As we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing sometimes people want to participate but just aren’t sure how.
The following Scriptures I am going to print and cut out into strips then pass out Sunday night to people at the gathering.
Each person can read the Scripture out loud to the group,then answer the questions. It is my hope and prayer that the Scriptures and the question will encourage them to participate; rather than me giving a sermon or even a short devotional with everyone sitting to listen. Each person will have the opportunity to take an active part.
Here are the Scriptures and stirring questions (if the one reading the scripture has another point or wants to share something unrelated, remember that is fine, trust the Holy Spirit to lead and even take over). Try to allow everyone time to participate and not let one person take up all the time but again, if this happens and you’re praying and letting The Holy Spirit lead your time together will be blessed by HIM and what He does and says through each person at your gathering:
Galatians 5:22-26 NLT
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Q: How is bearing fruit different than doing things for God?
John 14:16 NLT
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
NIV: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
Q: according to this scripture what is the job of The Holy spirit?
Q: How does the Spirit Counsel you or work as an advocate for you?
Romans 8:26 NKJV
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Q: According to this scripture, when we don’t know how to pray what does the Holy spirit do?
Q: Has there ever been a time when you didn’t know what to pray, if so, what did you do?
1 John 2:27 NAS
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Q: According to this Scripture, who teaches us?
Q: What do you know now that you didn’t know before you accepted Christ?
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
Q: According to this Scripture, what is God’s temple?
Q: How do you care for His temple?
Romans 8:9 NIV
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Q: According to this Scripture, who controls those filled with The Holy Spirit?
Q: How is your nature changed by The Spirit of God living in you?
John 14:17 NLT
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
Q: According to this Scripture where will the Spirit be?
Q: How does having The Holy Spirit in you effect you?
Acts 2:3 NLT
3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.
Q: According to this account in Scripture, how did the Holy Spirit appear?
Q: Can you identify with this fire?
Acts 8:17 NIV
17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Q: What did Peter and John do as recorded here in this Scripture?
Q: Has anyone ever laid hands on you and prayed for you?
(May lay hands on the person reading this now and pray for The Holy Spirit to FILL them).
Acts 19:6-7 NIV
6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve men in all.
Q: What happen when Paul laid hands on those mentioned in this Scripture?
Q: Have you ever heard anyone speak in tongues?
Q: How many people were gathered here in this documentation of Scripture?
Calling on The Holy Spirit to inspire and spur people into action, may God’s presence enter each place (location) we gather at; more importantly may He enter into the hearts of each one of us so that we find inspiration and encouragement from Him and through Sharing His presence in our lives with others.
Suggested Songs and a type of format to follow if needed:
Open singing: “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” #146 Y.S.B. (The yellow one)
Chorus: “He Knows” (Old S.A.S.B. Chorus #127)
Open Prayer time
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (3 of them)
Song: “Sweet Sweet Spirit” (Y.S.B. –yellow #71)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (3 of them)
Song : “Come Holy Spirit” Y.S.B. (yellow) #69
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (3 of them)
Song: “Spirit Of The Living God” (old S.A.S.B. Chorus #53)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (remaining ones)
Song: “Burning Burning” (Old S.A.S.B. #206 or Y.S.B. #73)
Benediction and announcements
As we let the Holy Spirit lead each meeting may we share with each other, even miles away, how blessed we are.
I encourage anyone reading this to let me know how your meeting together as Christ-followers goes. What happen when you all participated and let His Spirit take over the structure of your meeting?
Pressing On,
Tom “Beetle” Bailey
I work at The Salvation Army of Saint Augustine, Florida
That is also my church. Visit our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Salvation-Army-of-Saint-Augustine-204243596357064/timeline/
And if you’re ever in beautiful Saint Augustine, Florida visit us
at 1425 Old Dixie Highway Saint Augustine, FL 32084
M-F 8am-4:30pm
Wednesday Nights 6:30pm Men & Women’s Ministry
Thursday Nights 6:30pm Bible Study
Sundays
10am Bible Study Sunday School
11am Worship/holiness Service
6pm Salvation Service
We also offer opportunities for “Community Care” visits, projects and more
call me at 904-824-6956 Ext. 4407
“What happen when you all participated and let His Spirit take over the structure of your meeting?”
To read more about what “EKKLESIA” is be sure to visit Steve Simms blog post:A Fresh Definition of Ekklesia
It is amazing how we grow when we share our faith with each other and others. Give your faith away and you’ll get even more.
tombeetlebailey 
Awesome, Tom!
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As a “program Coordinator” it is my job to coordinate our programs and make sure we have stuff going on and that that ‘stuff” runs smoothly but i am noticing more and more the best laid plans need to leave room for The Holy Spirit, lots of room for The Holy Spirit to move and change and do what we couldn’t even imagine was possible.
This doesn’t mean i go into a meeting with no plan, no type of format, no awareness of what direction that particular gathering of people are going to move in but it does mean that i have some songs ready, i make sure one person doesn’t dominate all the time so others don’t get to participate or share, and that when things move in a different direction and someone wants to sing a song spontaneously that only they know i am to let them sing, even if it is a joyful noise.
With that in mind, if your gathering is anything like ours and you do not have live musicians here are some videos, songs that i plan on using to help with musical accompaniment:
One more quick note almost all day the two songs “Come Holy Spirit” and “Spirit Of The Living God” have been going through my mind, interchanging with each other. They may be sung back to back and blend together well in a medley.
OPENING SONG:
“Just a closer walk with thee” Upbeat video with lyrics to call people into the gathering.
Another opening song (option):
This is not the traditional song listed in suggested songs for program but may be used for your group if they like contemporary music:
TIME OF OPEN PRAYER
PARTICIPATION (3 people read their scripture slip and share answer to question/testimony)
SONG: WITH LYRICS:
SONG: WITH LYRICS AND FACES:
MORE PARTICIPATION (Scripture slips/testimonies)
SONG: “Come Holy Spirit” (This video has the lyrics and VERY POWERFUL IMAGES)
MORE PARTICIPATION (Scripture slips/testimonies)
SONG: “Spirit Of The Living God”
MORE PARTICIPATION (Scripture slips/testimonies)
SONG: “Burning Burning” I could not find a video for so this one can be used in its place:
“SEND THE FIRE”
Another option:
And for those die heart Salvationist:
My church right now has more older people than young people so sometimes it is better for where i am right now to use traditional songs so those who are older are not distracted or even offended by the sound of a shrieking guitar.
Am i being too sensitive? Maybe but just like i don’t truly enjoy the the organ others don’t enjoy the back beat of my snare drum. You can never please everyone but i try to focus on pleasing God’s Spirit, and love one another being sensitive and understanding toward one one another.
THIS SUNDAY NIGHT, when we actually do this program i am planning on just singing without accompaniment, just our voices, none of us are the best singers but they all know the songs i have in the blog post above and we’ll be able to just grab our red or yellow song book and sing them together with no real problems.
Simplicity is key sometimes.
Hope to hear from anyone reading this on what works for you and how your finding The Holy Spirit leading you and your gathering of Christ-followers (EKKLESIA)
Here are some more helpful tips from Steve Simms:
https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/5-simple-ways-to-release-more-love-in-churchcorps-meetings/
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EKKLESIA =Gathering of God’s people read more:
https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/a-fresh-definition-of-ekklesia/
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Thanks again to Steve Simms for the free fuel he throws on the Fire of The Holy Spirit.
He truly is living proof that God can use ordinary people in extraordinary ways!
https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/spirit-led-church-where-ordinary-people-are-the-playmakers/
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Pingback: Spirit-Led Church–Where Ordinary People Are The Playmakers | tombeetlebailey
Nov. 1, 2015 We did this for our Sunday Night meeting. The Holy Spirit stirred in our hearts, each person read their Scripture slip and shared their personal answer.
We all left the meeting with more awareness of The Holy Spirit in our daily lives and our need for sharing Him with each other.
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Since the original post i only used 4 of the initial verses selected. If given the chance I am going to use the next 6 Bible verse (slips). Our night meetings usually have an average of 10 people but there were only 4 of us last Sunday night.
We have a rotation schedule for our Sunday Nights, allowing 4 different people to plan the meeting and deliver a devotional. This provides a nice variety but sometime the person assigned or in charge of the meeting can not do the Sunday night they were assigned so i am always ready with a back up plan.
Following this format; have some scripture verses and some leading questions is a GREAT way for us to allow The Holy spirit to use not only one speaker but each person attending as they participate.
Here is the sample meeting using the 6 remaining verses:
Optional Program (just the program):
Prayer Chorus “Meet My Need” (old S.A.S.B. chorus #86)
Time of Prayer
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
Song: “Since Jesus Came into My Heart” (old S.A.S.B. #394)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
Song: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus’ (Old S.A.S.B. #390)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
Song: “Send The Fire” (Old S.A.S.B. #203)
Time of commitment
Closing Song: “Now I belong to Jesus” (old S.A.S.B. #349 –sing just the chorus)
Optional Program (with Scripture)
Prayer Chorus “Meet My Need” (old S.A.S.B. chorus #86)
Time of Prayer
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
Acts 19:6
6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Q: What happen when Paul laid hands on those mentioned in this Scripture?
Q: Have you ever heard anyone speak in tongues, in prayer or otherwise? Tell us about your experience.
John 14:17 NLT
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
Q: According to this Scripture where will the Spirit be?
Q: How does having The Holy Spirit in you effect you?
Song: “Since Jesus Came into My Heart” (old S.A.S.B. #394)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
1 John 2:27 NAS
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches youabout all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Q: According to this Scripture, who teaches us?
Q: What do you know now that you didn’t know before you accepted Christ?
John 14:16 NLT
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
NIV: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
Q: according to this scripture what is the job of The Holy spirit?
Q: How does the Spirit Counsel you or work as an advocate for you?
Song: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus’ (Old S.A.S.B. #390)
Participation; Scripture slips and Testimonies (2 of them)
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
Q: According to this Scripture, what is God’s temple?
Q: How do you care for His temple?
Acts 2:3 NLT
3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.
Q: According to this account in Scripture, how did the Holy Spirit appear?
Q: Can you identify with this fire?
Song: “Send The Fire” (Old S.A.S.B. #203)
Time of commitment
Closing Song: “Now I belong to Jesus” (old S.A.S.B. #349 –sing just the chorus)
Closing Prayer
I plan on posting or replying on how it goes.
To be very honest this format allows everyone attending an opportunity to testify to God’s goodness and presence in their lives and allows The Holy Spirit to use each of us rather than just me trying to lead the whole meeting and be the only one sharing what God wants us to hear.
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