Youth Ministry 3
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Transcript Youth Ministry 3
Purpose Driven Youth Ministry
Doug Fields
Personal Humility
Submit Your Abilities to God and Allow His Power to
Work Through Who You Are.
Focus on Being a Person of God Before Doing the
Work of God
Admit your struggles to yourself
Ask God for the power to discipline yourself for the
purpose of godliness
Ask God for the courage to confess these struggles to a
friend who cares deeply aout you and who can help
you.
Work with this friend on a spiritual restoration plan
Why does this youth ministry exist?
Programs can change, but the purposes aren’t
negotiable
No purposes that we could create on our own would be
more complete than the five God has already divinely
created for us.
Evangelism
Worship
Fellowship
Discipleship
Ministry
Built around the Great Commandment and the Great
Commission:
Great Commandment- “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your sould and with all
your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the
Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”
Matthew 22:37-40
Great Commission- “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age”
Matthew 28:19-20
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Worship: “Love the Lord your God with all your
heart.”
Ministry: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Evangelism: “Go and make disciples”
Fellowship: “Baptizing them”
Discipleship: “Teaching them to obey”
Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who
don’t yet have a personal relationship with Him.
This is probably the most weakly expressed purpose
It is difficult to fulfill on a program level, and
threatening on a personal level
Adult leadership must model the purpose of
evangelism
When this purpose is evident in a youth ministry,
growth will happen- not because of an evangelistic
program, but because of evangelistic students
Celebrating God’s presence and honoring Him with
our lifestyle.
Praying (Psalm 95:6)
Hearing the Word (John 17:17)
Giving (1 Corinthians16:1-2)
Baptizing (Romans 6:3-4)
Meditating (Habakkuk 2:20)
Communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
God did not intend for Christians to live in isolation,
but in fellowship with other believers and to be
identified as the body of Christ.
True fellowship happens when students are known,
cared for, held accountable, and encouraged in their
spiritual journey
Fellowship is usually the strongest purpose
Often, fellowship is so strong that Christian students
lose sight of evangelism and focus only on other
believers and become dangerously apathetic from the
lost
The building up or strengthening of believers in their
quest to be like Christ.
Can be the most unrewarding since spiritual maturity
is difficult to measure
Discipleship flourishes under spiritual leaders who
consistently plant seeds and water students’ faith
All of this is done with faith that God will do the
impossible and bring growth
Meeting needs with love
God has blessed every believer with special gifts to be used
for ministry. Students shouldn’t have to wait until they are
adults to minister.
A healthy youth ministry will constantly encourage
students to discover their gifts and put them into practice
through ministry and mission opportunities
When the purpose of ministry is applied, you will graduate
student ministers rather than program attendees.
Student ministers won’t graduate from their faith when
they graduate from the youth ministry
Revealing a purpose statement takes away the mystery
of your ministry.
It makes sense of your programs
Uses volunteers more effectively
Provides direction for your students’ spiritual maturity
Keep it simple
Make it meaningful
It should be action oriented
Should be compelling
Think of words that go along with the 5 purposes
Worship- Exalt, Passion, Offer
Fellowship- Enjoy, Encourage, Care
Evangelism- Expose, Spread, Reach
Discipleship- Equip, Share, Develop
Ministry- Experience, Service, Serving
Then put those words together in a sentence
Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship
The goal of our student ministry is to expose teenagers to
God’s love, to equip them to exalt God, enjoy other
believers, and experience the work of the ministry
Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship
CrossCurrent exists to reach non-Christian junior and
senior high students, to help them share in God’s Word, to
offer themselves in service to Christ and to care for one
another.
Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship
Infiltrate Youth Family exists to spread the love of Christ
by serving those around us, encouraging each other, and
developing a life of passion for God.
One program can’t effectively fulfill all 5 purposes
1.) What primary purpose (evangelism, worship,
fellowship, discipleship, or ministry) does this program
fulfill?
2.) Who are we trying to target with this program?
One program can’t effectively target all students
There are at least 5 types of students
The non-Christian student
The new Christian
The student who knows a great deal about the Bible but
is apathetic about most things we do
The growing student
The spiritual leader
Teenagers living within a realistic driving distance of
our church.
Schools within a ten to fifteen mile radius of your
church
Calculate the number of youth group age students at
these schools
For example in Arab, there are about 1,500 students
At this rate each church in the area could have over 100 students
The fulfills the evangelism purpose
Students who come to a youth service and fill out an
information card.
May be invited by regulars, others are forced by their
parents to attend
Some are Christians, some are non-Christians
This fulfills the worship purpose
Crowd students who move to the next level where they
can connect with other Christians and grow in their
faith (small groups, for example)
The next step should have an atmosphere where these
students will be known, cared for, held accountable,
and connected with other believers
This deeper connection fulfills the fellowship purpose
Students who are committed to developing spiritual
habits, such as personal Bible study, prayer,
accountability with another believer, Scripture
memorization, giving, and commitment to the church
body
This fulfills the discipleship purpose
Committed students who discover their giftedness and
want to express it through ministering to others
Students who discover their ministry potential do not
graduate from their faith… they use what they’ve
learned forever
They could have the opportunity to become student
leaders helping move others through the funnel
Realize that each group size will decrease as
commitment increases
Focus on the word potential and start with who you
have.
Evangelism isn’t a program, it’s a process
Evangelism is tough work
Leaders approaching students could be seen as a threat
Fear of rejection
Fear of not being understood
Fear of not having the right answers
Fear of being labeled as a Jesus Freak
Students need to understand that those outside of the
faith are attracted to Christians before they are
attracted to Christ
Lifestyle is an important factor of evangelism
Don’t expect all of your students to be evangelists, but
do expect them to be evangelistic
Talk to students about how “we are going to grow!”
Implement Growth Programs
Friendship Evangelism Project
Small Group Competition
Make sure you have a program or a service in place to
accommodate the community students
Make sure you have a program to which your regular
students can feel comfortable inviting their
community friends
This service will have Christians and non-Christians
Don’t limit worship just to music- attempt to have
praying, singing, giving, testifying, thanking, and
listening to God’s Word.
Create a positive atmosphere of fun, student
involvement, but with a clear message
Simplify your message
Small groups are a great way to nurture the student
who has graduated from the “Crowd.”
Small groups should provide more personal attention
than larger programs
They provide a sense of belonging
In the “Crowd” you share the gospel, in small groups,
you share your lives
Small groups allow students to be known
Small groups make students verbal
Small groups allow students to personalize their faith
Small groups encourage accountable relationships
Discipleship of committed students is helping them
develop the habits, or spiritual disciplines, necessary
to grow on their own when they’re no longer in the
youth group
Youth ministries are full of Bible-literate students who
know the right answers, but make the wrong daily
choices
Encourage spiritual habits through the small groups of
the “Congregation”
Have consistent time with God through prayer and
Bible reading
Have an accountable relationship with another
Christian
Understand and participate in giving/tithing
Memorize Scripture
Study the Bible on their own
Focus on encouragement
Get small group leader to encourage growth
Equip students with tools to develop habits
Quiet time journal
Accountability Group Prayer
Bible memorization flashcard program
Questions to go along with Bible reading teaching them
how to dig deeper
Core students who are not the “ministry” type aren’t
core students, they’re regulars
Sometimes getting students to do ministry isn’t as big a
challenge as convincing the church congregation and
leadership that teenagers can play a vital role in the
body of Christ
Students shouldn’t have to move through the circles
just to do ministry
Don’t treat students as “The Future Church”
A sign of a healthy church is one that helps all
Christians, regardless of age, to discover their gifts and
express them through serving in ministry
Communicate Ministry Messages
Communicate the joy of participating
Remind students that a life of observation is a wasted
life, but a life of participation in the work of the
kingdom is the reason we were born
Teach students they were created for ministry
Help Students Discover Their Spiritual Gifts