Our Youth Philosophy
Our Philosophy of Biblical Youth Ministry
We strive to be absolutely Christ-centered and Bible-focused in our approach to youth ministry. We preach and teach the Bible because it is our church’s sole authority for faith and practice. We are motivated by the belief that all youth must repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ for salvation.
We commit ourselves to disciple and educate our youth in biblical principles and precepts so that each individual young person will surrender to do the will of God in every area of their lives. We believe that conformity to the image of Christ requires personal separation. We place a strong emphasis on servant-ministry in the local church, honor and obedience in the home, allegiance to our country, and spreading the gospel unto the ends of the earth.
We establish the highest standards and expectations for all who would lead and serve in our youth ministry. Leaders shall maintain excellent testimonies of surrendered and separated lives, and they shall be blameless. Our leaders will model the Christian walk for our youth. They will serve in complete agreement with our church’s constitution and by-laws and remain loyal to the pastors of this local church.
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1st Timothy 4:12
What We Value as a Youth Ministry
1. We value Christ-centered youth ministry. We realize that there is no substitute for Jesus Christ. We make Him our chief focus for all that we do.
2. We value the Bible, God’s Holy Word, and a personal walk with God. We place great emphasis on the life-changing habit of reading and personally studying God's Word. We believe that every genuinely born again youth must establish a prayer life and seek to live a Spirit-filled life.
3. We value preaching and teaching. We preach and teach God's Word to our young people every Sunday and place it on a level that they can understand it.
4. We value repentance and faith in Christ. We value the necessity of saving faith in Christ so much that we desire every young person that we come in contact with to accept the free offer of salvation.
5. We value discipleship and accountability. We desire to assist the parents of our youth to train up their children, and we believe that there needs to be accountability to people who really want them to live holy and happy lives.
6. We value surrender to God’s will. We are convicted that surrender to God's will is the key to living successful and fulfilling Christian lives.
7. We value personal separation. We want our young people to choose to live personally holy lives because it is what the Bible teaches.
8. We value servant-ministry in the local church. We provide ministry opportunities for our youth in our local church. We are training to be next-generation ministers.
9. We value the homes and families of our youth. We will not attempt to undermine the authority of parents. Parents are welcome at any and all of our youth activities.
10. We value allegiance to and patriotism for our country. We love America and we encourage patriotism and loyalty to our country and our flag. We love, respect, and are grateful for the sacrifices that our military make for our freedom.
The philosophy and values statements above represent the corporate work students in our Bible Institute, Youth Ministries class.