For the past few years the men of our church have been hosting what they call a "Beast Feast" in which they provide wild game of every sort in a masculine dinner setting (paper plates and plastic tableware!). The main focus of this dinner is to invite unsaved men and present them with the gospel. The outstanding success of this dinner caused me to consider a similar outreach aimed just at lost women...without the wild meat, of course!

After pondering several avenues in how to approach this, we came up with what we called a "Chocolate Extravaganza", primarily because we couldn't think of any women we knew who didn't like chocolate! We had 80 ladies in attendance with about 30 of them unsaved; the following are just some of the steps we took and program we followed in planning this outreach.

[1]. Committees - I knew it would be beneficial to include as many of our women as possible in the planning and implementing process. To that end, I provided a sign-up sheet with the different committee choices on it, i.e. decorating, food preparation, clean-up, etc. The response was very good, and each individual was able to work in an area in which she felt comfortable. It does help tremendously to have a church full of women who work well together and have the end result in mind all the time...the saving of lost souls. From these sign-up sheets I chose one woman to be the coordinator for that particular group. These ladies met on their own and came to me with their final ideas.

[2]. Invitations - We have a man in our church who is quite clever in the area of graphic arts, so we enlisted him in drawing up an invitation for us which we then just copied on colored paper and distributed to our women to pass out among their friends. We asked them to give us the number of guests they were expecting to bring a couple of weeks before the event; this enabled us to determine how much food would be needed.

[3]. Theme - The Victorian theme for our event was determined by the decorating committee, largely because collectively, they had a lot of Victorian stuff!! It worked very well as we decided to make this a very feminine party, similar to a Victorian tea.

[4]. Decorations - We rented round tables (we were able to fit about eleven in our auditorium) since we felt this made for a more formal look than our standard oblong tables. We were also able to rent linen tablecloths for very little money, and each table was decorated with several Victorian objects such as vases, pictures, tiny figures, dolls,etc. Our serving tables were adorned with topiaries constructed by some of the women; these were clay pots painted cream color and trimmed in pearls with flowers and dried naturals in cream. They were very nice and will serve double duty as I plan to use them at Christmas time in the auditorium. We also scattered candles over the serving tables.

In keeping with our theme, we served tea in teapots at each table and provided each table setting with a teacup and saucer. These were loaned by our women with the only stipulation being that they were in good shape and what you would call "fancy." It was no easy task to assemble 80 cup and saucer sets, but we did manage. However, we are now in the process of collecting our own sets to be stored at the church...everyone is on the lookout at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. In addition, baskets of flavored teas were set at each table so our guests could choose their favorite.
[5]. Food - The food committee did a lot a research on local establishments who specialize in chocolate desserts, and we purchased a few exotic creations from them. We live in an area with a mint factory and featured some of their candy as well. The more culinary-talented of our group provided the rest of our chocolate offerings...they did an outstanding job, but I will say it is essential to have all this coordinated so that you end up with a wide variety. We also prepared folded place cards in front of each dessert to identify what it was. Also, on additional place cards were humorous quotes regarding chocolate.
In anticipation that we might have guests who didn't like or were allergic to chocolate, we provided a couple of other options.
[6]. Program - In planning this event, it occurred to me that we just couldn't sit there and eat chocolate until we were ill. After all, we did want our unsaved guests to feel like listening to a gospel devotion! The solution was to stagger the "feeding" with different segments of our program. This is how we did it:

A. Welcome - I included in this a short history of chocolate, its nutrients, etc. We then welcomed guests and prayed.

B. First Sampling - We had already divided our desserts into small, sample-size portions, thus allowing guests to try a few selections without overloading. I told them ahead of time that there would be several of these samplings over the course of the evening.

C. Chocolate Math - One of our ladies conducted a math quiz involving manipulating numbers which would result in the final number being the age of each woman doing the quiz. We found this on the internet.

D. Second Sampling -

E. Chocolate Interview - We needed some humor in all this so I decided it would be great to interview some kind of chocolate candy. I found an M & M costume, but the only one I could convince to wear it was my daughter! Since she was about six months pregnant, it worked out really well! We just researched the history of M&M's and based our skit on that.

F. Third Sampling - (This is getting a little harder!)

G. Special Music - Two of our ladies presented special music that tied in with my devotion.

H. Fourth Sampling - Only the strongest were able to do this!

I. Game - We developed a game based on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and called it "Do You Want To Eat A Million Dollar Chocolate Bar?" One of our more gregarious ladies emceed this game, and it was a big hit.

J. Fifth Sampling - This told us who were the real "chocoholics!"

K. Prizes! - We played a quick and simple game involving raising your hand if you had done or were a number of outrageous things. For instance: won a hog-calling contest, skydived, bungee-jumped, water-skied barefoot, built your own house, etc. It was amazing what some of these women have done!! The prized were gift boxes which they were allowed to fill with our chocolate treasures.

L. Music - One final song to set the mood before the devotion presented by a young woman I knew I could trust to do it in the proper way with no grandstanding.

M. Devotion - After giving much thought and prayer to how I would approach this opportunity, the Lord very graciously gave me this idea.

Make A Name For Yourself

The content of the devotion follows:

Introduction:

We are encouraged by society to seek a role, place, or name for ourselves. Women especially are falling prey to this mind-set and are striving to reach the top, be well-known, be a "name."

However, most importantly, does God know you? We are comfortable in acknowledging that God knows all about us... (Psa. 139) is full of examples of how much God is aware of our sitting down and rising up, our thoughts and our words. For example, I can instantly get my 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School class to behave by reminding them that God is watching!

But does He know you and you Him in an intimate, personal way? Let's compare it to the parent/child relationship...you undoubtedly know other children in a superficial way, but you have intimate, day to day knowledge of your own child.

(Matt. 7:21-23) are some of the most frightening verses in the Bible. Verse (23) is a statement of passion and pain. In contrast, the relationship between Jesus and those who answer His call is one of personal, profound knowledge.

God uses many aspects of nature to illustrate His relationship with us; seeds, wheat and vines are but a few. One of the most gripping and descriptive is that of the shepherd and his sheep.

 

John 10

I. The shepherd knows his sheep - (vs. 14)

A. The Masai people of East Africa take great pride in the shepherding.

[1]. More than mere acquaintance; sheep known by name

[2]. Cares for sheep in great detail

[3]. Visitors will inquire about welfare of sheep before family.

B. God knows you - the number of hairs on your head, the thoughts and intents of your heart. But in the end, will He say, "I never knew you."?

C. Jesus called His sheep by name:
[1]. Lazarus, come forth.
[2]. Philip, follow me.
[3]. Zacchaeus, make haste and come forth.

D. God knows whether you have an intimate relationship with Him or a superficial one.
[1]. Unfortunately, many who call themselves Christians, who consider themselves to be followers of Christ and sheep of His flock are really strangers to His voice. 

II. The Shepherd is willing to die for the sheep - (vs. 11)

A. A tourist in Syria observed with interest how a shepherd drove all his sheep into a sheep fold one evening. The fold was an enclosing wall with only one opening. On that opening he noticed that there was neither door nor gate. He remarked to the shepherd, "Can't wild beasts get in there?" "No," answered the shepherd, " because I am the door. When the sheep are in for the night, I lie down across that doorway. No sheep can get out except over my body, and no wolf or thief can get in except over me."

B. His body comes between certain death and them.

C. Christ's death on Calvary comes between you and the wages of sin. (Rom. 6:23)

D. Christ calls Himself the door. (vs. 7-9)
[1]. The ONLY way into the sheep fold
[2]. You can't climb over the walls of the sheep fold:
    (a). Your good works
    (b). Your family's Christian legacy
    (c). The fact that you live in a Christian nation
    (d). Your church attendance

 You must go through the DOOR! 

III. The Shepherd seeks after the lost sheep - (vs. 27)

A. There's an Old English term - cast or cast down which describes a sheep who has laid down in a depression or hollow to relax, then discovers it is unable to get up by itself. Frustration, struggling and fright set in as the situation worsens. The sheep is then vulnerable to circulation problems, starvation or predators.

B. Fat sheep or those with the heaviest coats are the most easily cast. We are so materially "fat" in America, we have need of nothing. (Rev. 3:17) says," Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."

C. Shepherd will diligently count his sheep to determine if one is in need of being "saved." Ninety and nine sheep were left so that the Shepherd could look for one stray sheep.

No wonder God uses the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep to convince us of our need for Him. "All we like sheep have gone astray." Like sheep, we go through life oblivious to the persistent seeking of the Shepherd for us. The Shepherd:

[1]. knows his sheep

[2]. dies for the sheep

[3]. seeks after the sheep

 There was a story of a young Filipino who was visiting Chicago and checked into the Hotel Sherman. He then went for a walk and becoming lost, was unable to find the hotel again. He couldn't remember the location or even the name of the hotel and spent the next five days searching for it. When he finally appealed to the authorities to aid in his dilemma, he was astonished to find that the place he was looking for, the Hotel Astor, was right next door to the place where he was! This young man spent five days with lost luggage, time and peace of mind, because he wouldn't admit he was lost which was especially sad since help was readily available.

 If you were to slip off into eternity today, would God say, "I never knew you. I knew the number of hairs on your head, the thoughts and intents of your heart, but I never knew you." The Shepherd beckons to you - He gave His life for you, but you must accept that sacrifice personally. (Eph. 2:8-9) tells us we are saved by grace and not through our works...it doesn't matter if you are the best, most well-behaved sheep or a cast one. The Shepherd is looking for you. 

Invitation:

We conducted an invitation of sorts while the ladies were seated at the tables. An opportunity was given to pray for salvation silently while I lead the prayer verbally; at the close several of our ladies waited in the lobby to give gospel tracts to those who asked for them and indicated they had trusted the Lord as their Saviour. We later discovered that five guests had been saved that evening.

-Page Navigation-

Lessons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33