Page 11 - Youth Discipleship Student Textbook

Section 3: Youth Discipleship – What is it?

3.1 Connect

God may call you to become a youth pastor involved in youth discipleship. If so, you’d
better understand your calling. You’d better know what you are getting into. It is no easy
job! Did you know the average pastor stays at one church for four years, but the average
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youth pastor only lasts about three years? Most youth pastors only last eight to eleven
years in ministry TOTAL! You ask why?
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The reason is many, but it all boils down to the fact that it is a difficult ministry fraught with multiple
challenges. The youth sometimes make life difficult for the youth pastor, and the parents can even
make it worse. So if you plan to move in that direction, you’d better fully understand what Youth
Discipleship is before you jump in. Let’s see if we can figure that out….

3.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain the thrust of the Great Commission

2. The student should be able to describe how important evangelism is in the process of
discipleship.

3. The student should be able to teach another person how to share the Gospel with the lost.

4. The student should be able to identify key phrases that confuse lost people in misunderstanding the
Gospel.

3.3 What exactly is Youth Discipleship?

Shortly before Jesus departed from his disciples, he left one final and important message to
them. It is found in Matthew 28 and is entitled, the Great Commission.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth
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has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
[b]
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I
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am with you always, to the end of the age.”

12 https://failingpastor.com/2019/05/28/how-long-should-pastors-stay-at-their-
church/#:~:text=The%20average%20stay%20at%20a,Youth%20pastors%20last%20about%20three.
13 https://ymlink.org/tenure-and-turnover-in-youth-ministry/

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