Page 39 - Youth Discipleship Student Textbook

overall the Bible must provide an answer to some major questions (assuming the students are
believers):
A. What does God want me to do with my life? How does God want me to serve Him with
the life He has given me?
B. How can I prepare to select a mate for life?
1. Moral purity is a top priority. Dating practices and proper behavior. Biblical
principles for maintaining moral purity.
2. Biblical principles for selecting a mate.
C. How do I find God’s will for all the decisions in my life?
1. If God wants me to go to college, which one? Psalm 1
2. If God wants me to go into the work force, what trade?
3. If God wants me to serve Him full-time, where? And how do I prepare?
D. How can I mature in my faith with God?
1. Principles for spiritual development (Personal Spiritual Life)
2. Know major doctrines from the Word (Bible Doctrines Survey)
3. Learn how to defend my faith. (Apologetics and World Views)
4. Using your spiritual gifts in ministry.

3. The Youth Ministry can be only effective if it is coordinated with teaching in the home. This means
there must be a partnership between parents and the leadership to work together in teaching the truths
covered in point 1. If this philosophical point is applied, there will be a constant interfacing between
the church and home, showing a coordinated effort to teach and train the students in God’s way.

4. We live in a culture that equates happiness with FUN. If you go to Disneyland (“the happiest place on
earth”) you will supposedly have a FUN time. FUN becomes an escape from reality, in a sense. Since
this pervades our culture, and since it is not against the Word of God to have clean fun, we can use this
aspect of our culture to motivate students to engage their friends in evangelism.

Have a special fun event each month that will attract students in your youth group to bring a
friend. Many of these friends will not be believers, so the thrust of the event is not only the fun
they may have, but sharing the Gospel. It is important that the fun they have is not associated
with the practices of the WORLD which run contrary to sharing the Gospel. This becomes a
monthly EVANGELISTIC EFFORT of the youth group.

Gal. 6: 7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
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soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.

Romans 8: 5-8 For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are

after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the
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Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject
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to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
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Warning: If the emphasis of the event if FUN only and is void of sharing the Gospel or
accomplishing anything else of spiritual value, you are wasting your time and energy.

A word of caution: The word entertainment is not found in the Bible at all. Once we read "entertain," in
the sense of hospitality, but never the word entertainment. The word fun is never used in the Bible. The

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