How To Use this guide
Throughout Christian history, families have participated in both the corporate worship services of the church, and in private family worship in their homes. One of the keys to worshipping together as a family is simply to have a plan. We want to encourage you to pick one time a week and designate that as the time when you will gather as a family and spend some time in worship. Remember this doesn’t have to be long or formal but you can simply follow the short guide we have here. This guide requires little to no preparation and is connected to what we are doing together on Sunday mornings.
Each week the guide will contain four main elements: Sing, Read, Teach, and Pray, with the elements in the guide pulled from our corporate worship service that week. There are also some recommended resources included at the bottom of the guide that may be helpful to your family at some point during your time together.
You can do the whole thing in 15 minutes as a family or, if the discussion is going well, feel free to go longer. Remember to give yourself grace and trust that the Lord will supply what you need. It won’t always be smooth and it may sometimes feel like little was accomplished. The key is just to spend regular time together in worship and point each other to Jesus. Think of ways to make this time interactive and engage your kids if you have them.
You aren’t in this alone. The Lord is with you and so are we. Feel free to share with us how your worship together is going. We would love to help you with any struggles you may be facing and celebrate all the victories. Know that we are praying for you each week as we send out this resource. We are so excited to see what the Lord does as he works in and through you and your families.
Each week the guide will contain four main elements: Sing, Read, Teach, and Pray, with the elements in the guide pulled from our corporate worship service that week. There are also some recommended resources included at the bottom of the guide that may be helpful to your family at some point during your time together.
You can do the whole thing in 15 minutes as a family or, if the discussion is going well, feel free to go longer. Remember to give yourself grace and trust that the Lord will supply what you need. It won’t always be smooth and it may sometimes feel like little was accomplished. The key is just to spend regular time together in worship and point each other to Jesus. Think of ways to make this time interactive and engage your kids if you have them.
You aren’t in this alone. The Lord is with you and so are we. Feel free to share with us how your worship together is going. We would love to help you with any struggles you may be facing and celebrate all the victories. Know that we are praying for you each week as we send out this resource. We are so excited to see what the Lord does as he works in and through you and your families.
SING
READ
Psalm 103:1–22 (ESV)
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
TEACH
Question 28
Q: What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?
A: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.
The Nicene Creed (AD 325/381)
We believe in one God,
the Father All Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all time,
Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten not made,
of the same essence as the Father,
by whom all things were made.
Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered and was buried and rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures;
He ascended to heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
And his kingdom shall have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Q: What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?
A: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.
The Nicene Creed (AD 325/381)
We believe in one God,
the Father All Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all time,
Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten not made,
of the same essence as the Father,
by whom all things were made.
Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered and was buried and rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures;
He ascended to heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
And his kingdom shall have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Pray
- Help us to worship the Lord with all that is within us.
- Pray that we would not forget all that we have in Jesus.