As you gain some Gospel Advancing traction in your own youth group, your God-given passion to see the teenagers in your community reached with the Gospel may seem bigger than you can possibly accomplish through your own ministry. And it very likely is! So this is a great time to begin to prayerfully reach out to other youth leaders in your community and share your heart for seeing the Gospel advance in and through students.
Whether youāre already part of an existing youth leader network or youāre creating one from scratch, the following simple steps will help you share the Gospel Advancing approach with other youth leaders in your community.
First Steps for Gospelizing an Existing Network
If youāre already part of an existing youth leader network in your community, here are a few first steps you can take to begin to cast a vision for seeing more and more teens in your community reaching other teens for Christ.
- Pray for those in your network. ask God to lead you to the right people.
- Be a student of the network. Learn the needs of the other pastors before you start offering solutions.
- When the opportunity is right, share with the network how the Gospel Advancing values have impacted your life and ministry.
- Wait to be invited. Give them a free digital copy of Gospelize Your Youth Ministry or buy them a physical copyĀ or audiobook. Then get together to talk about it.
First Steps for Creating a Gospel Advancing Network from Scratch
If thereās no existing youth leader network in your area, itās time to prayerfully consider creating one. In John 17:20-23, Jesus indicates that unity among His followers affects how the outside world sees and understands His message:
āMy prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,Ā that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.Ā May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.Ā Ā I have given them the glory that you gave me,Ā that they may be one as we are oneāĀ I in them and you in meāso that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent meĀ and have loved themĀ even as you have loved me.ā
The idea is to start small and identify a few youth leaders you think might be open to prioritizing Gospel Advancement in their own ministries. Donāt jump to this conclusion too quickly, but begin to talk about your passion to the see teens reached in your community.
Try This! āÆ
Spread your passion for Gospel Advancement! Give a youth leader in your area a free digital copy of Gospelize Your Youth Ministry or buy them a physical copy or audiobook. Then get together to talk about it.
Here are a few steps you can take as you explore creating a youth leader network.
- Pray for the churches in your area by name.
- Make an appointment with the pastor or youth pastor and get to know them, and cast a vision for a Gospel Advancing network. For those who are all-in, move to Step 3. For those who arenāt yet ready, return to Step 1: Pray.
- Share how a Gospel Advancing emphasis has impacted your life and ministry.
- Give them a free digital copy of Gospelize Your Youth Ministry or buy them a physical copyĀ or audiobook.
- Set up regular times for to meet and pray with your new network.
A youth leader network rallied around THE Cause of Christ, laboring together to reach teens and make disciples who make disciples is a powerful thing in the hands of our great God! So step up, take a risk, and strategically share your Gospel Advancing passion to others.
