Even though this series Impact will talk to the students about their gifts and talents it will also focus on the importance of evangelization through service. To some people that might seem like an obvious statement but to tell you the truth I think it’s a concept commonly overlooked. I look back at the last couple of years and realized that we’ve lost a few students here and there because they feel as if there was nothing left to learn in Resurrection and Uprising (crowd worship programs for teens). At the time I took it really personally as if people were making the statement that I wasn’t teaching anything new, and it is true that when we aren’t learning we can easily become disengaged. But recently with my own experience I’ve come to realize that we will stop growing personally if we stop growing God’s church. If we don’t work on bringing others to church or introduce them to a relationship with Christ, then what’s there to really work towards? Jesus told His disciples to “Go, and make disciples” Matthew 28:19. Jesus spent 3 years with His disciples before He told them, “I’ve taught you everything you need to know, if you want to get closer to my Father then go and tell people about me.” I don’t think we always communicate that clearly to students. We tell them to “Go join a small group.”, “Go, to Mass.”, “Go, join a ministry.”, “Go read the bible.”, but rarely do we tell them to “Go, make disciples.”
When it comes to ministry in the church we can make disciples by being authentic, consistent and by creating irresistible environments. A goal of mine for this series is to help students see that so that when they serve in ministry it isn’t just to be with friends, it isn’t to gain service hours, it isn’t something to do, but it’s so that they can create relationships, opportunities and environments for someone to begin their relationship with Jesus Christ. When you serve with an evangelistic mind you continue to grow because the more you get to know God’s children, the more you get to know Him.
If you are currently in a ministry, how can you be consistent, authentic and how can you create an irresistible experience? If you aren’t in ministry where would you like to create an experience that reaches out to others and helps them in their discipleship?