It will rub off

There is a temptation at our youth groups just to “do life”.

And doing life does make disciples, when we share the gospel.

We can think that discipleship will rub off.

It will happen almost accidentally.

That if a person can stay in our programs long enough God will save them.

For many of us we still pray that God would change people, we just secretly hope he doesn’t use us.

One of the deficiency’s in this model is that our non-Christian youth think that being a Christian is about being a good person.

We need to tell them the reason we are living the way we are.

It’s the response to a right relationship with Jesus. Not the way to try and earn a right relationship with Jesus.

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 1 Thessalonians 2:8

Myths of Discipleship - Discipleship is for hard core Christians

As leaders we identify young people in our children’s and youth ministry and we want to invest in them.

When we catch up with them we call it discipleship (and it is!).

The trouble is, that in some people’s eyes that person is a disciple and they are a Christian.

They see a disciple as, someone who is really committed to making disciples or as a person who might go to Bible college and become a minister or missionary.

The problem is that suggests that there are two levels of Christians.

There are Christians and there are disciples.

Christians are your average person who trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection and the disciple is a super charged version.

We need to be reinforcing to our people if you are a Christian, you are a disciple and a disciple maker.

Discipleship

During my time in Tasmania I have seen some encouraging changes.

One change is that discipleship is on the agenda.

People talk about it.

They want to know how to do it better.

It’s the purpose of everything they do in children's, youth and families ministry.

When I say discipleship, what do you think of?

The thing I have noticed now is, that people often mean different things when they say it.

When I say discipleship or disciple making what I'm saying is, telling people to follow Jesus, "go and make disciples" Mt 28:19 and how to follow Jesus "teaching them to obey everything I have taught" Mt 28:20

Discipleship/ disciple making is both evangelism, reaching out and nurture, building up.

It don’t think you can separate the two, they are both discipleship.

We need to be doing both to be making disciples.

Leader vs. Helper

I've done parent teacher help in my son's class.

Listen to books being read, pack away school gear and watch painting, aka make sure students don't have a paint fight.

It can feel like all you are doing is taking up space in a class room.

It can feel like the role of a helper in our children's and youth ministry.

Sometimes if we need more leaders at our programs we make announcements for more helpers.

The trouble we then get is when our helpers stand to the side and don’t engage with our leaders or young people.

We see them as leader, but they see themselves as helpers and act accordingly.

We might even want them to take a step up, but they say, "I'm only a helper".

This cultural change could grow your leadership. 

Men and Sunday school

Why don't men lead at Sunday school?

This is a question I've heard at Sunday school meetings every time we talk about looking for more leaders.

The conversation then heads in the direction of coming up with a plan to try and convince men that it’s not going to be a big commitment.

I would like to suggest this is the problem.

For many men the reason they like their job is because they have to work hard, it stretches them and engages them.

Men are competitive, they want to be challenged.

I think trying to convince men that Sunday school and children's ministry is easy and takes no effort actually drives men away.

Colossians 3:23 remind us Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

Whatever we are involved in, Sunday school, youth group, one to one ministry we are to work at it with all our heart.

soccer clinic leaders

In the July school holidays, we are modelling a holiday club style of disciple making by running a soccer clinic.

Recently, I emailed a group of people to ask them to think and pray about leading at our event.

One of the female leaders replied to my email saying something along the lines of: I don’t really understand your email. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any soccer skills. What were you hoping I would be doing?

What do you look for in a leader?

In any leader I look for two things: 

1) A Christian 

2) Character

In the list from 1 Timothy 3:1-7 it only makes mention of ability once, able to teach.

The rest of the list is all character.

Now what do you look for in a leader?

Photo copier and Discipleship

The photo copier at work can be annoying.

It always produces exactly what I ask it to produce.

It’s just I don’t realise until I take it off the tray.

I go back to my laptop, change the settings, until I get what I want.

In our children’s, youth and family’s ministry we always get exactly what we set out to do in these ministries.

We are making disciples, but disciples of what.

Disciples of fun

Disciples of entertainment

Disciples of consumerism

Disciples of Jesus

What changes to your settings do you need to make?

Kids card for in church

Some kids are really noisy, loud and energetic and that’s just one of my kids, I think they take after their mum… maybe not.

Sitting in a church service with kids can be full on.

And that’s where something small and simple like the handout in the picture can lower the heart rate and anxiety levels of any parent.

Two of the benefits of this handout is that I’m now engaged with what is happening in the service because I’m no longer thinking about which kids I need to shhh!

And I feel supported as a parent because the church has publically displayed it.

What does your church do to support parents?

Resourcing CYFM (Children’s, Youth and Families Ministry)

It’s easy to just focus on your own disciple making efforts, to look around your parish and give thanks for what God is doing.

Resourcing parishes rejoice in church growth and seek to see kingdom growth.

The Bubble Strategy helps parishes identify how they fit into the dioceses plan.

Resourcing churches are: Churches with a vibrant and established ministry to young people.

Aim: To resource other ministries in their region through training, sending out leaders, sharing material, programs and joint events.

Ideas for Growing parishes: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Bubble_Strategy_2016.pdf

The diocese wants to see a growing children’s and youth ministry … real life in every parish.

Disciple making ministry in every parish.

Growing CYFM (Children’s, Youth and Families Ministry)

You’ve made a start and a core group of young people and leaders are coming along each week.

What’s the next step?

The Bubble Strategy helps parishes identify how they fit into the dioceses plan.

Churches with a small but growing ministry to young people.

Aim: To grow their ministry and leadership skills to further reach young people in their area with the gospel.

Ideas for Growing parishes: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Bubble_Strategy_2016.pdf

The diocese wants to see a growing children’s and youth ministry … real life in every parish.

Disciple making ministry in every parish.

Supporting CYFM (Children’s, Youth and Families Ministry)

You might look around your parish and see no children, youth or families and think, we don’t have any of those people so they’re not in our plan.

The Bubble Strategy helps parishes identify how they fit into the dioceses plan.

Supporting parishes are parishes with no regular young people.

Aim: To support children’s, youth and families ministry in the diocese and to seek ways to connect with young people in their area.

Ideas for Supporting parishes: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Bubble_Strategy_2016.pdf

The diocese wants to see a growing children’s and youth ministry … real life in every parish.

Disciple making ministry in every parish.

Time to plan

In 2016 you might be looking forward to:

A family holiday

Renovations

Having a baby

Each one of these needs a bit of planning.

Booking flights and accommodation

Having plans drawn up, then through council, finding a builder and sticking to budget.

Setting up the baby’s bedroom and buying 1,000’s of things you didn’t know existed!

Children’s, youth and families ministry needs planning.

What is your plan for CY&F ministry this year?

The diocesan Bubble Strategy helps each parish see where they fit into the bigger picture of the diocese.

It helps you make a plan.

Check it out here: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Bubble_Strategy_2016.pdf

You need a plan.

Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

Coaching and children's & youth ministry

This year I coached my son's under 6 soccer team. 
I've never coached before, I just did what I thought was right.

On the Coaching Resource from Football Federation Australia website it says: WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN IN THIS AGE BRACKET?

They are 'self-centred' and not yet able to really work together (so do not ask them to perform team play, it is impossible for them!)

I realise what they are trying to do, take the pressure off coaches.
The trouble is I have seen teams play as teams, with passing to other team mates, instead of running  themselves.
Under 6's could be seen as not yet soccer players.

There's a temptation in children's and youth ministry to treat young people as not yet disciples.
They are "young", "don't really understand", "will say the wrong things".
The trouble is Jesus says something different, "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Leadership is starting a Mexican wave

If you have ever been to a major sporting event you would have witnessed and maybe taken part in a Mexican wave.

I would like to suggest some similarities between leadership and the person who starts a Mexican wave.

You need to have a vision, you are asking people to join with you in creating something big and exciting.

You need to be passionate and excited about your vision and believe in it.

You need to be clear with what you are wanting to achieve.

You need to create ownership and buy in, people need to grab hold of what you are proposing.

Not everyone is going to grab hold of what you are wanting to achieve.

People who have been there along time might not be as excited, let’s call them the "members stand".

Sometimes it might take a few goes before people grab hold of what you want to achieve.

You get to stand back and watch something great.

You rejoice as a team when it works.

(Every Mexican wave is when you start something, an event, a program, make a change.)

Men's Ministry

We recently had our Father Son camp – Limitless, a one night away camp at Allister Martin’s place at Little Swanport.

I enjoyed some good conversations, in reality we only skimmed over the surface.

Recently at a conference I spoke to a bloke about the camping ministry he does for father’s and son’s and he shared how at his camp he has a man that the fathers can go to, to talk about anything.

He said that 90% of the Father’s wanted to talk about their marriage.

We hope at future camps to help fathers grow as godly men.

How are you growing the men God has given you as disciples?

NYMC - reflection #2

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with technology.

Is Facebook still the number one social network media or is it Instagram?

If you just said, “what is Facebook?” talk to the youngest person near you!

David Kinnaman is the author of You Lost Me and president and majority owner of Barna Group. Check out their wedsite for more info: https://www.barna.org/

He suggests we are living in Digital Babylon.

This is the world our young people are immersed in.

He suggests that the tragedy is that we dismiss this world.

They have questions about how to live as Christians and we don’t try and understand or help them.

Maybe ask that youngest person near you what they like about Facebook.

NYMC - reflections #1

Brad Griffin – Sticky Faith

When we have family gatherings the kids sit at the kids table and the adults sit at the adult table.

This has been identified as a problem in the church.

We liken churches to family gatherings in which there are 2 tables: the “adults table” and the “kids table”. Theoretically, everyone’s at the same meal but these are very different experiences.

Research is showing that the more people spend time together across generations the more faith of young people sticks

Top Tips

Learn names

Intergenerational Service

Intergenerational Mentoring

Does your ministry calendar work with families?

Ratio - 5 adults : 1 young person

W - world

World – A concern for the world

God loves the world so much that he send Jesus to fix the problem of sin.

GO TO PASSAGE

Matthew 9:35-38

People are like sheep without a shepherd. 

There are people waiting to be saved.

Passages

The Lost

·        Luke 5:1-11

·        Luke 15:1-32, esp. ver 32

·        Acts 10:23b-48

Creation

·        Genesis 1:28

·        Genesis 2:5

·        Psalm 24:1

Widow, orphan, asylum seeker

·        Deuteronomy 10:17-19

·        Matthew 18:21-35

·        Luke 10:30-37

O - Others

Others – A disciple will serve other Christians

Jesus was the ultimate servant by dying on the cross.

GO TO PASSAGE

Philippians 2:1-8

Jesus’ emptying himself to become a servant: Jesus provides the example of the way Christians are to act toward one another. 

Passages

·        Mark 10:35-45, esp. ver 43-45

·        John 13:3-15, esp. ver 12-15

·        Romans 12:9-13

·        Hebrews 10:24-25

·        1 Peter 4:7-11

More here, see page 9: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Childrens_and_Youth_Ministry_2015_booklet.pdf

S - Self

Self – A disciple will be growing to be more like Jesus each day

Jesus has saved you from your old way of life, to live for him.

Sanctification: God loves you so much He won’t leave you the way you are.

GO TO PASSAGE: Romans 8:28-29

Ver 28 – God has your life under control

Ver 29 – To make you more like Jesus

Passages

·        1 Corinthians 6:9-11

·        Galatians 5:22-26

·        Romans 6:11-14

·        Colossians 3:5-10

·        Philippians 2:12-13

·        1 Peter 1:13-16

·        Ephesians 2:10

 More here, see page 7 

http://www.anglicantas.org.au/assets/Childrens_and_Youth_Ministry_2015_booklet.pdf