I worked at a church in Texas for three years. Every year during Disciple Now it iced over. For those of you who aren't familiar with Texas, we are not used to ice and snow and tend to panic. Or at least our parents do.So we had to adjust our schedule. Get more food, find some games, adjust when our service would be or how long it might be, etc. Whether snow and ice affect you or not is not important. The big thing here is be ready for the unexpected. Have flexibility in your schedule. Have extra Disicple Now resources or extra lessons built into your Disicple Now curriculum so that you are ready for anything. Maybe provide an extra meal to your host homes or send some board games at the beginning of the weekend. Either way, be prepared.
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Social Networking has its good characteristics and its bad. You may love it. Or you may be like me, and while you are an admitted facebook junkie, you wrestle everyday with deleting your profile. But when it comes to Disciple Now I believe it can be a very good thing. If you are on a social networking site and are connected to your students there, use that to draw attention to your Disciple Now. Maybe post your flier online, give a sample of the Disicple Now Curriculum or other Diciple Now resources such as videos, or just start a discussion forum to get kids talking about your Disciple Now. With any luck students may see it who would not normally be drawn to your minstry, and might want to get involved. So take advantage of this new tool we have to get the message out about what God is doing in our ministries There is a big push in education to use media. It helps students engage and learn. I am not always a big proponent of copying what the world does in the church, and that often includes this situation. But in moderation, media can be a good thing. So maybe infuse your small groups where you study the Disciple Now curriculum with a powerpoint. Have a countdown video and other artwork in your worship services. Adding media to your Disciple Now Curriculum and other Disciple Now resources can help your students engage and can allow others in your ministry to use their special gifts and talents.
Occasionally while I am sipping a $5 cup of coffee, I have a hair brained idea. This was one of those mornings. Not saying it would work. Why not do Disciple Now as a community wide event. You get to split the costs on things like Disciple Now Curriculum, Disciple Now T-shirts, and other Disciple Now Resources. But more importantly, there are a lot of churches in your community possibly and we are all on the same team right? Why not make Disciple Now about bringing your whole community together and reminding you, your students, and your churches that all of you are working towards to the same Gospel. Spreading the Gospel to everyone you come in contact with.
I think sometimes we are scared to ask what students think about what we are doing, because we might not like their answers. I have found one of the most helpful things about Disciple Now is getting student feedback in the form of surveys. You can have students fill these out at the end of the weekend and see how they felt about their leaders, the Disciple Now Curriculum, the schedule etc. It may give you some incredible insight. Of course take it with a grain of salt. Don't take it personal if a kid says it was boring. Teens are prone to this view of everything. But if every kid says it was boring, or they did not understand anything you may want to reevaluate and do some further investigation into what is on your students hearts and minds. So put your self out there and allow yo
Thought I'd do things a little different today. I figure someone out there is gearing up for an incredible Disciple Now weekend to kick off in a few hours, so I thought I'd shoot out a prayer of encouragement and support to you.
I pray that this weekend would blow you and your students away. That this would be a weekend or renewal, healing, and inspiration. I hope that this Disciple Now would be them moment in your ministry that would be remembered as the starting point for great things. I want to affirm you in all the hard work you have done and I pray that your students would see and appreciate that. I pray that as they dig through the Disciple Now Curriculum their hearts would be open and teachable and God would share something unique and powerful to each one of them. Amen. I guess today is more for the seasoned veterans of Disciple Now. Often times when we have done something for years we think we have it all together. We get into a rut. This can especially be true when it comes to Disciple Now. We use the same leaders, the same themes, the same curriculum, the same volunteers...There is nothing wrong with a little consistency, especially when it comes to leaders and volunteers, but we have to be careful to not do things just for the sake of tradition. Today I challenge you to allow God to sift through all you are doing and planning. Allow Him to make sure you are doing nothing out of pride or tradition. Maybe there are some new leaders who want to get involved or old leaders who want a new role. Maybe there is a new Disciple Now Curriculum out there that your students need to work through. Not saying change, just be open to it.
DIsciple Now is a great chance to create community in your student ministry. Hopefully your ministry is doing this already, but many are not. As your students are in homes digging through the Disciple Now Curriculum, community will naturally develop. Community is something God calls us to. It is something our students crave and need. Let your Disciple Now and Disciple Now Curriculum revolve around community. Your students futures may depend on it.
Disciple Now is a great weekend to challenge your students. The Disciple Now Curriculum you choose and the time your students spend with God and each other will stir so many things up in their hearts. So my question is, are you willing to step up to? Are you willing to sacrifice and work as hard as your students may be inspired to. You better be. I challenge you to prepare your heart for Disciple Now. Maybe ask God to see what is in store. Read through the Disciple Now Curriculum so you know what challenges you can for sure be praying through. An
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