each year we set aside a special sunday for our first graders to receive a Bible. i have blogged about 1st grade Bibles before here, but this year we made a small tweak/addition that had an impact i wasn’t expecting.
to involve the entire church body more in this Bible sunday (we only present the Bibles in one of our five morning services) we decided to print cards to be included in every bulletin. each card included the first name and the first letter of the last name of each child receiving a Bible that day. the back included a list of ways to pray for this child as they begin to study God’s Word for themselves. just getting these names in front of all our church members thrilled my heart, but i should have known that God had more planned than my mind could conceive.
since Bible sunday back in august i have received calls and emails from church members wanting to know if they can receive more information about their first graders. not only did they want to pray for them they wanted to write them notes of encouragement throughout the years. how grateful i am that many members are not only taking their role of prayer seriously, they want to go the extra mile to encourage their assigned child to dig into God’s Word and discover Jesus. (of course, before sharing any more information about the child, i contacted parents for their permission.)
i’m often guilty of thinking we have to create some big addition to a traditional event to take it to the next level. i was reminded through our Bible Sunday this year that a simple addition taken seriously by a praying church could have more of an eternal impact than i could ever imagine.
i would love to hear special things you do for your Bible presentation. comment below and share.