Practical Steps to Building a Family Altar

This past Sunday at Lakeside we continued our teaching on Another Great Awakening...in particular, "Awakened through an Altar." The altar that we referred to was the family altar. Matthew Henry said regarding family worship, "Here the Reformation must begin." We took time yesterday to share the more practical side of building a family altar in this day of overwhelming busyness...from school activities to out-of-town work. As promised in the teaching, I will use this blog to periodically post suggested resources in keeping the family altar alive. So, stay tuned. As for review, here are the practical steps to building a family altar we shared in the teaching:
1. Start small. The bigger the "altar," the more intimidating the experience will be. Start with five to ten minutes. And, use that time slot to birth a hunger for more.
2. Be consistent. This is critical. Disciplines don't become what they are unless they are practiced repeatedly. Give your family the opportunity to become familiar with this discipline of family worship.
3. Mix it up. In other words, think creatively. You can keep this time from becoming too familiar and consequently boring. Be aware of the attention spans around you. Ask questions; create openness by talking about personal victories and struggles; discuss the meaning of a Scripture and how it applies; use the teaching outline from the previous Sunday.
4. Adapt it to family time. This is with the assumption that your family already has regular time together. We all know it's true - we are going in so many different directions. With that said, work in the family altar during the regular family time without having to call the kids in for a special time of prayer.
5. Remove distractions. One of the greatest hindrances to family time spent around observing God's Word openly is media. Turn off the television, the computer, the telephone...and focus on the most important dynamic in social life - the very own members of your family!