Remember The Good News Pt 1

An effective youth ministry must be built on the foundation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and have the Bible at the heart and core of all teaching. I realize that some of you reading this will say, “Well, of course Greg! Everyone knows that!” But, actually, that’s the problem—not everyone knows that.

Let’s start at the beginning. Every good team wins by mastering the fundamentals, and ministry is much the same way. The key is to understand the fundamentals. So let’s break down this down, discuss its meaning, and see what it looks like in your weekly youth ministry.

An effective youth ministry must be built on the foundation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Well, what is that Good News? The Good News is that Jesus Christ who was fully God, yet fully man, came to this earth to die on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins that we deserve. And when we, by faith alone, accept God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life through the shed blood of Jesus, we are saved, guaranteed to be with the Lord. And with the new life that comes with our salvation also comes the presence and power of the Holy Spirit resident in our lives.

An effective youth ministry must be built on this Good News. A youth ministry cannot be just a place for teens to hang out. It cannot be a “safe place off of the streets.” It cannot be another social organization, club, or entertainment outlet. If you want your youth ministry to be effective, then teach the foundational gospel message.

But, you may ask, why is this issue so critical for youth ministry growth, and why am I so passionate about it?

The question is; how can we not be passionate when so many of our teens are lost. I have teens come to my youth group every week that have never stepped inside a church. They have never heard the gospel message. I do not want to be the raincloud here, but let’s be real for a moment. Teens are struggling with family difficulties and school challenges. Many teens are products of families that have been ravished by divorce. They are dealing with things in the world which they have no clue how to handle. Consider, for a moment, these sobering statistics:

* 50% of all marriages end in divorce. In 60% of those divorces, children are involved.

* 45% of all 9th-12th graders interviewed had a least one alcoholic drink in the past month. 41% of those same students had their first drink before the 8th grade.

* 50% of all high schools students had sex.

* 20% of all high school students had experimented with marijuana.

* 2.2 Million Teens a year have a Major Depressive Episode.

And by the way, don’t be fooled by outward appearances. Many “church kids” are just as lost and tempted by the things of the world. It’s easy to think that if you do not have teens from the “outside” coming, and you know everyone’s parents, that all is well. But that simply is not the case.

The sad reality is that many, many of our teens are simply lost. They do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Even at a young age, their lives are headed toward a train wreck of bad decisions. Sometimes when I stand in front of my youth group and look at their faces, I am reminded of Matthew 9:36-37,

“When He saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’”

Don’t forget to share the Good news! The harvest plentiful!

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