Growing in Ministry

Our responsibility as parents and youth ministers is to help our kids, students, grow in ministry.  How do we accomplish this?  Here are a few ideas:

Teach them SHAPE

S – Spiritual gifts – as believers in Christ we have each been gifted by the Holy   Spirit and these gifts are to be used serving the church.

H – Heart – Using what we are passionate about to serve the church

A – Abilities – We each have abilities to be used in serving the church

P – Personality – We each have a unique personality that can be used in serving the church

E – Experiences – In life we each have different experiences we have been through that can be used in serving the church.  Even the bad experiences because God never wastes a hurt.

Model

Since more is caught than is taught it is good for students to see us serving the church.  What ministry are you involved in at your church?  Does your teen see you serving regularly at your church?  Perhaps, at family devotion time, share with your teen what your ministry is and why you love serving Christ and his church (without preaching).

Involvement

Look for opportunities for students to serve.  At NHC several of our students help in our Kids’ Zone each Sunday morning.  We also have opportunities to serve by allowing them to help set up and prepare for the youth group gathering.

As a parent we can look for opportunities to involve our kids in the ministry we are active in.  Bring your teen along to help, maybe not every week but enough for them to get a taste of what serving and why it is important to you.

Discussion
If your teen gets involved in ministry look for opportunities to “debrief” and allow them to share how they felt about the ministry experience.  Point out others who are serving and talk about their ministry together.