Every year we have an opportunity to guide our family’s remembrance and celebration of the events surrounding the death and resurrection of our Lord. These events which changed the world and which continue to change the lives of millions of people deserve our focused attention.

One of the ways we can do this is to use our times of family worship to peer into these happenings surrounding the final week of our Lord. Spending a few minutes each day can contribute to your child’s understanding and appreciation  of these events, and can help you as a family celebrate more fully their significance.

But some of you may be asking, “How do I do this?” What might it look like to guide my family through such a worshipful exploration.

In his recent book, Jason Helopoulos suggests that a time of family worship may contain several simple elements.

1. The Word of God – this involves reading a short passage of Scripture, perhaps providing visuals, possibly acting out the story with younger children, and asking a few pointed questions designed to help children see how God’s Word is meant to affect how they live.
2. Singing – pick a favorite hymn in order to learn the depth of its content, or choose a song the child has learned in Sunday School and lift your voices together. The beauty of singing is that it enables us to respond to the Lord not only with our intellects but also our emotions and our physical being.
3. Memorization – choose a key verse to focus on as a family. Perhaps choose one that fits an upcoming holiday, or something that supports an area of growth for your family. Turn it into a song or chant to help memorization. Memorization can also include Q&A’s from a children’s catechism. If your child is in LOGOS try using the Q&A’s from this curriculum. Hiding the Word of God and His truth in our hearts will have value throughout your child’s life.
4. Prayer – allow the Word, singing and memory to direct your hearts to pray. When children are little give them one topic to pray for and then let them go. You might say, “Let’s think of all the things today for which we can thank God. As you think of one just say, ‘Thank you God for…..'”‘

To help you this Easter, I have added a 12-day devotional to our Children’s website. It features daily readings from Matthew’s account of the last week of our Lord. Several questions are provided, as well as suggestions for visuals. Several hymns are also listed at the end of the document.

Whether you have engaged your children or not through a time of family worship, I urge you to plan now to come together and remember the greatest events ever to occur on our planet. I trust such a remembrance will grow your family’s appreciation for the depths of the love of our Savior.