Want to change your family history forever? Implement family worship! My guest this week, William Boekestein, heartily recommends the practice of family worship in our homes, encouraging parents to take the bulk of responsibility for the spiritual shepherding of their children. In this episode William will share what he sees as the great benefits of family worship - things like making your way through the Bible together, having time to talk about the important things in life, the preparation of children for corporate worship, and learning to pray aloud.
Worried you'll just get eye rolls from kids who might think family worship time is silly or a waste of time? William speaks to that as well, reminding parents that resistance is normal, but that faithfulness to worship together as a family, even for a few minutes a day, will create a routine with a lasting and significant impact on the hearts of your children. Take it from Elisabeth Elliot who wrote in her book, The Shaping of a Christian Family, "How thankful I have been in the dark hours that my parents saw to it that hymns became fixed in our minds and hearts through what was to us at the time merely a family routine." What will we as parents see to it that our children have fixed in their hearts? Family worship is a simple way to fix biblical truth, real hope, and gospel grace into the hearts of our children.
William Boekestein is pastor of Immanuel Fellowship Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He received his B.A. at Kuyper College and his M.Div. at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is also the author of several books and he writes for various publications such as Ligonier and TGC. William and his wife, Amy, have four children.
Resources:
The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot
Family Worship by Joel R. Beeke
The Neglected Grace by Jason Helopoiulos
Tell God How You Feel by Christina Fox
Titus 2:11-14 (emphasis on grace over severity!)