Scriptures command fathers to be leading their families in family worship time together, to instruct and guide their families in the ways of the Lord. 

     Many fathers find this a daunting task.  So, many mothers assume this responsibility for the family, and lead family worship.  Is this biblical?  Who is showing headship in the family when this happens? 

     I won't get into an argument about this here.  Use biblical discernment and specific Scripture verses to answer this question for your own family. 

     I have strong leadership skills, an elementary education teaching degree and experience, and LOVE doing Bible time with our children!  I realized pretty quickly when "Anne" and "Rose" were very young that I had the strong urge to lead family Bible/worship time for our family.  But....I knew that this wasn't biblical and that my husband should be leading our family in this way. 

     I prayed.

     A bunch.

     And the Lord showed me in His perfect way that as my husband's helper, I could help him be successful with our family Bible times without me being in charge. 

Here is what we decided to do

     I just love the way the Lord leads us when we are fully relying on Him!  I asked my husband if he would like me to come up with a few age-appropriate books and devotional materials we could use with our children, and an age-appropriate Bible for them, so he could choose what he wanted to use with them.  He really liked that idea, so that was what we did.  I found a wonderful children's story Bible by Catherine Voss, that was true to Scripture and theology, wasn't filled with irreverant drawings and paintings, and a NIV-Revised Bible for each of the girls. 

     This wonderful, biblical story Bible is available from ChristianBook.com for around $13.  Our family spent two years reading through this delightful book that is written for children ages 4-12.  My husband and I learned a lot from this Bible, as it is not "dumbed down" like most children's story Bibles; it was interesting enough for us to want to read it each night, too! 

     My husband really enjoyed using The Child's Story Bible with all of us.  It was easy, and it especially helped us to help one of our daughters to learn to settle down on the couch with us and listen quietly during worship.  I highly recommend this book!

     I also have to mention that after we finished our two years using this book, "Rose" (age 8 at the time) decided on her own to begin using this for her own personal Bible devotions time in the mornings before the school day began.  It took her about a year to read through it.  Two years later, "Anne" decided to do the same thing, and she read through it, morning by morning, on her own, for about two years.  They both loved this book!

     After our two years with this Story Bible flew by, it was time to choose some more materials to guide us in devotions with our girls.  At our state's annual homeschooling conference, which we faithfully love to attend, he was able to select several different items to use for our family worship time.  Lest you think that we totally rely on other people's writings for family worship, please know that we mainly rely on the Holy Scriptures, and use some of these other items for tools and application. 

Other Suggestions

     We've used several books by Helen Haidle with our girls.  In particular, for several years before Resurrection Sunday, we've pulled down off the bookshelf our favorite Easter/Resurrection Sunday resource by Helen Haidle: Journey to the Cross .

     Unfortunately, this book is out of print now, and while it is still available on Amazon.com, used, it is not an inexpensive book (I think used copies are selling for around $40).  When we were looking at this book at the homeschool conference, Mrs. Haidle mentioned that it was selling for as high as $125 on some websites, and she recommended that if we were interested in the book for our own children, we might want to consider purchasing it from her that weekend.  I am SO glad that we did!  This book gives poignant insights to the crucifixion and all events leading up to that event, in such a poignant way.  And instead of just having 1-2 Bible verses to read with each entry, it instead lists all portions of Scripture in the four gospels of the New Testament that contain this portion of the last week of Jesus' life and the resurrection.  It was so nice to be able to read the Bible verses right along with Mrs. Haidle's writings.

     If you ever see this book and would like to use a chronological study of all of the events of the last week of Jesus' life and resurrection with your family, you will want to get it!

     Cookies and Milk is another Bible devotional from Helen Haidle, written for 8-12 year olds. 

     This family devotional book is full of faith-building, true stories about real kids and their walk with the Lord.  Unlike so many Bible devotional books for adults and children, this one also includes long enough portions of Scripture to be read along with the children's story.  We got tired of seeing books that would have the child read 1-2 Bible verses.  We think 10-12 verses, or a chapter or two of the Bible, is much more appropriate.  After all, we are discipling our children, not trying to "baby" them along in the Word.  However, this hasn't been our favorite resource from Helen Haidle.  While we liked it, it's more "modern" than the other books we've read together.  Most families would still consider this a decent resource.  I guess we just take a more classical approach to Bible devotionals, so a lot of them at the local Christian bookstore are weeded out and aren't even considered by our family. 

 

    This family devotional revolves around the 23rd Psalm, and it shows us how Jesus loves us, encourages us, and takes care of us, even in the "very dark valley."  It includes family activities, discussion questions, memory verses, and more.  We liked this one a lot, although my children commented several times on the sheep's cute and "funny" expressions in their eyes.  

 

     Shepherd Press is a ministry that has amazing resources for the Christian family.  We have read through and watched many of their suggested materials over the years. 

 

    Here is one of their suggestions for family worship time, or as a resource for Bible time during the homeschooling day, or to use to teach Sunday School or any activity where you want to firmly and responsibly teach from the Old Testament to children.  We used one particular series of books with another homeschooling family one year, back when "Rose" and "Anne" were around ages 6 and 4.

 

    Herein is Love, written by Nancy Ganz, goes through the entire Old Testament in its true stories.  Currently, the Genesis title is out of print and being edited and republished, but its original version can probably be purchased elsewhere.  When we used these books during one school year, they were available for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, I believe.  You'd have to check with Shepherd Press to see their availability.  Some day, when we are no longer homeschooling, if the church we attend has a Sunday School hour, I'd love to be able to teach a small group of children with these resources, as they are the best I've ever seen for the Old Testament. 

    

     Shepherd Press has a FREE family worship guide that may be downloaded from their website.  I think it is very useful, especially for families who have not been able to get started with their own family Bible worship time, or have difficulty being consistent with doing this at least several times a week.

http://shepherding.typepad.com/my_weblog/files/family_worship_guide.pdf

What are your favorite tips and techniques you've used for your own family worship time together?  I'd enjoy hearing them here!

Julieanne