We’re changing things up during our Wednesday evening service for the next few weeks. Instead of our regular service, we’re cutting out some of the “extras” (like games and goofy videos) in order to spend more time reading the Word and in prayer. My hope is that during this time, our students will be intentional about connecting with Christ and deepening their relationship with him.
This past week I had the students read the book of James. I wanted them to read the whole book through in order to get a feel for some of the themes and ideas in it. We spread chairs all throughout the room and placed a Bible, handout and pen on each. The handout served as a sort of reading guide with questions for the students to contemplate and a schedule for the evening. You can download a copy of the handout here.
Here’s the basic order of the evening:
- Bible Reading :: 20 minutes
- Individual Prayer :: 5 minutes
- Confession :: 10 minutes
- Worship :: 15 minutes
- Devotional Thoughts :: 5 minutes
- Response :: 5 minutes
- Leader Prayer :: 5 minutes
All in all, I think things went well. I heard a few comments from students indicating that they enjoyed the changes and made the most of the time. During the Confession time, I sat with a group of high school guys and had some great interaction. My hope and prayer is that students would learn to take these practices and make them a regular part of their lives. Hopefully, modeling this will encourage and teach them healthy spiritual disciplines.
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