The Focus: I guess it starts with Acts 17:27 where Paul speaking with the Greeks says that God made everything so that we would seek Him. Also the idea of seeking God with your whole heart from Jeremiah 29:13 and the idea of knocking and seeking in Matthew 7:7. shaped my idea of looking for God. In this gathering we seek after God in a variety of ways. We seek him through nature, through others, through prayer, and through stillness. Also through the entire time we learn from the Bible

 

The Setting: We used out normal worship room, except we removed all of the chairs and spread blankets out across the floor. The only light came from candles at each of the stations and the TV screen which projected the song words and the video. The stations were arranged at various places around the room. I placed them on low tables (or in the case of the drawing on the wall) the only table that had chairs was the nature station.

 

Materials Needed: Child Stations--Crayons and something to draw on; Others Stations--Scissors, Glue Stick, Construction Paper, some place to stick the paper dolls, a template for the dolls; Nature Station--A potted flower (We used chrysanthemums) and some pens Supplication Station--Some non-sliced bread broken into pieces. Other--You will also need a way to play video and station sheets (adobe acrobat) for each stations. 

 

The Gathering:

>>>We opened with a game called creatively enough "The Seek Game". Divide your students into groups of 2-10. Give them each a copy of the seek game list. Then give them a set amount of time to complete the list. The group with the most complete at the end of time or the group that finishes first wins. When it is over say something like "we have been searching for things in this game, but how often do we really search after God?"

 

>>>Next have everyone take off their shoes and make sure everyone has a Bible.

 

>>>Introduce your worship time: Tonight our worship is going to focus on seeking God. You will be able to seek God in a variety of ways. You can seek him like a child, through creation, through others, through silence, and through supplication. After a few minutes of corporate worship you will be encouraged to move around the room and use the stations to help you as you worship. If you would prefer to simply hang out and worship where you are that is fine as well. You are free to seek God how you choose. Only remember to be respectful of those around you. 

 

>>>Then pray and enter into the worship room.

 

>>>Sing the chorus "Open the Eyes of My Heart" (slow the song down a little if you can)

 

>>>Play the video "The Face of Jesus" 

 

>>>Sing "Seek Ye First" and "Open Our Eyes, Lord" a cappella 

 

>>>Pray (here you may want to ask another leader or one of your students to pray. Enlist them ahead of time)

 

>>>Invite them to worship at the stations. Tell them the signal for gathering back together (like seeing choruses on the screen) You may want to remind them again where each station is.

 

>>>Play soft music as they move around the room. A good song to start with is Show by Andy Hunter on the Exodus CD then you can continue with the ambient music or continue to more traditional worship choruses

 

>>>after worshipers have had enough time to move through the stations give the signal to gather back together. Close with a few choruses that they know well and prayer.

 

>>>You may want to debrief a little at the end. Simply ask participants to share what God said to them during the experience. 

 

The Stations:

For the first time I didn't print the Bible verses at each station. We have been talking about the importance of knowing how to find verses so I wanted to be sure they were using actual Bibles. Besides, I think scripture can have a more powerful affect coming from a Bible rather than from a sheet of paper. 

 

Seeking God Through Child Eyes

I think I have seen this is a book somewhere, but I can't exactly remember. So if it isn't original please let me know so I can ask permission to use it here. The idea is simple to look back to when faith was easier. The crayons remind of us of childhood through sight, touch and smell (nothing smells like a crayon). Encourage them to draw an attribute of God or a picture of their journey to seek God. 

 

Seeking God Through Creation

Set up the flower on a table so that people seated around the table can reach it. If your group is larger and you need to accommodate more than 6 at a station at a time then use more flowers. Be sure to leave pens for them to use. 

 

Seeking God Through Others

You will need to cut out and paste up a couple of paper dolls to help people see what you are talking about. You may want to cut out a half a person template so that when they fold their paper and cut out the template they will have a whole person. When we did this some used the template others were more creative. At the end be sure to point out the silhouettes and talk about how we all have a "great cloud of witnesses" who have helped us grow closer to God.

 

Seeking God Through Supplication

I think I have had more people tell me that they don't believe is God anymore because they prayed for something and it never happened than anything else. People have many misconceptions about prayer and if not handled right this station can add to it. The idea is that we may not be praying for what would be the best for us, but God has a good heart, and he loves us. We have to trust in that.

On a personal note: When leading these gatherings I don't normally get a shock from the stations. I have generally worked with the verses and the ideas for a while and they aren't very fresh for me. This station blew me away though. Something about the bread in my mouth made me understand that God wouldn't give me a stone. It was amazing.

 

Seeking God Through Silence

This is a hard discipline, but an important one. This station is also great for those who are not quite ready to be involved in the more in depth stations.

 

Please let me know how you are using these ideas, and how they are working out