South Highland Youth Ministries

Children are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of the warrior are the sons and daughters of our youth.

Psalm 127

TAKING AIM

Our task, as Christian leaders, is to help our young people focus on Christ so they can hit the mark for God’s Kingdom. By our faithfulness to The Word, we can give our youth, the confidence to seek answers to difficult questions. This is what we hope to achieve here at South Highland Presbyterian Church. Our job is to provide our young people with the tools, then point them in the right direction, only to set them free to hit the mark on their own. We accomplish this through the fulfillment of our call to ministry as a place of worship, a house of prayer, and a community of love gathered as Christ’s body to worship and grow through the nurturance of the Holy Spirit.

DISCIPLESHIP: LETTING THE ARROW FLY

The Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ and he said, ‘Here I am!

1 Samuel 3:4

Have you ever asked yourself, “How is God working in my life?” Most of us have at some point in time. How did we respond? When did we learn that we could respond? This is the call to disciple-ship; the call to follow a path to trust the faith God has blessed us with and the discipline to learn God’s ways. These are all aspects of what happens when God calls our name and we answer. The task of youth ministry is to nurture our young people with relationships founded on integrity and trust. Youth Ministry needs role models that challenge our young people positively and that our young people can engage with open hearts, open minds and loving open arms.

FELLOWSHIP

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and prayer.

Acts 2:42

The disciples of the first century did everything they could to draw together as a family, to break bread, to pray and to remember what Jesus taught. Even when things were bleak they found an open door that would give them shelter. Our church is that open door. Our church is where our young people can gather to share joys, concerns and sorrows. It is the place where they can face the storms of their adolescents and escape the barrage of mixed messages that are aimed at leading them away from Christ. Our church is the fortress where our Almighty God resides. Where we come to sing praise, to honor and to trust our Lord.

STEWARDSHIP

Be careful then how you live – making the most of

your time and efforts, managing your talents.

Ephesians 5:15

Paul reminds us to manage, with care, all that God has blessed us with; he goes on to tell us we are to hold ourselves accountable. As a youth minister, my goal is to show each young person that they have talents given to them by God. I pray that each one can then go and share those talents with others through the task of mission work and evangelism. We all have talents that increase the Kingdom. Our task as the Body of Christ is to nurture our young people and encourage them to invest in themselves; through worship, prayer and through the reading of Scripture. The more they learn about what our Lord teaches and about themselves and others, secures success for building stronger leaders for the church of the future.

For more information, speak with associate pastor Denny Read at 933-0790, or click here to send an email.