An Introduction To Worship In The Home

Family worship serves an important role in shaping both children and adults in their Christian formation. More specifically, every family is continuously exerting influence on its members by the ways they order and live out their lives. This echoes the adage that Christianity is more often caught than taught. Therefore, the underlying question is not "Are we shaping our children for Christ?" Rather, it becomes,"Are we forming them to receive or reject Christ?" Scripture reminds us: Impress them (the commandments) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. (Deut. 6:79) Barry Liesch observes that this worship is situational, affective, and based on the modeling of parents (Barry Liesch, People in the Presence of God [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988], 5456). The Puritans, lik…