Worship at the Dinner Table
this post is for the guys, but ladies you can partner with your husbands in these ideas
To all of my fellow brothers in Christ:
You have been called to lead your family through the power of the Holy Spirit. God has given us the opportunity to love our families well by leading them just as Jesus loves and leads His bride, the Church.
Often, we allow our roles as pastors, worship leaders, and production managers to distract us from our primary role at home. Our ministry on Sunday mornings cannot be our only outlet for participating in worship and serving others.
At home, we represent Jesus to our families by choosing to love them and lead them in the scriptures. We must remember to practice a lifestyle of worship each morning when we wake up. Our wives and kids look to us to set an example and point them to Jesus.
[Ephesians 5]
What does this mean- should I be singing worship songs to my kids all day?
You could sing all day, but rather, we should focus on living in a manner that teaches our families to honor God with their time and gifts!
Practical ideas:
Preach the gospel in conversations around the dinner table.
Read Scripture with your wife and with your kids every day! Don’t over complicate it. Just read a passage during a family meal. Pray together!
Ask your wife and kids questions that stir their thoughts towards scripture.
Become an active listener! Listen to what is going on in your wife and your kid's hearts- pray for their needs daily.
I’ve been challenged by the reading of the God’s Word and the Godly men in my life to be more than just a dad who shows up and checks off the daily tasks of life. And no, I don’t want to just sit around and sing songs for my family all day. Biblical worship is defined in Romans 12 as a sacrifice of ourselves to God. By serving at home, my role as a worship leader is to point my family to Jesus in their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. In the book Doxology and Theology, Matt Boswell says the following:
“Our ultimate aim is to point people to the true and better worship leader (Jesus). My aim as a husband is not to be perfect but to continually hold out the gospel for my wife. My aim as a father is not perfection, but to point my children to the true and better Father. My prayer for my family and yours is that we would bring glory to God by leading gospel centered homes that practice the biblical scope of worship.” -Matt Boswell, Doxology and Theology
To the only perfect father, our heavenly Father, we pray that you would move in our hearts and minds to love and lead our families well!
