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Family Worship Service: The Sunday School Blues
Resources include sermon,
children's message, funny
video: "The Sunday School Blues" and promo material
The sermon/service that has the power to
turn around your attendance trend.
I hope it will bless your ministry too...Franklyn Schaefer (producer, artist)
"Thanks for providing this
video,
it drove home the message." Rev. Ron Vogt-Keiser,
CO
"Sometimes one service will
set a mood for a whole church season;
the Sunday School Blues" Family Service has done it for us. Thank you!!"
Jon Wheaton, PA
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Contents:
- Scripture Readings
click here (opens in a new window)
- Video: "The Sunday School Blues"
(see YouTube video below)
- Children's Message: "Brownies Don’t Make Themselves"
(scroll down to see excerpt)
- Sermon: "Get Your Tuchus in the Pew"
(scroll down to see excerpt)
- Promotional Materials --(view below)
Press Release, Bulletin Insert/Flyer; Bulletin Cover;
PowerPoint Slide
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Preview video here:
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download here for
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Brownies Don’t Make Themselves
Children’s message based on
Ephesians 5:14b-20
Objects: a paper bag, pack of brownie mix, a plastic
container filled with a water and oil mix, an egg (boiled if you don’t want it
to break)
I thought I would make some
brownies this morning. I have an egg, a container with a water/oil mix, the
brownie mix, of course, and a bowl in this paper sack. Wouldn't you agree that I
have all the ingredients needed to make an awesome batch of brownies?
What I will do is just let them sit here and check back at the
end of our worship time to see if they’re done and ready to be devoured. I know
what you’re thinking now. You are glad that I am married to a woman who knows
how to cook, because otherwise I would have died of starvation a long time ago!
It is silly to think that just because all the ingredients are
assembled in a paper sack that brownies will be soon forthcoming. . . . .
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Sermon: "Get Your Tuchus in the Pew"
based on Matthew 13: 1-9, 27-23, Ephesians 5:14b-20
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
According
to our Scripture text, there are definitely obstacles to spiritual growth which
we need to be aware of and which we need to overcome. In Jesus’ parable, God is
likened to a farmer who seeds the field. We, the believers, are identified with
the different types of soil. Some receive the good news and just thrive, others
have conditions or obstacles to a fruitful spiritual growth that will either
stifle their spirituality or even eclipse it.
I believe that the different soils could also represent
different stages in a believer’s spiritual development, simply because I think
we all can relate to the different challenges of the different soils during our
own spiritual developments.
This morning I want to ask you this: speaking of this moment
in your life, where do you see yourself? Do you feel like you’re:
·Rocky Soil?
—a farmer from one of my former congregations once told me that
rocks do present a real obstacle and nuisance to plowing and seeding the
fields. I could sense his frustration by the way he shared: “no matter how
many rocks you pick up and put into piles, there’s always more the next
year—it’s like they breed.”
Do you feel like you’re on rocky soil sometimes? Do you feel like you need to
grow deeper spiritual roots? Do you feel like you have holes in your theology?
Are you afraid to talk about your faith because you feel like you can’t answer
even some of the more basic questions about Christianity, about God, or about
the bible?
·Among Thorns?
– or is your spiritual growth stifled by thorns. You’re among
thorns if you feel like you’re in danger of being bought by the lures of the
“world” or if you are buying into the empty promises of the “world.” . . .
. . . No doubt, the fellowship of believers is a “breeding ground”
for good spiritual growth. When two or three are gathered in his name, Christ
will be in the midst of them. How important is it to meet for worship and, yes,
for Sunday School?
Some people say that you can also grow spiritually at home;
but you know what? All these years as a minister, I honestly have not met
anybody of which it was evident that they were happy Christians growing in the
Lord at home. There may be a few out there, but I dare say that it is rare to be
able to make it on your own.
Before I became vegetarian, I used to love to grill—the old
fashioned way: with real charcoal. There is nothing like the taste of a burger
grilled on a real char-coal grill. Now, you all know what happens if you take
one of those glowing char-coal pieces and set it off to the side, away from the
others, don’t you?
Yes, soon it stops glowing and giving off heat. It’s fire is
simply extinguished in a short period of time while the other pieces of coal are
still ablaze and giving off heat. Why? Because they keep huddled together and
keep each other hot and giving off even more heat.
Don’t be like the piece of coal that goes cold over time. Get
some heat. . . . .
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Promotional Materials:
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Press Release:
To: email or
mail to your local newspapers / online community event calendar
Re: ________ Church to
feature a special Family Service "The Sunday School Blues"
On S unday,
the _____ (date), the _________ Church will offer a special
multi-media family worship service (services) at _______ (Time/s).
The service offers a humorous
approach to the importance of Christian Education and Worship.
Pastor (Rev.) _______'s message deals with the common
struggle to get up for church on Sunday mornings. Pastor _____'s
answer for overcoming the "Sunday School Blues" is contained in the sermon
title: "Get Your Tuchus in the Pew."
“We’re all
struggling with our faith at times and it’s perfectly alright to
look at that and chuckle at ourselves; it's therapeutic and it’s
encouraging to know that we’re not alone. The important thing is
that we keep ourselves motivated and passionate about continuing on our
spiritual path together as a caring church community.”
Come and enjoy a children's
message on how to make Brownies, the humorous music video "The Sunday
School Blues," and more.
For more information check out the
church's website at ___________.
The church is located on
_______________ in ____________, near (if applicable)
. Parking and nursery available.
attached flyer
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Bulletin Cover
(Flyer and
PowerPoint slide are matching)
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