Subscribe to the NetworkHSM Weekend in Review: Volume 27
Weekend Teaching Series: Love in Action – Week 2 of 3
Sermon in a Sentence: We have so much – it is time to think of others and put love into action.
Key Verse: 1 Cor. 13:4-5 “Love cares more for others than for self… it isn’t always me first.”
Weekend Scale of Difficulty: 9 out of 10. A service filled with videos, live speaking, a testimony, music … and building a whole store for Operation Christmas Child.
Attendance: Up 50% from last weekend, up 136% from same weekend last year
Service Length: 74 minutes
Understandable Message:This weekend we featured Operation Christmas Child as part 2 of our Love in Action series. The idea is that we do less talking and more doing – this series felt good coming on the heels of 40 Days of Love. This weekend we decided to take on Operation Christmas Child, a shoebox ministry to give gifts and the Gospel message to little children at Christmas. The parent organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has delivered millions of boxes worldwide. When Saddleback started doing this project some 20 years ago, the first year they completed 80 boxes. This weekend, we did far more than that alone just with high school students. It was super cool to see students hear the live testimony of a Ukrainian orphanage mother who gives the boxes each year to her rescued street kids. Our pastor of missions also visited us this weekend and encouraged students to consider the value of the box verses the cost of what was inside. Powerful and quick first half of the night, then we jumped into building boxes, packing and writing letters for the second half.
Volunteer/Student Involvement:Students ran the lights, sound, cameras and band this weekend. Students ran the store, built the shoeboxes and sang in the choir. Volunteers jumped in wherever they could, but not much was planned for/with them in advance.
Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We had some fun with the announcements up front, but the positive environment this weekend really came from the total change in style. We gave everyone lots of freedom to talk while they were working, it seemed like everyone enjoyed hanging out. In the end not a lot of programmed fun, just a good casual atmosphere.
Music Playlist: Solution, Came to My Rescue, Til I See You
Favorite Moment: The giant group picture at the end was cool just because we don’t do it that often – but the best moment had to be when everyone came forward at the end of the service and we prayed over the boxes that God would use them to bless a child and hear about Him this Christmas.
Notes: The whole weekend was a risk. It was messy and a ton of work. And super cool.
Awesome event to put students in action!!! Did the students bring the gifts or did you use budgeted money to buy the gifts?
We used some budget, but had significant donations from dentists, hotels and businesses, and we took an offering each service (and will until Christmas, too). JG