Because of God’s sovereign grace and His providential design some children are placed in a home where the gospel is lived and taught, which should give every believing parent good reason to hope that God intends to save them (John 5:34; 2 Peter 3:15).
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 7.
God has so designed that children, in their formative years, naturally look to their [parents] in order to emulate them… "Mold me – impart to me what’s most precious to your hearts." But so often a child sees behind all of the religious garb of his parents and finds what is really precious to them! He sees patterns of heart which lure them toward a pursuit of wealth, leisure, athletics, entertainment, television, shopping or religious busyness. A child can easily see when these things are more exciting to his parents than devotion to Jesus Christ! When this proves to be the case, a child will embrace those same affections – to the detriment of his own soul!
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 18-19.
There are a variety of ways God’s Word can be conveyed to your family:
1. By direct reading from the Bible according to a plan.
2. By reading from a sound Bible story book.
3. Through the use of a catechism, a very successful method of teaching biblical truths by simple questions and answers.
4. Through Scripture memory and review.
5. By reading from a good devotional commentary.
6. By reading through solid Christian classics like The Pilgrim’s Progress (Make sure your Bibles are in front of you, to explore the scriptural truths that will jump from every page!).
7. By reading from Christian biographies, historical fiction, theological novels.
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 16.
Primarily the elements available to the father (or head of the household) as he leads family worship are the same as those found in weekly public worship. At a minimum these three are most essential and should always be included: song, Scripture, and supplication.
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 15.
[After] worshiping God as a way of life the previous six days in both private and family worship…public worship will be a natural outflow.
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 9.
The lifelessness experienced in so many churches in our day can be traced directly to the multitudes of families in those churches which contain Sunday-morning Christians only. It is plain to see the cause for such deadness when such individuals are not consistently worshiping God in private. Statistics reveal that only 11 percent of all professing Christians in America read their Bible or some portion of it once a day. If so few professing Christians are spending time alone with God, it should not be surprising that family worship as a practice among professing Christian families is practically nonexistent.
Family Worship, Audubon Press, 2002, p. 10.