Mirroring an adult experience of The Body of Christ as defined by God’s Word.
1. By the time an adolescent graduates school and moves out of the house they should not be surprised that the church does not exist to satisfied the entertainment void-but rather the spiritual hunger they have been made aware of during their experiential adolescent stage of growth.
2. Give them an opportunity to execute and weigh their own response to God’s Word as a result of what they heard, what they participated in…
Modeling a Kingdom-minded mission in relating to other Bible believing churches
1. Is there a church that exists for the sake of the kingdom of God vs. their own agenda?
2. De-program the youth ministry calendar to be a part of something greater than yourself.
Create experiential ministry (counter-cultural, cross-cultural and multi-generational)
1. Immerse teens in experiences that will allow them to measure their response to God’s Word.
2. Value John chapter 4 relationships
Study “How to read the Bible, Why read the Bible, What is the Bible” and turn them loose!
1. Why is it that we’ll study a Christian book that explains the Bible rather than studying the Bible itself?
2. The history of youth ministry is defined by teaching teens to value Christian literature over the “real thing”.
Less is more
1. The more programs fill up the calendar the less an adolescent will be able to understand their faith can make a difference outside the walls of the church.
2. There are activities directors and there are youth pastors/workers/leaders…which are you?
Teach intentional ministry strategies
1. Whatever vocation the teen chooses after the time allotted for their youth group experience your measure of success should be whether or not they see their circle of influence as their mission field or if that is “just your job”.
2. Are you a pie-eyed piper or human catapult?
