God's Building

Parent Dinner 2023 • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

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I want to start by saying Thank You for your love and support. By simply being here you are showing that this ministry is worth your time. It is an honor and true joy to serve your kids. They are one of a kind. I know this goes without saying but I have grown to love this group of young people.

But tonight is about you, not us. The reason for this dinner tonight is to love on, support, as you raise a teenager in 2023. I realize that this is not an easy task. But I have to say, after spending hours upon hours with your kids. You all are doing a great job.

I just want to take a few moments to tonight and talk through our vision for your students moving forward, inform you of events coming through the remainder of the year, and to help encourage you are a parent. I understand that as a dad I have so much room to grow as my children are not teenagers yet. So, I have to encourage all of us in the area of godly parenting tonight.

Ephesians 2:20–22 KJV 1900

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Helping teens and their families put their Focus on Christ.

Everything we do as a youth should point back to this! Jesus is our Corner Stone! The name of our youth department is Focus because we wish that in everything we do Jesus Christ is the center of it. He is our foundation.

Proverbs 16:3 KJV 1900

Commit thy works unto the Lord, And thy thoughts shall be established.

Isaiah 50:7 KJV 1900

For the Lord God will help me; Therefore shall I not be confounded: Therefore have I set my face like a flint, And I know that I shall not be ashamed.

This is where our vision starts and ends. It is on Christ that we build this ministry. My desire for our ministry to not stop at your students but to reach out to you and the rest of your family and beyond.

Evangelize, Encourage, Equip

This is the great commission in a nutshell.

Matthew 28:19–20 KJV 1900

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

It is our goal to continue to evangelize, to reach out to new teenagers and to use your teens to do this. The very idea is to reproduce ourselves.

Load Baring Walls

As we build upon the foundation of Christ. Think of building you start with the foundation then the next thing that goes in as the building starts to come together are the load baring walls. These walls are used to hold up the roof and main part of the structure.

It is our vision that we help young people build upon a foundation of Jesus Christ that allow them to follow Christ with their whole lives and not just while they are under your roof.

So, let’s look quickly are these five load baring thoughts, then cap it all off with the seal plate.

First, let me say in not our goal to just be relevant. To fit the times so to speak.

Relevance is a tool not a target. The target is to be like Christ.

1. Building Relationships

We hope to continue to build relationships with students and help them to build a relationship with the Lord first then other adults in the church and other believers.

2. Passionate leaders. (Modeling)

We hope to build within the youth group leaders who are passionate about serving the Lord. And as leaders we hope to model or show the joy of the Lord. Because often what gets sacrificed in the businesses of ministry is not to do list but our hearts. If I am not passionate about serving the Lord and seeing the gospel go forward, why should they?

3. Have a strategy of outreach

We plan to make and act out an outreach strategy to reach not just new teenagers but souls with the gospel message. But we also want to enable teenagers to reach their friends and their families.

I am praying through doing a soul winning class next spring. But we also want to encourage the teens to be at one Go night a month. As we reach out to other teenagers with teenagers

4. Biblical preaching and teaching. Teach doctrine

Help teenagers know what they believe. We hope to continue to do this a regular basis’s. We have taught things like the Baptist Distinctive’s and walked through books of the Bible a verse at time. are currently teaching through the book of James on Sunday's, and on Wednesday's we are teaching through the nameless people of the Bible. With the thought that their testimony is highly important to who you are. That God care far more about what kind of person you are then what your name is.

We have also had the privilege of doing discipleship with many of your students. But if there are any that hasn’t we encourage them to go through the 14 week lessons to learn and grow in the doctrines of God’s word and build relationships with them in the process. We would also encourage you to be apart of it as well if you haven’t already.

5. Give teens an opportunity to serve in the church. (Growth opportunity)

We want to do what the church is doing. (special offering, group service, etc…). We also want our students to begin getting involved in serving here at the church it will begin in youth and hoping to continue on into the rest of the church and stay with them as they move on and grow. If any believer is not given an opportunity to activate their faith, it will stagnate.

This is something we are already doing on a weekly basics in the youth room. But many are already serving in different places in the church.

6. Involve parents

Above it all is parents. Our seal plates. We want to involve you in the things going on in youth. We want to help minister to you as you lead your family. We want to come along side you as you rise your student and family. It is our job is to help family grow in the Lord not just teenagers. We want to help keep parents informed. This helps to keep authority on the same page, aware of the calendar, and that you have support in your ministry to the family and your teenagers. Important note: make sure parents are aware of serious conversations whether spiritual or otherwise.

If you have noticed the screens tonight have been playing slides of the coming events for the rest of the year.

We also want you do know that we are here to support you as you lead your family in the Lord.

Continue to Grow

As we end tonight. We want to encourage you to never stop growing in the Lord. That as you lead your family your love of and time with God remains the number one priority in your life is your relationship with the Lord. So we have a gift for you in the center of the table to help with that. It is 90 days of biblical encouragement in time out for parents.

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