Student Ministry

If repetition is the key to learning, then, when it comes to working with young people, keeping a big picture focus is the key to sanity. It’s so easy to get into a rut in which we tire of the repetition necessary to develop students.

Some of the finest members of our church are young people who grew up in our church, attended our Christian school, and are serving as laymen and women in our ministry. They are in the will of God, doing the work of God, and will have a great reward from God when they get to Heaven.

We live in a day of much challenge and opportunity. The need for well-equipped, Spirit-filled servants of the Lord is great. The Apostle Paul trained the young pastor Timothy and instilled in him:

Teen culture manufactures plenty of excitement and hype. Every new show or event is marketed as the greatest, coolest, most epic of its kind, ever. But what our pop culture lacks is anything that is genuine or meaningful.

I am uncomfortable with the expression that teenagers are the “church of tomorrow.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure well meaning people imply by those words that teenagers will one day be the adults that populate our churches and serve as leaders in our ministries.

This is a message that I preached in chapel to help our students prepare for the summer months. The principles in it would be good for all of us.

Using the word relationship, here is an acrostic of ideas to help prevent resentment and rebellion in your child’s heart.

I explained to our teens that when we returned home each of them should give a testimony in a special testimony service as to what God had done in their heart and what decisions they had made.

Like most people in church, teenagers are willing to share prayer requests. While it is difficult at times to get teens to share a testimony or witness to a friend, it seems that they are willing to share prayer requests. And your reaction to such requests is probably positive—that is, at least outwardly.

In this age of a dominant visual and verbal communication, the written word has taken a back seat. In fact, the art of letter writing has become passé to many. Think though for a moment about how encouraging it is to receive personal mail.

Certain mentor relationships are non-negotiable; for instance, parents must mentor children. Other relationships must be entered into with much prayer and great consideration. It has been my contention that many a youth ministry tends to be a mile wide and an inch deep.

One of the highlights of my travels to youth conferences and youth camps is the opportunity to spend time with so many other adults who love teenagers. Fundamentalism is full of unsung heroes who drive buses, chaperone trips . . .

The statistics are alarming—and readily available with a simple Google search—that young people are leaving church in droves during that crucial transition between high school graduation and the complete embracing of adulthood.