By Nic Cass
During our youth ministry Sunday on November 15, I presented a plan comprised of three aspects to accomplish our Youth Ministry vision, equipping youth for life through the CROSS. The three aspects of our youth ministry plan are study, gathering, and service. In December we took a deeper look at the aspect of study. In January, we continued with the second aspect of gathering. Here now, we conclude with the final aspect of our youth ministry plan: service.
Through service we provide opportunities for youth to live out their faith and to live out the love of God in their lives. Through service youth learn to put into practice what we’ve studied, and they see how they, too, can gather and build relationships with others to share the gospel. In my time here, we’ve been able to serve by taking youth down to Missouri and working within that community. Going forward we want to build on that in various ways, by taking groups down to work with Casas por Cristo to build houses, but also looking for opportunities to serve within our community. In 1 Peter 4:10 it says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” We are all called to use our gifts to serve in God’s kingdom in whatever way is best suited to us.
God has provided each of us with talents, resources, and gifts that He expects us to put to use. Our goal through youth ministry is to share the gospel by gathering and building relationships, to study God’s word so youth can understand the role their faith plays in their lives, and to equip them through service to best understand how to use their God-given gifts for His kingdom. So here we have studying, gathering, and service working together to equip youth for a life through the CROSS.