Family Worship Guide
“Grace” (1918)
The leadership at Westminster is committed to serving and enabling godly families in their pursuit of truth, obedience, and sanctification. We believe that the family is God’s design for people everywhere. Because of this, we are excited to offer you this resource to assist you in family worship. Look for a new guide every week.
Family Worship Guide
1st Scripture Reading:
Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. (Micah 5:1-5a)
Note: Micah 5 is another passage familiar in Christmas readings, and rightly so. David provided the model for much Old Testament expectation of the Messiah—the best of the past foreshadowing the perfection of the future. Even David’s town was to be the birthplace of the coming King. Yet the vision was not of a mere David “look-alike.” The Old Testament does not give all the answers but offers mysteries awaiting the fulfilled reality to explain them. So he will be born in Bethlehem, but his origins are “from ancient days” (v. 2). Only the incarnation fits the picture and explains what Micah was grasping after. But he leaves unexplained how the coming ruler will himself be our “peace” (v. 5). This has to await Ephesians 2:14–17.
Prayer of Praise to God: Praise God for bringing his peace to us in the coming of his Son, Jesus. God’s peace transcends all our understanding. It is not a feeling inside of us. God’s peace is the objective truth that through the life, death and resurrection of his Son, we have peace with God. We are no longer his enemies but we have been adopted into his family and nothing can ever change that. Rejoice, I say rejoice.
V1. Hark! the herald angels sing,
”Glory to the newborn King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with angelic hosts proclaim,
”Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Refrain:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
”Glory to the newborn King”
V2. Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.
Refrain.
V3. Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
3rd Scripture Reading:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Note: The example of Christ, and the obligation under which we are to him, should lead us to do good to others. This is a test of your love of self-sacrifice, for you know that Christ’s sacrificial love was so evident. You may be expected to sacrifice yourselves for others, since Christ gave himself for you. It is not only the example of Christ which is held up for our imitation; but gratitude to Christ for the infinite blessings we receive from him is presented as the motive to love your neighbor. The incarnation of the Son of God, or God in the flesh, and the love shown by him, is assumed to be known and acknowledged by all who call themselves Christians. Therefore Christians must know, the grace, or the unmerited, spontaneous love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to understand our response to this knowing, and that is to give to others as Christ gave to us. Jesus became poor, taking our sins upon himself on the cross, so we could become rich and give to others. Sacrificial love is how we love our neighbors as ourselves.
2nd Scripture Reading:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)
Note: In this passage of Scripture we find the announcement of the coming of a great person, so great that a mighty prophet (John the Baptist) had to go ahead of him in the power of the Holy Spirit. This person is the Son of God, coming to rule his kingdom forever. He is also the Son of David, fulfilling all the ancient promises of God’s covenants. He is holy, sinless, and devoted to God from his conception. He is a shining light of truth. Yet he is full of tenderness, mercy, and forgiveness to sinners. The command to sinners is to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.
Hymn: Joy To The World
V1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive its king;
let ev’ry heart prepare him room,
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
V2. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
V3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.
V4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.
Refrain:
Go tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere
go tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born!
V1. While shepherds kept their watching
o’er silent flocks by night,
behold throughout the heavens
there shone a holy light.
Refrain.
V2. The shepherds feared and trembled
when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus
that hailed our Savior’s birth.
Refrain.
V3. Down in a lowly manger
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation
that blessed Christmas morn.
Refrain.
Gloria Patri: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Amen.
Closing Scripture: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 4:4-7)
The Lord’s Prayer (together): Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen