Will My Students Walk Away? (Confessions of a Struggling Youth Minister)
May it be that the next time a group of pollsters crunch the numbers on the faithfulness of our former students they, are astounded and encouraged at the changes God is making!
May it be that the next time a group of pollsters crunch the numbers on the faithfulness of our former students they, are astounded and encouraged at the changes God is making!
By your Spirit, please help me to embody the grace and truth of the gospel, of your beloved Son who is Grace and Truth in a Person.
As we continue in our series on prayers for a struggling student, consider this prayer from the perspective of a doubting student. We invite you to step inside the shoes of a teenager who is battling unbelief, and perhaps to even pray alongside a teenager you know is struggling.
If the gospel really is the good news that Jesus came to save people from their sin, we should help students understand how the entire Bible points to this truth.
Our teaching should help students understand that the Bible is primarily about God and his plan to a redeem a people for himself.
Most likely, a student isn’t disrupting your group time out of malice. Take the opportunity to be curious about what’s going on in his or her life.
It is wise for us to be aware of our sin tendencies: are we more inclined to cut the speaker off to regain control, or are we more inclined to hide from confrontation?
When nonbelievers show up to your group, the most important thing you can do is to include them as part of your gospel ministry.
God’s life-giving presence is available to us through the baby born in Bethlehem. Remembering this quiets my guilt about leading a youth ministry that has yet to be “optimized.”