Worship 24x7 at Home

Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

How can I make every aspect of my life an act of worship to God? This can be especially tough when we’re at home, where we are most comfortable, where we feel least guarded. Sometimes who we are in front of others and who we are at home can be two different things, but our spirituality should be as strong in the home as anywhere else – whether serving our home as a husband and father, a mother and wife, or as a child.

Worship as Children

Ephesians 6:1 and Colossians 3:20 tell children to obey their parents in the Lord. This more than simply doing what parents say. It involves respect and attitude, but we do not see the severity of the Old Testament in the statutes of the New, where disobedient children faced severe punishment for their transgressions.

I Timothy 4:12 records Paul telling Timothy to set an example in his youth, in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. There comes a time when we need to grow up a little and be an example to our friends in the neighborhood, at school, and anywhere we can influence others. Verse 16 says that example can save both yourself and those you come in contact with.

Worship as Wives and Mothers

Ephesians 5:22 and Colossians 3:18 both speak of wives being submissive to their husbands (and we’ll be talking about men’s responsibilities in this in a moment). Peter explains this more in I Peter 3:1-6, speaking of the esteem a wife’s conduct can bring, of the example she sets for her husband, of the respect she shows for her family and God, the holiness shown in inner beauty instead of external beauty. It’s about putting others before self and living self-sacrificially for the sake of our families.

Worship as Husbands and Fathers

Paul has much to say to men in Ephesians 5, illustrating the love men should have for their wives, one like the sacrificial love Christ has for the church. He also says to love one’s wife and take care of her as he would care for himself. I Peter 3:7 tells husbands to be understanding to their wives, treating them as carefully as a valuable possession. If we love someone as deeply as this, if we really are willing to be as caring and respectful as this, then we have the foundation for a relationship of mutual love, respect, and service.

The New Testament also has much more to say to men about raising children than it has to say to women. Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to raise their children in the Lord, avoiding exasperating or provoking our kids. In this, fathers must set rules consistent with God’s law and set an example that speaks of our commitment to God. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 illustrates a home where God’s law is always in the hearts and on the lips of the family, and this begins with teaching. It begins with living God’s word in all aspects of our family lives.

Worship as a Family

What do our neighbors see in us as Christians? Do they see the faith we profess in our examples? Are we reverencing Him with our lives. We profess faith in God, but are we really living it? Our faith in Christ, the conduct we demonstrate before God and others, applies at home as well as anywhere else, and every member of our family should always see His light in us. If we are indeed living sacrifices before our God, then every moment of our lives will be spent honoring Him.

lesson by Kent Ward

Idolatry: A Family Heritage

There are certain memories indelibly etched into our minds – possibly of times with our family, historical events through which we lived, births, deaths, etc. In Jeremiah 17:1-2, the prophet says the people of Israel have thoughts of idols etched upon their hearts in this time. Back in chapter 7:17, God asks Jeremiah if he sees the idolatry in which God’s people are engaging. These sacrifices and offerings are a family occasion, and they form substantial memories. In Gideon’s time, that judge had to start in his own home, removing idolatry from Israel. Rachel, when leaving her home with Jacob, hides her family idols to take with her. II Kings 17:41 illustrates the idolatry entrenched in Israel’s culture by the time of the Assyrian captivity. The children and grandchildren do as their parents and grandparents.

Our Family Idols
Idolatry is a family heritage, and we all have idols we should be removing from our own lives, lest our children and grandchildren also follow after those same idols.

Social Acceptance
In Genesis 3, Eve and the serpent discuss the nature of God’s statutes within the garden. The serpent talks Eve into partaking of the forbidden fruit and then offering it to her husband. Both Adam and Eve succumb to simple peer pressure. I Samuel 15:24 records Saul acknowledging his transgression from God’s commands, compromising to please the masses. He gives in to the pressures surrounding him. Adam, Eve, and Saul all know, in these passages, what is right and what is wrong, but they have bowed down to the idol of social acceptance.

This pressure knows no age limits. We, as parents, do not want our children to stand out or be targeted, and we compromise our convictions and encourage them to compromise their own. Romans 12:2, however, encourages to avoid conformity and to be transformed into a spiritual being. I Corinthians 15:33 and Psalm 1:1-2 both admonish us to be wary of the influences we allow into our lives, and I Thessalonians 5:21 encourages to test the value of everything, abstaining from evil. We know what we should be doing, but we bow down to the idol of social acceptance.

Weak Marriages
In our culture, weak marriages are a given. We assume failure. Do our children see little hope in their own future relationships because of what they see in ours? Ephesians 5:25-28 reinforces the self-sacrificial love husbands should have for their wives. I Corinthians 13 explores this love more deeply – illustrating a love that prefers others over self, seeking the best in others, and shuns the selfishness that is the root of so many marital problems.

The end of I Peter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3 explore the concept of submission, upholding Christ as the ultimate example of submission. Peter uses Abraham’s wife Sarah as an example of this relationship. Remember, Sarah is a strong Bible woman, even insisting Ishmael should be expelled from her household. God sides with her in this matter, but her behavior remains selfless, and I Peter 3:7 goes on to remind husbands to value and honor wives as irreplaceable and precious. We would not be idolizing weak marriages if we could remove selfishness and pride from our family relationships.

Criticism
Proverbs 13:3, Proverbs 6:19, Proverbs 16:28 – these and more verses criticize critical mouths. I Peter 3:10 (quoting Psalm 34) admonishes us from keeping our moths from evil and deceit, instead seeking peace. Do our children see an idol of criticism in our homes? Do they see us complaining about our brethren and worship on the way home from worship? Do they see us complaining about authority, about secular issues, about our jobs, about our families? We need to tear down our idol of negativity and criticism to preserve our youths.

Indifference
Apathy is the greatest enemy the Lord’s people can face. Genesis 35:1-2 records Jacob preparing to travel to Bethel to praise Jehovah. He plans and prepares for this journey. We cannot drift along in indifference, hoping to simply run into God on the way. Likewise, Hebrews 10:24-25 admonishes us to plan to worship together, to build one another up, to anticipate the time together because it is important to us. The Lord’s Day does not sneak up on us; it is always the same day. The idol of indifference, though, allows other things to push God out of our lives.

Replacing the Idols
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 records Moses instructing the children of Israel to etch God’s words upon their hearts. His words should always be on their lips and before their eyes. Whatever the idols in our own lives, we can remove those and teach our children to know God. Throughout the Old Testament, we see the children of Israel turn to idols while never considering themselves having forsaken God. What do we need to remove from our lives to avoid those distractions from God? Let us resolve to focus on Him and make His word and His ways the heritage we leave for our children.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Who Will This Child Be?

Repeatedly, God’s people in the Old Testament are admonished to teach their children and their grandchildren. Each newborn child brings new hopes and opportunities to the life of their parents, and we wonder, “Who will this child be?” In Luke 1, the priest Zechariah is expecting a son, and this child is born in verse 57. The tradition would have been to name the child after the father, but both Elizabeth and Zechariah insist his name will be John. After seeing the signs surrounding the birth of John, the people wonder, in verse 66, “Who will this child be?”

The Unguided Child

We wish for our children to be better than ourselves, and we should realize that our choices impact that outcome. What kind of children do we desire? How can we impact the direction they go as they mature? What spiritual goals do we have for our children. Proverbs 22:6 discusses the importance of working with our children early, laying a foundation for their life later. Solomon encourages to take a hands-on approach with our children, and Proverbs 29:15 warns that a child left untended will bring shame to his or her family. Also, chapter 22:15 encourages us to correct our children when they behave foolishly.

I Corinthians 15:33 warns about the people we spend time with, and the same warning applies to our children. We should be encouraging our children to surround themselves with good influences and spiritual friends. I Peter 3:3-4 calls on us to focus on inward beauty over outward beauty. What if we teach our children that fashion is more important than modesty or goodness? What if we teach them to prioritize the secular over the spiritual? Matthew 6:33 records Jesus teaching to seek God’s kingdom first, placing our worldly concerns in God’s hands.

At God’s bidding, the high priest Eli has to reprimand his sons for their sins in serving God and their example to the people. King Rehoboam governs foolishly because he ignores the advice of his father’s advisors and listens to his foolish friends. Salomé inflames Herod to sin because of her immodesty. Paul criticizes Demos for loving the things of this world. These individuals put the world before God, are uncontrolled, are immodest.

The Nurture and Admonition of the Lord

Proverbs 20:7 blesses the children of one who walks in integrity. Ephesians 6:4 calls on fathers to nurture and train their children in the ways of the Lord – not always what is most enjoyable, but what is needed. Deuteronomy 6:4 records Moses instructing the people to make God’s word a daily part of family life, and Luke 4:16, the gospel writer reveals the child Jesus had been customarily taken to worship by His family.

Proverbs 13:20 says wise companions bring wisdom, and III John verse 4 expresses John’s joy in seeing his spiritual children walking in truth. We take pride in much that our children do, but character is what we should be able to take the most pride in. Our families should also be prayerful, James 5:16 encouraging us to pray earnestly. Think of Samuel, Timothy, John and Jesus, David and Jonathan, Barnabas, and Paul – the examples they serve in the scriptures. These once had parents who brought them up and influenced who they would be.

Our choices have an impact in determining who our child will be. Our children have more than an earthly father and mother. They have a Father in Heaven who also looks down upon them. What relationship do you and I have with God? What do our children see in our walk as children of God? If we want out children to reflect godly qualities as they grow, we should first be reflecting these qualities in our own lives.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Mentors of a Spiritual Heritage

What do you value? What means the most to you? It may be something that has sentimental or familial value. This object may not be worth much financially, but its value to you is personal. Perhaps it is something that came form your parents or grandparents. It might be something from a child. Its value is its heritage.

In Exodus 10:2, God tells his people to make a heritage of what He has done for them. Exodus 13:8 repeats these instructions. He tell His people to pass the events of the Exodus from generation to generation. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells the Israelites to teach the traditions to God to their children. What His people were to value most was to be His word.

Two women concerned with the spiritual heritage of their children were Lois and Eunice – mother and grandmother to Timothy. We now little of these women. Timothy’s mother was married to an unbeliever, but we know that Timothy’s mother taught him God’s word, and his grandmother worked with him as well. Many churches were affected by Timothy because of the work done by his mother and grandmother. They brought up a child. who would be valued by Paul according to verses like Philippians 2:19.

Timothy’s Spiritual Role Models
The qualities we see in Timothy are not accidental. His life was deeply impacted by the women who purposed to set him in the Lord’s footsteps.

• They were examples of godliness. II Timothy 1:5 records the example Lois and Eunice set for Timothy. They practiced what they taught. Growing up, Timothy would have seen the type of adult he should become in the example of his mother and grandmother.
• They taught in the face of difficulties. Their teaching influenced Timothy according to II Timothy 3:15. They showed Timothy how to live, and they reinforced those principles in their teaching. He was taught from God’s word despite the faith (or lack therefor) of his father who would have looked down upon many Jewish traditions as barbaric. They also taught Timothy despite their inability to take him to synagogue because he was uncircumcised.
• They obeyed the gospel. Lois and Eunice originally taught Timothy from the sacred Jewish texts, but they respond to Paul’s message of Acts 16. They changed when change was called for based on inspired teachings. In this, they set an example to Timothy for him to follow in Christ’s teachings.

Creating Our Own Spiritual Heritage
How do we create a spiritual heritage like the one passed on by Lois and Eunice? There are some families that can trace their faith back for generations, but, even if we do not have such a history, we can start it now. We can pass our faith on to our children and grandchildren. Our spiritual influence is not limited to our children, but, like Lois, we can positively affect our grandchildren’s relationships with God. In fact, some lessons are better received from our grandparents than our parents.

We need to determine the heritage we want to pass on. Even if we have no children or grandchildren, we can become spiritual mentors as Paul was to Timothy. Paul had no children or grandchildren recoded in scripture, but he was a father-figure to Timothy, providing guidance that Timothy’s own father did not. Show someone you care about them, reach out and make another feel their importance. We can help someone grow up to be like Timothy – a Christian valued by others and carrying on a spiritual heritage as valuable as any other heirloom close to his or her heart.

lesson by Tim Smelser