Youth Ministry

Light a candle and take a nap…finding rest is Christ

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I like to tell funny stories. I also have been known to embellish a story or two in order to get a good laugh. This one may be slightly embellished but this is how I remember it. I call it my candle story. When I was going through my DCE (Youth Ministry for my non Lutheran friends) Colloquy program we had a professor talk to us about taking time in our lives for prayer. He was talking about levels or prayer..(By that way I am not even sure what that means) But I do remember the 4th level. It was something about lighting a candle getting comfortable and praying to God through breathing. He talked about how you could get to this great place of rest with God. So being the smart aleck I am I raised my hand and said “So what you are saying is, if I want to take a nap at work, I should light a candle first and tell them I am praying!” He quickly told me I was wrong but the damage was done because I was too far gone in my own humor to really hear what he was saying.

So this last month has been tiring. So tiring in fact I have been exhausted and wanting to put my head down and take a nap. In fact I have been reminded of that story more than once this past couple of weeks, and put it to good use…No I haven’t slept in my office, but I have been trying to be more deliberate about resting in Jesus lately. I have tried something to get some rest. I have been making it a point to go home each day for lunch and while I am home I pray while laying down. I set an alarm so I don’t sleep the day away. I am often refreshed after my time with Jesus in prayer and nap. So my question for you is are you resting?

Jesus came not to make us busy, exhausted and tired. He didn’t come so we could be tired and worn down all the time. He didn’t come so I could work through lunch, and run, run, run all the time. He came to bring us rest in him. As you follow Jesus this week I pray you rest in his arms. If you need to, light a candle.

Matthew 11:27-29 English Standard Version (ESV)

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Why I love car rides with students!

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van ride

Recently I took a group of students on a weekend retreat to Concordia University in Ann Arbor. I love taking students on events. The daily grind with students is important but retreats give us a chance to have more time.  My favorite part however is not always the retreat itself but the car rides. Ok some times the car rides aren’t fun. Sometimes you have a student get sick, or just restless.  Maybe you have that student who just can’t sit still or ride well with others. I however love the car ride for one reason.  I love the conversations it induces.

I am an extrovert to the extreme.  I love interaction, I love conversation, I hate silence.  I very rarely turn on the radio. In fact most of my students know that the only time I have the radio on is if we are playing MMMbop by Hanson in the car at full volume. (I know it is weird but it brings me joy.) Van rides are some of the best part of my ministry because I get to share in the lives of my students.

Our last trip was quite and adventure of conversation. We talked about all manner of things most of which I wont mention here but I always love what my students say about our car rides.  “Steve we always have the craziest of conversations about life, relationships and Jesus when you are driving.”

I love the car ride and I love those conversations I get to have with students. I learn from them. I hear things from them they wouldn’t say otherwise mainly because they are trapped in a car with me.  My point is sometimes we miss the joys of siting in a car and talking about life and Jesus. So turn down the radio and listen and talk to your students. Enjoy the journey and hear what they have to say.

Are we challegeing them to be disciples, or just members?

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1795956_840619722635628_1996074617490833731_oThis past Sunday, at the congregation I am privileged to serve, I was asked during the message to contemplate something I have been talking with my pastor about for some time. We were asked “Are we just members of a congregation or are we disciples of Jesus?” Now before you get angry and say this is just part of the wishy washy Christianity that says I don’t want to go to Church or organized religion I just want to follow Jesus crowd. That was not the question I am asking, nor was it the question asked of us on Sunday.

The question we were asked is do you just want to be a member or do you want to be something more? Do you want to be a disciple? You may be asking “what is the difference?” Those terms have meaning and this is what I think they mean. Members are people who belong to a group for a benefit. Disciples are people dedicated to the teachings of a master and to spreading that teaching to others.

Did you become a member of the Church just for the benefits? Are you coming to our Church to have someone to bury you when you die, or someone to marry you when you fall in love? Are you coming to youth group just so you can go on trips, and have fun events?  Or, are you coming to this community, this congregation, because this community is dedicated to learning from the master Jesus Christ. You see a disciple is something more that just coming to make sure our name is on a membership role.  You are coming to meet with these people so we can learn from the Master. We come so we can learn who God is through his Son Jesus Christ, the Master.  As disciples we don’t just learn about Jesus but we go and share that Jesus with others. A disciple is a learner and a sharer.  He or she not only gets something but shares something with those who God has put in her path.

So are we challenging our students, our children, and our families to be disciples? Are we challenging ourselves? Are we reinforcing a mentality that says “I come to this place called Church so I can be a member, and receive my rewards for doing this. Or are we challenging ourselves, our people, our families to be disciples. Are we asking them to be in the Word to receive the greatest gift we have in Jesus.  Are we asking our students, parents, families, adults, and children to be disciples who come to the master to learn and to share? I pray our answer is yes.

Youth ministry: Are you making them think…One of my goals in minisrty and life.

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Have you ever thought about why you believe and trust in Jesus?  This weekend I asked my high school students this important question.  They struggled to put into words the reasons why they trust in Jesus.  I enjoyed that. I think of all the things I want my students to do with their faith is think.  I think being a disciple of Jesus means we think.  I want them to struggle with this Jesus of Nazareth, and what he said and did.  I think all too often we send students out of our ministry without having them really grapple with this question of who is Jesus, and why we believe and trust in him. I wouldn’t say the students struggled with believing and trusting in Jesus.  We all have doubts and struggles with Jesus, but that isn’t why they struggled to answer the question.  They struggled because they never thought about it.  They never had to put into words the reason for the hope they have in Him.

I think one of the most important things I do as a church worker is challenge my students to think.  Too often in Christian churches and youth ministries we forget to make our students think.  I think we think it is enough to just tell them the answers and then they can say them back to others, but being a follower of Jesus is questioning our leaders and other who claim to know this Jesus.  Being a disciple of Jesus is that struggle with the scripture and struggle with faith in this God who cares for us. To struggle with why I believe in this Jesus.  Why I trust those that saw him and heard what he said.  It is part of growing up and growing in Jesus.  We never fully understand. It is a lifetime of struggle and thinking but it is so important for all of us to think to wrestle with Jesus.

I didn’t want to answer yet why I trust and believe in this Jesus. They asked me but we aren’t at that point yet.  This journey may take a little while because they need to struggle with it.  We all need to struggle with this faith and trust in Jesus thing. So my question for you is are you struggling with your faith, and trust in Jesus? If you aren’t I would challenge you to struggle with it.  I would challenge you to dive into your scripture to struggle with what Jesus said.  In the struggle and thinking we grow.  I want to grow and struggle and think so I may know Jesus more.  I also pray the Holy Spirit guides this process as we struggle.  The Holy Spirit guided those early disciples who struggled and thought and believed in Jesus and know he will be with those of us who are Jesus’ disciples today.

Come and listen! Come and listen to what Jesus has done!

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One of my favorite songs by David Crowder Band is “Come and listen.” The song reminders me of the importance of sharing with people what Jesus has done for them. Sometimes in ministry we forget how essential that is. As I was sitting with a bunch of high school students for youth group I was stuck by something. I was struck by my calling to bring people to come and listen to Jesus.

I find in ministry I can fail at the sharing with people what Jesus has done for them.  I can struggle to hear for myself what Jesus has done for me. Every three weeks at youth group I have asked our students to take 30 minutes in prayer. We spend time praying for friends requests on our prayer wall. We also spend some of that time in the scripture. This week during that time I opened up to Ezekiel 37. It is one of my favorite texts in all of scripture. I love the story it tells about dry bones. I love what is says about our life of faith and our walk with Jesus. It talks about God’s promise to bring us from death to life. It points us to Jesus and what he does for us.

I have found in my life that often when we are struggling with their faith, when our faith is dyeing, it is because we haven’t come and listened. We forgot the importance of being in God’s word and listening to what he has done. .

So the question today I am struggling with, am I coming and listening? Am I helping students come and listen to what Jesus has done? Am I listening to what Jesus has done for me on the cross and in my life each day? How about you?  If not I would ask you to come with me and listen to what Jesus has done for you and me.