Thank you for sticking with us along this 5 week journey of tips to help grow your student ministry. I pray it has been helpful and encouraging to you. Today’s tip looks at the biggest mission field of all. Watch the video below to hear what that is and how you can start reaching those who are lost.
To find out more about the plan of action of reaching lost students click here.
You’ve reached the 4th week of tips. I hope these tips have been helpful for you. I know that if you take the time, process through these tips, and begin to implement them in your ministry that you will deepen the lives of your core students that will change the culture of the entire group. Try it. Your student ministry will not be the same! AND, we are not done. Check out the video today from Wilson:
All ministries lead somewhere. Have you ever asked yourself or people in your church the question: What is the goal of our student ministry for students who graduate high school? What is it that you want students to graduate with from being a part of the church? We think it is pretty simple:
*** Our students are ___________________________ for Christ.
When you work and equip them to know the Gospel, their story of faith, and write it out, you will see them take ownership of their faith before they graduate high school.
Once you watch the video, download the homework sheet (it has the fill in words for these blanks).
See you tomorrow! Get ready for the last day. it is a good one, no a GREAT one!
Wilson
Welcome to tip #3 of our journey to help prepare your student ministry to grow after the shelter at home order is lifted. We started with your call from God. Last week, we gave you a prayer tool to help get your church behind the student ministry. And now, we are going to empower those students to begin growing your ministry. It is a very simple concept that doesn’t get enough street cred: Talk to God about your friends before talking to your friends about God. And measure it. Check it out:
In all of life, you have to have something to measure. If you don’t, how can you get anyone to join you? Everyone wants to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves! The best way to help people see that this something is your student ministry is to show results. In todays tip I challenge you to set goals and build your ministry though prayer. After all, if we don’t have the air cover we will never win the ground war.
*** Give your students the _________ friend challenge.
Once you watch the video, download the homework sheet (it has the fill in words for these blanks). Be ready for Day 4!! Tomorrow we give you a tool that will help the words of Jesus come out of the mouths of your student leaders!
See you tomorrow!
Mark
Welcome to Tip #2. I hope Tip #1 last week was a fresh reminder of God’s love for you and HIS desire to use you to redeem His creation! If you haven’t seen Tip 1, go back in the blog and check that one out first. Today we continue our quest to help prepare your student ministry for after the shelter at home order is lifted.
In today’s tip, we look at the best thing you have going for you: students! What if you and your church started seeing your students in a slightly different way? Don Miller (StoryBrand.com) says there are 4 kinds of people in every story: Villains, Victims, Heroes and Guides. So what does this have to do with student ministry? Watch the video to find out:
*** People have a __________ for what they pray for.
Once you watch the video, download the homework sheet (it has the fill in words for these blanks) and take some time to list the hero’s in your student ministry (the students). Be ready for Tip 3 where we will give you a tool for your students to use to share their faith story.
This is day 1 of a 5 part email series that we will be sending you entitled, “How to double the size of your student ministry once we are meeting again.” We want to help prepare your student ministry after the shelter at home order is lifted. Each week on Thursday you will get this email that links to the blog. Check out the 5 minute video and follow along with the blanks below. The answers to the blanks are on the homework sheet that is attached. So, let’s get started. We feel like a good foundation for that is to start with your call. It might seem fundamental, but all great athletes, writers, business leaders, or successful people in general, work on their fundamentals. Here we go!
*** The call of God is about what __________ your heart.
Be ready for next week, because part of the process God uses to fulfill your call is always about the people you are in relationship with.
It is hard to believe that we have lived this way for over a month now. We have heard so many times that these are unprecedented times and we wonder when or if things will ever be the same again. There are so many questions that only time can answer.
As we patiently wait, we realize the obvious; we are not in control. This is the lesson that the entire world can learn. As sure as we are not in control, we realize that God is in control. He is still on the throne, He is still at work and He still cares.
There are a lot of things we can’t do during this time but instead let’s focus on what we CAN do…
Our faith CAN increase at a time like this.
We CAN grow: study the Word and pray more.
We CAN look for God in all of this.
We CAN share the Hope we have in Christ.
We CAN make the most of the opportunity. (Ephesians 5: 15 – 17)
I want to encourage you. God is faithful and His promises are new each day. Rely on Him and draw your strength and help from Him.
First Priority has been challenged to be creative and innovative during these times and we are excited to see the Gospel continue to go forth via virtual clubs – Praise God!
Chris Lane
FP Executive Director South Florida
If you are a youth pastor or work with students, we, first of all, want to say thank you for investing in and caring for teenagers. We know you sure as heck don’t do it for the money. If you are like most Youth Pastors during this shut down in America, you have been racing to find out how to still do ministry. You know as well as anyone that today there are more people looking for answers than ever before. You also understand that the way we do ministry has to change, but it is a good thing. My son serves as a youth pastor in North Carolina. He said his online church services have been more attended, more people giving their lives to Christ and more money in the offering than when they met publicly. Not that we don’t need to meet physically, we do and are even told to in Hebrews 10:26. With the creation of the internet, the word and the gospel can go forth. It is almost as if God pushed the church out of the building. Acts chapter 8:1, after the death of Stephen, the Bible says, “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” We have an excellent opportunity for ministry since we got pushed out of our buildings.
Your students are ready to do something. Well, why not start a First Priority virtual club? A Clubwhere students can invite their friends to a zoom call and hear your students share their testimonies and give people an opportunity to give their life to Christ. I listened to a youth pastor the other day say he loved it when the salvation prayer was prayed, and the students who accepted Christ indicated it in the chat room. We have put together a free teaching platform where we walk you through a simple training on how to get these clubs going. To get started click here.
These unprecedented times we find ourselves living in right now have brought many mixed emotions. You hear stories of families connecting more, times of rest and relaxation, and less stress. People are reaching out more and helping their neighbors and even strangers in ways they have never done before. It has brought a thankfulness and gratitude towards nurses, doctors, teachers, grocery store workers, etc. that maybe we all took for granted.
On the other side, I know many people are struggling greatly. And the losses they are dealing with are heavy. And they don’t know how they are going to make it.
During this time of the unknown it is important that we can name those things we are grateful for but also those things we have lost. Many times we focus on only trying to be thankful and talk about the things that are good. Which is a great thing to do. But it is just as important to name and recognize our losses. Our students and kids especially need to recognize that naming their loss is ok. It’s not a bad thing to think about something we have lost and only name what we are grateful for. Naming it gives us a chance to mourn and move on.
We hung a paper on our refrigerator about a month ago and started this process of naming things we are grateful for and things that are losses. We haven’t been great about naming things every week but I think just having it up there reminds us that it’s okay to have these feelings of both loss and gratefulness side by side. It helps us recognize that there is both pain and joy in what we face not only during this time in our lives, but at any time. I used to shelter my kids from anything bad. I didn’t want them to know I was sad or angry or had a bad day. But kids need to see that part of us. They need to know that naming a loss is normal so that when it happens to them, they know how to mourn the loss and pick back up and move on.
So I would encourage you during this time, no matter where you find yourself, to be thankful and grateful for the things God is doing or has provided but that it is also okay and just as important to recognize those things that you have lost. And help those students around you to do the same.
God is still moving in the lives of students as they have transitioned from meeting in schools to meeting virtually through zoom, facebook live, instagram and more. Stories of thankfulness and life change are happening in virtual clubs across the nation. Students who normally would not attend a club on their school campus are logging in and listening to these virtual clubs. Here are a few stories of what’s happening across the nation.
A student from FP Blue Ridge writes to her teacher who is the faculty sponsor for their FP club, “With the announcement from the governor I wanted to send you a message and say thank you for everything that you have done for me through my high school career. Being able to come into your room every day to talk made my day brighter each time. You were always there for us in our lowest points trying to help us get through these years. Without your help I don’t know where I would have ended up. I want to thank you for making homerooms amazing each time, and for hosting First Priority and always being there in my Christian walk. It is hard to believe that I will never be able to have you as my teacher again. Thank you for everything that you have done for me.”
There are more stories of students sharing the Gospel online. Many of their videos have 500 or more views reaching more students than they were on their school campus. Students are stepping up and leading and sharing the Gospel of Christ and reaching others from their own homes. Nothing can stop God from moving.
First of all we are all praying for all of you during this time of uncertainty and chaos in our world and trust that you are also praying for the world of First Priority.
It has been amazing to see how this has become a motivational time for all of our chapters and clubs to be intentional and aggressive about continuing to share the gospel.
FPoA has played a HUGE role in making this a successful and coordinated effort across the country. Some state level organizations are sending out our virtual club link to every youth minister in their system encouraging them to start FP clubs if they have not already.
Here is the link to all of the resources and training that we have put out there and it is excellent stuff. www.firstpriority.club/virtualclubs
Below you will find a couple of videos of students who are leading these virtual clubs as well as more social media pictures of what is happening online.
© 2024 First Priority Club. All Rights Reserved.