Lake Perris Videos

This one goes out to Set Apart youth group. Enjoy. I sure did.





I hope you don't mind these videos forever embedded on the internet world.

Radical Ministry (I Think)

I feel a call to radical ministry. I always wonder what that looks like in youth group terms. And it's hard to feel like you're doing something radical when you spend most of your time planning. Whether it's messages, meetings, or minutia (alliteration is always sweet). I think my idea of what is radical has a lot to do with its ties to mission.

Here are some things I've done recently:

1) Build up a kind of strategy for organic, personal outreach (see this blog post of mine to see where exactly I went) and emphasized it with the group. The series went something like this:

• What is an oikos? (Focused on teaching what an oikos was and how to identify it)
  
• Why an oikos (Focus on why oikos evangelism is effective)
• How does it all work (Focused on the heart behind the evangelism-what is the motivation?)
• How it can fail (Focused on how outreach will fail without first being true followers of Christ)

2) Organized a mission/vision statement that focuses on the three aspects of the youth ministry, which would look something like this:

• Set Apart (this is who we are, who we want to be)
• Operation Infiltration (this is our mission, our two-word summation of the Great Commission to go. Our goal is to infiltrate our worlds (oikos) with the gospel.
• Oikos (this is our mission field. It's our 8-15 people God has strategically and supernaturally put into our lives.)

3) Everything we do is based around cultivating these things.

• Sunday mornings are focused on biblical teaching as to how we are to be Set Apart for God's use.
• Our small prayer group meets before every Wednesday night to pray for the kids in youth group.
  
• Wednesday nights are an outreach program that kids can bring their unsaved friends to. It's intentionally programmed to be made for unsaved kids to come (but the gospel is not watered down!)
• Other events are opportunities for kids to invite their friends (oikos) so we can build relationships and extend our sphere of influence.

The kids in the youth group are responding with enthusiasm with the right motivations (I think) but we have yet to see numerical growth...Which is okay!

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

Three Ministry Principles

Last Sunday I had a meeting with the people who were interested in being youth sponsors. 16 people showed up--excited, energized, and full of ideas.
What I had intended to simply be an informational meeting turned out to be something more like a pep-rally. Well, maybe it wasn't that wild, but there was a lot of excitement in the room. The reason I wanted to have a meeting is because we're taking some steps in a new direction in youth ministry, and I wanted to describe the areas that will need attention in the new approach. I'm really excited about this plan. It's been percolating in my brain for some time now (usually I have an idea and get to antsy to start it that I forget about details--luckily Ashley helped me think this one through) and I'm ready to kick it off and get it started. The basic principles behind this change can be summed up in 3 points.

1) It's Driving Force is Prayer
The more sponsors we have the better, because their first responsibility is to pray. I read this morning in Psalm 127 "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." I also take this to mean: "Unless the Lord builds the youth ministry, the youth pastor labors in vain." That's why I make prayer the priority of our sponsors. We can't get the results we want without God. We can't change hearts, save souls, or do anything of value apart from God. So we pray.
2) It's Primary Concern is Evangelism
We're in the last chapter of human history, in which God is bringing all his children to himself. We know that God's purposes will come to fruition, whether we are a part of it or not. And we also know that WE are the ones who are missing out if we do not involve ourselves with God's global mission. And so in this method we use what we have: a friendly family body and a large kitchen. We want use these things to offer something to the community, so that they will come and hear the gospel.
3) It's Ultimate Purpose is Glory
Not our glory, God's. And this third principle is entwined with the first. We are fully aware that we cannot do anything of any value apart from God's supernatural power. The system is set up so that if these new plans are successful (success=growth of faith, new believers, encouraged body) then all credit goes to God. He will choose to bless or not to bless. And we will try our best to do two things: 1) show them the gospel in the way we live and interact with others, and 2) teach them the gospel through God's Word. The gospel is the power of God, and I'm going to try my best to rest my whole ministry on that truth.

So there you go, what do you think?

Thoughts of an Inexperienced Youth Pastor Pt. 3

So truth be told I am struggling with the disappointment that comes from having a small youth group. There are so many reasons this shouldn't really phase me, and I know all the reasons. The simple truth is that sometimes it's just hard!
I'm not a numbers guy when it comes to youth group. I don't really count how many kids are there, I'm more focused on spirit caused epiphanies and those words: "O now I get it!" Sometimes, I just wish the youth group was bigger. Is that wrong? In a moment of weakness I googled "how to grow your youth group" and one of the first ones on the list was this. It really seemed to refresh me, even though it's kinda corny. I believe (and I constantly have to remind myself of this one) that the most important part of youth ministry (or any ministry for that matter) is being filled with the Spirit. Another little thing that helps is remembering that God is working, even though you may not see numerical increase...

But I still want a bigger youth group!!!