Life Teams Part IV by Jerry Watts

Moving into a youth ministry marked by mature faith markers is slow work sometimes.  But living in Jesus’ promise in Matthew 28 to be with us always to the end of the age strengthens us for the upward call of discipleship and evangelism that comes with the promise. For me the picture below is one...

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Moving into a youth ministry marked by mature faith markers is slow work sometimes. 

But living in Jesus’ promise in Matthew 28 to be with us always to the end of the age strengthens us for the upward call of discipleship and evangelism that comes with the promise.

For me the picture below is one of those God sightings.

Sitting around the tables are teens, their parents, and their Life Team members (remember Life Team = Life in Christ) discussing the testimony of their own relationship with God right now, reading Scripture, and praying together. 

I shared briefly with the group before the conversation ensued first to parents, “Look around the table — you are not alone in proclaiming your faith to your child. Sitting across from you is a person prayerfully committed to cheering your child on to Jesus. There’s no other agenda. Youth, sometimes you feel like you are alone in a harsh world in the classroom, hallways, or wherever — look across the table. There are a group of people committed to loving you, knowing who you really are, and bringing you to Jesus, who gives you life and promises to never leave you.”

As the tables were finishing up one mom and Life Team mentor in the group looked around the room and said, “Yeah, we’ve got such a great church.” It wasn’t a pat on my back for some well-executed program (believe me, the discussion questions weren’t all that great!). She looked around and saw Jesus keeping His promise. Jesus showed up.

Jerry Watts serves as a youth minister in Plano Tx. He’s been at it for about 17 years, depending on what you count. You can catch him blogging about all things youth ministry at http://reformthis.wordpress.com/