Questions on Family Worship

A follow-up to my Tri-Moms post on family worship and my separate  post on family devotions...


Stacy said:   I'm just curious about things like tithing and communion.

Amanda said:   I like Stacy's question on tithing.  I know you can do communion yourselves at home, but it would be fun to know if you do and how you do it. 

You know, we have never done communion at home, but I don't see why we couldn't.  At few days before Easter, we did our own impromptu foot washing, but we have never taken communion together. 

Tithing is something that we do, though.  Tithing was first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 14: 20 where Melchizedek blesses Abram and Abram gives him a tenth of his wealth.  Tithing was also included in the Old Testament law (Leviticus 27:30, Deuteronomy 12:6). 

As Christians living under the New Convenant, we believe that we are no longer required to pay tithe.  Romans 8:2 says, "Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." 

That being said, while we believe we have freedom in Christ, we do not believe tithing is wrong and we have chosen to continue setting aside ten percent of our income.  (Romans 13: 10-- "Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.")  Because we do not belong to an organized church, the issue of where to give our tithe is a tricky one.  Since we believe The Church is "the Body" and not "the building," we give our tithe to those who belong to the body.  In the past, we have given our tithe to Bible-believing organizations that we wish to support.  We have also given money to individuals (or families) in need. 

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,
and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--
he will be blessed in what he does.

James 2:26 

 Jenna said:   How do you find other Christians to fellowship with?

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that our children learn to communicate with and be friends with people of all ages.  In the spring, we had a adult female friend come to our home to drop off some things.  She came in and spent the next hour talking with Gavin (8) on the couch about clocks and dinosaurs and the Titanic and the Lucitania!  How does that relate to finding people to fellowship with?  It simply means that the friends we make as a family are varied.  We encourage our kids to be friends with those of any age, not only those in their exact age or gender. 

We are fortunate to be close (in proximity and in relationship) to our family.  My youngest sister is 10 and she is my kids' best friend.  Plus they have 8 cousins under the age of 10 on Brian's side of the family!  One of their favorite people to be around is their Uncle Max, my dad's older brother.  When they find our he is going to be joining our Sunday activities, they are as excited as if he were a kid, too. 

Brian is blessed to work for a Christian business.  While not all of his co-workers are believers, some of them are and he has fellowship with them.

We are part of a homeschool group.  It is not a group of families that meets for regular meetings, but more of a large network of families in the areas who comes together for various events: Field Day or field trips or co-ops.  We've made like-minded friends at soccer (Brian was assistant coach),  Talent Show, and Charlotte Mason support group.  There is always some way to meet people. And by the way, like-minded does not mean that we think everyone must be exactly like us.  Most, if not all,  of our friends do not worship exclusively at home the way we do.