I took the students on a mission trip to Nashville, Tennessee last week. I had no idea what God had in store for our students, but I was praying that God would do something big for his glory. I had high expectations to see God move, and God worked mightily in the lives of the students that went on that trip. This camp experience allowed me to note three truths about the millennial generation.
1) The millennial generation lives to be driven for a greater purpose in life. Throughout the week, I challenged students to share their faith at their ministry sites. Many students shared the gospel or their testimonies with the people they were serving at their ministry sites by the end of the week. The students would come up to me at dinner time with pure joy and excitement to tell me about their latest story of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with an individual that day. I saw students driven to share the gospel, and I was encouraged to see their zeal for Jesus Christ unashamedly proclaimed in Nashville, Tennessee. I realize that one of my responsibilities as their youth pastor is to provide continuous opportunities for them to share the love of Jesus Christ in our community. In fact, I took the students to a neighborhood near the church to knock on doors and share the gospel this past Wednesday night for our youth ministry service. They are driven to share the gospel!
2) The millennial generation seeks authentic relationships with godly adults. This generation of students wants and needs godly adults to speak the truth in love to them. Students are dealing with the same struggles and temptations that adults used to deal with and maybe even still deal with. The millennial generation may be defined as an open group of young men and women. They have real struggles and issues that they do not mind discussing with a godly man or woman. This younger generation needs and seeks authentic relationships with godly men and women. May we open our lives with them in real, meaningful, and gospel saturated discipleship. They need it!
3) The millennial generation works best in small units. I watched students go in teams to share the gospel with confidence in Nashville. This concept may not be true for just the millennial generation, but all generations in the church. Sending students in small units built not only confidence, but built unity in our youth ministry. The military works in small units to accomplish the mission, and we should equip this generation and divide them into small units in order to penetrate culture and their communities with the gospel. Notice that the units must be small units not large units. Group students in units that consist of three or four members, and watch them work for the glory of God. I remain convinced that if you build units larger than four you may scare or even intimidate the person you are trying to share the gospel with.
These three truths I observed during our camp experience about this generation of students. I truly believe in my heart that God will use this generation to do great things for his name across this nation and around the globe. We must observe, disciple, and challenge students to stand grounded in the Word of God in order to impact this culture with the good news of Jesus Christ.
1) The millennial generation lives to be driven for a greater purpose in life. Throughout the week, I challenged students to share their faith at their ministry sites. Many students shared the gospel or their testimonies with the people they were serving at their ministry sites by the end of the week. The students would come up to me at dinner time with pure joy and excitement to tell me about their latest story of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with an individual that day. I saw students driven to share the gospel, and I was encouraged to see their zeal for Jesus Christ unashamedly proclaimed in Nashville, Tennessee. I realize that one of my responsibilities as their youth pastor is to provide continuous opportunities for them to share the love of Jesus Christ in our community. In fact, I took the students to a neighborhood near the church to knock on doors and share the gospel this past Wednesday night for our youth ministry service. They are driven to share the gospel!
2) The millennial generation seeks authentic relationships with godly adults. This generation of students wants and needs godly adults to speak the truth in love to them. Students are dealing with the same struggles and temptations that adults used to deal with and maybe even still deal with. The millennial generation may be defined as an open group of young men and women. They have real struggles and issues that they do not mind discussing with a godly man or woman. This younger generation needs and seeks authentic relationships with godly men and women. May we open our lives with them in real, meaningful, and gospel saturated discipleship. They need it!
3) The millennial generation works best in small units. I watched students go in teams to share the gospel with confidence in Nashville. This concept may not be true for just the millennial generation, but all generations in the church. Sending students in small units built not only confidence, but built unity in our youth ministry. The military works in small units to accomplish the mission, and we should equip this generation and divide them into small units in order to penetrate culture and their communities with the gospel. Notice that the units must be small units not large units. Group students in units that consist of three or four members, and watch them work for the glory of God. I remain convinced that if you build units larger than four you may scare or even intimidate the person you are trying to share the gospel with.
These three truths I observed during our camp experience about this generation of students. I truly believe in my heart that God will use this generation to do great things for his name across this nation and around the globe. We must observe, disciple, and challenge students to stand grounded in the Word of God in order to impact this culture with the good news of Jesus Christ.
This should push adult Christians to grow as well. How can we teach truth if we do not look for it. We must encourage the next generation and strive to not be a stumbling block for them.
ReplyDelete