So if your like me, and I'm sure you are (doubt I have to many mega church readers) your probably at a smaller setting than Saddleback. Here are a few thoughts about that, and I'm a good Southern Baptist pastor so it will be a three point post with an invitation at the end....just joking about the invitation.
1: Inspiration
What can I draw from this to inspire an idea of my own? Josh's Instalife series is AWESOME looking! But some of it I don't know, for example his outline etc, but how can I take the same principle, an Instagram based sermon and make it my own? Josh also had awesome copies of what I assume are Instagram pictures from his students, SWEET! But I'm on a limited budget and at around $12 a pop that's not in the picture for me. However, I can take my pictures and put them on a slide show and just have them cycle around while I talk, or I can print out regular picture prints and put them on tables for the students to see. So when I see something that's awesome I try not to dismiss it, but think of how I can adapt it to work for me.
2: Scrap it
Sometimes an idea is just awesome, but cannot work in my setting. The Zombie Apocalypse game was an outstanding idea! I saw that and instantly started the gears turning to see how it could work with 30 students and 6 adults. But then as I was discussing it with some parents, they expressed concern about it being "zombie" related. Scrap that one! Don't get me wrong, no feelings hurt but after hearing their concerns I realized in a traditional Southern Baptist church in a small town, the idea was a nonstarter. Just because of your church environment an idea might not work, doesn't mean it's not good, just doesn't fit your group.
3: Embrace your individuality
What makes your group, your group? Josh's group is HUGE! Mine not so much, but our group is as unique as Josh's. Some of our best ideas, would not work at Saddleback. We had a "Camo" themed night, since a lot of my students hunt and are outdoorsy. Would that work at Saddleback? Probably not as well, but Josh would have to answer that. One idea that we embrace is that we are smaller, I LOVE the fact that I know every student by name, I know their family, I know what sports they play and can go to the games. We can do spur of the moment stuff.
One of our best event this year? A spur of moment event we planned to take our group to a local pumpkin patch. We had awesome relational time and it was a blast. Next year we're planning on doing it again, this time with a little more planning and it will be a annual event. Check out some pics of our event, see if that gives you some inspiration. And as always...
Just Keep Swimming!
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