We may invite you to take your Bibles, please, and turn with me this morning to the Old Testament book of Joysha, the Old Testament book of Joysha and the chapter number 24. We are in between chapters in our study through Philippians. We're about to go into chapter number two. And so before we moved into that new chapter, I wanted to take the opportunity and address a special topic. And so we're gonna be reading today from Joysha chapter 24. Let us hear the word of the Lord this morning. And Joysha gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. And Joysha said unto all the people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor. and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it, but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them. And afterward I brought you out, and I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came onto the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen onto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side, Jordan. And they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not hearken unto Balaam. Therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. And he went over Jordan and came onto Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Qorahites. the Hivites, the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you and draved them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, but not with thy sword nor with thy bow. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not. And ye dwell in them, of the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted, not do ye eat. Now therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.' And the people answered and said, God forbid, that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. Amen. Again, may the Lord add his own blessing to the public reading of his precious word. Would you bow with me please in prayer as we seek the Lord this morning for his help in the ministry of his own precious word. Gracious and eternal God, we do humbly commend thy presence this morning. We thank you for the opportunity that is ours to minister the word of God. We pray, O God, that you would even this day close us in with God. I pray that there would be a word here to every father, every mother, every husband, every wife, every son, every daughter. We pray, O God, for the reformation of our nation, But Lord, we know before there can ever be a reformation of nation, that there must be a reformation of church. And Lord, before there can ever be a reformation of church, there must be a reformation of our families. O Lord, we pray today that you would help us, O Lord, through the ministry of the Word to set in action profitable things, whereby in our homes we may worship and serve the living and true God. Help us, we pray, for thy name's sake. Amen and amen. As the Lord Jesus Christ is delivering his perhaps most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, in verse 24 of Matthew's Gospel in the chapter 6, he says the following words, For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now as the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking and revealing that truth, he's revealing some very important spiritual truths for you and I even today. He's first of all reminding us that every one of us has a God. Every one of us has a God. He gives no third option here about those who are serving no master at all, but rather he is saying he cannot serve two masters. And the inference is that all of us is serving one or the other. But secondly, not just as everybody have a God, not just as everybody have a master, but everyone serves that God. Everyone serves that master. Again, he would say that he cannot serve two masters. And so all of us, whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are conscious of it or not, has a God and is serving that God throughout our lives. But then the third spiritual truth that he reveals is this. that a God, lowercase g, can be a material item. It can be a material item. He says that he cannot serve God, capital G, the true and living God, and mammon, that word there being money. And so even something as immaterial as money can assert itself as a God within our hearts and in our lives. And we can end up giving to that material thing the worship that is only due for God alone. But these truths apply not just to individuals, but they also apply to families. Yes, God makes man and woman as individuals in his image, with a soul, with a will, but he always places them into a family, a family that has structure, a family that is to be ruled by the husband and father who has been appointed by God as the head of the home. And so each family is either led and instructed to worship the true God or led and instructed to worship and serve a false God. There cannot be any middle ground and there is no neutrality when it comes with who we worship in our homes. We find an example of this in the passage of scripture that you and I have read today in Joysha chapter 24. Notice what Joysha says there in the verse number 15. when he's presented with this truth of whom they will serve and worship. Again, they will either have to serve the true God or the false God. Joyce just says in verse 15, as for me and my house. we will serve the Lord. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Now notice, Joyce, she does not say, as for me, I will serve the Lord. No, he rightfully, as the head of his home, includes his household. He rightfully, as the head of his household, realizes that it's his responsibility and he has the authority to lead that home, to serve the true and the living God. And so this message today is designed to be a reminder to the husbands and to the fathers of this congregation that whether you have accepted it or not, whether you are living up to it or not, you are called to lead your family, to serve the true and the living God. And what we do in our homes and what we are doing in our families has an impact on either leading them to serve the true God or leading them to serve a false god. But the question that I want to ask this morning is this, how can we ensure that our families are being marked out as Christian families? How can we ensure that our wives and our children, that they are being instructed and discipled in the Christian faith? Not just passively by observing our conduct and our character, but that they are actively and intentionally being discipled. How can you and I ensure as heads of our homes that this is taking place? Well, many of you will already know the answer that I am going to give to that question. And I believe the most profitable way for that to be ensured within any Christian home is through the practice of family worship, through the practice of family worship. Now, this is not the only exclusive method. We do have public worship too. It is the responsibility of fathers and mothers to ensure that their family is brought to the house of God, that their children are in sitting under the word of God, and that they're being raised under the instruction not just of the parents, but also of the minister of the local congregation as well. But at most and at best, Your children, if they attend the three services throughout the week, will only sit under the instruction from this pulpit for about an hour and 45 minutes a week. Only an hour and 45 minutes a week. And often is the case it is even less than that. Sometimes parents, whenever their children don't turn out spiritually how they expected or wanted, they attempt to lay the blame at the feet of the church. And yet it is the parent It is the father, especially, and the mother, who has the greatest opportunity to instruct their family in the ways of the Lord. And so, as you already know, I want to speak to you this morning upon the subject of the practice of family worship, the practice of family worship. Now, as we consider this as a subject this morning, there's three main points that I'm going to draw out in this subject. The first thing that you and I will notice is the basis for family worship, the basis for family worship. Then we're going to consider some of the basics of family worship. And then lastly, we're going to consider together the benefits of family worship. Now before we get into our first point, let me just make a few reminders that yes, I am aware that I have preached on this subject before. And if you sit under this ministry in the years to come, you will hear this subject being preached on time and time again. The fact that I'm preaching on it again is intentional. Because as often and as keen as we are to want to raise our children in the Lord, we often, through the busyness of our schedules, neglect the most profitable means and way of discipling our families in the Christian field. And so I designed this today as a reminder to you that as families of this congregation, you are to be regularly gathering together for family worship. But also as well, this is a reminder that family worship should not just happen whenever there's children in a home. In every home with husband and a wife, there ought to be worship together, whether children have been born into that home yet or whether children have left the home, whatever the situation, it ought to be the desire among the families of this congregation to gather regularly and worship their God. I want you to notice with me the first thing here, the basis for family worship. We could argue the need for family worship just from plain reason and from Christian experience. If a family is a Christian family, why wouldn't they honor God? Why wouldn't they want to read the Bible together? Why would they not pray regularly together? We do that in the church week by week, throughout the week. We do that with other friends and people that we know who are Christians. Why would we not want to gather our families round and worship the true and the living God? But as always we must come back to scripture and from scripture see that to gather a family together and to have worship together as a family is a means of fulfilling the scriptural obligations that you have as a father and that you have as well as a mother. So I want to turn to a few passages of scripture this morning. We'll look first of all at Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. And just for time's sake this morning, we'll break in here at verse number seven. You can read from the verse number one in your own time, but for time's sake, verse number seven, it says, And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. You're to teach them to your children. I want you to highlight something here where it says you will talk of them when thou sittest in thine house. And if I could break down that verse, I believe in the way that it's intended. When it says there of sitting in my house that is speaking of formal instruction. That's speaking of a designated time when your children would be gathered together and they would be sat down either around a dinner table or on the sofa or somewhere else and formal instruction in the Christian faith would be given. But then we can also go on to see that there is also informal instruction. Because it says, when thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way. That can be in those times when you're out for a family walk and a question is raised. That can be when you're in your car with your children and you're travelling and an opportunity for conversation arises and it's more informal. But then it also says, when thou liest down and when thou risest up, again, this is the idea of continual instruction. So whatever you're doing, whether you're lying on the sofa, whether you're rising up and walking about, you're to be instructing your children in the things of God. But again, I want to highlight to you this, that in that verse, there is the need for formal instruction. There is the need for a set, organized time when your children would be gathered round, when your wife and family would be gathered round, and you would instruct them in the things of God. How can we ensure in our homes that there is a time of formal instruction? Well, the best way to do that is by setting aside a time each day where all the family would gather, they would sit down, and they would be instructed by the Word of God. You can call that what you will, family devotion, Bible times, family prayer. I'll call it in our Presbyterian tradition, family worship. But whatever label you want to put upon it, there is to be an organized gathering of the children under that time of instruction. Let me turn to just a few verses. We do have the Psalm number 78. Psalm number 78. And the verse number five. For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their generation. Again, here's our obligation to teach your children. Psalm 145 then. Psalm 145 in the verse number four, one generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. Then the book of Joel, the chapter one and the verse number three, tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation. But one final verse of which we will consider a little deeper. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse number 4, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up. in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Notice in that verse who is addressed, fathers. You bear the primary responsibility in your home to ensure that your children are being instructed in the things of God, that they are being taught the things of God, that they are being disciplined in the things of God, and that they are maturing in that aspect. But notice what it says there when it says, bring them up. The idea behind that is to nourish them, is to give them a meal. And in our families do we not have set times for meals? Do we not give our children breakfast? Do we not give them lunch? Do we not give them dinner? Are those not times when the family would gather around and eat together? And yet here the same idea is portrayed, that there ought to be a time, a meal time, not for the body but for the soul. A meal time for our children, for our wives and for our family, when we would feed them upon the food of the word of God, when we would give to them the bread of life. And again, how are we to ensure that that is taking place? We do so through family worship. But that's the exhortations. Scripture gives these multiple exhortations that this is what we are to do. But let me point you to a few examples in Scripture. Examples of men who have done this in their own homes. I turn first of all to the book of Job. Job chapter 1. Job chapter 1 and the verse number 4, and it says concerning Job here, And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one in his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of all them, But notice we'll read in verse number five, And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts, Thus Job did continually." Notice the two words there. First of all, he sent for them. He sent for them. And the idea behind that word sent is that he sent, he called them, and he brought them to him. So this is not just Job, you know, doing something in and of himself. Not just praying in his own private closet. No, this is the entire family gathering together and he's sanctifying them. He's offering up sacrifices onto God for them in case that they have sinned. And so here again we see a godly man gathering his family together for worship. But then we also can read of Abraham in Genesis chapter 18. And notice what God said concerning Abraham when we read just the verse 19. Genesis chapter 18 and the verse number 19, for I know him, that's Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of. And so here again, we see God acknowledging this is a godly man. And what's he doing? He's commanding his children. Not just passively but he's actively instructing, commanding them in the way that they ought to serve the Lord. And then one final verse of example is the Psalm number 118. The Psalm 118. And the verse number 15 it says the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The word tabernacles there is tense. And so there is a picture here being presented that Israel they're going through their wandering period at this time. But they have and they're living in these tents in these booths. And what is the Lord doing? The Lord has so instructed them that they are to gather together as families and they're to worship as families in their tents and they're to sing praise and glory unto God. And so you can almost see that picture. That as somebody is walking through there, the nation of Israel, walking through the different tribes and they're in their tents in the evening time, they can hear the praises of God rising up out of the homes, rising up out of the tents. Oh, that God would give us such days when you'll be able to walk down a street in Prince George in the evening and hear the praise of God being sung from each of our homes. And so we have exhortation, we have example from scripture. Christian homes are to have regular and continual set times of gathering together. where instruction is given from the word of God and worship is given to the true God. And as I said, call it what you want. You might be more familiar with a different description, Bible time, family time, family devotions. As I said, I'll use the term family worship, but it's simply a label to describe a set time when God's or those families come together and they worship the true and the living God. But let me give to you now some of the basics of family worship. And here we're getting into the more practical setting of what really is to take place within family worship. And I want to break this up into just two ways. First of all, we're going to look at some principles. What is family worship to consist of? And then I want to give you some pointers as to how to go about implementing family worship in your home. But let's think first of all of the principles here. Now family worship will vary in its appearance from home to home. But the elements ought to be the same. The core essential elements ought to be present within every family devotion. Now what is to happen? Well, first of all, there is to be the reading of Scripture. The reading of Scripture. Let me read to you from 2 Timothy 3. Paul is writing to Timothy and he says concerning Timothy, that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith. Now Paul also writes at the beginning of that chapter and he acknowledges that it's through the teaching of his mother and his grandmother that Timothy come to know the Lord. That they raised him consistently and instructed him in the teaching of the word of God. And so there is to be the reading, the memorization of scripture. But then there is also to be the catechizing of our children. The catechizing of our children. And that term catechizing is a biblical term. And it's a biblical term that speaks about systematic instruction. And one of the tools that has been brought together is a catechism that we use in our churches. And the purpose behind that catechism is to give and to help the parent give systematic instruction to their children. It's a tool to help you teach the whole counsel of God. It's laid out in terms of questions and then also in answers as well. The parent would ask the child the question and the child then would have memorized the answer and the child would give the answer and the child would also be helped to think through the answer that they are given. Now a catechism and the use of it might be a foreign concept to some of you, but I want to stress to you today that catechizing your children and using a catechism to do so is one of the most beneficial tools that you can employ in the instruction of your children. It first of all helps you to teach the whole counsel of God. If you have even a little children's catechism that's designed really for very young children it takes them through all of the history of the Old Testament and the New Testament and it gives to them in their mind an understanding of the history of redemption. and the important events that God has done within that history. But then it also teaches them some doctrine as well and gives to them instruction at the very end. And so it's helpful to give to them a whole understanding of the purpose and the works of God. It means that the father doesn't just deal with his favorite topic every week. It means that you do not just dwell on one thing or one issue, but it balances out the family. It also is effective. It is effective. If you are to take a Christian who has sat in a modern evangelical church for 40 years, and you were to compare their Bible knowledge with a child of nine or 10 that from the age of three or four has been catechized, I guarantee you today that that child will have far better Bible knowledge of history and doctrine than that older person that has sat in the church for 40 years. It's guaranteed and it's evident in our children in our church. It's evident. If you ask them, who is God? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable. In his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Are there more gods than one? There is but one only, the living and true God. What do the scriptures primarily teach? The scriptures primarily teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of men. Valuable questions, but wonderful answers. And it helps them and it gives to them a whole understanding of the counsel of God. But also it is useful in bringing the children and making them a part of the congregation. Those children will be brought up into the Sunday school. And as they come to the Sunday school, they're given their catechisms to memorize and to learn. And so each week a goal is set for the child of learning a catechism for the following Sunday. And it helps the child and it helps the parent work towards something throughout the week. And so, for example, as you gather your child for family worship and you go over that catechism night after night with your children and you're helping them to memorize it and to learn it, you're working towards that Sunday where they will be able to say it and then that'll be a help to you. But it also ensures that instruction is taking place. It's a good guide. Whenever you go to teach a child, in whatever organization, whatever environment, there always has to be a curriculum. You have to know where you're going, you have to know at what stage you're going to get to that at, and you have to have an end goal. If you're to effectively teach your children, a curriculum is needed so that you can know that you're doing it. That's one of the wonderful blessings of the catechism, that you're able to compare where your child is at and that they're progressing and they're learning as well. And so there is to be the reading of scripture. There is to be the catechizing of the children. But there is also to be prayer as well. There is to be family prayer and the whole family should be encouraged to pray. Not just the father or the mother but even the children from their very earliest of days should be taught on the things of God and encouraged to pray as well. Now, they should not be forced to pray. We don't want to force that upon our children and perhaps make them engage in a prayer that is not meaningful, a prayer that they do not mean or a prayer that they're simply doing to please their parents. But nonetheless, our children should be encouraged to pray. But then as well, you might also want to bring into your family worship a devotional book. You might want to have a devotional book that you would read to your family. And so this is an opportunity where if you pick a good reformed biblical devotional book, you have another voice speaking into your family. And I can testify personally that as we would read through our devotional book, there has been several key moments throughout the years of our family devotions where that devotion has just spoken to our family, just ministered that exact word that we needed at that time. But there's also then as well, to be singing. Now this can be the most difficult and the most awkward to implement, especially if you don't believe you're that good of a singer. But let me commend to you the value of singing in your home, the value of singing praises to God. the value of what it is to raise your children in an environment of song. It itself is a means of teaching your children doctrine and truth. And you teach them, yes, the simple choruses, you can bring them in to your family worship, but teach them the great hymns of faith as well as a means of instruction. But when? When are you to do family worship? Well, again, the answer to that will not be the same for every family. Some families are morning people some families are like all sitting at the dinner table or their breakfast table at six o'clock in the morning. That is not our family. There's definitely not me and my family anyway it might be Eddie but it's not me. Others might say well you know after mealtime in the evening and for others it might be well we're about to put the children to bed. Let's do our family worship. The idea is not picking the perfect time. But the idea is that you do it whenever it works for you. And again, as you implement these things of reading and catechizing and prayer, reading devotional and singing, you're really looking at about 15 minutes. That's really how long it takes. 15, 20 minutes at the most, that's how long it takes to do this. And so it's not a prolonged period of time. It's not an hour. It's not even half an hour on most occasions. But it's selecting a time where you will regularly do it. A time where you can get into the rhythm and consistency that this is what we do at this point. But who? Who should do family worship? Well, as we read there in Ephesians chapter six, fathers are to nourish and nurture their children. The primary responsibility of raising our children in the fear of the Lord belongs to the father. It is his responsibility and he must ensure that all the family, not just the children, but all the family are gathered for family worship at that time. And he is to ensure that his children are being instructed in the word. He is to ensure that his children are being catechized in the faith. The full responsibility comes upon him. But does that mean that the times when the father is away that there's not to be family worship? Of course not. The mother can come along, the wife can come along, and she can supplement in that family worship. But the father is to lead. He is to be the one who opens up the scriptures. He is to be the one who leads off in prayer. He is to be the one who reads the book, that instructs the children, that teaches the children and so on. It's his responsibility. He is to ensure that that is taking place. Again, if you've been reading and thinking about those verses, the challenge again, whether it was Abraham or Job or in Ephesians, the challenge is always to the father. Not that the mother can't supplement, as I said, but the full weight and responsibility of the discipleship of our children rests upon the father. And if it is not being done in our homes it is ultimately a failure of the father himself. Now at this point perhaps some of the women here are saying go get them. You know this is the point in the sermon where generally people like let's really put the men down and really get at them. But I'm not going to do that. My application here is to actually go a different direction. And perhaps the question might be in your mind, why isn't my husband doing this? Why isn't my husband taking leadership in the home? Well, I want to give you perhaps a few reasons as to why your husband may not be doing that. The first one could be that he's not saved. He's not saved. And it's time for you to be honest and admit to yourself that when it came to marrying him, You did not really care or not if he was truly saved or born again or not. You just wanted to be married. It was good enough for you that he ticked the box of going to church. It was good enough to you that he ticked the vague general box of being a good man. But as to his Christian experience, as to the evidence of the new birth in his life, you did not really do due diligence in discerning that or looking that out. Now you're in a position where you're married to an unmarried husband who cannot lead his home in the things of God. That's something you need to take to the Lord. That's something you need to be honest before the Lord about and pray for your husband's conversion. But it might also be as well that your husband has never been instructed in these things. That he's never been brought up or encouraged or taught how to implement family worship. And I would say that's probably the number one reason why it has not been done today. That what used to be the custom and the norm in our churches has now fallen by the wayside. It used to be, you know, back when people always attended a mainline denomination and everybody was a part of one of the major denominations, you would be publicly disciplined. if you did not have regular family worship in your home. And yet the very concept today has fallen by the wayside and the very practice of it has become forgotten. And so there is to be grace given that many men have never been taught or instructed in how to perform family worship in their home and hence the purpose behind these sermons. But another reason is this. You may have already assumed the role of head of the house. Perhaps your husband is not leading in the home because you already occupy that position, because you are actually the one that leads, because you're actually the one that says, yes, you know, officially he's the head of the house, but I'm the neck that turns the head. That you say, yes, he is the one who makes the decisions, but I tell him what decision to make. As you know, as I thought about this and what's going on in our culture today, There's so much conversation around the issue of transgenderism. Transgenderism in our schools, people who are transgender, in supermarkets, wherever you go, it just seems to be everywhere. And there is a frustration within the church in wanting to deal with it, and wanting to do something about it. But I believe, and I'm speaking here about the church broadly and widely, not just our local congregation, But I believe if we are to ever see transgenderism out of our schools and out of our nation, we first need to remove transgenderism from our Christian homes. What happens, what is happening when a man abdicates his responsibility as head of the home? What happens when he becomes passive and he just lays back and is not the one leading and directing? He's become a woman. It's not that he's just abdicated one role, he has actually assumed another role, that of the wife. That of the wife who is to submit, that of the wife who is to follow, that of the wife who is to listen and to learn from her husband. He hasn't become just lethargical, he's assumed another role. He's living his life as a woman. And what happens whenever a wife or a mother steps in perhaps in that vacuum and assumes the head of the home. She becomes the man. She becomes the man. And I believe transgenderism and that idea is rampant in many Christian homes today. Because all of you I know you're sitting there and you can all think of a Christian family that you know where the wife rules the house. And the husband is passive. and the husband is silent and he doesn't take leadership. What is that? That is a transgender household. The wife is the man, the husband is the wife. And I pray, ladies, that you would honestly, with great seriousness and solemnity, Go home and get before God and be honest with God and ask yourself, is my husband the real leader of this home? Now you might then use excuses. Well, if I don't lead, he's not going to lead, it doesn't matter. You don't step into a role that God has not given you. The role of leading, the role of headship, that belongs to the man. And if it's empty, it's empty, but you don't assume it. May you go home and get alone before the Lord and ask yourself, is my husband allowed to lead? Is he permitted to lead our home? Or have I stepped into that space and I'm actually the one that is the head of the house? But another reason why this may not be happening in Christian homes is that the wife would not respect her husband's attempts to lead his home. Whenever the husband has to be thinking all day, I need to do something. And the family's there and he's nervous and he's doing it for the first time. He's saying, you know, let's sit down here. We're going to do everything together. And, you know, scrolling through his phone, looking up the Bible and he's awkwardly trying to do something which is better than nothing. What does the wife do? Children, you sit there and she goes in, picks up the plates, begins to wash the dishes, walks around. She doesn't sit down. She's too busy. She doesn't respect that her husband is actually trying to lead in that moment. Or as the husband tries to lead family devotions, he's constantly cut off. She constantly interjects as if to say, OK, you haven't done this right now. I'm going to take over and do it right. Or she resists his attempts to lead. The father would say, or the husband would say, listen, this is something that our house, I don't want doing anymore. I don't want our children. I don't want our house watching that anymore. Or I don't want us going to this certain place. And you're just fighting against it. You're resisting it. All of those things undermines the authority and headship of the Christian home. And I believe that yes, men must step up and lead. Yes, we must step up and lead our homes and fight to take the reins back over them. But I believe as well, women must submit. And they must recognize their role and do their role as a wife and mother, not the role of the father. What can you do then? Wives, mothers, what can you do to encourage your husband to do this? Men I believe today are starved for encouragement. Well first of all you can recognize and accept his rule as head of the home. You can do it. In the simple things just obedience and obey. Listening to what he says not arguing against it. That doesn't mean there's not discussion but there's not an argument there's not a resisting. You're recognizing and accepting his rule of the home. You're letting him lead you. Even if you think he's wrong. Even if you think he's not making the right decision, you're still submitting and letting him lead you. You know, that's your decision to make. You know I have some concerns, but listen, whatever you do, I'll follow you. You're my husband. But you can encourage him. You can encourage him. Not by a big gushing, I love you and this is wonderful, just by a little thank you. Just by a little, that was really nice tonight. Man, that'll go a long way. That's like 100 octane fuel in your husband's stomach. That feeds him for a long time, encouragement. And listen, mothers and fathers, when you go to implement family worship, it's awkward perhaps for the first time. And husbands, you'll make all of these mistakes and it won't be good, but at least you're doing something. At least you're doing something. If you're sitting there at the table and you're going through your phone and you're reading a verse of scripture and you're awkward in yourself and you're trying to speak to your children, do something. It's better than nothing. Start somewhere and improve upon it. Don't think that you're going to just reach your full capacity within one attempt to perform family worship in the home. But let me give you some pointers. That's the principles of what we are to do, when we are to do it, who is to do it. But some pointers. Let me give you some of these words that will rhyme together. First of all, family worship, there is to be simplicity. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Read the Bible. And let me recommend to you, should have mentioned this earlier, but one of the best study Bibles you can use for your family worship. is the Reformation Heritage Study Bible. It is designed for personal and family worship. So you read through a chapter of scripture. You can either buy the whole Bible or just the little appendages in a booklet form. You read through that chapter of scripture and it has a paragraph, a devotional paragraph on that chapter for you. It also has at the back the catechism that you can turn to and read through it. But keep it simple. Keep it simple. But also there is to be consistency. Let it be consistent. Get into the habit of doing this every day with your family and be consistent about it. Again, you can think to yourself, what does 15 minutes do with my family? 15 minutes does a lot if it's done seven days a week and it's done 365 days a year. And it's done for year after year, perhaps for 18 years that your child will be in your home. You count that up, that's a lot of instruction. But then there is to be clarity. You might interject different levels of difficulty for your family worship. So whenever your children are just born, say you have one child that's born, all of the devotions will go over their head, all right? You're not going to be able, no matter how simple you make it, you're not going to be able to make it that an infant will be able to communicate. But as your children get older and they become a toddler, then you might simplify a portion of your devotions. You might read to them Pilgrim's Progress. You might teach them the simpler form of the catechism. You might help them memorize just a little verse or so on. You might make that devotional. You might read it to your family, the older ones, and then you might simplify it to your children. There is to be clarity. But then you are to do it persistently, persistently. And this is not the same as consistency. You are to do it with persistency. You're to persevere through the times when it's difficult, through the times when it's hard. You're to keep going and going and going. You're to do it corporately. All the family should be present. Children, I'm addressing you. When your father or your mother shouts out, it's time for family worship. You ought to put down what you're doing immediately, and you ought to go where you gather for family worship, and you ought to be there. Wives, you ought to put down what you're doing. Husbands, if the wife comes out to remind you it's time, the kids are going to bed, family worship is to be done, put down your tools and do family worship. We are to do it corporately, but we are also to do it diligently. Diligently. We are to realize, both by exhortation and example, what scripture requires of us as men to do in our homes. And we are to be diligent and active and sincere in the discipling and raising of our children. But thirdly and finally, this will be brief, some of the benefits of family worship. If you have not practiced family worship or your family worship has fallen by the wayside let me remind you of some of the wonderful benefits that there will be to start this practice or to rekindle this practice in your home. First of all it naturally establishes and strengthens the biblical rules of the household. It naturally strengthens and establishes the biblical roles of the household. When the husband goes with the Bible, and he is reading the Bible, and he's catechizing the children, and he's reading the devotional, he's taking an active lead. What's it doing? It's asserting him. It's placing him into that place as the head of the home. It helps the biblical structure of the home come to pass. But also as well, it's a powerful influence on the lives of your children. You read some of the biographies of the children of the Puritans. And you read concerning the influence that family worship had upon them. You talk to any child who is walking with the Lord concerning if they grew up in a home where family worship was regularly practiced and they will tell you the great blessing that it was in their life. Even this past week I was talking to a young woman who's now grown up left her home and married. And one of the things that she would say in her testimony is the influence of family worship had such a massive impact on her spiritual growth. It's a wonderful benefit. But then thirdly, it equips your family for times of distress. It equips your family for times of distress. When there's tragedy, when there's something that's happened in the home, terrible news has come in and you have to hear it. If you haven't already been in the practice of opening up the Bible, you only think it's awkward now to start, try and do it then. And then you're trying to make up for years that you've missed in preparing your family for tragedy and difficulty. But if you're in that regular routine, you say, children, it's now time to gather for worship. You're already in that practice. You're already prepared. And often, so very often, in those times when you've been regularly doing family worship, in the very moment, in the very day, when you need a word from God, He gives it. He gives it for the family. Have you come into this church before, sat under the preaching of the word, and you just said, that was a message for me. That was a word from God to my soul. The Lord can do that in your home. He can do that in your home. But then also as well there is the benefit that we can teach our children in family worship how they are to conduct themselves in public worship. It's the perfect opportunity for those 15 minutes or 20 minutes to sit our children down and to say we're in worship now. This is like church. OK. So we're going to sit. I want you to take your handbook and you have six days of the week to train your children up for the Lord's Day. You have that opportunity to, you know, re-emphasize to them and remind them of the solemnity of what's taking place. And so it's a wonderful opportunity for parents to instruct their children and prepare their children for the Lord's Day. Now in conclusion, I speak to those who have not yet implemented the regular practice of family worship. or to those that have let the regular practice of family worship fall by the wayside, let me exhort you, as your minister, to once again take a hold of this practice. Let me encourage you tonight, while it's fresh in your mind, to say, listen, after our dinner tonight, before our children go to bed, whenever the time might be, let's have this time of family worship. And go through that, just read a chapter of scripture, have prayer, read one of the catechisms, discuss the catechisms together, have a devotional book to read in your home, try and sing together, but do something. And as I said, listen, doing something is better than nothing. It's better that you fail at this time and time and time and time and time again until you eventually get to the point where you're competent in it than just doing nothing and having never failed at all. Do something and keep this in your mind. Lead. Lead your home, man. Lead your children. Be active in it. And yes, if you do this this evening, there might be that awkwardness. There might even be that awkwardness now. Is our dad really going to do this? Do it, man. Do it. Do it. The awkwardness that you feel now, the embarrassment that you feel now, will be nothing compared to the judgment that you will receive for neglecting the spiritual care of your children. I pray that the Lord would help us to establish worship in our homes. For as I said in my prayer, that if we are to see the reformation of our nation, there must be the reformation of our churches. And if there is to be reformation in our churches, there must be reformation in our homes. May the Lord help us to worship him publicly, privately, but also as well with our families, that he would have all the glory, all the praise for which he is due.