Family Worship Encouragement and Resources

Over the past several weeks, all of us have adjusted our habits and routines in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep ourselves and others safe. One significant change most of us have made involves much more time at home. With events and gatherings cancelled and work shifted to home offices for many of us, we have begun to establish new routines, few of which involve leaving the house. For this reason, we wanted to reach out to encourage each of you to pursue time worshipping the Lord in your home by reading scripture, praying, and singing. This is often referred to as family worship and it is complementary to congregational worship.  Read more HERE.

INTRODUCTION TO FAMILY WORSHIP

* How Do You Do Family Worship?, Donald Whitney (short video)

* Family Worship 101 with Donald Whitney, (Five short videos) - a free five-part training to lead family worship

* Family Worship 101, William Boekestein, Ligonier (Blog post)

* Family Worship, Donald Whitney (Crossway, Amazon, Christianbook) - a short book (88 pages) introducing the practice of family worship

* Family Worship, Joel R. Beeke (Amazon, Christianbook) - a short book (66 pages) helpful and motivating guide to implement or increase the depth of your family devotions

* Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church, Keith and Kristyn Getty (Amazon) - Chapter 5 of this book focuses on worship in the home.

* Thoughts On Family Worship, James Alexander (Amazon)

* How Do You Do Family Devotions?, Interview with John Piper (short audio with transcript)

* The Role of Family Worship, Interview with Tedd Tripp (short audio with transcript) - Tedd Tripp is the author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart and Instructing a Child’s Heart.

RESOURCES FOR FAMILY WORSHIP

* The Family Worship Book, Terry R. Johnson (Amazon, Christianbook) - a resource book with recommended hymns, bible reading, prayers, etc

* Family Worship Bible Guide, ed. Joel R. Beeke (Amazon, Christianbook) - discussion prompts for every chapter of the Bible

* The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones (Amazon, Christianbook) - for families with young children

* The Gospel Story Bible, Marty Machowski (Amazon, Christianbook) - for families with young children

* The Big Picture Family Devotional, Dave Helm (Amazon, Christianbook) - for families with younger children and pre-teens

* How to Teach Your Teen to Study the Bible, Jen Wilken, The Gospel Coalition (Blog post)

* Introducing New City Catechism, The Gospel Coalition (Blog post)

* The New City Catechism Devotional, Colin Hansen (Amazon)

* The New City Catechism for Kids, The Gospel Coalition (Amazon)

* Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism, Starr Meade (Amazon, Christianbook)

* Bible Project weekly home Bible study guide (free via email)