this. First, in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, it says in Question 2:
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
Question 3 goes on to say:
Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
In an even more succinct way, The Catechism for Boys and Girls says in Question 14:
14. Q. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A. In the Bible alone
Before going any further, let’s take a look at what the Bible itself says about all this. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Right before those 2 verses, where Paul clearly establishes all the things that Scripture is good for, he also says, “and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 1:13 says, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 119:104 says, “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”
There are countless other verses in the Bible that speak to this same fact, that the things we need to know in order to live in such a way as to love and obey God are found in the Bible, but we’ll stop there for now. Since we’ve now established that fact, let’s now move on to taking a look at how we can study and understand the Bible.
One of the easiest ways to learn is simply by reading the Bible. Now, this can of course be tricky sometimes, because there are parts of the Bible that aren’t completely easy to understand. We shouldn’t give up when we come across something hard or confusing. We should pray, asking God to help us to understand, and we should ask others for help, such as our parents, our pastor, or sunday school teacher. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” This means that we can rely on it to help us live our lives in a godly way.
Memorizing bible verses is another excellent way to study. That’s why I always include a verse to memorize at the end of these episodes. Having lots of the Bible memorized is super helpful in times such as when you face trials, are suffering from a lack of motivation, or are going through some sort of temptation because God’s word will remind you of his presence and guidance on how to deal with your situation. Psalm 119:9-11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Finally, another great way to study and understand the Bible better is to use Bible studies and listen to sermons. While they should never replace reading the Bible on its own, studies and sermons exist that can help you to go deeper and understand what the Scripture is saying. Psalm 119:33-34 says “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.” A great way to do this is with the help of tools like these.
Memory Verse
2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Catechisms
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
Keach’s Catechism
Q. 4. What is the Word of God?
A. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
Q. 5. How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?
A. The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, its power to convert sinners and to edify saints; but the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the Word of God.
Q. 6. May all men make use of the Scriptures?
A. All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted, to read, hear, and understand the Scriptures.
Q. 7. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man.
Catechism for Boys and Girls
14.Q. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A. In the Bible alone.
15.Q. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.
Worship Song
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be
Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love
Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside
Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Credits: Words by Thomas Chisholm (1923), Music by William M. Runyan (1923)
Public Domain
Resource Recommendations
Great is Thy Faithfulness - Sung by Chris Rice: https://youtu.be/0k1WhFtVp0o
Westminster Shorter Catechism: Question 2 put to music: https://youtu.be/Q1p8bSN3Xgg
Westminster Shorter Catechism: Question 3 put to music: https://youtu.be/DN8Xj3iPFpA
Episode 2 of Household Hermeneutics is here, and we can't wait for you to listen in!
There are 4 primary forms of theology that we will use to study God's Word in this podcast, and we talk about them all in this episode. We are going to explain our methodology for study Scripture, why we need to take theology seriously, why it's worth learning about, and a little about WHY it's so important to pass this down to our kids.
You can Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode! Or listen on Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
The first few weeks in the life of a new podcast is very important. So if you have 5 minutes to leave a rating and a review over on iTunes, that would help so much!!
What we cover in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Note for parents
After each episode of Household Hermeneutics, we are going to have a second, much smaller episode that will encapsulate the topic of the main episode and provide some resources and other useful things that you can use to teach your kids in a family worship setting. This week’s main episode wasn’t on a specific topic, but more of an introduction, so today’s family worship episode is going to be on the topic of our purpose that is given by God. In future episodes that are on a specific theological topic, the family worship episode will be on the same topic.
Family Worship - The Chief End of Man
People all over the world and throughout history have struggled with finding their purpose. “Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? What is my purpose?” But did you know that we don’t have to worry about that, because we know the answer?
The Bible tells us very clearly that man was created in order to bring glory to God and to enjoy Him. That means that you and I were created to glorify God by how we live our lives, and to enjoy Him forever. The very first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “What is the chief end of man?” and the answer is given: “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”
We can find this in the Bible, so we know it is true. First, let’s look at the first part, the glorifying God part. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20 says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Next, let’s look for the enjoying God forever part in the Bible. Psalm 144:15b says, "Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!” It says in Isaiah 12:2 that “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” In Revelation 21:3-4, it says, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” All of those things we just read sound like reasons we can enjoy God, right?
Before we go any farther, let’s make sure we all understand what it means to glorify something. To glorify means to give honor, or praise, or admiration. It means to please someone by your actions. So, in the case of our purpose in life, whenever we come to a point where we don’t know what to, or we need to make an important decision, the first question we should ask ourselves is this: how can I glorify God in this situation?
Here is an easy example. If your mom tells you to clean your room, but you don’t want to, you have two options. You could listen to her and clean your room, or you can disobey her and not clean it. But if you ask yourself the question, “how can I glorify God here?” you will find an answer. We know the Bible tells us in the 10 Commandments to obey our parents, so we can know that if our parents tell us to do something, then the way to glorify God would be to obey them.
So, our purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. When we know that, and trust it, it can help us through many tough situations.
Memory Verse
1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Catechisms
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q: 1. What is the chief end of man?
A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Westminster Larger Catechism
Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
Keach’s Catechism
Q. 2. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
Catechism for Boys and Girls
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me
Worship Song
Jesus Paid it All
VERSE 1 I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”
REFRAIN Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
VERSE 2 Lord, now indeed I find Thy pow’r, and Thine alone, Can change the leper’s spots And melt the heart of stone.
REFRAIN Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
VERSE 3 For nothing good have I Whereby Thy grace to claim; I’ll wash my garments white In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
REFRAIN Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
VERSE 4 And when, before the throne, I stand in Him complete, “Jesus died my soul to save,” My lips shall still repeat.
REFRAIN Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Credits: Words by Elvina M. Hall (1865), music by John T. Grape (1868)
Public Domain
Resource Recommendations
Jesus Paid it all - Sung by Newsboys: https://youtu.be/Hs05AtP2wd8
Westminster Shorter Catechism - Q1 put to music: https://youtu.be/NBVhVUGThfA
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