Hello PAACH homeschooling families. I pray that your family has taken time to worship together at home. PAACH has been focusing on encouraging families to worship together. The past two monthsour PAACH President, James Cox, and I have outlined four elements for daily worship: (1) Read the Bible, (2) Discuss God’s Word, (3) Pray together, & (4) Sing together. This month I am going to focus on the reading the Bible.

Reading the Bible

Before reading, be sure to open with prayer. Fathers, pray for God to open his word and soften your family’s hearts. God talks about the power of prayer in James. In James 5:16, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

When reading, it is easy to get caught up in reading from someone else about biblical principles, but the most important thing to do is to read the Bible itself. The Bible is from God while other books about the Bible are written by man. These are good companions to have to go along with Bible reading, but do not replace what God can teach you through his scriptures.

While reading, consider what it is that God’s word wants you and His family to know. God may have something to teach you or someone in your family. He can show you more about Him, His salvation, and His love. God will also teach us how to love, how to pray, how to repent, how to obey, and more. An important “how to” is in Ephesians 6:1-4, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

In Genesis 18:19, God says, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.” God commands us to read His Word and teach our children a good sense of morality. More importantly, it gives us an opportunity to share the Gospel message to give them a chance to believe and teach their children. Just by reading the Word out loud, we are planting seeds.

Let’s continue to urge one another to worship. I am going to repeat myself from the July newsletter. Now is the time to hear the call to worship to plant the seeds of His family tree with those He has entrusted you to care for. Fathers, continue to listen to the call to lead in family worship. Mothers, cherish the opportunity to teach your children about God. God wants you to treasure the time with your family that He has given you, and to share his good news with your loved ones. “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

The PAACH board desires for you to lean on God and His Word, and to know that you have a community of homeschool believers that are here to help and support you in your journey. We also desire to help you disciple your children by providing encouragement, wisdom, and resources that will enable you to be Godly parents who lead your children towards Christ. We pray that your family learns together, grows together with others in community, and glorifies Christ in everything you do. You are chosen to be a part of His family.

Carlos Gonzalez
PAACH Vice President