Day 3 of our challenge! How are you doing? Hopefully you’ve had at least one day this week where you spent around 10 minutes reading God’s Word, singing a song, and praying with your family. If you haven’t yet, give it a try! Let me know if there is any way I can help you with this. If you are looking for something to do, you could read Mark 2 with your family. Or if you are interested in using the Daily Bread resource, read Mark 8:1-13 together. Then have someone read the devotional thought and then someone else can read the prayer and quote at the bottom. You can always ask open-ended questions like “What does this story teach us about Jesus?” With young children, you could grab a piece of bread and break it up as you read the story. Jesus is God, He cares for people, and He has power over all things!
My tip for today is to give some ideas for creativity. Don’t get me wrong, it is not necessary to be a creative genius to have awesome family worship times, but it can add some teachable moments. If you’re like me, a few ideas to get the brain going are very helpful! I mentioned one creative idea from Matt Chandler on Sunday, but I wanted to give a few more. Feel free to steal and use them or add some of your own in the comments.
- With young kiddos, acting parts of the story out can cement the story in the brain. Even tonight as I put my daughter to bed, I took her hand and said, “Tabitha, arise!” She giggled and remembered the story from family worship. Dads and moms, simple is so effective! You can do it.
- Chandler suggested building a fort in one of the rooms. Then sitting inside and reading verses about God being our fortress or stronghold. Psalm 18:2-3 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
- Go outside and look at the star – oops, I mean stars if you live somewhere other than a large city. Then read a verse like Psalm 147:4-5. Then you could sing How Great Thou Art, Indescribable, or How Great Is Our God. Psalm 147:4-5 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
- If you go on vacation to the mountains this summer . . . Psalm 97:4-6 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
- Build a fire in your fire pit, and read Exodus 3 (Moses and the burning bush), James 3:1-12 or 1 Pet 1:6-7. Talk about the verses and then (Oh yes!) cook smores.
I hope these ideas get your own ideas going. With creativity, you just have to start by trying something small. Like brainstorming, ideas beget ideas. Don’t be afraid to try something, but remember, it is great family worship even if you have no creative ideas. God’s Word is powerful and your faithfulness to show that this is important enough to do speaks volumes.
Let’s do this dads and moms! #VillageFamilyWorshipChallenge #SmoresCanBePartOfWorship
