Youth devotions: Vital Vision - Acts 2:17

Acts 2:17         ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’

            Currently, some of our young people are going through the process of Confirmation. Our Youth Leader is doing a wonderful job with them and I’m attending the classes, more as an observer and adviser. As always, when I enter into a church teaching situation, I end up learning more about what I believe. Our young students bring vitality to the faith that we share, and I receive new insights into what they believe and what’s important to them.

            Last night, they composed a new statement of faith based upon what Presbyterians call the ‘Great Ends of the Church.’ Through their minds and with their ideas, I experienced a new understanding of what Church is all about and what it will become to future generations. Instead of being anxious and worried, I was both moved and impressed by what they wrote together. At their Confirmation service, which will take place on the Day of Pentecost, our congregation will use their Statement of Faith in our morning liturgy. Here is what they have brilliantly written:

At Erin Presbyterian Church, we will seek to be God’s people by:

·         Declaring that Jesus Christ is the Savior for all people.

·         Caring for and providing a strong community of faith for all of God’s children.

·         Taking care of godly praise.

·         Keeping the message of God alive.

·         Encouraging the fair treatment of all people everywhere.

·         Showing the world God’s grace.

I think that the future of the Church is in very good hands, don’t you?

Questions for personal reflection

As a teenager, what were my views and vision of the Church? How have I fulfilled that vision in my life?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of our young people and for the vitality that they bring to our churches. May their thoughts and ideas be aligned to Your future vision of the life, ministry, and mission of the Church to come. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask a question concerning today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Holy Week drawings. It’s called “Eye of God” depicting Christ crucified. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8531/8489798601_5bcd371d9b_h.jpg

Daily Devotions: The Young Ones

Ephesians 1:18a I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you...

I'm back at Montreat, North Carolina to spend the first part of the week with our Youth Group. Every year our church sends our young people to experience a whole week with their peers praising God. As usual, the worship is energetic and our teenagers are enthusiastically enjoying being here. It's a wonderful opportunity to focus on Christ and I pray that it is something special that they will keep with them throughout the years to come.

I'm glad that they are joyfully sharing this together. Our Youth leader Becca has been here sixteen times. Her faith grew through her own Montreat experiences and led her into church leadership. I know that she wants each of the participants to embrace the fellowship and grow in faith. Her dedication to these young people is helping them to develop their own spirituality and faith in the Lord.

I'm glad that they are joyfully sharing this together. Our Youth leader Becca has been here sixteen times. Her faith grew through her own Montreat experiences and led her into church leadership. I know that she wants each of the participants to embrace the fellowship and grow in faith. Her dedication to these young people is helping them to develop their own spirituality and faith in the Lord.

But what happens when they come back amongst us? Having had a wonderfully enlightening and enthusiastic experience at Montreat, aren't they in for a spiritual culture shock when they get back home? It's something that often bothers me and I personally wonder what we can do to blend more of their way of worshiping back at Erin.

At the end of the week, our young people lead the morning worship service at church. It gives them an opportunity of relating their experience to the rest of the church. But is it enough? Shouldn't we be doing more now to embrace their ideas so that both the light in the eyes of their heart and the hope they carry in their souls are not extinguished nor diminished? Instead of seeing them as the future church of tomorrow, how can we embrace them as the living church today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, open the eyes of our heart and help us to truly see what Your Spirit is doing amongst our young people today. Give us the courage to boldly hand over important aspects of leadership in our churches today, allowing them to help us grow through their faith. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today's devotion, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

4 Minute Devotions: Numbers or Nurturing?

Numbers or nurturing? Do church youth groups have to be big before they are successful? Isn’t nurturing kids more important than numbers?

Deuteronomy 32:10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.

I was reading another pastor’s blog this morning. She was discussing a meeting that she had with a congregation who wanted to know how to attract young people into the church. The pastor was trying to get across the idea that building up young lives was more important than building up numbers, but the people at the meeting were impatient and frustrated. They wanted a successful youth group, full of teenagers, and bursting at the seams. In other words, numbers were more important than nurturing.

At Erin Church, I believe we have a great Youth leader. Becca has served our church for several years, building up relationships with the young people under her care. She treats them with respect and encourages them to grow in faith, fun, and fellowship. It’s a remarkable ministry that blesses our congregation year after year.

If Becca was more interested in numbers rather than nurturing, our Youth group would not work. She makes and takes time out of her busy schedule to invest many hours, conversations, teaching moments, and emails with our church youth. She knows what they need and more importantly, understands what the church needs for the future. I feel that we are blessed by her commitment, compassion, and Christianity. In my humble opinion, Becca understands how God cares about our young people. Like Him, she is willing to guard and care for them, as the apple of her eye. The respect that she gets from our young people is wonderful and the faith that they experience is eternal. Concentrating on mere numbers is superficial; focusing on nurturing young spirits is priceless.

Perhaps you are part of a church that worries about the numbers in your youth group. Forget about the numerical values and concentrate on the eternal values of those young souls. That’s how God looks at the church and His people. Consider this: if God was more interested in numbers, then why did He choose the nomadic Hebrews for His people above all the other mighty nations and civilizations of the time? The answer is simple: nurturing relationships means more to God than gathering numbers.

Prayer: Lord God, it’s amazing to see how You worked with the Jewish people across the centuries. They were tiny and insignificant, unworthy and unsuccessful compared to the mighty Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. And yet You called them to be the apple of Your eye.
Teach us today that same lesson where numbers do not triumph nurturing. Give us a new understanding of the holy work that is done in each of our churches. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

4 Minute Devotions: Bible Belt Bashing

Our young people are often pressurized by their zealous evangelical peers. How would Jesus share the Gospel with our teenagers?

Podcast version here

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

“Being saved” is a big deal here in the Bible belt. A lot of our young people are pressurized by some of their zealous peers, who make them run a theological gauntlet in classes, school canteens, and during recess. They are asked questions like: Are you saved? Have you given your heart to Jesus? Are you going to heaven or hell? It’s an unfair and un-Christlike way of trying to share the Gospel. I wish that some of those religious fanatics would take a leaf out of Jesus’ own ministry, and copy His method.

Take the story about Zacchaeus. Jesus doesn’t ask him if he is saved, or if he’s going to heaven or hell. Jesus invites himself into the tax gatherer’s home, in order to meet him where Zacchaeus is comfortable. He doesn’t accuse him of not being faithful, or of being unsaved. Christ simply wants to share a meal with him and show Zacchaeus compassion, friendship, and fellowship.

That’s what changes the tax man’s heart. Christ accepts him where he is, as well as who he is, in order to bring the kingdom of heaven into Zacchaeus’ life. Jesus doesn’t berate him for being unpopular, sinful, or greedy. He simply sits down with the man, has a meal, and shares the Gospel in a non-confrontational way.

And this method works because Zacchaeus’ life changes from that moment on. The kingdom of God enters into his heart through the grace, mercy, and love of God that Christ brings. Zacchaeus become a new person because Christ was willing to share fellowship with him, not criticism, fear, and judgment.

Perhaps there are people in our lives who we’ve been trying to come to church, or get saved by God. Maybe we’ve been more hostile rather than helpful, confrontational rather than compassionate, or judgmental rather than joyful. If that is the case, then it’s time to adopt Christ’s method in our faith sharing by offering fellowship, grace, and love. In the long run, it’s evidently more effective than fear, goading, and leverage.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all want to see the entire world saved, but sometimes our zeal gets in the way of Your ministry and love. Keep us from being self-righteous and unrelenting; help us to be more compassionate and loving. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.