If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are a Christian who desires deep change in your province– you are reading Alberta Reformer after all! You see sin and decay all around you and know that change is necessary. But where will the change come from? 

As a Christian, the answer is clear: from God. And yet, we must then ask: how does God bring about change? Again, the answer is clear: by the Spirit of God through the Word of God. But the question then becomes: how does that change work its way into Alberta? Into your city or town? Into your neighborhood? At Alberta Reformer, you will find good articles on government reform, workplace reform, education reform, and more, and I trust these will be helpful. My focus, though, is a little closer to home. 

I want to start by making a safe assumption: you are part of a family. You may be married or not, have children or not, or still live at home under your parents or not, but either way, you are part of a family network. Your family may be healthy or dysfunctional, although it is a safe bet that your family is not perfect and needs continual reform from one degree to another. Wherever this finds you, then, I trust you will find something helpful.

Family is the basic building block of any society. It always has been, and always will be. The strength of a society will be directly related to the health and strength of the families that make it up. If the majority of families are falling apart, so is the society they form. 

The argument I want to make is simple: if we want to see change in Alberta, it is going to start in the home and with the family. It will start with your family. 

Acts 2:38-39 is the end of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. He delivered the final blow in v.36 by declaring that Jesus, who God made both Lord and Christ, was crucified by his listeners! They respond by being cut to the heart and ask the question every Christian longs to hear from any unbeliever: “What must I do to be saved?” Peter declares that they must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and that two things will then happen: their sins will be forgiven, and they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then Peter declares who these promises are for:

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.

For decades in the Western world, we have functionally removed the second step from this list. Yes, we believe these promises are for us, but we then tend to jump to the need to go overseas to those who are far off! And, lo and behold, we have left our children primarily in the care of spiritual professionals to bring these promises to them, whether Sunday school teachers, youth pastors, or some church leadership. But notice what it says: “and for your children.” The question that must fall upon our hearts is: are my children hearing about God’s promises primarily from me? You will search the Scriptures in vain looking for that job to fall primarily on anyone but you! 

Yes, governments can make decisions that support the home—and this is important. Yes, school boards can promote what is good—and this is helpful. Yet, as Richard Baxter rightly said many years ago, “The life of religion and the welfare and glory of church and state depend much on family government and duty. If we suffer the neglect of this matter, we undo all…Get masters of families to do their duty, and they will not only spare you a great deal of labor, but will much increase the success of your labors. You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation.” At Alberta Reformer, you will find many articles on government, schools, and much more. We want to see gospel change in society, but this must all start in the home. How strange, counterproductive, and unbiblical that we would take steps to see change in the world around us but neglect our own homes! May it not be so!  

That is the focus of this short series of articles. I believe making the promises of God known to our children takes intentionality, and that intentionality – however it looks in your home – is called Family Worship. In the coming weeks, I want to introduce this concept and show how it is not only part of Scripture but also seen throughout church history. We will then, Lord willing, look at some practical helps on how to overcome various hindrances. May the Lord be pleased to use this for our good and His glory!

This article is the first in a multi-part series on family worship. Keep an eye out for Part II in the coming weeks!