Youth Ministry
Tonight, we'll continue in our series called "Look to Jesus." Last week's message was called "What Does It Mean to be Born Again - Part II," talking about how salvation is not based on our merit, it’s about Christ’s finished work, and being born again is something God does, wholly, by His powerful, sovereign grace. We talked more about what it truly means to have a new heart - looking some more at the account of Jesus and Nicodemus from John 3, as well as Ezekiel 36, which Jesus references. This whole series has been to show the students that "looking to Jesus" is what Christians do, so tonight, we'll continue by looking some more in John 3, specifically verse 16 - breaking down the Greek, which is always important. And we'll jump to John 6 some the rest of our time and possibly next week to show that looking to Jesus and coming to Jesus in faith are synonymous, and how coming to him for physical food isn't enough, but for what truly satisfies the heart and soul - saving faith over just believing facts. Whether you’re moral, immoral, religious, irreligious, broken, or put together… the call is the same: Look to Jesus and live!
Xalt Youth is a weekly group for the middle and high school students of Forrester Community Church. We believe that those in our church in the youth ages shouldn't be relegated to a separate entity or with an unnecessary division or segregation from the rest of the church body, but rather a vital part of it, and we strive to build that into both the parents as primary disciplers of those in the youth, as well as in the youth themselves so they grow in understanding their role(s) in the body of Christ in healthy ways as they mature in their faith. We don't view Wednesday nights as an event for parents to drop their kids off for Patrick or any of the youth leaders to be the primary discipler of their children, but would rather come alongside the parents in our church to serve them in ways to promote healthy and ongoing discipleship in the home, and then let Wednesday nights serve as an additional (though focused, certainly), mid-week Bible study, encouragement, and fun for them. And we certainly also encourage our youth to invite friends (what a great way for some to hear the Gospel who may otherwise not) to come, but our aim is to focus first on our youth, and then strive for ways to help serve those who may come whose families aren't covenanting members of our church.