For Parents on Go:
THIS Wednesday we
will be going to the Dixie Classic Fair. Admission
is FREE with donation of 5 cans. We
will leave the church at 4:00 pm, enjoy fair food and ride rides.
Christian concert at 7:00 pm. We will
be back to the church around 10:00 pm
Wednesday, October 26th 6:00-9:00 pm. Halloween Theme Class at the Fresch’s House. More details forthcoming.
Wednesday, November 9th: 7:00-8:00 pm. We will be going to Dollar Tree to purchase supplies for our Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. Please have your son or daughter bring money to purchase supplies to send to a child overseas.
Ridgecrest: November 18-20th. Cost: $55. Your son or daughter should have already signed up. More information will be coming out at a later date.
Christmas Party: December 3rd. 6:00-8:00 pm. Cost: FREE. Annual Christmas Party at T and Julia’s House. More information at a later date.
So, for those of you who wonder why people like me work with
teenagers, let me give you some answers to the question “why teenagers?”
1. God has a track
record of choosing teens to accomplish great spiritual feats.
From Joseph, to Timothy, to Esther (who won a beauty contest
then saved a nation), God has used young people in big ways to do even bigger
things.
In 1 Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel goes to the house of
Jesse, it's not the strapping, strutting older brothers of the house that God
chooses to be king. It's the underage runt of the litter that got annointed as
the future leader of Israel. One chapter later, this kid named David, who was
delivering cheese and crackers to his older brothers in the war, got ticked off
that a nine foot giant was talking smack against the God of Israel. His anger
left an impression on Goliath…a deep one.
But its not just in the Old Testament that God demonstrates
his predisposition to choose and use teenagers. For the most part Jesus mostly
picked teenagers to be his disciples. In Matthew 17, when Jesus, Peter and the
disciples go into Capernaum, only Peter and Jesus pay the temple tax (although
all of the disciples are there!) According to Exodus 30:14 the temple tax was
only applicaple to those twenty years old and older. If I’m reading that right,
that means that Jesus was a youth leader with only one adult sponsor…and one
really rotten kid.
And God used this "youth group" to reach the
world! He can use yours to do the same!
2. God receives glory
when the “foolish things of the world” confound the wise.
1 Corinthains 1:26-29 makes this crystal clear, “Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God
chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things
that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
If this passage is not a case for working with teenagers I
don’t know what is. Teenagers are foolish, goofy and hyper. I love it! God
loves it! He wants to use them as twitchy revolutionaries to change the course
of nations and to launch a global awakening of Biblical proportions just like
his Son did 2,000 years ago!
3. It just makes
sense.
Teenagers are wet cement. They form to the forms layed out
for them. While working with adults is definitely important, sometimes a
jackhammer and wheelbarrow is required before the wet cement can be poured in
their souls.
Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the most intelligent
scholar/preacher of the 1st Great Awakening, recorded that the “revival has
been chiefly amongst the young….” Teenagers led the way for awakening in this
powerful 18th Century revival. As a matter of fact, teenagers have been on the
leading edge of every major spiritual awakening in the history of the United
States.
Teenagers are idealists, visionaries and unrealistic. This
lack of realism allows them to see visions and have dreams that those of us who
have been worn down by the realities of life may no longer see. Adults tend to
use microscopes while teenagers have a penchant for telescopes. We tend to get
worn down by life and they tend to get fired up by causes. We wonder how much
money it will take and they just don’t care.
An old French proverb goes, "The most dangerous
swordsman in France is the one who has never wielded a sword." Why are
they dangers? They don't know the rules so they just hack away and break the
rules of engagement until they win.
Teenagers don't know the rules of engagement which can help
them win souls. They can break the foolish patters of their forefathers which,
for the most part, has kept the Gospel locked within the four walls of the
church sanctuary.
They don’t know that they can’t reach the world for Christ
just by spreading the gospel so they are willing to do it. They don’t know that
they can’t reach their school for Christ without market research so they just
reach it.
The average teenager has 425 online and face-to-face
friends. They can use their social media clout to spark Gospel conversations in
ways we could never imagine as adults.
Hitler hijacked teen culture and used it to advance the Nazi
agenda. Communists harnessed and unleashed the idealism of teenagers to spread
the message of communism. For years radical Muslims have recruited young people
to spread a message of hate and, in far too many cases, trigger acts of
terrorism around the globe.
If evil people and evil philosophies can mobilize young
people for their causes then why can’t the Bride of Christ unleash young people
to spread the gospel for the best cause ever, the spread of the gospel across
the planet?
Teenagers are the most underutiziled, underestimated and
underchallenged group of people in the church. As a result, our churches are
dying.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto was
asked about how he felt. His answer was stark, “I am fearful that all we have
done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve.”
It is time to awaken the sleeping giant in the church called
teenages and fill them with holy resolve.
No matter if you're a lead pastor, a youth leader or a
volunteer, never underestimate the power of teenagers to change the world for
Christ and transform this culture!
Reaching, Teaching & Releasing,
Pastor T Welch
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