My Neighbour’s Keeper
Pre-Programme Planning:
- Divide the church into 4-6 groups (depending on the size of the church). Some congregations may already have members in their bands or family units.
- Based on the theme of the day assign each group a name.
- Referring to the table below, you will cut out each Life Experience from the table and place the individual words within an envelope. Thus Life Experience #1 will be placed in one envelope with the words folded on a paper, Life Experience #2 will be placed in another envelope and it continues.
- Each group will receive an envelope containing the words from the Life Experiences.
Programme: My Neighbour’s Keeper
Average time of Programme: 60 mins
Opening Prayer:
Song Service:
Welcome & Opening Hymn: # 428: Sweet By and By
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:31-32 or Romans 15:2
Prayer:
Special Song:
Have we ever sat down and pondered what some of our church family members have gone through? We may know for example individuals within our circle and their own stories, but what about the elderly man who seems grumpy all time, or the young lady who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere or what about the overly positive gentleman who is always providing a word of cheer or the young man everyone has given up on and is just counting down the days till he leaves the church *pause for emphasis*. What we see at church is only a fraction of the individual and their experiences and unfortunately, we make assumptions of our own church brethren without even getting to know them. How many persons would you say know your story and what you have been through? Maybe it’s time for us to be more neighbourly with each other first, before we can properly carry Jesus to the world.
Instructions to the Church:
- Each group has received an envelope which contains snippets of your church member’s life experience, just as how we see snippets of who they are on Sabbaths.
- Group members are to work together to construct a story (which they will read to the rest of the church) about what they think the church member has gone through based on the words on the paper. They are to give the individual a name. Time Allotted: 10 mins
- They will also choose a bible passage and a hymn which the individual can use as encouragement and/or a church member can share a testimony of how they went through something similar and God came through. State how individuals would feel if they were going through this problem and no one from church cared or offered a random word of encouragement.
Presentation time: 10-15 mins
Life Experience 2 | Life Experience 3 | Life Experience 4 | Life Experience 5 | Life Experience 6 | |
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January | Promotion & | Fibroids | Elderly Parent | Teenager | England |
| Salary |
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Divorce | Aliyah | Infertility | Medication and No | Social Media | Atheist |
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| family support |
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Your country | Broken Heart | Pressure | First Elder | University | Adventist |
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Body Image | Doubt | Family Ministries | Dementia | Unpaid school fees | Daughter |
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Trust | Sabbath | Mirror | Suicide | Exams | Newspaper Stand |
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Choir and Best | Termination | Great Controversy | Migration | Agape | Mask |
Friend |
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When we think of Christ we don’t always reflect on the stunning power that comes from the perfect unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but it is picture of unity Christ desires for his church. Paul wrote to multiple bodies of believers of its paramountcy in the health of the church. The Corinthians and the Ephesians both were told to find and maintain unity, for it is here in the unified body that the noise of opinion and man’s will is laid down to find God’s.
According to Jon Bloom, the most loving thing we can do for others is love God more than we love them. For if we love God most, we will love others best. There’s a reason why Jesus said the second greatest commandment is like the first: if we love God with all our heart, we will love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39). It functions like faith and works; if we truly have the first, the second naturally follows. But if God is not the love of our life, there is no way that we will truly love our neighbour as ourselves. For we will love ourselves supremely.
Our programme’s aim today was not to tell us to find out the gritty details of our church brethren, but for us to realize that these experiences have real faces attached to them. God has done a good work in all our lives and given many of us experiences which if it had not been for praying family, friends and church brethren, we do not know how we would have made it. The next time you pass someone in church and you say Happy Sabbath, why not take things a little further share a kind word with them or simply offer a word of prayer in nearby room. A genuine simple show of agape love can start the healing of many broken and wounded hearts. Allow God to lead you today as we all seek to be good neighbours.
Comments
When I was asked to be a Sabbath School Superintendent, I readily accepted to serve. I don't consider myself to be creative in doing the whole program thing but what I can do is present a prepared program and add a twist to suit the membership/audience.
I'm experiencing great difficulties in downloading the pdf for My Neighbour's Keeper.
Thank you and GOD bless you.
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PermalinkThanks much for all the programs you have been emailing and pray God to continue to bless your Ministry
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PermalinkThank you so much for your wonderful ideas for our Sabbath day program more interesting. May your ministry reach more souls. God bless!
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PermalinkIt was truly informative. Your site is extremely helpful.
Many thanks for sharing!
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PermalinkBlessings
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