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Accepting Jesus is Just the First Step

January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A student gives his life to Jesus. Now what? That’s where we as leaders need to really step up our game. I have a high school small group of 16 freshman guys and some of them have just recently given their lives to Christ and are new believers. I want to help them grow in their faith and really dedicate their lives to God so here’s what I’ve been doing or plan to do:

  • Greatly encouraging them to make time for a quiet time with God every day. I’ve told them to find a time that works best for them;  morning, afternoon or night. I don’t think the time matters as much as making sure you make time for God every day. For myself I’m a morning person and it works much better for me to start my day with prayer and Bible reading, the days I miss a quiet time I feel disconnected and like something is missing. I want to encourage them to not just read God’s word but really get into it and understand what the scriptures are saying.
  • Have them realize that saying yes to God means saying no to some other things in life. I want them to know that once they become believers and give their lives to Christ they need to be an example to others. The Apostle Paul stresses this in many of his letters, we are now the “light” to others, our actions either make others want to become Christians or our actions make a joke of Christianity.
  • I have freshman guys so I haven’t talked much about this next area, but I want to stress the importance to them to find girlfriends who are also believers and to put Jesus in the center of their relationship. Students get too caught up in each other and suddenly the whole world revolves around their girlfriend/boyfriend and they lose their connection with God. When you put God first in the relationship it strengthens and grows the relationship.
  • Serve. Students needs to recognize and develop their spiritual gifts and use those gifts to serve others. Serving helps others but it also helps you grow stronger in your faith.
  • Spread the news. Don’t keep Jesus to themselves, but instead talk to their friends about what the decision have made and why. Christianity is a gift that is made to be shared not kept to yourself.
Question: What steps do you take to help your students grow in their faith after accepting Jesus?

 

Filed Under: Spriritual Life, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , ,

Parent E-Mails Need to Be a Part of Your Small Group

November 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’ve tried to be very intentional this year in sending out parent e-mails. I really want to make it a point to keep them in the loop and to partner with parents this year. Not that I haven’t done that in the past, but this year I want to be super intentional about it. In my e-mails I go over what the lesson was for this week, how the guys responded,  and what next’s week lesson will be about. It’s a good way to keep them posted on serve projects, and social events that we are doing as a group as well.

There are also some things I don’t put in my parent e-mails. I don’t list out the prayer requests. I want my guys to know that their small group is a place where they can open up about anything. I remember what it was like at 14, sometimes there’s things you’re not ready to talk to your parents about. I encourage them during group time to talk to their parents and to keep them in the loop about what’s going on in their lives, but I leave it up to them to talk about stuff that might be difficult at this point.

I make it clear to parents up front that unless I think their son is in danger of hurting himself or someone else that there are just some things that I need to keep between their son and me. Students won’t open up to you if they don’t trust you. As a small group leader I’m not here to replace a parent in a student’s life, I’m here to supplement them and to be one more resource for their student to have. I’ve got a great group of students and parents this year and they totally understand that.

If you’re doing parent e-mails there’s one more important thing you should include. Ask if there is anything you can do for them. Can you pray for them, their family, help them find another resource or ministry within your church that they might be in need of? Minister and serve the entire family not just the student.

Filed Under: Small Groups Tagged With: , , , ,

Recap of last week’s serve trip

April 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last week I was on a local serve trip with our junior high and senior high ministries, and I posted about how much I love seeing students serve.  Since then I’ve recovered (most of my) sleep and have been able to process all that went on during those 4 days.

There were memories made (listening to One Direction over and over in the van), great conversations had, awesome relational time with students and most of all, a glimpse of our students growing their faith through serving our local community.

One of the high school students on the trip, who I’ve known since he was just a baby 7th grader in my first year in student ministry, had the job of going around to different work sites to capture the trip on film. Here’s a small glimpse of the amazing 4 days:


Filed Under: Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , ,