“Family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual.”
-Jonathan Edwards
I am frequently asked why our students drop out of sight from the local church after graduating high school. Many ideas, some of them good ones, are suggested as to why this happens and many solutions, some of them good ones, are provided as to how the church should respond. Although providing a strong college-age program in the local church is a great thing and although teaching the reality of postmodernism in our church classes is a helpful thing, nothing will compare to the life-long impact on a child than a family who worships together. If family worship and order are out of place, then all of our church means will ultimately find themselves less effective.
We are seeing God do some great things at FBCE. The student ministry is alive and thriving, students are excited about church, in-depth Bible study is eliciting a host of conversation and question (I spoke for 15 minutes last night with a student who was wanting to know more about when “messenger of God” in the Old Testament is actually Jesus Christ Himself), the Genesis Café is packed when the doors are open, our children are learning the narrative of the Bible in Sunday School, and all ages have opportunities to serve others. As thankful as I am for all these wonderful things, I count them as secondary to getting our families, especially fathers, more plugged in to family worship. It is that important.
The Family Ministries of FBCE has been providing consistent resources for families. Our Family Ministry website is regularly updated with family related articles and resources for growth and worship, and the pastors have provided home worship tools, such as the Biblical Exploration Guide and the Holy Week Devotional Book. Beginning in the fall of 2010, we will step up our emphasis and education of family worship through the addition of several ministry opportunities. You can read about these in greater detail in this newsletter. Some of them will include:
1. A Family Worship One-Day Conference. I will spend a few hours with parents on Saturday, September 18th discussing family worship in the Bible, in History, and in the Home.
2. Simple Family Worship Guides. Pastor Drew and I will make available a series of simple, easy to follow family worship guides that will provide your family with a once a week worship “service.” This will be a supplement to your other family worship times during the week.
3. Big Questions Club. September 1st will be the kick-off of the Big Questions Club, the systematic theology program for children ages K-6th grade. Accompanying this program will be a parent’s “Big Questions Book” that will be used as a great tool for family worship and will coincide with the Big Question being studied by the children at church.
Pray with me that God will work in the hearts of all our families. Then, let’s be excited about what will happen. God is big. Bigger than we can imagine. And He does big things.
With great love,
Pastor Philip