How Our Preaching Plan Will Impact Your Life (Part 2)

This is a five-part series on our preaching plan for the next ministry year. These are longer posts, so read the bold highlights only for a quicker review of the content.

Over the last three years we have been working our way through the Bible, Genesis through Revelation, in sermons and small groups and in Children’s and Student Ministries. 

I think the most incredible part of our Gospel Project adventure has been having all ages on the same page. 

At the same time it has provided a great overview of the Bible story, a story arc that needs to define our lives as God’s people. We are living in the story of God, but there are competing stories trying to get us to ignore God’s story. 

It’s been a great season in our church’s life, but it’s coming to an end and it will look different this fall.

I would love to continue with all ages focused on the same passage every week, but there are reasons not to make that our regular, long-term practice. 

You may have noticed that every week, for the benefit of new folks, I would explain that we were following what the kids were doing. 

That language was intentional. It highlighted that kids have foundational needs in their curriculum that we were not neglecting. 

There is a “scope and sequence” that any good children’s curriculum seeks to implement. And the Lifeway Gospel Project developers made sure that those needs guided their curriculum. 

The bottom line is that we need more flexibility and many different foci (in the long haul) for our sermon and small group “curriculum.” 

 Also, practically speaking, I’ve not found another curriculum like Gospel Project that serves the interests of the kids and adults simultaneously for a period of time. And I’m not sure creating one would be a good thing for the long haul, given the long-term “scope and sequence” differences between adults, students, and kids. (Not to mention that we are not equipped to do that well.)

So, we’re starting a new journey in the fall, and I’ll share in my next post how it is that we put together a series of series for an entire year. 

Photo by Mike Scheid on Unsplash

How Our Preaching Plan Will Impact Your Life (Part 1)

This is a five-part series on our preaching plan for the next ministry year. These are longer posts, so read the bold highlights only for a quicker review of the content.

Sometimes building anticipation is a big part of the experience. 

When my boys were little, I’d take them every year to our church’s middle school camp in Manhattan, KS, across the street from the Kansas State University campus. It was called Power Week.

I was the morning speaker every year, which meant I was free the rest of the day to spend with the boys. We’d go to the city pool and the mall for fresh lemonade. We’d hang out at Cafe Royale, and we developed a bunch of other traditions.

Starting in the winter, when I’d go into their rooms to pray and say goodnight, I’d often ask, “What are we going to do this summer at Power Week?” They’d get excited talking about it, and so would I. The anticipation was part of the fun.

So, over the next few posts, I hope to build your sense of excited anticipation by explaining what goes into sermon series planning (especially planning for an entire year) and by sharing a little bit about some of the series we have planned, and how you can expect to be impacted.

Before I do that I want to look back at the past three years of sermons in my next post because we’ve been on a great and important journey. 

Photo by William Topa on Unsplash