Sunday Morning Focus
Out One Night
Impact Parents during Sunday School
Impact Parents and Students Sunday Noon
Impact Sunday Morning through Preaching
Impact Those Who Teach the Bible
Impact Students on Moral Purity
Impact Students as a Revival Generation (DiscipleNOW)
Impact Parents during DiscipleNOW
Impact Conventions and Conferences for Student Ministers
Sunday Morning Focus:
When parent events are planned for Saturday or for Sunday evening, generally
only the best parents of the church attend—who need help the least. After observing several hundred weekends, I can say with assurance that the weakest parents of the church only will attend on Sunday morning and noon. No level of promotion seems able to motivate them to come out any other time. And yet these are the adults who are parenting very, very poorly and are making almost no effort to spiritually lead at home. By gathering parents during the Sunday morning Bible teaching hour, we often see 10 times more parents experiencing life change than we would see on Saturday or on Sunday evening. And, even the weakest parents will stay for a noon event when they have just experienced life impact during the Bible teaching hour and in worship.
Out One Night:
I generally fly somewhere every weekend of the school year. My wife allows me to do
this because she loves Jesus. She spends every Saturday and both services every Sunday alone. Two days home alone every week is a big deal. So, I made a commitment years ago to only be out one night. Otherwise, I just multiply the hours she spends alone in our home. (The only time I make exceptions is when I have assignments from the seminary or the denomination).
Impact Parents during Sunday School:
I often speak to all parents of youth during the Sunday School hour (or multiple Sunday
Schools) - usually on the topic "Making a Spiritual Impact on Your Teenager." (A parent
conference any other time will only draw a little handful of the parents who need help the least. The weakest parents simply will not come any other time than Sunday morning - or perhaps DNow Weekend). We see dramatic impact on parents from this session on Sunday morning. They consistently report they go home to make significant changes in family life. I welcome parents of preteens at the Sunday School session. We can help them establish patterns that can prevent many problems during adolescence. I will e-mail a file that produces handouts for parents to use during the session. We see the greatest impact when the presentation lasts the full 60 minutes. Strategies that encourage parents to arrive on time are helpful.
Impact Parents and Students Sunday Noon:
I often lead an event for parents and youth over the noon hour, "Restoring Heart Connections between Parents and Teenagers." After the meal I lead parents and teenagers into some powerful experiences together. Youth leaders tell me that they see family relationships altered even in visible ways during this session.
1. For the noon event, the church will need to provide care for grade schoolers. After they eat they can go to watch a video or play in traffic. The sharing between the parents and youth will be focused and intense, and the grade schoolers really need to be somewhere else.
2. For the noon event, you will want to invite a few adults who do not have teenagers. They can be “substitute parents” for those teenagers who attend without parents present. We don’t want anyone left out during the times when we put families in sharing mode with each other.
3. We often lose valuable time waiting for long lines to be served. Consider two lines or other plans for speeding serving. Also, ask the hostess to serve the very first ones to arrive. Waiting for all to arrive before serving guarantees long delays. (Almost every Sunday those first to arrive find the line not prepared).
4. It is helpful to have a few boxes of tissues on the tables since some families will experience tears as they restore heart connections. But, please do not have workers moving around the room handing out tissues—it is distracting to families.
5. We will need one hour from the time the folk finish eating for this final session. I will not run long, since child care is an issue.
6. It does not matter where people sit while they eat. Everyone will move slightly away from the tables for the sharing time. I have a very specific way of showing people how to gather and sit with family members.
7. No video projection is needed for this session, but a simple microphone and a stool are.
Impact the Church through Preaching Sunday Morning:
I often preach on Sunday morning to impact the full church - with a special focus on parents/families and the Supremacy of Christ - as well as other topics.
Impact Those Who Teach the Bible:
I find special joy in impacting those who teach and disciple students – including those who lead Sunday morning Bible study, those leading high-accountability discipleship groups, and cell group leaders. Volunteer leaders seem to appreciate masters-level training that transcends the shallowness of some Sunday School training events. I work closely with student ministers to custom-design training to fit specific needs. In every event, I seek to:
1. Join God in renewing the warmth and intimacy of leaders’ walk with the Father.
2. Sharpen leaders’ understanding of students, culture, and the process of spiritual transformation.
3. Join God in renewing the vision and passion of leaders for their calling in student ministry.
Impact Students on Moral Purity:
Watching the first students in the nation make the first True Love Waits promises was one of those mountain peak moments in my life. Watching the newest generation of students make their promises is also thrilling. I look forward to calling students to clean hands and pure hearts:
During Wednesday night student rallies
During the Bible teaching hour on Sunday morning
During DiscipleNow Weekend
During Youth Camp
Impact Students as a Revival Generation (during DiscipleNOW):
God has chosen to bless a message to students called, “Could You be the Revival Generation?” In this message, I:
1. Quickly review the role students have had in launching most of the great revivals.
2. Present evidences that God is moving in this generation of students.
3. Give students specific instruction in how to raise their sails for revival.
This message fits well in a DiscipleNow Weekend, youth camp, midweek student rally, or master-teacher Sunday morning session.
Impact Parents during DiscipleNOW:
Typical parent seminars often attract only a handful of parents - and the parents who do attend usually are those who need help the least. DiscipleNow weekend provides an opportunity to impact far more parents, including those who need help the most.
Schedule One
We have had great results in offering a parenting event on Friday evening, tied to the trip the parents make to the church to drop off their students. Just the excitement of the weekend and the sense that “everyone will be there” seems to bring a strong attendance.
Schedule Two
We also have had strong attendance at a Saturday event held around 10:00 AM at the church. This plan includes bringing all the student groups to the church for the noon meal. The parents who come at 10:00 AM know they will get to see their students at the noon meal. Most parents look forward to this brief visit and don’t want to be left out. A few parents likely are motivated to come lest they be the only “no show’s” when students and parents are finding each other. If it happens to fit the flow of the weekend, I sometimes do a brief session for parents and students together before or after lunch. Among other good topics are “Families Standing Together for Purity” and “Could this be the Revival Generation?”
Schedule Three
DiscipleNow Weekend also is an ideal time to impact all parents of students during the Sunday School hour (or hours). Parents go home with a strong desire to rebuild relationships with their students and to become spiritual leaders in their homes – at the same time that the students are filled with the Spirit from DNow.
Impact Conventions and Conferences for Student Ministers:
Topics I Often Speak on in Student Ministry Conventions and Conferences:
What's Gone Wrong in the Homes of Your Students
Impacting the Parents of Your Students
Equipping Parents to Be Spiritual Leaders to Their Children
Preparing to Teach Student Ministry Some Day
Building a Strategic Plan for Your Student Ministry
Lifetime Student Ministry
When You Hit the Mid-Life Wall as a Student Minister
Doing Student Ministry with a Revival Generation
Interventions with Students and Families in Crisis
Calling Students to Radical Purity
Building a World Class Team of Volunteer Leaders
Restructuring Your Ministry Around Lead Teams
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