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MINISTRY WITH YOUTH – FEBRUARY 5, 2012
Session Title: Building the House of God
Learning Focus: How can the history and heritage of the church help me grow as a person?
Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:19-22
Joining a Church
Do you remember exactly when and where you joined the church? Did you begin in a different faith setting than you are in now? How important was that decision in your life? This particular Bible study session focuses on church membership and its role in helping each Christian grow in their faith. This may be a good opportunity to discuss church membership with your young people.
Take a few moments to reflect on the age and circumstances that surrounded you when you first joined the church. The fact that you are now teaching youth is evidence that God touched your life when you were a teenager yourself. Do you remember the people who God brought into your life to make a difference? Who were those individuals that encouraged you to attend and explore your faith? What did the church mean to you when you were an adolescent, and were you a member of that church? These questions may help bring to mind a few of the faith issues facing some of your young people.
You may want to take the time to ask each learner if they have joined the church and what that may mean to them. For those who have not yet joined, ask them if they know exactly how to join. Some churches offer “seeker classes” for children and youth who are curious about the church. Other churches leave the decision entirely up to the individual as to the when and the how. Are you familiar as to how a young person can join your church?
More important than simply joining a church is having a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ. It is impossible to discuss church membership without also discussing what is involved in becoming a Christian. The church is not merely a club or group one joins, but a gathering of people who profess and proclaim Christ. Whether joining for the first time or uniting after a move into the community, an inherent part of church membership is making a public expression of one’s faith in Christ.
As you discuss this with your teens, be prepared to know where you might send them for help–or if you might even counsel them yourselves. Of course, you may be faced with the question of why a teenager should join the church. Perhaps that decision is something they feel should be made when they become adults. This session’s focal passage (Eph 2:19-22) may provide some insight.
The best place for a Christian to grow in their faith is in the church. That does not negate retreats, home prayer, or community projects, but the church is the dwelling place for God. Of course, we all know that the church is the people and not the building or property. God dwells within the hearts of believers, whether they are 60 or 16. And every time young people gather together in the name of Christ, God dwells among them.
By Natalie Nicholas Adams
Link of the Week
Report on International Religious Freedom
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168441.htm
Although Ephesians 2:19 tells us that all believers are members of the household of God, many people in our world are not free to express their religious viewpoints.
Ministry Ideas!
Your Church’s Heritage
Some churches publish books on their heritage, but most congregations tend not to do more than store artifacts in a closet or basement. Perhaps your teens would like to put together a booklet or display on the history of your church. As well as gathering the physical evidence, youth may want to interview some of the church’s older members to get a recorded version of their stories. Lead your young people to consider what they could do to continue the rich heritage of your church.
Scripture
Session Title: Building the House of God
Learning Focus: How can the history and heritage of the church help me grow as a person?
Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:19-22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
