Gentlemen,
In my sermon a few weeks ago I discussed an opportunity for us to come together weekly to equip, encourage and pray for one another for the task of teaching and leading our families. If you missed church that Sunday, please take the time to download and listen to the sermon from August 26 called “Cutting a Hole In The Roof.” I would like to tell you a bit more about this weekly opportunity that begins September 20.
I believe that most of you are persuaded that God has given to men the primary responsibility to lead our families to know, love and obey Him. If you are not convinced of that claim, let me especially invite you to listen to the sermon above. I know that most of you feel the weight of this awesome responsibility and opportunity that God has entrusted to us. Yet, as a father and husband, I know I could be far more intentional about this responsibility than I often am. I suspect that most of us have no real plan for teaching and leading our families to know, love and obey God other than simply taking advantage of random “teaching moments” as they come to our attention.
Therefore, I would like to invite you to join other men once a week, for 1 hour, to equip, encourage and pray for one another concerning our common responsibility to lead our families in a godly manner. We will call this gathering The Ready Room. We will be learning how to use an ancient tool called a catechism, which is a method of learning basic Christianity that has been in continuous use, in one form or another, in churches of various traditions since around the 2nd century A.D. We will learn a catechism together and Kelly Lovell is helping me draft a creative plan for you to use in leading your family through a simple, weekly devotional time using the catechism to learn Christian essentials with your family (thank you Kelly!). The catechism we will be using is available for download here. It is a Baptist catechism adapted by Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. This catechism closely follows the Westminster Shorter Catechism. We will teach through the catechism slowly, one question a week, so that our families should have no trouble learning it together. You can schedule the family devotional time when it works best for your family, but The Ready Room will happen at 6 A.M. every Thursday morning beginning September 20 at the Clarion Inn, Hwy 41 and Lynch Rd. Our plan is to meet 12-14 weeks this fall, then another 12-14 weeks this spring. We will break over the summer.
Each week will spend part of our time in instruction from the Bible on the catechism question for the week and part of our time in small groups where we can encourage and pray for one another. I encourage all adult men to come, even those who no longer have children at home—we need your wisdom and support.
Men, please consider making The Ready Room a part of your weekly schedule. This is a major initiative of Family Bible Church for the coming year and I believe we can shoulder our responsibility to our families more effectively together rather than alone. I understand there will be other commitments that will prevent involvement for some of you and I will do whatever I can to help you if you can’t make it, but I’m praying you will join us. Feel free to invite men that are not from Family Bible Church and forward this as you see fit.
Together,
Colin Kerr
Pastor, Family Bible Church