youthministry101
Youth Ministry 101
Intro
Today I am going to do something I have never done before, and that is to teach about reaching this generation of young people, and what I think that ministry to the youth is. This was impressed on my heart months ago that I needed to do this, and so today I will attempt to encapsulate what my life is about. I know that my words will not be enough to paint the right picture, but I hope that you will be able to see my heart and vision along with the words. You see it is my hope that Faith City would be as the sons of Issachar who the Bible says understood the times and put their lives on the line and took action, and not like the sons of Scheva who thought they could play religious games and incorporate the new times into their old way of thinking and doing things, and they wound up beaten and naked and humiliated.
So today I want to talk to you a little bit about this generation, and the youth ministry of this church, Forerunner. I know that many of you have no idea what goes on in the youth ministry around here. I want you to be encouraged this morning that we, Faith City, are making a difference.
Forerunner?
What we are
Purpose Statement
Wed. night “feel” – provide an atmosphere where kids can come and be accepted AS THEY ARE…as Jesus does and did with each of us.
The first thing they experience is hope, and the unconditional love of Christ. We do not tell them how they should look, or what they should wear, or how they should talk. We don’t throw holiness issues at them until they have a deep, steady and passionate relationship with the Holy One. We have decided that we are not going to expect teens to act like Christians when they don’t know Christ.
*Have kids that go to other churches on Sun. with parents…God is building a wonderful interdenominational ministry to young people. We don’t wave the A/G banner in their face.
*read kids responses
What we are not
Not a club…open to everyone
Not a group- “ministry” not a cliquey group of insiders who would not welcome those not like them. We realize that if we are going to reach a generation, we need to understand that this generation is made up of all different kinds of people.
Not Christian babysitting service or entertainment group. The days of “youth ministry” as a entertainment service that has a little Bible lesson thrown in while playing “pin the beard on Moses”…are over.
What we do
Wed night service – altar call, praise and worship, preaching from the Word on life issues that teens face, small groups.
Tues. night Warfare Prayer – pentacostal warfare
Tues night Discipleship – Train them to follow in the footsteps of Christ
Sun night Cell groups – Bible study and discussion on issues
Sun afternoon LIT/Jcore – Training the next generation of leaders
Events- WWR, Drama group, BMW,
Who Is This Generation
*Discipling a Damaged Generation
most resilient generation in history
“Why are damaged people so dangerous? Because they know they can survive.”
They don’t want someone that is perfect or even looks perfect, they want someone that is real.
There are too many people who point out the flaws in this generation instead of showing them a faith-filled vision of what their future could be.
This generation is incredible. They are truly a Joshua Generation of overcomers. If given a chance and enough encouragement, they can do anything. But the enemy has done his part to twist and confuse through the years.
*86% of teenagers claim that they are Christian.
*Only 1/3 describe themselves as "absolutely committed" to Christianity, half say they are "moderately committed" and the remaining one-fifth are less committed.
*One-third of all teenagers (34%) as born again. (classified as "born again" if they said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life and if they believed that after they die they will go to Heaven solely because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.)
It is interesting to note that among those who deem themselves to be committed Christians, only half qualify as born again Christians, a categorization that includes having “made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in [their] life today.”
*Three out of five teens said they believe the Bible is totally accurate in all that it teaches.
* When asked about specific religious beliefs, though, many teenagers embraced views that are inconsistent with the Bible. For instance, two-thirds stated that Satan is not a living being but merely a symbol of evil. Six out of ten argued that a good person can earn eternal salvation through good deeds. A majority (53%) said that Jesus committed sins while He was on earth. The view that Jesus committed sins was endorsed by four out of ten born again teens (40%) and half of all teenagers (52%) who attend a Protestant church.
Tape – “Revolution” clips of kids talking. ?
The Fatherless Generation
Prov 17:6 (NKJV) “Children's children [are] the crown of old men, And the glory of children [is] their father.” We have removed their glory. No wonder why kids don’t know who they are any more. There’s a lot of single mom’s out there doing a great job, but it just doesn’t take the place of having a godly dad in the house.
Stats:
*1960 – 7 out of every 1000 children lived in a divorced home
*today – 500 out of every 1000 live in a home with divorced parents
*1/10 of kids under 18 will experience 3 instances of divorce
*3000 kids per DAY hear the words “daddy is leaving today and not coming home”
*More children in America live without their fathers than any other nation in the world
*30% of kids from a home with a single mom as the parent will do drugs/alcohol/violence/stealing
*65% with 2 parents where relationship with father is fair to poor
*97% will NOT EVER do drugs or fall into violence where 2 parents and relationship with the Father is good to excellent.
*12-14 yr olds who are close to parents are 300% less likely to attempt suicide
*15-17 yr. Olds 400% less likely.
*Average American Dad gives only 35 seconds of undivided attention to their kids a day.
1Cor 4:15-16 (NIV) “Even though you have ten thousand guardians (instructors) in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.”
*Not about morals, not about believing in God, not about going to church…those are just parts of a whole, not a foundation to build on.
Results:
Judg 2:10-11 (NKJV) When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;
We can’t look down on the kids for their lack of character and integrity…yes their comes a time when they should be held accountable for their actions, but kids are a product of their parents. Statistics show repeatedly that the most influential person in kids lives by far is without a doubt their parents.
*Dad skit?
Going to beg you to take advantage of me. Anything I can do to help connect you with your kids I will do, and just like I tell the kids I will tell you…I will love you enough to tell you the truth…good or bad.
Malachi 4:5-6 (NKJV) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."
