Archive for November, 2008
Follow Up…
Wow! Last night at Escape we had some really great discussion. I asked the question, “Is it more important to believe in Christ, or to become like Christ?” We divided the room into two sides and had those students who answered “to believe in” move to one side and those students who answered “to become like” move to the other side. It was really pretty evenly divided. Then I asked them to defend their answer, which led to some great debate. They were really engaged in the discussion! I love seeing students think about what they believe.
In the end we talked about the fact that you can’t separate believing in and becoming like Christ. You must believe in Christ for salvation. But then, Christians must allow God to work in their lives moving them to become like Christ…and this is a lifelong process. And it’s not an easy process (see Romans 7).
I encourage you to continue this conversation with your kids.
This Sunday we will continue our study in James in youth Sunday School. We will look at James 4:1-10 and talk about how friendship with the world is dangerous.
Escape November 5
Is it more important to believe in Jesus or to become like Jesus?
We’re tackling this question head-on tonight in Escape. We will look at scriptures that tell us very specifically that we must believe in Jesus in order to be saved. The Bible is very clear that there is no other way to God but through Jesus (John 14:6). But we will also talk about the fact that the Bible says even demons believe (James 2:19). So where does this leave us? There has to be more to salvation than just believing in Jesus right? This is where genuine faith comes into play! We place our unwavering faith in Jesus…then, according to the Bible, we are to allow God to transform us (Romans 12:2). Paul makes very clear that this is a lifelong process (Philippians 3:10-14), comparing it to a long distance race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) as does the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:1).
Ultimately, salvation comes from faith in Christ alone…a faith that requires us to believe in Jesus, to believe that He came to earth, lived a sinless life, was crucified on the cross, rose from the dead three days later, and now sits at the right hand of God waiting to come back for those who believe. But salvation involves a lifelong process of becoming more and more like Jesus (for the theologians out there, this is known as sanctification).
Be sure and ask your teen what he/she thinks about this…Is it more important to believe in Jesus or to become like Jesus?
My Daughter’s Youth Group
My daughter is 3. She is nine years away from being in the youth group. Yet, today I sat and thought about what I want my daughter’s youth group to look like. More on this to come…but one thing that I noticed as a recurring theme was that I want to be involved, as a parent. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what the leadership is doing to help disciple her. I want to know what is being taught. I want to know who her teachers and leaders are. I want to know what activities are taking place. I want to have open lines of communication with the leaders.
As a youth minister, I want parents to be involved. I believe parents are the greatest source of spiritual influence in the lives of their kids. I believe God intended it to be this way. I believe my job is to partner with parents in training teenagers to become genuine followers of Jesus. So I guess this blog is my response to what I want my daughter’s youth group to look like, as a parent, as well as what I want our current youth ministry to look like, as a youth minister.
The purpose of this blog is to support and serve you. I will include a variety of things here including:
- What we are teaching
- What we are doing
- Who is leading and teaching
- Encouragement
- Devotional thoughts
- Resources and links for parents
- A forum to hear your thoughts, ideas, concerns, and questions
- And more!!!
Check back often. Bookmark this page or subscribe through one of the available feeds. Share this blog with your friends that could benefit. Read. Check out the links. Comment. Enjoy.
