LEFC Guide to Worship at Home
March 29, 2020
$ Introduction
$ Home Worship Guide
$ More Links to Helpful Resources
Introduction
Dear Church Family,
How did your worship at home go last week? I hope you
had a good experience worshiping together as a household and that the Lord is
using this time of disruption and deprivation to take us all deeper in our
faith and bring us closer together as Christian families.
This week’s Guide to Worship at
Home has two new steps for your family to take together:
- Worship in Unity. Christians throughout church history have
declared their faith together in essential Christian doctrine through beautiful
summaries of biblical teaching often called “creeds” and “confessions.” This
week we will recite the Apostles’ Creed which we regularly sing together in songs
on Sunday mornings. This short overview of the Christian faith is
one of the earliest statements of unified Christian belief. Reciting an ancient
creed or a portion of a confession in worship may feel a bit foreign to you, or
it may remind you of experiences you’ve had in other churches. The point is not
to just recite it lifelessly but to proclaim from the heart our unity in the
faith with the whole church throughout the world and throughout the ages.
- Family Fellowship Meeting on Zoom. We all miss each other’s faces
and voices, so we are experimenting with an online meet-up Sunday at 11am. The
details for connecting are below. I’m sure we will have some technical
difficulties, and it’s no substitute for being together in person, but I think
it’s worth trying. Let me know what you think of this experience.
Parents can now download the Kids Worship Bulletin for this week and print
it out for your children to complete during worship. It comes with a
little Bible study you can lead your kids through. I have also sprinkled in a
number of additional options for families to use as you customize your worship
plan for your household. Let me know what you found especially helpful and/or
frustrating and any suggestions you have for improving these worship guides for
future use.
Just like last week, I have
recorded a short sermon and posted it on YouTube and Facebook. We’re back to
following Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew. I’ll be checking the “comments”
on the video for us to discuss the message afterwards together.
What time are you going to
gather your household this weekend to worship the Lord Jesus Christ?
In His Grip,
- Pastor Matt
P.S. Don’t forget to sing! The Bible says, “Make a joyful noise.” It
doesn’t say it has to be pretty, too. The Lord loves to hear His people praise
His name.
Home Worship Guide
1. Call to Worship
Have someone read Psalm 150.
**Option: Read around the circle
having each family member who can read take one verse.
Have someone pray and ask God to
bless your time of worship at home.
2. Worship in Singing
As a household sing “Come, ThouFount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson (1758)
**Option: Younger families
especially could instead/also sing “Jesus Christ Is the Same.”
3. Worship in Unity
Recite the Apostle’s Creed
together in unison:
“I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.”
4. Worship in Thanksgiving
The Bible says, “Give thanks IN
all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Remind each other that “Every
day may not be good, but there is good in every day.”
Have each member of the
household share at least one thing they are thankful for this week.
**Option: Put what your family
is thankful for in the “comment” section of the video!
**Option: Agree together as a
family on one thing for which you are all thankful and appoint a member to
share that praise item with the LEFC Zoom Fellowship Meeting at 11am.
5. Worship in Bible Memorization
As a family recite our “Hide the
Word” verse for this Spring: Matthew
28:18-20.
“Then Jesus came to them and
said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.”
**Option: Write this out on a
whiteboard, chalkboard or big piece of paper. Erase or cover key words and try
to say it without them.
6. Worship in Prayer
Take prayer requests and pray
for each other.
Read the prayer guide together
and pray for the rest of the church family and the requests listed.
7. Worship in the Word
Watch or read Pastor Matt’s
short message: "If You Are The Son of God."
Some families (especially with
teens) will want to watch the message on their own and then have a Bible study
and discussion together during this time.
8. Worship in Singing
Sing “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us” (Stuart Townend, 1995)
9. Worship All Week
Have someone pray a prayer of
commissioning for your family as you end this time of gathered worship and face
a week of new opportunities and new challenges to serve the Lord, the church,
and the world in His Name.
10. Participate in LEFC Family Fellowship Meeting on Zoom.
We are experimenting with a
video-conference online meeting Sunday at 11:00am.
- See one another’s faces and
hear each other’s voices.
- Share your family’s top
thanksgiving item for this week.
- Pray for one another live and
online.
More Links to Helpful Resources:
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