Our Home is like a Little Church

Having previously commended here the little book, Pastor Daddy, I am pleased to say that the new edition, Our Home is like a Little Church, has now been published by Christian Focus Publications. Previously the book was available only through Sojourn Church who produced it, so I am pleased to see it now made more widely available.

Here is the promotional blurb I wrote for the book:

This is an excellent book and I have sought to get a copy into the hands of every family at our church. It is a story about fathers leading their families at home as the pastor leads the church. The great old concept of “every father the pastor of the church meeting in his house” is portrayed here in an engaging and compelling way. The left hand pages comment on what the pastor does at church. The right hand pages then comment on how the dad does a similar thing in leading his family at home. Reading this then will urge fathers forward and give them some built-in accountability as children will look to see that the things read about are actually done!  The book is simply written in a nice rhyme with nice illustrations. This little book has the potential to accomplish much good. I encourage you to get a copy for yourself and then get copies for families you could give it to.

Horton on Home & Church

I just came across this quote posted by my friend Justin Wainscott. I thought it followed well my post on the importance of stories. We parents must orient our lives and families so as to show our children that God’s story is the central realities of our lives thus showing them the way to follow.

Christian
homes and churches are the only institutions in which our children will learn to find themselves in God's story. When they are united more by the trends of pop culture than by the faith and practice of the whole church in all times and places, our youth become victims of our sloth. We should not be surprised that over half of those reared in evangelical homes and churches today do not join or even attend a church regularly when they go off to college. If we are going to see our children grow up into Christ instead of abandoning the church, our
spiritual life at home and in the church must incorporate them into the teaching and fellowship of the apostolic faith. They can find "ministry opportunities" through United Way, the Peace Corps, or Habitat for Humanity. They can find friends at the fraternity or sorority. They can find intellectual stimulation in class. And they can find a sense of meaning and purpose in their vocations. If their home churches exchanged the ministry of preaching and teaching the apostles' doctrine for a variety of ministries and activities that they could find legitimate versions of in the world, then it is difficult to come up with a reasonable answer when they ask, "Why do I need the church?"

--Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World

Here is the Church

Here Is the Church, by Anita Reith Stohs
Illustrated by Kathy Mitter
(Concordia Publishing House, 2009), hb., 32 pp.
Ages 2-5

This simple little book is aimed at young children to encourage their engagement in the worship of the church. It begins with the well-known little children’s rhyme:

Here is the church, and
Here is the steeple,
Open the door to
See all God’s people.

It then continues the rhyme walking through the key parts of a Lutheran worship service. Coming from a Lutheran publishing house it of course reflects that theological understanding. However, most of it will fit orthodox evangelicals in general. Comment is made, for example, on prayer, choir, congregational singing, Bible reading, preaching, communion, baptism, and an offering. I particularly liked the closing bit addressed to parents where the author encourages parents intentional teaching of children about what goes on in corporate worship. She goes on to encourage family worship as well.

In a day when the church is so often minimized or disparaged, it is great to see a children's book like this. The inside cover front and back also have Eph 3:21 printed. This is a very thoughtful, though simple, book for children to help them understand what goes on at church. It will be a good resource.

I would like to see my own denominational publisher produce something similar in a Baptist vein.