Brandon Phillips

Devotional, Family

Family Worship

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Not long ago I created a team at church. This team will help me plan family ministry and offer suggestions and support as we move forward as a church to a more intergenerational church family approach to ministry. At that meeting we acknowledged that this would be a long process. The shift does not happen overnight but I believe the effort and time it will take is worth it! What are some shifts we can make in our own families? Let's look at one today… Family worship.

12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deut 31:12-13

As we read scripture we can clearly see that discipleship should take place in the context of an intergenerational family. The church is meant to a help in the process, but the main responsibility is ours, as parents. There is no greater privilege.

Here are three things that family worship does for me:

  • Refreshes my soul.

When I gather with my family after the initial groans and hesitation, they usually do settle down and engage. The word of God is powerful and has a way of refreshing the soul. With more frequency the groans will stop, maybe.

  • Strengthens my faith.

I know I am called to this. When I am courageous enough to work through the business and sometimes inconvenience it feels like I am stronger for it. Consistent time of family worship makes me stronger.

  • Ignites my passion for spiritual leadership.

When I see my "little flock" submitting to my leadership it gives me confidence that I can be the spiritual leader that God has called me to be. It can be work at first but eventually it will turn into a rewarding worship experience.

These are three things family worship does for me. Family worship can take many forms based on your families familiarity with it. As your family grows spiritual it will change. The basic elements of family worship are found in Colossians 3:16.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

  • Scripture
  • Teaching/encouragement
  • Prayer
  • Singing

PS: We have tried to be consistent with our times of family worship. We have managed to get as many as 3 days in week. Sometimes all are present sometimes a few are out at volleyball or soccer practice. My conviction is that we need to do something! We have done dinner table devotions, car ride conversations, and living room family worship. Do whatever works for your family no age is too young. Start small and be encouraged!

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Family

The Example – You

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Last week I posted about having a family mission statement. I enjoyed working on ours with our family. However it cannot be a one time thing that we discuss make a graphic and move on. It needs to be something that you talk about often.

I made a picture and plan to display it where it can be seen. I also mention it during family devotions and our prayer times. It try to reenforce it and practice it consistently.

Today, I want to take this mission statement a step further. From words to actions. It is time to live this out and be the example you want others to follow, especially your kids.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 is known as the Shema and sets forth the core confession of faith in God. This confession still holds truth for us today, and is what we want to pass on to our children.  It gives a model for what it means to be a true followers of God:

 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 

  1. Love God - God has to be priority in your life. 
  2. Obey God - God’s word needs to be the guide for your life. 
  3. Know God - your knowledge of God must determine your steps.

This is an example for us to set so others can follow. As a parent this is your main responsibility, to set and example for your children to follow in all areas of life. Socially what does it look like to be a good friend. Emotionally what does it look like to be in control of your emotions. Spiritually what does it look like to follow God on a daily basis.

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Family

Developing a Family Mission Statement

PHILLIPS KCRU

4 “Hear, O Israel:TheLordour God, theLordis one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  Deuteronomy 6:4-7

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:30

Every company has a mission statement. This generally is the "WHY?" behind the company's existence. The company will go to great lengths to make it memorable and share it with the world. As important as this is for companies. I believe it is also just as important for our families.

Does your family have a mission statement?

Families exist, according to the bible, to love, obey, and serve God, see Deuteronomy 6, 2 Tim 3:15, and Mark 12:30. For a family to accomplish this purpose it will need to be intentional at doing things that show it. That's why a mission or purpose statement is important to guide all we do as a family.

A mission statement help you decide what to do and what not to do. If you know your mission and an opportunity come up that is contrary to your mission then you pass on that. In other words it help you focus your family only on activities hat help you accomplish your purpose.

How do you come to a family mission statement?

  1. Gather the family together
  2. Ask everyone to come up with words that describe or words you want to describe your family.
  3. Choose bible passages that support those words or qualities.
  4. Craft a statement that is a biblical picture of what your family wants to strive for.

I say strive for because this is something you and your family can grow towards. When you set expectations and goals to accomplish you have a place to go. When you set those in front of your family it is something you can become. NO family is perfect but have a mission statement helps you move towards a goal together.

Here is what our family came up with a few months ago. I cannot say we always live up to these values but it is something we are striving for. May God grant us favor on this quest.

Phillips KCRU.

Kindness

Compassion

Respectful

Uplifting

As a family we seek to be respectful to our parents and authority, live with compassion, show kindness to all, and show the love of Christ by being uplifting to those around us.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

I am praying for you and your family and may you find this helpful. Remember we are on a journey together. No one has arrived, It feels good to be on the journey with others.

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Devotional

The Inner War

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There is a battle raging. It is not a physical battle that we can see. It is one that is going on inside of us.

We are all born with a soul at war. The war is between the sin nature that we are born with and the awareness that there is a personal creator who loves us and desires us to live a certain way. We learn more about this as we grow in Christ likeness but it is even there from the start.

There is this great sense that we were made for a greater purpose. That is God and his general revelation to us throughout the world. We see Him at work even if we are unaware. We see him working in the lives of those around us. We see his work in creation. It is there and it is obvious.

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20

So how do we win the war inside?

  1. We seek the things above.

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Colossians 3:1-2

The way of this world is easy to follow and contrary to what God wants for our lives. As we seek Christ there will be plenty of distractions. We need to make sure we are doing all we can to eliminate those distractions and seek Christ in His word.

  1. We find others who are seeking Christ as well.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

We were never meant to live this life alone. As Christians God gave us each other to experience life with. We will have trouble in this world. Trouble with our circumstances and trouble with sin. When we have others to share with, we will make each other better as we seek God together.

  1. We publicly worship with other believers.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

CHURCH YALL! The church is God's family. As we each individually seek God and worship him it is also important to share what God is doing in our lives with other believers. We gather for corporate worship to give God glory and celebrate what he is doing. The more we focus on him the more we see what he is doing. As we gather and share what God is doing we encourage other believers who may be going through a similar situation. We NEED each other.

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Uncategorized

Thinking About You

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about me. Not in a narcissistic sense but in a sense of evaluation seeking to understand why I am the way I am. I want to be better for the people around me.

I want to be the kind of person that others want to be around. When I encounter someone I want to be a source of encouragement not a source of discouragement or frustration. The most important person I need to think about it my wife. I need to consider her above all others. How does she see me? What am I giving to her when I finally do get to see her.

Our life with four kids is extremely busy and complicated with work, school, church, and other extras we have been spread thin and have not been able to spend much time together. So I need to make that time count. I need to make sure that she is getting the best me. That’s where this route comes in.

When I choose to think negative about myself because of my failures or bad encounters of the day then she will experience a bad me. It is only normal to take our experiences and process them but sometimes this processing can lead to the voice in our head leaving us down and broken. When we come down and broken we need someone to fix us. And to honest our spouses don’t have the time or emotional energy to fix us. That’s not what love is about.

On the other hand if I choose to not allow the negative experiences or thoughts in my mind to turn on me, then I can be a better version of myself for my spouse. Many of these negative thoughts come from the soundtrack the world is playing on repeat. If we can drown it out and change the sound track we will come out with a different mindset.

That’s why Paul says in Romans 12:2 “do not be conformed to this word, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

We can easily become distracted or conformed to this world by listening to the soundtrack of the world. However when we take the time to renew our minds in God’s word, His voice will drown out the noise of the world.

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