Family Worship Plan

By Dave Lewis
Posted on March 31, 2005

This is the plan we gave out on "Family Worship Day"
For Sunday Morning, March 13, 2005

You can use all or parts of this outline for your Rio Link. Maybe it would inspire others to worship with their families on a regular basis.

The Key is Preparation...
How to Prepare Starting Right Now
1. Fill out a family worship card as a commitment to worship with your family in your home on March 13th.
2. Read through this simple plan and start praying and preparing now for your family worship gathering.
3. Decide on a time you will start your worship time on the morning of March 13.
4. Remind your family during the week before to pray and prepare for the gathering.
5. Encourage every family member to bring something to your gathering (a song, scripture, poem, an object that tells a “God Story”, etc…) to share with the family.
6. Have Bibles, paper, pens, etc…collected ahead of time.
7. Don’t plan anything else for that day (plan to spend the entire day together as a family). 8. Have Sunday’s breakfast and lunch prepared on Saturday so that you won’t have to worry about preparing it on Sunday. You might want to prepare something that you can simply heat up on Sunday.
9. Begin your worship time in the main area of your home where your family usually gathers. Lay out Bibles and the things everyone brings in the middle of the room.
10. Keep in mind the other families that will be worshiping on that day and pray for them.

Preparing to Worship on March 13th:
1. Make sure that you have gathered everything you need for your family gathering. Turn off the TV, computer and the Phone Ringer.
2. Eat breakfast together and encourage your family as you prepare to spend the day together.
3. Be sure you set a specific time after breakfast to gather together and begin on step one…

1. SHARING LIVES TOGETHER.
Have someone read Deuteronomy 4:9 ““Be very careful never to forget what you’ve seen God doing for you. May His miracles have a deep and permanent effect on your lives! Tell your children and your grandchildren about the glorious miracles that he did.”(LB)
Say: God has done some great things in our lives. We don’t want to ever forget the miracles that God has shown us.
Activity: Pass around your wedding photos and baby photos. Go around the circle and have everyone share a favorite memory that they have. Take some time to give God praise for what He has done in your lives.

2. GROWING TOGETHER SPIRITUALLY -
Have someone read aloud Phil. 4:8 (LB) “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.”
Activity: Have everyone share how God is helping them grow spiritually. Have everyone share what they brought to the worship time and why. Ask each person to share a “God-story” that happened during the week.
Say “Where did you see God this week?” “What changes do you think God wants to make in your life?” “What is God saying to you lately?”

3. SERVING EACH OTHER
Have someone read 1 Thes. 5:11 “So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one another…”
Say, We are going to take some time to encourage each other. The Bible says when we encourage someone, we strengthen his/her life.
Activity: Have each person in the family say some words of encouragement to each family member. Try not to say things about how a person looks or something they possess. That is how the world encourages us. Speak about the person’s heart. For example, “I like how you helped out your brother this week, you have a caring heart.” Say something that you appreciate about the other person. Give time for each person to encourage the others. Comment on how as everyone in the family uses their talents and spiritual gifts to serve the family then the family is strengthened and built up and can be used by God to help others come to know Jesus.
Prayer: “ God, thank you that you made us all different. Thank you for the gifts that each of us have. Help us to use the gifts you have given us to serve others and to strengthen each others lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.”

4. WORSHIPING JESUS TOGETHER
Have someone read aloud, …” Deut. 6:5-7 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and strength. Always remember these commands I give you today. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up…” Say, as a family, we are to Love God with everything that we are. Have someone read Joshua 24:15 “You must choose for yourselves today. You must decide whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your people worshipped… or you may serve the gods of the Amorites…As for me and my family we will serve the Lord.”
Say, we are going to go to each room of our house and pray a prayer of commitment.

Activity: go to each room of your house and pray. Family room or Living room -
Pray, “God we thank you for this place that we live together. We give it to You. We want to serve You and use this room to Love You and Love others. We pray that all that enter this room would know Your love by the way that we live.
Kids rooms – (personalize this prayer with the kid’s name) pray, God thank you for this room. We pray that it will be a room filled with Your love. We pray for Your strength and that Jesus would be the center of (child’s name)’s life. We pray for Your help with rest, play and schoolwork that is done in this room. We commit this room and all that enter to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen. Parents Room - pray, God may this room be a room filled with the love of Jesus. That everything will be seen through Your eyes. May there be the grace of forgiveness, love and purity in this room. We commit this room to You. In Jesus’ Name, amen. Bathrooms – pray, God we thank you for a place that many people in the world do not have. As we get ready for school and work, we look in this mirror, remind us that You look at the heart. Help us to care more about our inward appearance than our outward appearance. In Jesus’ Name, amen. Back Yard – go to your back yard or Front yard and pray this prayer…”God, thank you for your beauty, the sky, the wind or the lack of wind. Thank you for air to breathe. Thank you for plants and trees that show your beauty. Thank you for the pictures you paint for us everyday. Thank you for the newness of life that you give us through Jesus.” Take some time to commit all of your home and all of your possessions to God. Say “God owns all of this stuff. He’s just letting us use it to accomplish His purposes on this earth. Take an offering. Talk to your family about what you have decided to give each week as an expression of worship to God and obedience to His Word. Talk about your tithes and offerings and how God has led you to be generous and faithful in giving of the “first fruits.” Have your kids give an offering also that reflects the desire of their hearts to be generous and recognize that God owns everything. Use one of the “soulrio” offering envelopes to collect your offering and then put it in the offering bags on the next Sunday, or send it to the office during the week.

5. SERVING OTHERS TOGETHER
Read aloud Luke 10:2 “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” Say, We are a family of peace, the peace of Jesus. We are workers in the harvest field. The Harvest field is our neighborhood. Read aloud Matthew 28:19-20 “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.”
Say, as Christians, we are told to go and tell others the good news of the Gospel. Read Matthew 20:28, “…the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Say, God wants us to serve others. If we are to be like Jesus, we must learn to serve.
Activity: Say, we are going to do a prayer walk through our neighborhood. Go around your block. Take the whole family. Stop in front of every few houses and pray this prayer. You don’t have to close your eyes. Just voice this prayer out loud… “God, we pray for the people who live in these homes right here (if you know their names, pray for them by name). We want to be their servants. Help us to notice needs that we can meet. Help us to Love our neighbors and to be a model of Jesus to them. We pray that we could find ways to be their friends and show them the love that You have given us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Rotate praying a prayer similar to that as you walk around your block.

BACK HOME
Spend the rest of the day eating Lunch, Listening to each other, Having Fun and Resting (not necessarily in this order)
Eat Lunch Together - While eating, take time to listen to each other talk about what interests them. “When you do good things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.” Phil. 2:2-4
Play Together “A thief is only there to steal, kill and destroy. I came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better than they ever dreamed of” John 10:10 (The Message) . “A cheerful heart is good medicine but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) It’s good to have fun. It’s good to laugh. Play a game together. Decide ahead of time what game to play or let the whole Family decide. You don’t have to be a comedian but try to create an environment for laughter and fun.
Rest - Spend the rest of the day resting. Whatever resting means to you. For most people it is a nap. Do something that is relaxing and restful. If it seems like work, it probably is. Pray together before you go to sleep that night and give thanks to God for the day.

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