Equipping teens to share their faith is one of my primary goals in Student Ministry. I believe the ability to share the Good News of Jesus Christ is central to their own spiritual journey, let alone leading others into a saving relationship with Jesus. I love it when students embrace this idea and get on board by getting on mission with Jesus in seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10).
It’s even more spectacular when students do this and incorporate their unique style and the way that God has gifted them to accomplish this mission! This past fall a teenager in our youth group shared with us his gifts for writing poetry and spoken word so we discussed ways to get him involved in our worship services. We were wrapping up a sermon series looking at God’s character and His attributes and the final sermon, “God is MISSIONAL,” seemed like a great way to get him involved. We discussed an original piece to help other students in our ministry understand the importance of joining God on His mission to redeem the world. Not only did Joel write an original piece that encouraged believing students to, “Let Your Light Shine,” but he also proclaimed the Gospel to the lost in the midst of his piece. Check out the video of his performance!
It was such a cool experience to take Joel’s desire to use his gift for the glory of God and point him in the direction of the Gospel. I’m looking forward to working with him moving forward to grow his faith and the faith of others through his gifts. It’s exciting to think about the potential of teenagers coming to faith as a result of Joel’s faithfulness as well as other believing students who will follow his example to use their gifts and their unique style to do the same! What are ways that your students are sharing their faith with their own style and gifts? How are you incorporating them into the overall mission of your Student Ministry?
