# Family Worship commentary & practical question



## nwink (Jun 19, 2013)

For those who have babies or young children, I'm sure you are aware that family worship needs to be somewhat short. The challenge I face as the husband/father is saying something short but meaningful since I don't have the time and kid-attention-span to dig out and read a couple pages of commentary during worship. However, I don't feel like I often have something edifying/meaningful of my own to say in commenting on the Bible text we just read. If I had no resources, family worship would probably look like this..."Gen 1, God made everything"..."Gen 2, man is made in God's image", etc. I mean, that amount of content can be sufficient for young children, but not so much for older children or adults in providing more age-appropriate food for thought. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes feels at a loss for what to teach the family during family worship...does anyone have any practical advice? 

Second question. So, before, I've tried to solve my question above by getting a study Bible for family worship, but the notes are all scattered and not a coherent whole for reading. What I think would be IDEAL would be a commentary on the entire Bible in the same format as the "365 days with Calvin" or other daily devotionals where it has a short devotion on each page for that day, except it would be per chapter. I think it would be IDEAL to have a whole Bible commentary consisting of one page with a few paragraphs as just a short devotion on each Bible chapter. Is anyone aware if anything like this exists? (Or maybe even reading the chapter summary some commentators provide could be beneficial) Is there a condensed Matthew Henry commentary published? 

Thank you!


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## Vladimir (Jun 19, 2013)

This is a good question. I have little experience with Bible studies, but usually when reading with brethren I have something to say only every now and then. This goes, of course, for books less condensed than the Epistles or Proverbs.
I think the problem is, you really need to have a foundation first. That is a lot of slow reading, prayer, meditation, commentaries and exegetical sermons until you know your way around the chapters you are studying.

If you haven't got them already, try Gill's commentaries. He has introductions to every chapter and has a lot to say about every verse. He was Spurgeon's favourite commentator. You can download them for Kindle. 
Having a Study Bible is very nice. Have you tried MacArthur?


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## Andres (Jun 19, 2013)

I have a 19 month old son, so I know exactly where you are coming from. Our family worship looks like this - sing a song (usually only a verse or two) read a portion of scripture (usually no more than half a chapter or a few paragraphs), then I share some very brief thoughts on the passage, and lastly we pray. As you have rightly noted, with a small child, the worship time needs to be kept short - I generally keep ours around 10-15 mins at most. First, don't sell your little ones short on what they are picking up. Second, I personally look for my son to pick up the actual routine and the appropriate response (he sits still, is quiet, etc) more so than him learning doctrine at this point. I fully believe that will come in time. Also don't forget about making use of the Children's Catechism to help in this area. Sometimes I will ask him a question or two at the end of our worship time, but usually I just ask him these randomly throughout the day. 

As for your specific question on what to say regarding the text, are you reading the text beforehand so that you have some time to gather some thoughts? I don't think your family expects an in-depth exposition with extensive background information and original language translations; but rather point them to Christ. I assume you have a good grasp of the bible. If you don't feel comfortable enough with a book of the bible, then perhaps go through a book you do feel more comfortable with. I am certainly not opposed to the use of commentaries, study bibles, etc. but I also don't want you to be discouraged because you don't feel you've read enough of these outside sources.

I will pray for you in this area brother and blessings on your family worship time!


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## Jack K (Jun 19, 2013)

Hi, Nathan:

I think you can set yourself free of the pressure of having to say something significant about every passage you read. On days when you don't feel you have something to teach, just be content to read the passage. Ask a question, if you like, and let others share their thoughts. Being a faithful dad/husband who leads in family worship doesn't necessarily mean always being the guy who provides great teaching and insight. The leadership comes from bringing your family together around the Word, not from being Mr. Superior Answer Man. None of us has all the good answers all the time, and that's okay.

That said, I very much agree with you that a through-the-Bible commentary and questions resource for family Bible reading would be a nice thing to have—particularly one that includes material suitable for the youngest kids and uses current-day expressions and topics. I don't think such an animal exists, as I searched for that sort of thing a few years ago when I was considering writing just such a resource. Back then, I couldn't get a publisher to take me on with that project. Maybe it's time to revisit the idea...


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## Miss Marple (Jun 19, 2013)

Can I add the perspective of a mom of five, all of whom were little once?

Don't overdo. Just reading to them with love and reverence from God's word every day is marvelous. They will always remember. I don't know that in-depth long Bible studies are necessary.


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## C. M. Sheffield (Jun 19, 2013)

I have found Matthew Henry's single volume commentary to be a great help in this area. Often I will go through a book of the Bible with our family and then read the coinciding passage from Henry. I have older and younger children so I try to compensate for that by breaking things down for the little ones. The new edition of Henry's commentary is great for what you're discribing. It takes about ten minutes to read through a section and it is full of devotional warmth. 

If that sounds like it wouldn't work then Biblia.com offers Complete Summary of the Old and New Testaments (respectively). These two works (one for each testament) neatly summarize each chapter in the Bible. This makes zeroing in on the pertinent information easy. Here is what the entry for John 3 looks like:

*CHAPTER THREE*

*Contents:* Nicodemus and the new birth. The last testimony of John the Baptist.
*Characters:* God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Nicodemus, John the Baptist, Moses, John’s disciples.
*Conclusion:* Since the natural man, however gifted, moral, or refined, is absolutely blind to spiritual truth and impotent to enter the kingdom, a new birth through Christ as the channel and the Holy Spirit as the power is an absolute necessity. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. The only gateway to it is—Jesus.
*Key Word:* New birth, v. 3.
*Strong Verses:* 3, 6, 7, 16, 18, 19, 36.
*Striking Facts:* v. 14. The bitten Israelite was healed by simply looking to the brazen serpent, not by looking at his wound, although he must of course be conscious of his condition. One look healed the bite. So one look of faith to Jesus saves. It is not the way we look, but the object we look at that heals.​
When I've used this, I'll typically read through a book chapter-by-chapter. I'll preface the reading with the "Contents" section so as to give us some bearing on the text before we start. Then after the reading I'll zero in on the "Strong Verses" for my comments or elaborate on the "Key Word" or "Conclusion" offered. This is a really simple format. I only wish I could get it in print so I would't have to have my laptop up to use it.


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## Pergamum (Jun 19, 2013)

Summarizing bible stories might be sufficient, with prayer. 

The story of Jesus and Nicodemus can easily be told by memory and stress can be put on the main points (such as Nicodemus knew a lot about the Bible and yet Jesus still tells him that the new birth is necessary, etc). 

I think Western people have lost a sense of the "big picture" of Scripture and so, instead of reading small snippets devoid of context, storying the larger, broad story of Scripture to your children is ideal (God's calling of Abraham and his promises to Abraham...the whole Exodus experience and wilderness experience, etc).

Also, the questions and answers from the Heidelburg and the Shorter Catechism seem to work good, if explained in simple language. It's all right there....already prepared and ready to use.


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## Vladimir (Jun 20, 2013)

C. M. Sheffield said:


> CHAPTER THREE
> 
> Contents: Nicodemus and the new birth. The last testimony of John the Baptist.
> Characters: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Nicodemus, John the Baptist, Moses, John’s disciples.
> ...


This is amazing. It's a great idea to write notes like this to enhance my own studies.


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