42:5 Ministries
The Youth Ministry of New Covenant Church
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.”
Job 42:5
Our Mission
The mission of the local church has always been to “make disciples” of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19). Our commitment as a Youth Ministry of New Covenant Church is to “declare [His] strength to this generation, and [His] power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:18). Therefore the mission of 42:5 Ministries is:
To make disciples of Jesus Christ by declaring His strength and power to this generation.
Our Goal
The goal of 42:5 Ministries is to provide opportunities which will hopefully allow young people to have their eyes opened to the strength and power of God. Many of them, like Job, have heard about God for years but the revelation has not fully come. They see the faith as their parent’s faith and the gospel has not become “their gospel”. God took Job through a faith-building journey of adversity, instruction, and contemplation before challenging him with serious questions about who God was. After wrestling with these questions about God’s authority and power Job was finally able to say in Job 42:5:
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.”
The objectives of 42:5 Ministries can be outlined as the 6 foci of the youth ministry.
1. Discipleship – THE MAIN FOCUS OF 42:5 MINISTRIES To inspire and teach young people to strengthen their personal relationship with the Lord through worship, prayer, Bible study, and a life of devotion while helping them apply the truth of God’s word to the unique challenges of adolescence.
“… that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9b - 10
2. Parental Involvement To supplement the parent’s role to develop Christ-like character while encouraging the parents to be actively involved in all aspects of their child’s life and the work of this ministry.“ And these words which I command you today shall be in your
heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…” Deuteronomy 6:6 – 7a“ Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6“ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring
them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4
3. Servanthood To provide both the opportunity and the vision for young people to begin a life of service to both the local church and the community in which we live. “ But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. Mark 10:43b – 44
4. Evangelism To provide both the opportunity and the vision for young people to live the gospel out loud and share it on a regular basis in day-to-day life while also expanding that vision to the worldwide mission field through short-term mission trips.“ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” 1 Peter 3:15“ And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel,” Romans 15:20
5. Moral Purity To remind young people of the Biblical mandates of abstaining from the sinful practices of this world; flee the lusts of youth; and pursue a holy life which is well pleasing to the Lord.“ Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” II Timothy 2:22
6. Biblical Relationships To provide the opportunities for young people to enjoy the company of and relate to members of the body of Christ of all ages in a Biblically correct and beneficial manner which brings glory to God and edification to the body of Christ. “ Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.” I Timothy 5:1 – 2
Our Philosophy
A key component of our philosophy, and indeed the cornerstone of that philosophy which often distinguishes us from other youth ministries, is the mandate that parents maintain the primary source of influence in their child’s life. Our understanding of scripture with regards to youth ministry insists that parents are the authority in a child’s life (of any age) and the role of youth ministry should never usurp or undermine that authority.
Parents bear the ultimate responsibility before God for their children and therefore it is our strong belief that New Covenant Church should champion the focus of that primary responsibility in all of its ministry endeavors. In so doing we believe it is the ministry’s responsibility to support, equip, and hold parents accountable to a biblical standard of relationship with their teens. This means that the leaders in the youth ministry must never substitute for the authority of the parents. Parents must lead their children while youth leaders lead the ministry. As a result, the leader of the youth ministry is called the “Director of Youth Ministry” and not the “Youth Pastor.” This distinction has helped parents be reminded that it is their role to care for, lead, and “pastor” their children.
We believe the young people are a vital and necessary part of the church. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow’s church, but they are also influential leaders in the church today. It is important to us that today’s teens find the church relevant and necessary for their lives. In order for this to be accomplished we believe that it is also important that young people find areas of service and ministry during these teen years in order to release them in the areas that God has gifted them for immediate effectiveness, and prepare them for greater effectiveness in the days to come.
To this end, we seek to protect our young people from 5 common pitfalls along their path to spiritual maturity during these years and along the path to a biblically successful youth ministry:
1) Resistance/rebellion to authority
2) Peer dependence
3) Unbiblical attitudes in opposite-sex relationships with other teens in the youth ministry
4) Disloyalty and gossip in the youth ministry.
5) Seduction by the world and its destructive traps
It is important that parents evaluate whether or not their young person is ready for the youth ministry. Though our ministry generally serves the families of those young people who are working in grades 6 – 12 in school, not all children in these age parameters are ready or necessarily benefit from the youth ministry. Some younger teens can actually become more peer dependent and spiritually immature if pre-maturely put into regular contact with older/other teens in the church. Parents should seriously pray, consider, and seek counsel before arbitrarily allowing their child to attend youth ministry events simply because the have reached a certain grade in their academic training.
Our Approach
As has already been stated, the primary source of influence and pastoral care is found with the parents and not in the church. It is important that a truly biblical understanding of the parent/teen relationship be maintained by all.
The following scriptures provide a biblical basis for this:
1) Parent to child – Deuteronomy 6:7, 4:9, 11:19, 31:13; Psalm 78:5, 71:18; Proverbs 1:8 – 10, 22:6, 19:18; 1 Timothy 3:4.
2) Child to parent – Ephesians 6:1 – 2; Colossians 3:20; Proverbs 1:8, 6:20, 20:20, 30:17.
Understanding that most problems in homes during the teem years stem from unbiblical thinking or sinful reactions to the parent/teen relationship, the approach of the leadership team of the youth ministry will be to help both parents and teens understand or regain biblical thinking, reconcile offenses caused by sinful reactions, and train and instruct both parents and teens through discipleship and counseling when necessary. In our commitment to supplement the parental role the youth ministry will provide the following specific ministry to young people and their parents:
1) Biblical instruction that addresses relevant issues in a teen’s life.
2) God-focused and cross-centered worship that encourages participation and responsiveness.
3) Outings, activities, and functions that foster deepening relationships with their peers and parents of their peers.
4) Projects and outings that provide opportunities for honoring the Lord by serving His church or presenting the gospel to those who do not yet know His saving grace.
Our Strategy
Our strategy to accomplish the things already stated is to bring together church leaders, young people and their parents in various meetings, activities, outreaches, and fellowships that support our philosophy while strive to meet our goals. The following basic elements will normally characterize all of our gatherings:
1) Spiritual Authority – at least one man will be present to provide leadership and supervision. This may by an elder, youth leader, or a father of one of our young people who will be designated as the overseer of the particular event.
2) Spiritual Emphasis – all events will seek to maintain the primary thrust of providing opportunities for spiritual growth for young people and their parents. This will be more than adding a devotion time to an event, but rather building our events around worship, teaching, serving, fellowship, etc.
3) Spiritual Fellowship – fun is a rewarding secondary benefit that God has allowed His creatures in this life. While it is never intended to be the primary goal of any event to have fun at the expense of eternal benefits such as spiritual growth and discipleship, it is enjoyable to be together and we will welcome the opportunities for fun and enjoyment of one another when we get together. Fellowships will be planned for the youth ministry, but much of the social interaction of this element takes place in homes or at the initiative of parents and their teens.
4) Spiritual Service – many events will have an aspect of service involved as we seek to afford young people the opportunity to benefit someone else as a result of their effort and gifts. This could be in the form of a Service Project where all involved in serving; events where specific young people are called upon or given the opportunity to serve; or placement in areas of ministry with the local church.
Our Agenda
1) Each month the youth ministry assembles together for the major meeting of the month. For the months of the school year (September through May) these meetings are the Impact meetings. Breakout sessions are provided for Middle School students, High School students, and parents. Parental attendance is expected for these meetings. In the summer (June through August) the Parent/Youth Summer Fellowships take the place of this meeting. Parental attendance is required at these events.
2) ICU Groups are small groups which meet twice a month in the home of a host couple. These meetings are led by either the host couple or a designated student leader (older high school student or college-aged adult). They are divided according to age (i.e. Middle School and High School) and provide more intimate opportunities for the young people to be together, dialogue about the faith, and worship and minister together.
3) Quarterly fellowships are held for young people and their parents to gather for a special event outside of the normal schedule. These events are often off-site from the church building facility and may include recreational activity while also providing opportunity for spiritual growth and fellowship. Parental involvement in required at these events.
4) Quarterly service projects are held for young people and their parents to have the opportunity to serve the church or the community through work project, kindness evangelism projects, or evangelistic efforts. Parental involvement is encouraged at these events.
5) An annual Parenting Teen/Biblical Romance Seminar is provided each year for young people and their parents to hear teaching from God’s word regarding preparing for marriage and for parents to hear teaching regarding brings up their teen in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
6) Involvement in service ministries of the church – ushers, tape ministry, book ministry, children’s ministry, worship ministry, etc.
7) Short-term summer missions – several of our young people participate in short-term mission trips sponsored by Teen Mania or other similar organizations which allow an individual teen or youth group to travel to other areas of the country or world to share the gospel.
Our Commitment to Single Parents and Teens from Non-Christian Homes
Teens from single-parent homes or non-Christian families face unique challenges and obstacles to their Christian growth. While there is no easy solution to such situations, we believe that the needs of such young people are best met in the context of a strong family in the church. Fathers reaching out to sons of single mothers or where a father is unsaved/uninvolved and mothers reaching out to daughters of single fathers or where a mother is unsaved/uninvolved are the most beneficial and effective means of ministry.
We seek to especially benefit the families led by single parents (most often single mothers) by helping then with the prayer, counsel, and encouragement they need to lead their homes.
Young people from families that do not attend a church are to be commended for their commitment to a local church at such a young age on their own. These members of our youth ministry are not required to have their parent present in order to attend the events that are designated as “parent involvement required.” We do hope that other families in the youth ministry will “adopt” these young people into their own families by attending these events with them and inviting them over to their home at other times.