Prayer (5 Minutes)
- Have each family member complete this sentence in prayer: "Dear God, help me to worship you with my whole heart by..." (Encourage specific examples like "being kind to my sister" or "telling the truth," etc.)
Song (5 Minutes)
Catechism (5 minutes)
Have everyone read aloud simultaneously or allow everyone to try to answer before revealing the answer.
Q50: What does Christ’s resurrection mean for us?
A: Christ triumphed over sin and death so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14)
A: Christ triumphed over sin and death so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14)
Questions from: https://newcitycatechism.com/. Go there to start from beginning or to read more.
Scripture (5 Minutes)
Mark 7:5–15 (NLT)
So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Discussion (5-10 Minutes)
You can lead through a teaching or use the following questions to start a discussion:
- What were the Pharisees upset about? Why were they concerned about washing hands?
- How did Jesus respond to their criticism? What was wrong with the Pharisees' focus?
- What does it mean to honor God with our lips but have hearts far from Him? Can you think of examples?
- How can we make sure we're following God's commands rather than just human traditions?
Closing Prayer (3 Minutes)
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for teaching us that you care more about our hearts than our outward actions. Help us to worship you sincerely and not just follow rules to look good to others. Give us clean hearts that truly love and honor you. In Jesus' name, Amen.