Nerd On A Mission Update: I raised my first $100 last week right before my birthday thanks to my childhood friend John, who also is a fellow nerd. Thanks John. That means I only have $1500 more to go. You can check out my mission, my progress and give HERE
Onward.
Did you tell a story in your youth meeting this past week? Maybe it was a parable from scripture or maybe it was a personal story. I bet you told a story and you did not even know it. Every week, our youth meetings tell a story.
This past week we told a story of fun and community. We had a Luau, danced the hula, and did the Limbo. We also talked about Jesus; and the fact that we talked about Him at a Luau tells the story that Jesus likes Luau’s as much as he likes weddings. Fun is not the absence of Jesus and vice verses. We promoted summer and told the story of how epic it was going to be. It was a good story.
Every meeting is a chapter in the lives of relationships; our relationship with our students, students’ relationships with each other, and all of our relationships with God. We can look at each meeting as a list of things to do or we can craft them into a story we want to tell about who God is , who we are in Christ, and who we are as the Church.
Each week new characters show up in our story. The endings of our meetings are sometime epic and sometimes they have a twist, and sometimes they just fall flat, but they are all a part of our story. In our youth meetings there are surprises, tender moments, acts of kindness and redemption, and some drama that rival Shakespeare. I can’t and would not edit our story. It’s who we are. It’s God’s story in us and through us. Don’t be ashamed of your story, embrace it.
That’s my story and I am sticking with it.
What story is your group telling in your church, in your community?
Are you happy, ashamed, thrilled, or upset about your story?
What are three things you can do to change your youth ministries story?