Tag: faith

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Why I Still Believe in Youth Ministry

I first published this article at The Focused Pastor, a ministry of Focus on the Family.

I first met Matt* when he was 15. I was the new Youth Pastor and his single mom brought him to church. She was excited that we were beginning a youth ministry, and to my surprise, Matt was too. He was quirky and a bit of an outsider among the teens in the church, but I loved his honest questions about God and how he was not afraid to be different. Matt came every Wednesday evening when our youth ministry met, and I saw him grow by leaps and bounds.

At one point, I started to pick up Matt and another teen from school a few times a month for a snack and Bible study. We would get some Subway, read the Gospel of John together, talk about Jesus and life, and I would pray for them. After about a year, Matt shared with me that he knew he believed in Jesus. When I asked him how he knew he was saved, he said that it was affecting his life. He didn’t want to sin. He loved Jesus and wanted to follow him. A few months later, Matt was baptized. The last I heard about Matt, he was a video game developer serving in his local church, still following Jesus.

I’ve pastored full-time for almost two decades, and during my first eight years of vocational ministry I was a youth pastor. I am in my mid-40s now and pastoring in a rural church in New England, but I still believe in youth ministry. Matt is one reason. Now my own kids are new reasons I still believe in youth ministry.

I have noticed a change from when I first began leading youth ministry. Decades ago, it was often the parents who wanted their teens to attend more than the teens necessarily did. I knew parents who brought their teens to youth ministry events and told them they needed to be a part of it—that it was good for them. Now I have noticed that it is more often the teens who take the initiative to get themselves there. The same parents who will drive them anywhere six days a week for sports don’t always see the value in driving them to church one night a week for Bible study and fellowship with other believers their age. Should churches still value youth ministry? Here are three reasons I still believe in youth ministry.

Christian Friendship & Fellowship

It has been well-documented that today’s teens are struggling with loneliness and anxiety.1 The Surgeon General has even discussed this and some studies show that the number of youth who face loneliness regularly is about double the number that seniors report.2 Offering gospel- centered opportunities for youth to develop friendships with others their age is one way the church can help with this crisis.

One teenage girl told me she looks forward to attending our youth ministry every week because she has no Christian friends at her public school. She needs the encouragement of Christian friends to help her grow in her personal walk with Jesus and to continue to be a strong light for Christ in her school. Her closest friends are believers partly because of opportunities for fellowship in our youth ministry. Homeschoolers have often told me that they look forward to youth group every week because it is a safe place for them to grow without always having their parents with them. No matter what their schooling or home situation is like, youth ministry can be a place for teens to know that they are not alone in the world, either as a person or as a Jesus-follower.

Evangelism

Matt might have believed in Jesus and been baptized simply by attending our church. Since he attended both, our church and our youth ministry complemented each other in his spiritual journey and his eventual belief in Christ. But he was not comfortable meeting with our pastor like he was discussing faith or reading the Gospel of John with me. The fact that our church had a youth ministry and that it supported me in leading the youth ministry gave Matt an opportunity for one-on-one evangelism and later discipleship that he would not have had otherwise.

An unbelieving friend might be willing to come to youth group or a youth ministry event when they might not be ready to come to church yet. In time, as they learn more about Jesus through the youth ministry, I have seen teens eventually come to church regularly.

I still believe in youth ministry because so many teens in our culture only know the name of Jesus as a swear word. Just the other day, a public-school history teacher was telling me that in the last few decades he has seen a difference in the background knowledge that youth now have about the Bible. When he first started teaching, they had a basic knowledge of Christianity and Judaism. Now they hardly ever have any Bible background. Youth ministry is a place for teens to begin to understand the storyline of the Bible so they can begin to understand the gospel.

Teens in the Church Need to Know They Matter

Many teens over the years have told me they appreciate our youth ministry because it shows them that the church cares about them. They have shared that Bible study with other teens has helped prepare them for church involvement as adults. While they have attended some adult Bible studies—which is good and healthy—they have told me they are usually too intimidated to share much. They know that the problems and questions they face are different than other generations in the church, and they appreciate having a place to discuss them. With the foundation of the entire church worshiping and learning together on Sunday morning, I have been happy to be able to provide that safe place for teens to grow and learn.

Sometimes people ask me why we have a youth ministry, since Scripture doesn’t require it. But the same could be said for why many churches have a seniors ministry. Just as older believers enjoy the fellowship they share with other people in their age range who are experiencing many of the same problems and joys, so do youth. I am not an advocate of separating generations for every church event. For example, I have seen great benefits in having even middle schoolers come to our Men’s Bible Study (Men’s and Women’s Ministries are another choice the Bible allows but does not require). Yet, that doesn’t mean there is no benefit in also giving opportunities for youth or others to fellowship and learn by age.

Today’s teens and families have a lot on their plates. There are lots of opportunities. But since I want my teens and the teens in my church to be life-long followers of Jesus, I want to put them in front of God’s Word and provide Christian fellowship as much as I can. I still believe in youth ministry.

* For privacy, his name has been changed.

  1. https://www.rootedministry.com/loneliness-and-gen-z-hungering-for-true-community/
  2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/01/loneliness-poor-health-reported-far-more-among-young-people-than-even-those-over-72/559961002/
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Four Blessings to Ask God For in 2025

This article first appeared at Small Town Summits Articles.

Father, as we sail out upon the unknown waters of 2025, we are reminded of past years that held joys and trials and we are a bit weary. It could be a year of smooth sailing and joy that easily points us to you, the giver of all good things (James 1:17). But life in this fallen world is so uncertain. What life-changing squalls could hit with hardly a moment’s notice?

Jesus, we know that you are our captain and that you are Lord over the storms. So, with you in our boat, we cry out to you, asking you to work in our lives, our church and our family in 2025.

We ask these things with boldness, knowing that the same Jesus who heard the cries of the disciples and asked where their faith is hears us today (Romans 8:34). Jesus, we believe—help our unbelief (Mark 9:24)! We serve you in faith, believing that you not only exist, but that you reward those who earnestly seek you (Hebrews 11:6). Lord, may you be our reward as we seek you today and look ahead to 2025.

We ask for four blessings from your hand in 2025—hope, peace, joy, and to see Jesus’s glory.

Give Us Hope

Give us hope that you are working all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Give us hope that you are forming us to look more like Jesus even though we get so impatient with our progress in sanctification sometimes (Romans 8:29).

Give us hope that the Word is doing its work in other church member’s lives and that you are at work in our community even when we can’t see it (Mark 4:26-29). Give us hope that you will never abandon your church (Matthew 16:18) and that you will use us, but that gospel ministry is not reliant upon us (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Give us hope that you are cheering my spouse and I on each time that we move towards each other (Song of Solomon 5:1b). Give us hope that you are working in my spouse’s heart and life and that you are forming his or her character into a beautiful work of art that belongs to you (Ephesians 2:10). Give us hope that you hold each of my children in your hands and that no one can snatch them out of your hands (John 10:28-29).

Give us hope that you can do more than we can ask for or imagine in our walk with you, in our church, and in our family in 2025 (Ephesians 3:20-21)!

Give Us Peace

Give us peace, knowing that we can sleep because you never sleep, always watching your own (Psalm 121:3-4). Give us peace as we navigate our own doubts and fears (Matthew 10:31). Give us peace that can only be found in knowing you personally, as we pursue you even more than we have in past years (Psalm 119:10).

Give our church peace in conflict that may arise in 2025, and give us a heart to seek the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). Give us peace as we navigate the complexity of being believers in today’s world (2 Corinthians 11:28). Give our church a greater measure of the peace that comes from resting in Jesus (John 14:27).

Give my spouse and I peace if financial or health or extended family situations arise this year that add stress to our marriage (Isaiah 26:3). Give our home peace and may our children and grandchildren grow in enjoying their relationships with each other (Psalm 133:1). Give our children your spiritual protection from the evil one, so that they can experience the peace that comes from walking with you in a tumultuous world (John 17:15).

Give Us Joy

Give us joy, knowing that joy is always available in Jesus regardless of what circumstances may come in 2025 (John 15:11, 16:20). Give us your joy in the happy days, and the eyes to see the world as a place where your beauty and power are constantly on display (Psalm 24:1). Give us joy in trials, knowing that you have not abandoned us and are producing Christ-like character in us (James 1:2-3, Romans 5:3-5).

Give our church joy so that when unbelievers visit, they will want this joy that the world cannot offer (Luke 2:10). Give our church joy that is not surface-deep but rather that is deep like a glacier, because it is joy in God (2 Corinthians 1:24). Give our church joy that is Spirit-produced as we worship the living God on Sunday mornings together (Psalms 4:7).

Give us joy in our marriages, as we seek to enjoy life with the spouse you have given us (Ecclesiastes 9:9). Give our spouses joy in their day-to-day responsibilities and in their ministry opportunities (Romans 15:13). Give our children joy through spiritual tastebuds that savor Jesus rather than sin (Psalm 16:11).

Give Us Jesus’s Glory

In the same way that Moses did not want to move into the Promised Land without viewing your glory (Exodus 33:14-18), we don’t want to move into 2025 without a fresh view of Jesus’s glory!

Give us Jesus’s glory in our times of Bible reading and prayer in 2025, so that we can take a spiritual drink and be satisfied (John 7:37-39). Give us Jesus’s glory through seeing your salvation in our personal witnessing with friends and community members (Luke 5:25).

Give our church a view of Jesus’s glory that is so breathtaking that they will want to run from sin (1 Peter 1:13-16). Give our church the focus that church is about Jesus’s glory, not their preferences or ease (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Give our church such a sense of Jesus’s glory on Sunday mornings that they will long for the next time of worship together (2 John 1:12).

Give our families a view of Jesus’s glory that comes from having a privileged front-row seat to your work in so many lives (Acts 2:43). Give our children Jesus’s glory so that they have mountain-top spiritual experiences, but also we ask that when they come down from them that they will have eyes for Jesus only (Matthew 17:8).

Father, we recognize that we don’t deserve any blessing from you. But we also know that you love to give good gifts to your children (Matthew 7:11). So, we are asking you today to give us, our family, and our church four things in 2025: give us hope, give us peace, give us joy, and give us Jesus’s glory!

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A Christian’s Declaration of Stability In God In an Unstable Country

2020 has been a year of instability for the United States. I–and so many others–have never felt the stresses and strains of living in what we would call an “unstable country,” until now. But that doesn’t change my stability in God.

As we see new developments each day, and new crises and controversies that can stretch our faith and test our sanctification, perhaps you can pray each of these commitments with me, daily.

Every day I will choose to:

  • Praise God regardless of how He is answering my prayers (Psalm 145:2-3). Every day, regardless of the new headlines, I will repeat the Psalmist’s declaration: “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” God is worthy of praise because He is God, not because He has answered my prayers the way I think He should.
  • Remember that God sets up & tears down kingdoms for His purposes (Daniel 2:21, 4:34-35). My generation is not the first that He has worked mightily in through upheaval, and unless Jesus returns first, it won’t be the last. God is not wringing His hands in Heaven in despair or wishing He could do more. The “king’s” heart is in His sovereign hands (Proverbs 21:1). I will remember that God is working through generations over decades and centuries and millennia, not just today. Every day I will choose to believe and remember that my time and place is just a small part of His great tapestry of redemption.
  • Be an active and good citizen to the best of my ability, shining light where it needs to be & being involved in the political process as much as is helpful. I will do what I believe God is calling me to do to make our country a better place (Jeremiah 29:7). I will not hesitate to contact my legislators, to vote informed, and to raise awareness when appropriate. I can do this without it overtaking my witness for Christ (I want to win people to Christ, not to a political party). I will work hard to hold the tension between being involved as a citizen because decisions in government do really matter, but remembering that in the end even the country I love is not my ultimate home. I am a citizen of the Unites States, so I care, but I am a citizen of Heaven, so I trust.
  • Trust my children’s unknown future to a known God. Corrie ten Boom said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God,” and I will apply this biblical principle to not only my life, but to the concerns I have for the country my children will inherit. The same God who has been my shepherd will be the same God who will shepherd them in decades to come (Genesis 48:15-16).
  • Pray that God will use this unstable time in our country to prepare hearts for another great awakening of faith in Christ. God has chosen to bring many to Christ through times of national unrest in the past, and I will pray that He will do it again, for His glory. It is often when the rug is pulled out from under people that they begin to ask questions about God or Jesus. In our own country, “The Jesus Movement” followed the tumultuous 60s. In our own time, I will pray that many will come to know Jesus as they begin to question where their trust is. I will pray that many believers will rise up to not be afraid to share the stability of knowing God in Christ, and that churches will be strengthened to be true to the Word, discipleship, and evangelism.
  • Preach the gospel to myself and others, reminding myself that I am not my own but have been bought with a price. My life is not my own. I have been placed in this time in history and this place in the world on purpose, for a purpose–which is to glorify God by knowing Christ and making Him known. It is no accident that I live here and now (Acts 17:26). I will share the hope of Jesus with all in my community who will listen. Jesus truly is our only hope. I will remember that eternity is more significant than this moment in history, and that each person I interact with–either in-person or online–is an eternal being who either needs Jesus or whom I will spend eternity with in Heaven. God will hold me accountable for each word I speak or type (Matthew 12:36-37).
  • Spend more time in the Word than reading or listening or watching politics each day. My mind will be renewed by God speaking through His Word (1 Timothy 3:16), not by being immersed in the latest political development. I can dip into the news and be informed without it becoming the driving force behind my thinking–which is the place of God’s Word alone. Charles Spurgeon is attributed with rightly observing, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” I am not putting my head in the sand–I will be informed–but I am intentionally choosing to listen to God’s voice more than any other, which puts my feet on solid rock.
  • Remember that many of the people of God have gone through more difficult trials in their countries and have still held fast to Christ (Hebrews 10:34). From the prophets & faithful Israelites before Christ, to countless faithful believers in church history, to the persecuted church around the world today, many have gone before me in great persecution–and just plain unrest–and have continued to hold fast to Christ. Simply because I was born in the U.S., I am no better than my brothers and sisters in Christ half way around the world who are refugees worshiping in a makeshift tent with only a bag of possessions left to their name. In fact, I will look to them for examples of perseverance in the faith in the face of great political upheaval.
  • Hold fast to God in faith, rather than letting fear build in my heart. I want my actions and my words to be led by faith, not fear. Every day I will choose to remember that God is for me (Romans 8:31), that Jesus loves me (Galatians 2:20), and that the Holy Spirit empowers me and is even in me (John 14:15-20, 27).

At the funeral of the Puritan Richard Sibbes, Isaak Walton remarked, “…Heaven was in him, before he was in heaven.” May heaven be more seen in us because of our longings, actions, prayers, and reflection of God’s heart. May the same be said of us in spite of–no, because of–this moment in our country’s history.

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Faith That Echoes

Note from Tim: Over the last week I have been publishing a short devotional each morning (I began HERE). I originally wrote these devotions for the Winter 2018-2019 issue of Open Windows and I have permission to republish them. I pray they are an encouragement to you in your walk with Christ!

Devotional Passage: Romans 1:8-17

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” – Romans 1:8

The faith of the Huaorani people echoes around the world. When they first heard about Christ in the jungles of Ecuador through five missionary martyrs, including Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, it was simply the start of a chain reaction. I have personally been profoundly edified in my faith through the testimonies of Nate’s son, Steve Saint, and Jim’s wife, Elisabeth Elliot.

The apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Rome by letting them know that their faith echoed around the world. As people heard of faithful believers in Christ in the midst of pagan Rome, their faith was encouraged. As a result, they were more likely to live out their faith wherever God had placed them.

How have you been encouraged in your faith recently? How could you continue that echo of faith today by sharing Christ with a neighbor or friend or by encouraging a fellow believer? Only God knows the chain reaction your faithfulness may set off. And as Paul told the Romans, faith that echoes results in thanksgiving to God.

Father, whether it is to my neighbor or friend or around the world, may my faith echo for Your glory.

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