One of the ideas they shared was for parents to encourage their children to take notes during the sermon.  My first thought was how hard this would be for my kids  (who are ages seven, nine, and ten) because it’s hard enough for me! But I decided to give it a try. I gave them some basic instructions and encouragement and we tried it out.

The first Sunday of note taking was a little rough. I had to remind them a few times to keep it up during the sermon, and they had trouble knowing what to write. Like I said, note‐taking isn’t easy. But one thing I did notice was that for the most part, they were paying attention during the whole sermon.  It felt like a small but significant step forward.

The next thing I did that really helped was create a one-page, note-taking form for them to use. The form  includes boxes that hopefully get them thinking about what to look for in the sermon. The boxes give  them  special places to write down the main verse, other verses, big  idea or main point, what I should do, words I don’t know, and extra lines for additional notes.

As an Easter gift to our kids, Christy made them each a decorated three-ring binder in which they can keep their sermon notes. They loved the binders and are excited about writing down things on the form each week.

We’ve been using this form for a couple months now, and I’ve been really impressed with the results. It is incredible to me how quickly they’ve been able to learn this skill and how much they are able to write down. The other significant thing is they are doing their best to pay attention to the sermon now. Some weeks are better than others, and sometimes they give up or get frustrated, but we’ve found that they are really growing in it and making progress. They are learning important life skills in listening and note taking, and I want to deliberately help them grow in these areas.

Another great benefit we’ve found from the note taking is it gives us an opportunity to talk about the sermon as a family. At dinner on Mondays, we all get out our notes and walk through the sermon. Christy and I help the kids fill in parts that they missed, and we explain the parts that were hard for them to understand. This also reinforces the big ideas for Christy and me too!

In the May newsletter, Jack talked about worship “preflight” and how important it is to get ready in advance to worship. That pre-worship preparation is important for success in teaching your children to take notes.

Ultimately, our family goal is to teach our children about the incredible value of worship and learning in a community of believers. As a parent, I also need to teach my kids through my actions about the exciting opportunity we  have  on  Sunday mornings  to  corporately worship our God and Savior. My kids need to see me truly excited about worshiping God in order to fully incorporate this lesson into their lives.

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In the same vein, I would propose a set of good things in a package of three for us at Blue Ridge as well—a rule of three for everyone who is a part of our body. We have so many excellent programs and opportunities in our church for a person to participate in to aid their growth in Christ. How does one choose? With September just around the corner, and all of the new beginnings that happen in that month, it can be difficult to decide what you will be a part of, and what you will not. I‘d like to propose three fundamental areas we could all be a part of when it comes to the church.

The first of the three is Sunday morning worship. We ought to make our corporate time together a priority in that we set aside Sunday mornings and participate in some way—from teaching, to helping children, to ushering and greeting, to assisting adult teachers, to helping in worship, or to cleaning up! This is the only time during the week when we are all gathered together as a large body and get a little taste of heaven in our worship en masse! Keeping this as a priority can be one of the easiest, as most of us usually don‘t have to work or schedule other things.

The second ministry of the three that we ought to be a part of is a little different. It‘s not so much a program here, but rather a setting aside the time for the building of relationships with non-believers. This does not necessarily have us spending time at the church, but rather is a time that we purpose to find a way to engage with people who do not go to church, and do not know the Savior. Ask most people who have come to Christ, (including most of our own experiences), and you‘ll find that people are not persuaded into the kingdom by circumstances and knowledge as much as they are won over by the love of a person who took an interest in them and led them to Jesus Christ. The leadership at Blue Ridge wants you to be “freed up” to find time to cultivate relationships with those who need Jesus Christ.

So if we are uniting together on Sunday mornings, and we are finding time to build relationships with the lost, what‘s the third thing? That‘s why I‘m writing—and that is that we would be a part of a small group.

Small groups allow us to go deeper in fellowship than we can encounter on Sunday mornings corporately. It is a time in which we can find a greater level of encouragement, as well as a time of getting to use our spiritual gifts for edifying others! It‘s the model that we see in the early church in the book of Acts, and it‘s wonderful! Here you can really become built up to know Christ more, to love one another more, and to help one another more. In short, small groups allow for a greater depth of love, encouragement, exhortation, and discipleship with one another.

This fall, they are starting up again—new groups and new topics! Beginning in September, we will be encouraging you to examine the different groups and to begin prayerfully seeking one that is near you and that can both minister to you, as well as to afford you the opportunity to minister to others. Each group will have the goal to equip you “for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12) Here we hope to help each person grow in their commitment to Christ, sharpen them to be more competent to serve Him better, and enable them to bring in their creative skills and apply them!

So what do you think? Sunday morning church, spending time with non-believers, and a small group on one evening a week. Great things still come in threes!