A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home by
Jason Helopoulos
Family worship is a lost art and tool to serve the living
God. Gathering around together as a
family to read the Scriptures, pray, sing and rejoice is often a practice that
is relegated to special occasions. Yet,
as author and pastor Jason Helopoulos reminds us, family worship is a living
grace whereby we show our devotion to God.
In the introduction, Jason reminds the reader that, “I hope that this
book will be an encouragement to the reader to have a true resolve to engage in
family worship, but only by, in, through, and because of the grace of God”
(16). Family worship done with heavy
hammer of guilt or out of sheer willful necessity will not bring about the joy
that comes from knowing Christ. For the
good of our families and a strong desire to delight in our Savior, family
worship can be an example of building practices into the life of the family
that will continue for a long while.
The first chapter opens with the concept of worship and its
various spheres. There are three spheres
of worship: secret, corporate and family relating the practices of personal,
church, and family times of worship. Jason
is clear to point out that all three of these spheres are to be in concert
together. If one sphere of worship such
as corporate worship is lacking (sparse in attendance), the other areas of
worship will be dramatically affected (27).
After basking in the light of Psalm 78 in chapter 2, Jason points us to
the remarkable responsibility that a father has by writing, “When I think of my
responsibility to care for my wife and children spiritually, I am not primarily
concerned about passing on my subjective experiences. I am not concerned with passion on some
fables or moral lessons. I am concerned
with passing on the truth of our God – who He is and what He has done. As Christian parents, we have one of the
greatest privileges in all of life: teaching our children to know God and His
Word” (33). God’s Word brings us up
front and center to God’s character, what he has done for us in Christ, and the
way to live for Him. Jason is absolutely
right in the weighty privilege to teach our children who God is and what he has
done. Furthermore, Jason reminds us that
we stand in a long line of saints before us in the great story of redemptive
history. Do we see ourselves in this
story? Do we see our children getting excited
about God’s story in the Bible? Family
worship is a means by which we open up the Word of God to our family for their
encouragement, benefit, and training.
In Chapter 3, Jason mentions some practical reasons for
developing family worship that were very helpful. Among these reasons, the idea that family
worship binds the family together and provides a common knowledge of the Bible
were two reasons that stuck out to me.
Why? For one, our family is
always running many different directions and having a set time of family
worship focuses our attention on God and each other in a unique way. Even more, family worship binds our hearts
together as we pray for each other, for God’s grace in our lives and even
confess our sins and failings. Jason
indicates also that most churches have age-defined groups that are teaching different
Bible stories than their parents are learning.
Having a shared Bible reading keeps the family focused on the same
passage and also provides an opportunity to work through the texts
together. I can’t tell you how many
times my four year old daughter has asked questions about the sacrificial
system , the prophets, and some of the customs of the Old Testament after we
were reading the Bible together. Family
worship is also a way for our young ones to soak up the Word of God so that it
will be on their lips daily, carrying them through all of life’s ups and
downs.
The rest of the book focuses on some practical aspects of
family worship including elements of worship, manner of worship, and some
common situations regarding children, unbelieving spouses, and inadequacy. The examples of how this plays out in the
real-life examples in the book were very good pictures that family worship can
look different while still keeping the same goal in mind. Jason also is wise to point in the book that
engaging in family worship is not a guarantee that your children will be
saved. There is no magic pill that if
you practice family worship God will save your children (78). And yet, God is able to use family worship to
pour out his grace.
I hope this book is a great encouragement to others desiring
to practice family worship. I was
impressed with Jason’s ability to encourage families with the wisdom that comes
from family worship while also answering the questions I had in mind regarding
family worship.
Thanks to Christian Focus Publications and Cross Focused
Reviews for the free copy of this book in exchange for review.
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