The Four Pillars of the FAMILY Chapel

 COUPLES BANQUET

WCCTI COUPLES MINISTRY

August 31, 2026 3pm

 

INTRODUCING SHABBAT SHALOM TO EVERY FAMILY

 

Topic:"The Four Pillars of the  FAMILY Chapel"

Launching: Bawat Pamilya ay Kapilya, Bawat Tahanan ay Sambahan

(A Weekly Celebration of  God’s Perfection In Christ, Experience the Blessedness of Shabbat)

 

OPENING : Sound of Shofar

(5 minutes)

 

Facilitator:

"Before God gave us cathedrals, He gave us tents. Before He gave us churches, He gave us households. Tonight, we consecrate the smallest chapel on earth—your home."

Each couple is given two candles. They light them simultaneously.

Matthew 5:14-16 — "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

The  Vow (couples say together): Storya

"We are not just husband and wife. We are co-keepers of a chapel. Let this light remind us: our home is not hidden. It is a city on a hill."

PILLAR 1: THE FOUNDATION (FAMILY COVENANT WITH GOD)

(10 minutes)

Facilitator:

"Every chapel needs a cornerstone. A home that is a Sambahan is not built on romance alone. It is built on Covenant."

Joshua 24:15 — "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Matthew 7:24-25 — "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

1 Corinthians 3:11 — "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

Lesson 1: Joshua stood before all Israel and declared: "My household will serve the Lord."  He did not say "I hope we do"  or "we'll try."  He made a covenant declaration. When a couple decides that their home is a Kapilya, they are not decorating a house. They are laying a foundation that storms cannot shake.

Interactive Moment: "The Cornerstone" Each couple receives a small stone. They write one word representing what they will build their home upon (e.g., Forgiveness, Prayer, Truth, Grace ). They place it at the center of their table.

Ephesians 2:19-20 — "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

PILLAR 2: THE WALLS: WORD OF GOD

(10 minutes)

Facilitator:

"A chapel without walls cannot protect what is holy. The walls of your home must be saturated with God's Word—not just in frames, but in conversations."

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 — "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Proverbs 24:3-4 — "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."

Lesson 2: The Shema is the Jewish prayer recited morning and evening in the home. It declares: "Your home is your first seminary. Your kitchen is your first sanctuary. Your bedtime routine is your first worship service."  The Word of God is not meant to stay in the church. It is meant to frame your doorways, guide your hands, and shape your conversations.

For Discussion: What steps will you do every morning or every night to imprint your wall with the Word

Psalm 119:11 — "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Colossians 3:16 — "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."

PILLAR 3: THE TABLE:  (FOOD)

(10 minutes)

Facilitator:

"In every ancient chapel, there is an altar. In your home, the altar is your table. The place where bread is broken, stories are shared, and strangers become family."

Psalm 128:1-4 — "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord."

Acts 2:46 — "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

Lesson 3: The EARLY church  broke bread in their homes. The table is where theology becomes hospitality. When a couple opens their table—whether to their own children or to a lonely neighbor—they are saying: "This is not just a dining room. This is a sanctuary of welcome." The food that is served during meals has been designed by God to nourish the Temple of the Spirit which is the body

For discussion:

1. What changes should we do in the preparation of our food so that our family will be cleansed and nourished physically?

                          2. what schedule would we place our Family altar to feast on theWord of God (Family Bible Study)

Covenant declaration to build the family altar (spontaneous, not scripted):

"As we break this bread, we renew our covenant. Not just to each other, but to every person who will ever sit at our table."

PILLAR 4: THE COVERING of ESHER : SHABBAT SHALOM

(10 minutes)

Facilitator:

"A chapel that never closes its doors becomes a marketplace. A home that never rests becomes a prison. Shabbat Shalom is not a day off. It is a declaration that God is  God of perfection and blessedness."

Genesis 2:2-3 — "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." 

Exodus 20:8-11 — "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

Exodus 31:13 — "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.'"

Hebrews 4:9-10 — "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his."

Isaiah 32:18 — "My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."

Lesson 4: Shabbat is the signature of God upon His people. ."  It embodies and  substantiated by the LORD’'s Supper. It is the weekly miracle that says: "The world will keep spinning even if we stop because God is in control. For a couple, Shabbat Shalom means:

 The phone is put away; The work is laid down; The spouse is honored; the children are blessed; The presence of God is the central focus and relative/friends can be invited to join and witness God’s faithfulness and goodness.

Colossians 3:14-15 — "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Interactive Moment: Shabbat shalom (to be practiced every Friday night)

(15 minutes)

"May the peace of Christ rule in your heart. May this home be a secure place of rest. May our marriage be a preview of heaven's Sabbath. Shabbat Shalom."

 

CLOSING COMMISSIONING: "You Are the Chapel"

(5 minutes)

Facilitator:

"You do not need a Cathedral to be a church, sometimes you need a stove to create a fellowship. You do not always need a music band to worship, but you definitely need an open heart to connect. You might not have a pulpit to preach, but a table with food is handy to share God’s Word. You do not need another holiday to understand rest, what you need is the Sabbath to enjoy His fullness."

1 Peter 2:5 — "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

1 Timothy 3:4-5 — "He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)"

Final Declaration (all couples stand and read together):

"We are not just building a house. We are building a chapel. We are not just raising a family. We are raising a family of priest. We are not just surviving the week, but we are celebrating His rest. Bawat Pamilya ay Kapilya, Bawat tahanan ay Sambahan.. Shabbat Shalom."

Each couple receives a small wooden plaque or card to take home, inscribed with:

"This home is a chapel. This family is a priesthood. This table is an altar. This rest is holy."

COMPLETE SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Sheets

Pillar

Scripture

The Light