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