Scripture Focus: “The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing” (Jer. 31:13 NLT).

This program contains all the elements of the four–fold purpose: worship, education, fellowship and service. You can use them all or be inspired to create your own program using just a few of the ideas. It can be done with a large group of women or with just a few of your favorite gals.

Table Set up (large group)

Go Hollywood using black and gold, or silver and gold, with sparkles to create glam! Use Pinterest and look up, Dancing with the Stars Party Centerpieces or Décor. You can never go wrong with twinkle lights, mason jars dusted in glitter, glass votives filled with star confetti, or simply cover the center of the table with silver and gold glittering star cut outs.

Table Set up (small group)

With a small group of women you can keep it simple! Just use a colorful tablecloth, some tea lights, and silver and gold glittering stars.

Snacks

Set up a buffet style snack line so that as soon as the women arrive they can pick up their refreshments. The table can have the same tablecloth as the other tables with simple star confetti or just a gold shimmery table runner. Provide healthy option snacking because tonight we are dancers and need to eat healthy for energy. Serve carrots, celery, pepper strips, cherry tomatoes and pretzels along with health dips (hummus, almond butter, ranch dressing). Also have whole grain crackers, apple slices, grapes and berries for desert.

Welcome

Welcome to our dancing with the stars night. Tonight you are the stars! God spreads stars across the world to shine brightly for the purpose of His glory. Jeremiah 31:13 states, “The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.”

Get Moving

At this point in the program we invite you to get up and move.

Follow these instructions on the video.

Invite the women to follow this video for as many times as they like. The most important thing is to have fun. Not the best dancer? Don’t worry, just laugh together, leave all your troubles and anxieties at the dance floor, but really at Jesus’ feet. Smile, move, get up and praise God and see the atmosphere of the room shift as you move together.

Designate 2 to 3 people to be the judges. Put little number stickers on circles and glue the circle to a popsicle stick so the judges can hold up their scores. Give prizes for the most creative, funniest and most energetic.

Water Break

Catch your breath! Hand out bottles of water for your star dancers. It’s important to stay hydrated.

Dance, Dance, Dance

How are you feeling? That was fun! Do you ever think about the power there is in having fun together? The amount of power the joy of the Lord has over our hearts? When we enjoy one another, when we get up and move and laugh and just relax in God’s presence together, what a difference it makes on everything else going on around us.

Some of you might have come in carrying some heavy burdens. Some of you may be finding yourselves wondering and questioning and dealing with some really hard situations that you cannot seem to shake. These feeling are are legitimate. They are real fears, real concerns, real worries. Maybe you are wondering how God can take care of these things. How will you get out of this mess? Does God really see all that you are going through?

Remember you are His star, created in His likeness to shine brightly for Him so that all the world can come to know what a beautiful, loving Savior we have. Of course, He sees you, His stars, His promised people spread throughout the land. He sees you and He knows. Sometimes, turning a situation around can be as easy as getting up and dancing. Sometimes, all you have to do is meet with God, make a move towards Him, co–operate with His Spirit. Partner with Him in this dance of life, get up and do something. Change direction, make a change and don’t look back. Do something that either represents where you wish you were or where you see God taking you.

Jeremiah 31 records a time of restoration for Israel. Verse 10 states, “He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd.” Hope was being restored; God was turning their mourning, their sadness, their sorrows, all they had suffered and grieved over into joy, comfort and rejoicing. God does that. And what did the people do? They danced! They joined in.

Sometimes we are waiting for the Lord to turn a situation around, and He is just waiting for us to join in. God desires that we take all of our concerns to Him in prayer. He is longing for us to pour our hearts out to Him waiting for Him to hear our cries. He is waiting for us to get up and do something, move toward the direction of the desires of our hearts, to move towards freedom, healing and deliverance When the wait is over, its time for us to join in and see the joy of the Lord. He wants to turn our mourning into gladness. He is already moving. Join Him and ask Him, what is my part, Father, in this dance?

Closing Prayer

At this point simply pray over the women, or break up into groups and invite them to pray for one another. Give them time to respond to what God might be saying to them.

Closing

In closing play the song “Born to Praise” by Planetshakers, which can be found on YouTube. The women may want to praise and dance together again or just listen to the music to remind them of the joy that came when they danced.