In this episode, Camden Bucey engages in a thought-provoking discussion with Terry Johnson, Senior Minister of Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia and the author of Understanding Family Worship: Its History, Theology, and Practice (Christian Focus).

This book provides a timely perspective on family worship. Rev. Johnson reflects on his personal journey, starting with the birth of his first child, which sparked a deep commitment to family worship. Johnson emphasizes the need for consistency and the avoidance of lethargy in practicing family worship. He discusses the challenges and strategies for implementing daily family worship, highlighting the importance of a godly home environment for its effectiveness. 

The conversation also covers theological arguments supporting family worship, rooted in Reformed doctrine, and practical aspects like singing, prayer, Scripture reading, and the role of catechesis in family life. The episode concludes with encouragement for families to embrace this historic Christian practice, underscoring its foundational role in imparting faith and nurturing spiritual growth within the family unit.

Terry is the author/compiler of the Trinity Psalter and Leading in Worship, and author of The Case for Traditional Protestantism (published by the Trust), Reformed Worship, and the trilogy, When Grace Comes Home, When Grace Transforms, and When Grace Comes Alive. He and his wife, Emily, have five children.

Links

• Reformation & Worship Conference

Chapters

• 00:07 Introduction
• 01:24 Introducing the Historic Practice of Family Worship
• 06:58 The Forgotten Practice of Family Worship
• 13:10 The Setting of Family Worship: The Godly Home
• 15:52 The Case for Family Worship
• 22:37 The Elements of Family Worship
• 31:57 Overcoming Barriers to Family Worship
• 35:35 Catechesis
• 44:33 Other Works on Family Worship
• 48:23 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Terry Johnson

Donald S. Whitney joins us to speak about Family Worship (Crossway). Many Reformed believers will be aware of the important spiritual practice of family worship. This practical guide will greatly assist families develop and maintain a practice of worship through Bible reading, prayer, and singing. In this conversation, we cover the biblical warrant, history, and elements of family worship along with several barriers to consistent practice. Dr. Whitney serves as professor of biblical spirituality at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written several books related to Christian spirituality, including Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Praying the Bible. Don blogs regularly at BiblicalSpirituality.org.

Participants: Adam York, Camden Bucey, Donald Whitney

Jason Helopoulos joins us to speak about his book A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home. The discussion covers what family worship is, its elements, and its relationship to private and corporate worship. Pastor Helopoulos also provides practical advice about how to practice family worship especially for those who have neglected it in the past. Jason is the Assistant Pastor at University Reformed Church in Lansing, Michigan (RCA). He attended Dallas Theological Seminary and completed a Masters of Theology degree (ThM) with a concentration in Historical Theology and Christian Education in 2003. He served on the staff of Park Cities Presbyterian Church as a pastoral intern for one year and then accepted a call as an Assistant Pastor at Meadowview Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Lexington, North Carolina. In the fall of 2007, Jason was called by Christ Church PCA in Grand Rapids, Michigan to plant a daughter church in Lansing, Michigan. He accepted the call and moved to the field (and snow) as church planter and pastored Providence PCA in East Lansing until 2012. In the summer of 2012, Jason accepted the call as Assistant Pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan and is currently serving this congregation, for which he feels blessed. Jason is married to his beautiful bride, Leah. They are blessed with two wonderful children, Gracen and Ethan.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jason Helopoulos, Jim Cassidy, Nick Batzig

With the beginning of another new year it was time to print a clean copy of a Bible reading plan. Last year I went through a chronological plan, but this year I’ve decided to return to a trusty old friend: the McCheyne reading plan. For several years I went through a 2x McCheyne plan that would get me through the New Testament and Psalms four times and the Old Testament twice in a year. It’s been a helpful way for me to get to those lesser-known portions of Scripture regularly. This year I was looking for something to incorporate into family worship. The McCheyne plan is great for this as well since two of his chapters are meant to be read as a family. This is a great way to provide structure to your family Bible reading. Print a PDF of the plan and start working through it with your family. I trust you will be richly blessed (yes, even as you get to explain all those “difficult” stories as well as read through Numbers and Chronicles!).

No Christian approves of worshiping idols or disapproves of honoring parents. No brother or sister will accuse you of being legalistic if you’re against stealing or are in favor of telling the truth. But I know many people who object to Sabbath keeping and approve of using the Lord’s Day for work or personal pleasure. We don’t argue about the other nine; why is the fourth commandment a catalyst for more heat than light?

These are some of the questions the Rev. Bruce Ray considers in his book, Celebrating the Sabbath: Finding Rest in a Restless World. Ray laments the low view of the fourth commandment in churches today. Churches today cater to the busy lifestyles of churchgoers by creating more services on more days for shorter periods of time. Ray uses the term “McSabbath” to describe the state of the Lord’s Day in most churches in America. Ray gives a clear description of how Christians dread the Sabbath rather than delighting in it. He shows from scripture how we are to understand the Lord’s Day. God is sovereign over time and gives us a day of rest because we need it—it is for our good. The Lord is in control and sovereign over our work. We do not need to work seven days to get everything done, but rather we are to rely and trust on the Lord, who is sovereign over rest and commands us to rest. It is God’s appointed holiday. We are to refrain from work and we are to worship Him and be refreshed. Very quickly Ray goes to the Bible and shows the origins of the Sabbath at creation. Just as working for six days of the week and procreation are creation ordinances, so also is the Sabbath Day. Ray traces the Sabbath blessing from seed form in Genesis to full blossom in the New Testament. Ray rightly points out that Exodus 20 is not the beginning of the Sabbath observance but rather a command to continue, which is made clear by the fourth commandment’s first word, “Remember.” The Lord made the day holy at creation, and it is always holy. Treating it in any other way is profaning it. Only Christians can celebrate the Lord’s Day. Only Christians can understand the Lord’s Day. Those who do unnecessary work are denying the sovereignty of God. Ray moves on to the New Testament to explain what he calls the Resurrection Sabbath, a transformation of the Creation and Exodus Sabbath. New creation came through Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. Ray expounds on the normality of transformation from Old Covenant/Old Testament to New Covenant/New Testament. Old Covenant circumcision was transformed into New Covenant baptism, Old Covenant Passover was transformed into New Covenant Lord’s Supper, and Old Covenant Sabbath is transformed into New Covenant Lord’s Day. Ray concludes his biblical analysis of the Lord’s Day with the Final Sabbath. The Final Sabbath is that which we look forward to in heaven, the Eternal Sabbath. We taste it every Sunday on earth if we keep the Sabbath holy, but the fullness is yet to come: “As creator [God] blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. As Redeemer, He appointed it to be a sign of the covenant of grace. The Sabbath is now, and always has been, the Lord’s Day.” Ray is careful to address the two major issues facing the keeping of the Lord’s Day, lawlessness and legalism. The Sabbath was intended to be a day of gladness and not of gloom. Ray shows the entrance of legalism into Sabbath Day observance with the captivity in Babylon and Assyria. Just like the purifying of the temple, Jesus purified the Sabbath Day during His earthly ministry. Ray is clear to the show the continuity of the Old Testament with Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in the New Testament. The Pharisees had taken the blessed Lord’s Day and made it a great burden. Ray’s commentary on this topic is among the most helpful parts of the book. Ray expands on lawlessness and legalism by showing how Christians who participate in lawlessness on the Lord’s Day are not in conflict with the fourth commandment per se but are in conflict with the authority of Jesus Christ. He poses the question, is Jesus Christ Lord or not? If He is Lord of the Sabbath, then He defines its intention. Ray argues that men reject the Lord’s day of rest because they reject the Lord of the day. They bring stress and disease on themselves and eventually physical death. In the concluding chapters, Ray shows how God wants His day to be kept. First, it should be kept “holily,” that is, we should keep it the way God intended and not necessarily the way we do. We don’t need the 1,500 rules the Pharisees had; we just need to understand and obey God’s Word. Part of this keeping holy the day requires gathering with God’s people for corporate worship. Second, we must keep it happily. In order to do so, we must be keeping it holy. How happy it is to forget about our worldly cares and employments and to be refreshed in the Lord. Third, Ray argues that we ought to keep it honestly. We ought to be striving to keep it better, not looking for loopholes to escape its requirements. Finally, Ray shows how we are commanded to keep the day humbly. We must put God’s Word above the imaginations of our hearts. Bruce Ray does a fine job in this book arguing for the keeping of the Lord’s Day: the importance of keeping it, the blessing wrapped up in it, and the many dangers of profaning it. In the mega-church, individualistic society we live in today where many, including professing Christians, do what is right in their own eyes on the Lord’s Day, we need to remember the Lord’s Day and keep it holy. This is not an option, nor is it a burden; rather, it is a refreshment for the glory of the Lord and our own spiritual good. Celebrating the Sabbath: Finding Rest in a Restless World can be found at online Christian bookstores for $7.49.

to help you establish God-honoring Family Worship in your homes. We trust this avoids two extremes: an idealistic approach that is beyond the reach of even the most God-fearing home, and a minimalist approach that abandons daily Family Worship because the ideal seems so out of reach.

As many families know, family worship is a difficult task. Though many reformed families know its importance, being disciplined enough to have family worship every day (let alone twice a day) is very challenging. Beeke’s article can help families to begin or renew the practice of family worship without becoming too intimidated or unrealistic. Read the article