Family Worship #3
Family Worship Guide
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Watch as Gerard gives us all the latest announcements.
You can find the resource on finances at fbcthibodaux.org/resources. Also, on that webpage you can also find more information we have been compiling on the importance of family devotions and how to do family devotions.
SING
READ
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
LISTEN
WATCH
ASK
I. The Causes of the Psalmist’s Troubled Soul
Parents, describe to your children what a troubled soul is:
A troubled soul is when a person is discouraged because he is having trouble– perhaps physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Parents, ask your children if they have ever felt discouraged.
Then ask them what made them feel better.
Q: What are the four causes of the psalmist’s troubled soul?
1. The absence of God (v1-2)
2. The taunts of unbelievers (v3, 10)
3. The disruption of community (v4, 6)
4. The overwhelming trials of death (v7)
Q: Is God ever absent from us?
A: No, God is always present with us (Matthew 28:20).
Have you ever felt that God is distant from you?
Have you ever felt that God is not listening to your prayers?
Parents, explain to your children why you are discouraged to not meet together as a Church.
Read Hebrews 10:25 to your children.
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
–Hebrews 10:25 (ESV)
II. The Cure for a Troubled Soul
Q: What is the four-step process of the cure for the troubled soul?
1. Pour out your soul to the Lord (v4)
2. Remind yourself of God’s grace and love (v6, 8)
3. Examine your hopes (v5, 11)
4. Preach to yourself (v5, 11)
Parents, remind your children that God loves when they come to Him in prayer.
Remind them that God’s love is His covenantal love–which means He will remain faithful to those who enter into a personal relationship with Him.
Q: Do you listen to yourself when you are discouraged? Do you ever speak to yourself?
The Psalmist transitions from listening to himself when he is discouraged to speaking to himself when he is discouraged. He begins to preach to himself concerning what God thinks about him. He preaches the Gospel to himself.
PRAY
–Pray for God to continue to work in the lives of your children so that they can be saved. If they are already saved, pray that they will continue to find their identity in Christ.
–Pray that when they get discouraged they can turn to the cure for their discouragement. Pray that they will learn to pour out their souls to the Lord. Pray that they will remind themselves of God’s grace and love. Pray that they will examine their hopes. Pray that they will preach the gospel to themselves.
–Pray for people today who are discouraged because of the effects of COVID-19.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Again, we’d like to direct your attention to our resources page for more info on family devotions.
Here are some coloring sheets, a word search puzzle, and a handwriting sheet that you can print out for your child. These are all meant to be aids to help you with your child(ren). Feel free to print some of these or all of these, whatever will work best for your specific child and his or her age.
