Youth Ministry
Tonight, we'll continue our new series called "How to Study the Bible." We took the first two weeks since school started back up to briefly orient the new students with how we do things on Wednesday nights, and I also casted some vision for this semester (and beyond) in terms of them seeing fruit and progress in their faith, motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope and pray the Lord uses this series to cause some exponential growth in both the short and long term in our students, and can't wait to see how beneficial this series will be to their personal devotion to the Lord. They don't often do a great job of taking home the notes/outlines each week, so I'm going to plan on giving them each a folder/binder that will have what we go over during the next several weeks that hopefully will serve as a tool to enrich their individual Bible study at home, especially as you continue to strive to disciple them.
*Last week, we looked at four foundational ingredients to good, faithful, fruit-producing Bible study: 1.) Matthew 13:44 - There is a prize - the Kingdom of God, and Jesus Christ, the King of that Kingdom. 2.) 1 Corinthians 9:24 - We run after that prize (action, intentionality, etc). 3.) Hebrews 12:1-2 - We run with passion.
**Tonight, we'll begin looking at the 4 main interpretive steps to faithful Bible study, including: 1.) Grasping the Text in Their Town - What did the text mean to the original audience? 2.) Measuring the Width of the River to Cross - What are the differences between the original audience and us? 3.) Crossing the Principlizing Bridge - What are the theological principles in the text? And 4.) Grasping the Text in Our Town - How do the theological principles apply to Christians today?
VISION: 1.) Prioritize your relationship with the Lord. 2.) Work hard to know the Bible, personally. 3.) Redeem the time you have. 4.) Pursue heartfelt worship and obedience to the Lord.
"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers." - 1 Timothy 4:12
"The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean." - Edwards, Works, II, 244
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.