Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Doug Fields

Becoming a Youth Leader Who Depends on God Personal Humility Submit Your Abilities to God and Allow His Power to Work Through Who You Are. Focus on Being a Person of God Before Doing the Work of God

Tips to Strengthen Your Godly Foundation Admit your struggles to yourself Ask God for the power to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness Ask God for the courage to confess these struggles to a friend who cares deeply aout you and who can help you. Work with this friend on a spiritual restoration plan

Purpose Why does this youth ministry exist? Programs can change, but the purposes aren’t negotiable No purposes that we could create on our own would be more complete than the five God has already divinely created for us. Evangelism Worship Fellowship Discipleship Ministry

The 5 Purposes Built around the Great Commandment and the Great Commission: Great Commandment- “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sould and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” Matthew 22:37-40 Great Commission- “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20

The 5 Purposes Worship: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.” Ministry: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Evangelism: “Go and make disciples” Fellowship: “Baptizing them” Discipleship: “Teaching them to obey”

Evangelism Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don’t yet have a personal relationship with Him. This is probably the most weakly expressed purpose It is difficult to fulfill on a program level, and threatening on a personal level Adult leadership must model the purpose of evangelism When this purpose is evident in a youth ministry, growth will happen- not because of an evangelistic program, but because of evangelistic students

Worship Celebrating God’s presence and honoring Him with our lifestyle. Praying (Psalm 95:6) Hearing the Word (John 17:17) Giving (1 Corinthians16:1-2) Baptizing (Romans 6:3-4) Meditating (Habakkuk 2:20) Communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Fellowship God did not intend for Christians to live in isolation, but in fellowship with other believers and to be identified as the body of Christ. True fellowship happens when students are known, cared for, held accountable, and encouraged in their spiritual journey Fellowship is usually the strongest purpose Often, fellowship is so strong that Christian students lose sight of evangelism and focus only on other believers and become dangerously apathetic from the lost

Discipleship The building up or strengthening of believers in their quest to be like Christ. Can be the most unrewarding since spiritual maturity is difficult to measure Discipleship flourishes under spiritual leaders who consistently plant seeds and water students’ faith All of this is done with faith that God will do the impossible and bring growth

Ministry Meeting needs with love God has blessed every believer with special gifts to be used for ministry. Students shouldn’t have to wait until they are adults to minister. A healthy youth ministry will constantly encourage students to discover their gifts and put them into practice through ministry and mission opportunities When the purpose of ministry is applied, you will graduate student ministers rather than program attendees. Student ministers won’t graduate from their faith when they graduate from the youth ministry

Purpose Statement Revealing a purpose statement takes away the mystery of your ministry. It makes sense of your programs Uses volunteers more effectively Provides direction for your students’ spiritual maturity

Purpose Statement Keep it simple Make it meaningful It should be action oriented Should be compelling

Purpose Statement Think of words that go along with the 5 purposes Worship- Exalt, Passion, Offer Fellowship- Enjoy, Encourage, Care Evangelism- Expose, Spread, Reach Discipleship- Equip, Share, Develop Ministry- Experience, Service, Serving Then put those words together in a sentence

Purpose Statement Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship The goal of our student ministry is to expose teenagers to God’s love, to equip them to exalt God, enjoy other believers, and experience the work of the ministry

Purpose Statement Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship CrossCurrent exists to reach non-Christian junior and senior high students, to help them share in God’s Word, to offer themselves in service to Christ and to care for one another.

Purpose Statement Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship Infiltrate Youth Family exists to spread the love of Christ by serving those around us, encouraging each other, and developing a life of passion for God.

Student Commitment Levels One program can’t effectively fulfill all 5 purposes 1.) What primary purpose (evangelism, worship, fellowship, discipleship, or ministry) does this program fulfill? 2.) Who are we trying to target with this program? One program can’t effectively target all students

Student Commitment Levels There are at least 5 types of students The non-Christian student The new Christian The student who knows a great deal about the Bible but is apathetic about most things we do The growing student The spiritual leader

Student Commitment Levels Community Crowd Congregation Committed Core

Community Students Teenagers living within a realistic driving distance of our church. Schools within a ten to fifteen mile radius of your church Calculate the number of youth group age students at these schools For example in Arab, there are about 1,500 students At this rate each church in the area could have over 100 students The fulfills the evangelism purpose

Crowd Students Students who come to a youth service and fill out an information card. May be invited by regulars, others are forced by their parents to attend Some are Christians, some are non-Christians This fulfills the worship purpose

Congregation Students Crowd students who move to the next level where they can connect with other Christians and grow in their faith (small groups, for example) The next step should have an atmosphere where these students will be known, cared for, held accountable, and connected with other believers This deeper connection fulfills the fellowship purpose

Committed Students Students who are committed to developing spiritual habits, such as personal Bible study, prayer, accountability with another believer, Scripture memorization, giving, and commitment to the church body This fulfills the discipleship purpose

Core Students Committed students who discover their giftedness and want to express it through ministering to others Students who discover their ministry potential do not graduate from their faith… they use what they’ve learned forever They could have the opportunity to become student leaders helping move others through the funnel

Student Commitment Levels Realize that each group size will decrease as commitment increases Focus on the word potential and start with who you have.

Reaching Community Students Evangelism isn’t a program, it’s a process Evangelism is tough work Leaders approaching students could be seen as a threat Fear of rejection Fear of not being understood Fear of not having the right answers Fear of being labeled as a Jesus Freak

Reaching Community Students Students need to understand that those outside of the faith are attracted to Christians before they are attracted to Christ Lifestyle is an important factor of evangelism Don’t expect all of your students to be evangelists, but do expect them to be evangelistic

Reaching Community Students Talk to students about how “we are going to grow!” Implement Growth Programs Friendship Evangelism Project Small Group Competition Make sure you have a program or a service in place to accommodate the community students

Keeping Crowd Students Make sure you have a program to which your regular students can feel comfortable inviting their community friends This service will have Christians and non-Christians Don’t limit worship just to music- attempt to have praying, singing, giving, testifying, thanking, and listening to God’s Word. Create a positive atmosphere of fun, student involvement, but with a clear message Simplify your message

Congregation Students Small groups are a great way to nurture the student who has graduated from the “Crowd.” Small groups should provide more personal attention than larger programs They provide a sense of belonging In the “Crowd” you share the gospel, in small groups, you share your lives

Congregation Students Small groups allow students to be known Small groups make students verbal Small groups allow students to personalize their faith Small groups encourage accountable relationships

Preparing Committed Students Discipleship of committed students is helping them develop the habits, or spiritual disciplines, necessary to grow on their own when they’re no longer in the youth group Youth ministries are full of Bible-literate students who know the right answers, but make the wrong daily choices

Preparing Committed Students Encourage spiritual habits through the small groups of the “Congregation” Have consistent time with God through prayer and Bible reading Have an accountable relationship with another Christian Understand and participate in giving/tithing Memorize Scripture Study the Bible on their own

Preparing Committed Students Focus on encouragement Get small group leader to encourage growth Equip students with tools to develop habits Quiet time journal Accountability Group Prayer Bible memorization flashcard program Questions to go along with Bible reading teaching them how to dig deeper

Challenging Core Students Core students who are not the “ministry” type aren’t core students, they’re regulars Sometimes getting students to do ministry isn’t as big a challenge as convincing the church congregation and leadership that teenagers can play a vital role in the body of Christ Students shouldn’t have to move through the circles just to do ministry

Challenging Core Students Don’t treat students as “The Future Church” A sign of a healthy church is one that helps all Christians, regardless of age, to discover their gifts and express them through serving in ministry Communicate Ministry Messages Communicate the joy of participating Remind students that a life of observation is a wasted life, but a life of participation in the work of the kingdom is the reason we were born Teach students they were created for ministry Help Students Discover Their Spiritual Gifts