How many of us have already botched our New Year goals and resolutions?
It’s OK, you can be honest with us. That didn’t take long, did it?
Don’t worry – you’re not alone. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions and goals, we all start off with the best intentions and we even put together a plan to follow through. Inevitably, something trips us up and old ways prevail. So much for, “New Year, New You!”
But you know what? The people in your church congregation are no different. They also started this year with goals and resolutions. In fact, for many of the people in your church community, one of their top goals for this year is to deepen their faith and strengthen their relationship with God.
And just like us, they, too, have likely tripped up, stumbled, or fallen short of keeping their faith goals and commitments. Fortunately, this is where you get to swoop in and help them keep, or get them back, on track with their goals!
By using the native blog feature on your website from The Church Co, you can easily write, share, and distribute content that will help your community members grow spiritually.
Your people are consuming digital content (think along the lines of: blogs, YouTube videos, news articles, and social media clips) more than ever before. They’re used to going online to look for and find relevant content to help them in nearly every area of their lives, so why not make your ministry’s blog one of those places?
With this in mind, here are three simple blog ideas to help your members grow spiritually:
1. Bible Reading Plans
According to 2022’s State of the Bible survey, researchers found that 30% of Gen Z and 26% of Millennials said they would read the Bible more if they knew where to start. That means at least 1 out of every 4 people in your church between the ages of 12-40 would be more engaged with scripture if they simply had a starting point!
This is why sharing a list of Bible Reading Plans with your church is so important! Your people are eager to take steps to engage with God and connect with Him through scripture, but they don’t know where to begin. And even when they choose to look for options outside of opening to a random page in their Bible, there can be so many options that it feels overwhelming.
Crafting a simple blog post highlighting the benefits of reading scripture, outlining a basic routine, and sharing links to books, resources, and mobile reading plans on YouVersion can go a long way.
Bonus Tip: Share Bible Reading Plans that reinforce what you’re currently doing in your ministry -or- that will introduce your members to what your ministry will be doing later in the year.
2. Prayer Guides
Similar to Bible Reading Plans, writing a blog post sharing different Prayer Guides can be an effective way for your members not only to grow their faith, but to be actively engaged in prayer.
Many Christians feel insecure or inadequate in their prayer lives. They think things like:
- Am I doing this right?
- I hope they don’t call on me to pray…
- I feel like I’m just praying the same things over and over again.
- Does God actually hear my prayers? If so, how come He isn’t answering?
Prayer Guides can be as simple as offering basic instructions and a few daily prayer points; or as comprehensive as offering curated prayers and scriptures. It’s really up to you in terms of what you want to offer.
But no matter what you provide, your people will thank you as you will have assisted them on their journey and in this area of faith.
Bonus Tip: We’ve all experienced the power of being joined with others in prayer, so further the impact of prayer by encouraging your people to find a prayer partner. After all, it was Jesus who said, “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” (Matt. 18:20).
3. Encouraging Scriptures
One of the simplest (and most effective) blog posts you can share is one containing a list of encouraging scriptures for people to bookmark and save. Similar to Blog Idea #1, people in your church are looking for scriptures that speak into their current circumstances.
They want to know: Does the Bible speak to what I’m going through?
Sharing a blog list with verses about different themes such as hope, anxiety, peace, fear, courage, love, grief, joy, suffering, blessing, promise, etc. really helps bring the Bible to life and show your members that, yes, God’s Word does contain the answers they’re looking for!
And here’s an added benefit that’s really exciting: Encouraging and inspiring scripture verses are often some of the most shared content across social media! When God’s Word speaks to people, they tend to want to speak it to others.
Bonus Tip: Due to the weekly nature of most church gatherings, we’re quick to move on to “what’s next,” making it easy to forget what’s already been done. Sharing a collection of scriptures previously used in sermons or key moments is a great way to reinforce and remind your congregation what’s been taught.
So there you have it. Three simple blog ideas that you can take advantage of and help your people be on their way to making 2023 one of their best spiritual growth years yet!