“Find Yourself in the Story” – A Lenten Resource from Spiritual Life Development
“Find Yourself in the Story” is an approach to reading Scripture largely developed from Ignatius of Loyola’s 16th Century “Spiritual Exercises.” For this Lenten Resource we combine this approach with a Broadway-style “theme” to create a unique encounter with the Passion of Jesus Christ. Follow the instructions in the materials and you and your congregations will experience these familiar Scriptures in a brand-new way. Seeing ourselves within the greater narrative of Holy Scripture opens each of us up to the transforming power of God’s Word. We hear words as if they were meant for our very ears. We see the Scriptures in a new light as we imagine ourselves in the room.
Within the “Playbill” that we’ve provided (which you can print and assemble) you’ll find four “Scenes” corresponding to a different Holy Week event. You can use these “Scenes” (The Anointing, The Last Supper, Gethsemane and Crucifixion) as individual programs within your Corps’ Holy Week, as prayer stations, or in other creative ways. We’ve also given you prop suggestions, photographs of each “Station,” character headshots (for the Stations) and an instructional video that you can watch at the beginning of each Holy Week worship experience. Lastly, you’ll find printable PDFs with the daily Scriptures and Directives for each member of your congregation.
Click Here For “How to Use Find Yourself In the Story.”
“Bit Parts of the Christmas Story” – An Advent Resource from Spiritual Life Development
“Bit Parts of the Christmas Story” looks at some of what we might call “the minor characters” that often go unnoticed in the Advent story. The truth is that there are “Bit Parts” all around all of us and there have been “Bit Moments” in our own lives. Perhaps we can look back on a season of life where we were a “minor character” and went either ignored or were forgotten. If you haven’t been there, you know someone who has. The beauty of the gospel story, though, is that every part, every person and every moment was deeply affected. Even to this day, the Holy Spirit finds ways to move us, to inspire us or to transform us through the Christmas story.
We’ve provided four full meeting outlines with recommended songs, original monologues, Advent Readings, Scriptures and a Reconciliatory Thought for your preparations. The Calls to Worship and Scripture Readings are taken from the New Common Lectionary, songs are from the Salvation Army Songbook (the “old” one) and the monologues were written for this Advent Resource pack. All that is needed is a sermon for each week and you have your Sunday morning all planned already!
[sdm_download id=”14360″] Click to Download the Resource Pack zip file. (File contains both Advent and Lenten resources.)
