WHY SHOULD YOU COME TO YOUTH GROUP?

We are a busy group! There are so many activities and events we enjoy doing and care about.  Whether it is music, sports, theater, 4-H interests, work, education, or college prep…the list goes on with things we give our time to.  In order to develop the talents we seek to discover in ourselves, we need to give both time and focus to the cause.  We attend practices and workouts as a priority; with some groups meeting every day of the week.  It often takes effort and dedication to be a success; and these things are very important, but not most important!  Since we have the precious gift of faith in God, and the knowledge that our own lives come from Him, we must know that God is important to us.  In fact, God is most important, above all!

Youth group should be a time and place we gather with others to focus on our faith.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10: 23-25,  “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Youth group should be a group that studies God’s word, the Bible, together as the most important information we could ever know.  God commands, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…”(Deuteronomy 11:18).  We need to know God’s word in order to live by it, and share the truth with others. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).

Youth group should be about practicing our faith as we discover ways to serve others in our community, our church, and our world.  We should have the goal of building friendships with people who are brought together by common faith.  It doesn’t matter if we are from the same group at school or on the same sport teams. In faith, we recognize each other as the body of believers…the body of Christ!  “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27).  With God’s grace, our group should be a place where everyone is welcomed, and none are excluded.

Most efforts are not without rewards.  The opening night, the “big game”, the great score on a college entrance exam, the blue ribbon at the fair, or your name in the newspaper are all examples of the rewards you may have been working to achieve.  These are the fruits of your labor, and the Joys to be found in the gifts God has given.

Our youth group should be at work for this reward; “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth…For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…(Colossians 1: 5-6, 9-10).  Do we need to do good things to impress God?  No, it is not because of our own goodness that God loves us.  It is because of the love He gives us that we are responding to Him, and He puts that Love in our hearts for a reason.  Jesus taught, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters” (Matthew 11: 23).  Make every effort to gather, gather together and share your special gifts with our group.  Each person is important, and each person is valuable to making our group what it “should “be.

PLEASE JOIN US WEDNESDAY EVENINGS AT 6:30 PM BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 19 IT IS ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE YOU THERE

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).