Recently I listened to a sermon titled “The Key in the Passover“.

My pastor didn’t reveal what the key was for more than half the sermon, detailing instead God’s instructions in the book of Exodus and the blessings promised.

Building up the suspense, he kept getting us to guess what the key was. Until, finally, the slide changed to one with the words, “The Family Altar”.

The emphasis of the first Passover was that it was done as a family!

WHY BUILD A FAMILY ALTAR?

Building the family altar means having a time of devotion as a family.

Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. We often apply this only to a church or cell setting and forget all about our families!

So for those of us who have believing family members, we should not just leave worship, sharing the Word and praying to the weekends, or merely be content to do it ourselves in our quiet time.

God put us in families for a reason. It’s where we build our foundations and help each other anchor ourselves to Him. And while we can certainly anchor ourselves to Him alone and corporately in church, we may be missing an important gap between self and church – family.

For many of us, it may be time to shift from living separate spiritual lives in the same space, to sharing life with our loved ones with God at the centre.

Having a family altar really strengthened my relationship with my mum.

It helped us understand each others’ struggles in our spiritual walk so that we can better support each other with prayer. We were also able to rejoice in each other’s victories and affirm God’s goodness.

We exchanged reflections and had discussions on Bible passages so that we can grow together. These discussions would also extend beyond our family to social issues and how we can apply God’s truth to them. We would then pray for these issues.

Shift from living separate spiritual lives in the same space, to sharing life with our loved ones with God at the centre.

My dad is a non-believer. But thank God he works from home because he’s still able to see what a family altar is all about!

I am sure he notices how my mum and I convene in my room every Friday for an hour and a half. I am sure he hears the strumming of the ukulele and us singing praises to God. I am sure he wonders why our eyes look red and swollen after we emerge from a time of intercession, for him, for our family, for the church and for the nations.

There are positive changes to the atmosphere of my house and I can see my dad becoming more open. There was even once when we prayed for him and he chimed in with an “amen”! Previously he would just nod and say thank you.

My mum and I believe that as we continue to honour God with our family altar, God will bring salvation to my dad and the rest of my non-believing family. I have heard many other stories of breakthroughs from my cell sisters who have also begun the family altar in their homes.

IT’S HARD BUT WORTH IT

Honestly, it’s a challenge to come together as a family to worship and pray.

Even though my mum and I are very close and have conversations about God throughout the day, the act of setting aside time and space for a family altar just didn’t sit well with me at the onset. Simply because I found it awkward!

But since my mum and I first heard this sermon, we have been diligently having our family altar every week. And by God’s grace, it has been going strong for close to three months already.

It’s not been the easiest, but we’ve made an effort to work out our differences and turn our focus back to God.

For instance, my mum was a worship leader while I am less musically inclined. As we take turns to lead worship for one another, we are not always comfortable with each other’s style.

My mum likes to use a ukulele and has no problems with tempo or key. On the other hand, I prefer singing a cappella and at whichever key is most comfortable to me.

But at the end of the day, we both agree that God looks at the posture of our hearts and not our musical abilities. Nothing is more important or rewarding than giving God the worship He is due.

SOLE BELIEVER AT HOME?

Finally, in Exodus 12:4, we also see that God allows sharing the Passover meal with neighbours. 

For those of us who are the only Christian at home, cell group meetings can be our family altar. After all, our church communities are our second family.

It is a time with our spiritual community where we cultivate the discipline of devotion, even as we look forward to having family altars in our own homes with our loved ones upon their salvation.

For those of us who are the only Christian at home, cell group meetings can be our family altar.

My cell group has additional meetups during the week for members who want to build a family altar. There we share about who Jesus is to us, why we follow Him and the things we are thankful for (Colossians 2:6-7). We sometimes also pray and worship, according to the Spirit’s leading.

It is never too late to start building our family altars as long as we are willing. So may God give us the strength to persevere through the initial awkwardness and differences as we choose to devote ourselves and our families to Him.