United Student Ministry Culture 2
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
That poster over there is more than a decoration. the statements on it are what I believe our identity needs to be if we are going to be a student ministry that honors God. Which is why last week we started a refresher on them so that they don’t just become a decoration they are who they are. Last week we went over
Jesus is Better
We Like to Party
Everyone contributes
We are Worship Leaders
We are People Bringers
We are Tone Setters
This week we are continuing on starting with
1. Friends Become Family
1. Friends Become Family
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
We all started as enemies of God. Outside his family, strangers. But God made a way for us to not just become his friends, we skip the friendzone and jump straight to being members of his family with everyone else who has accepted his love.
You have something in common with the person sitting next to you that goes beyond your personalities, your interests, and what kind of background you come from. if you have accepted Christ you are brothers and sisters.
That goes deeper than friendship its family. I can honestly tell you guys that the people I came through youth group with, they are the relationships that have endured for over 15 years, the people i worked with that i got together with, the people I played sports with. They were good for a time but they didnt endure. Because we were friends based off proximity and shared interest, but we weren’t family. Family can be tough. you go through ups and downs with members of your family, but you have a connection that deeper. With our brothers and sisters in Christ we have a connection that is deeper. It is eternal. When you view your brothers and sisters in Christ as family and not just friends. It encourages you to continue that relationship even when it hits a rough patch. Don’t give up on your family. Love your family with the love of Jesus if we all did that imagine what that would be like.
2. We Speak Highly
2. We Speak Highly
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
You guys love to make fun of me for this one. But this is honestly the one where I think we have all made the most progress. When I first got here. Some of the things I would hear students say was shocking to me. It felt like a locker room in here sometimes. Last year I called you guys out on this and told you that we expect more from you. We raised the bar and you have responded. I don’t hear the inapproriate jokes anymore. I don’t hear the bad language. and I am proud of you guys. Because if you are saying that stuff here that is a sign to me that it is even worse at school or online.
But now I want to raise the bar even more. Because this doesn’t say dont speak poorly. It says speak highly. This isn’t about just not taming your tongue to not say bad stuff. It is about training your tongue to glorify God. Listen again to the verse. We keep the corrupting talk out so we can build up and give grace to others. Speak highly means to life each other up with our words, to life up Jesus with our words. we practice it here we discipline ourselves to do it here so that it becomes natural and we do it everywhere.
3. We Love Deeply
3. We Love Deeply
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
It is easy to love who you get a long with or until that person hurts you. Nonbelievers do that. That isnt special or a mark of followers of Jesus. But showing each other the kind of love that is deep enough to endure even when people let us down. and we choose grace instead of walking away. That is deep love. That is Love that makes everyone say there is something different about them. That is the type of love Jesus shows you every single day. His love for you covers your multitude of sins. His love for you endures through your mountains of sin. Our love should endure through the sins that people commit against us.
This is unnatural. You cant do this if you don’t love Jesus. but if we believe that Jesus is better you love him. and you love your brothers and sisters in Christ with a love that goes deeper than any disagreement, preferences, or even betrayal. We love deeply.
4. We are Note Takers.
4. We are Note Takers.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
I have sat under some incredible preachers. My youth pastor was Scott Carter founder of hearts on fire, My pastor growing up was Randy Davis, who is a legend in the Tennessee baptist association, Then it was Dan Spencer who I highly regard how he treats the word of God. I sat under those men for years. and I learned a lot, but do you know how many specific sermons and points I can recall that at the time I thought I will always remember this? 2 or 3.
I did not choose to remember. I did not take the steps necessary to remember what i had heard. I didn’t take any notes. and I can tell you that i regret that greatly. There are times when I am reading a passage and I know I had heard a great sermon about it but I can’t remember what I had heard about it.
When you guys come in here ready to take notes. it shows that you believe what you are about to hear is worth remembering. You are choosing to be intentional paying closer attention to what you are hearing. So you remember it and don’t drift away. I am not telling you to do this because I think I am so great and you need to remember my words. I am telling you to do this so you take seriously what God is saying to us through his word and you choose to remember.
5. No One Sits Alone
5. No One Sits Alone
Most likely if someone comes here they are coming with a friend. Rarely does someone go somewhere new all alone. But the idea of no one sitting alone. It goes deeper than simply make sure everyone is sitting with someone during worship.
It is about making sure everyone that comes in here feels like they belong. Even if it is two friends that come in together or one of you brings someone else. Invite that person or people into the bigger group you are sitting with upstairs, down here, on Sunday morning.
Jesus came to sit at the table with you. He did not act like a celeberty who acted better than everyone else and ate at his own table. He ate with sinners. and he chose to invite us to his table. If Jesus didn’t act like he was above sitting with anyone how could we?
Your classmates need a place to belong. if they can’t find it here among the people of God where are they going to find it? We are people bringers who don’t let people sit alone because the table with Jesus at it is better than any other table.
6. All are Welcome.
6. All are Welcome.
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
It is one thing to say all are welcome. But if people are welcome or not has nothing to do with what I say it is determined by each of your hearts. We are to welcome each other as Christ welcomed us. For the Glory of God.
How effective we are at welcoming people will determine if they think we are hypocrates, if they are receptive to the Gospel, and if they come back. If you don’t care about those things you probably aren’t a follower of Jesus. It us up to each of you to take the initative and make sure people feel like this is a place they can belong. Their experience here could mold opinions about church and Jesus for the rest of their lives. Do you care about that? i think most of you do. our mindset needs to be not just how do i do the bare minimum to make sure they feel like i tried. The mindset needs to be I need to love this person deeply because Jesus loved me deeply even when I was an outsider. He welcomed me into his family so I need to welcome this person.
Going over other 6 culture statements this week.
1. Friends Become Family
2. We Speak Highly
3. We Love Deeply
4. We are Note Takers.
5. No One Sits Alone
6. All are Welcome.
Questions.
Which of these do you personally need to work on the most?
Practice speaking highly. Go around the circle get everyone to point out a positive quality of someone else in the circle.
Take a minute and let everyone share what this student ministry and the people in the circle mean to them.
