Post by Pastor Tim Dillmuth – Last year, I posed the question on this blog, “What’s the absolute best way to reign?” And in the one year that has followed, the answer hasn’t changed! I wrote that “family worship” was not only the first step to reigning, but perhaps the most important overall piece. But over the past year the Lord has sharpened the idea of “family worship” for me a little bit. I’ve learned that . . .
- Rather than engage in “family worship,” I’ve been challenged to practice “household worship.” What’s the difference? The Biblical idea of one’s household expands beyond those in my immediate family to include those with whom I interact and over whom I regularly have influence. This includes not only my children and spouse, but also my extended family, my neighbors and even my co-workers. And I’ve learned that the household, rather than the institutional church, should be the center of spiritual life for the Christian. This doesn’t mean that the institutional church should not have significant influence, but it does mean that we can’t delegate spiritual responsibility to the institution that we should be exercising personally over our immediate sphere of influence. My family has grown in the Lord more as we’ve sat around the fireplace than when we sat in the pews.
- The “100 Days of Worship” has also challenged my concept of worship as only taking place within my home or church setting. In other words, worship is to be experienced in the “common places” of life which surely includes my home and regular worship space, but inevitably goes beyond that. Since participating in the 100 Days, our family has worshiped in our home, in our car, in a restaurant, in the park, in the grocery store, in the office and even in a public school.
- Household worship must have a “do the word” component in addition to only hearing the word. As my family has made worship a priority over the past year, our greatest times of growth were when we faithfully attempted to do the word. For example, buying my daughter’s classmate a Bible, eating alongside homeless men and women, investing in the life of neighbor through a food basket, and praying alongside the NK church has caused us to reflect on Christ and how to mirror him to a much greater extent than if we had not.
In closing, I want you to hear the testimony of someone else who has made household worship a priority. This is the testimony of Jim, who has also learned a lot about reigning over the past 54 days. He said,
My wife and I just finished our 54th day of worshiping with the North Korean Church. We have found this time extremely profitable in our walk with God and in our relationship with one another. We have not found it boring or dull but amazing as each day we go through the process of worshiping and praying for our brothers and sisters in North Korea. God has used this in both of our lives to humble us and to show us our desperate need for the redemption that Jesus has purchased for us on the cross. We can only praise God and thank Him for this opportunity to daily join other brothers and sisters around the world. Thank you Seoul USA for making this a possibility for us.
Do the Word 