CONNECT WEEK
CONNECTING STUDENTS TO THEIR LOCAL CHURCH AND THEIR COMMUNITY
WELCOME
Foundation Scripture
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:16-17
SAY: “Welcome to our first Connect Week of the year! It is the final week in the EPIC First Priority strategy! Today is all about connecting to God, this club, and to the local Church.”
OPENING PRAYER
DIG IN
SAY: “Sometimes living for Jesus can be difficult. We try to follow the direction of God, but we make mistakes. God is good and has given us clear directions on how to focus on following Jesus. There are three basic things that God calls you to do: Listen to God, Talk to God, and Spend time with Christians, or said another way Read Your Bible, Pray, and Go to Church.”
It’s the last week of Month 1! As you wrap up this month, be sure to connect with students, new and old and tell them about what will be happening next month! This is also a great time to recruit a few Student Leaders now that you have begun to get into the flow of Club!
SAY: “Today, we will talk about these three things briefly, so make sure to continue the study on your own in the coming weeks. Let’s get started with the number one thing we do when we follow Jesus: Listen to God by Reading Your Bible.”
READ: Joshua 1:8 “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
While God can speak in different ways, the primary way He speaks to all of His followers is through the Bible. The Bible is full of not only useful information for living this life, but it explains who God is and what He does. It helps us understand the spiritual world around us, and even gives us a glimpse into the future. God gave us His Word as an act of love, allowing us to know Him and to prosper in His creation. For many of us, the Bible may seem too long to read or maybe too hard to understand. However, if we want to follow God and have a relationship with Him, we need to hear from Him. That is why this verse says to “meditate on it day and night,” which basically means to read and pray daily!”
Make sure you have the Bible verse ready to read. You can have it pulled up on your phone, on the screen (see EPIC slides) or bring a physical Bible and have it marked! You may also want to recruit another student to read it aloud!
SAY: “Think about how often you read your Bible, maybe you have a specific schedule you follow, or maybe you only read every once in a while. I think we could all agree that we have some room to grow and could probably listen to God more by reading the Bible. So, the first step in following Jesus is to read the Bible. The second thing we do to follow Jesus is to talk to God by praying.
READ: Jeremiah 29:12-13. “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”
Think about how often you get to talk with God and pray. Does anything change when you do? Reading the Bible and praying are two important steps in following Jesus. It helps us solidify our relationship with Him. The third step is Going to Church.
READ: Hebrews 10:24-25 “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
As you lead, remember that the act of salvation has already been done by Jesus on the cross. What we are talking about today is relationship. It is easy for us to say, and for people to hear even if we don’t say, religion instead of relationship. If you feel things getting to be more about rules (religion) than relationship (Jesus), bring it back to the Gospel.
SAY: “Church is the place where Christians meet and encourage each other to do what is right. At Church, we learn together, worship together, serve together, and grow together. The world is a tough place to live for Jesus and do what is right, especially when we are doing it alone. Many people around us every day at school, at home, and in our neighborhoods don’t care to follow Jesus and they may think we are crazy because we do follow Him. When we go to Church, it is different. We are surrounded by others who understand the difficulties, and we encourage each other to continue to follow Jesus and do what is right. Most of us don’t like to be alone, even when it is fun. We don’t like to eat lunch alone, go to the beach alone, or face difficult circumstances alone. While the Bible tells us that God will never leave you alone, He also has made the Church, so you have other people to encourage you to live for Jesus every day. That is why it is so important to go to Church.”
ASK: “Is there a church you attend? If you don’t attend church, do you have a friend here you can join this week to start going to church?”
SAY: “So just to recap, if you follow Jesus there are three basic things that God calls you to do: Listen to God, Talk to God, and Spend time with Christians, OR said another way: Read Your Bible, Pray, and go to Church.”
TOOL TIME
SAY: “Is there anyone here today that decided for the first time to follow Jesus last week at Invite Week? If you would like to share about why you made that decision, we would love to hear from you today! But we understand if that’s scary and you don’t want to stand up here and share yet. (Give a moment for new believers to share if they are willing.)”
If you decided to follow Jesus and you didn’t get a chance to share or didn’t want to quite yet, make sure you see a Student Leader after Club today. Also, make sure you get a First Priority Bible! (Have Student Leaders identify themselves.)
Connect to a Club – It’s important to keep coming back to Club throughout the school year and we are looking for volunteers to help be a part of our Leadership team! If you are interested in being part of that team of leaders, please see me after Club today! SAY: Also, If you don’t have a Bible we would love to give you one of the First Priority Bibles! (Hand out FP Bibles to anyone who needs one.)
Connect to a Church – We have lots of different church options. If you don’t have a home church, check out the ones here on the screen. If you don’t see your church listed, let me know. We will see you next week at Equip Week! Be sure to be there… and feel free to invite some friends!”
(Make any final announcements before wrapping up)
Say: “We are so grateful to see everyone of you that showed up today, if you would like to know more about getting connected to a church or to this Club, we invite you to come speak with any of the leaders here and we can help get you connected! Let’s close with prayer…”
CLOSING PRAYER
Feel free to invite anyone to say the closing prayer. Just say: is there anyone that would like to say the closing prayer? This is a good chance to allow students who aren’t in club leadership yet to have a chance to participate or be involved!
Also (if it hasn’t passed already) don’t forget about See You at The Pole on Sept 27th! Be sure to mention this during club announcements!
