Definition of Youth:
Define some boundaries -> i.e. anything younger than 45
Define ministry: Looking after needs or young people, bringing them to Christ.
-lead -influence -guide -serve – using gifts -help -serve -spread word of God
one example of a great leader (top 5) in the bible is Joshua. Joshua was a young man and he was being mentored by Moses who trained him from a very young age. (Remember in the bible how Joshua was supporting Moses by holding his elbow to help him raise the staff in the air while the Israelites were at war?)
However, Joshua had one fatal flaw, he didnt pass the baton to anyone else. Hence the world entered a period of Judges who judged the Israelites and God was fighting against them instead of with them.
Thats why its so important to train the next generation!
So why is Youth Ministry (YM) so important? Why is it so vital?
Kids are young, if we train them well, we will have a whole new generation rise up to serve God!
There is no success without a successor. Aim to have a “generation perspective”
Christianity is only one generation away from being extinct!
if we dont teach it, we will forget it. Much like we forget a lot of our home tongue, ie. how to read or write Chinese.
From Gods perspective, we are just a tiny period on a big time line. We will pass away and move on, but someone has to be able to pick it up from us. All we do is fulfill our time in history.
Another example would be King David who prepared all the land and conqueored much of the country to prepare the way for his son Solomon. In other words, he set up the groundworks for the next generation.
Footprints we leave behind, may all those who find them find us faithful.
In YM, we should aim to be value-centred. This means placing values first and actions/behaviour will follow. Eg.
1) Worldview: Jesus is king.
2) Beliefs: God loves everyone
3) Values: therefore I value loving everyone
4) Actions behaviour: I treat them well.
So its important to influence kids values first before we try and change their behaviour. We must facilitate the Holy Spirit to change them from the inside out. Not creating environments that change them. Its essentially God that changes them so we must lead them to God and Jesus for He is the way, truth and life.
