Our Blog

March 2017 Student Ministry

Dear Church Family,

         I want to share with you a little of my heart and philosophy for student ministry. It is quite similar to how I view adult ministry or ministry of any kind really. What I want to share with you has to do with how to reach the lost. Much of student ministry has to do with how to reach out to lost students who don’t know Jesus. This is what drives much of what many student ministries do. This is obviously a very correct motive that drives youth ministers. I have that same drive. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) is one of the most important motivating factors for how and why I do ministry. No one would disagree with the fact that we must be reaching out to the lost students in our community. The question is: how do we go about doing that?

Many student ministry philosophies take the approach that the best way to reach students is to get them into our building and around Christians so we can share the gospel with them. We must figure out ways to attract students to us so that we can give them what they need. This is not an altogether ineffective method of ministry. There are very many churches who attract hundreds of students to their facilities and then share the gospel with them. There has been fruit from these ministries, as to be expected any time we share the gospel. We have, and will continue to have, events that bring students into our sphere of influence! But I wonder if the Bible leads us to make that our entire focus for ministry? My argument is simply that you never see Jesus and His disciples attracting people to them with anything other than Jesus Himself. I think that we tend to forget that Jesus is attractive to a world that is lost and suffering. I just wonder if we are sometimes too focused on attracting people to us, or if we are focused on taking the attractive gospel to them?

In scripture, I see the early disciples taking the gospel to the people they knew, sharing their faith with those in need. My hope is that our students would be people who would go and share their faith with their friends and families. My goal with our students is to make them “fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). I want to equip them for ministry for the rest of their lives (Eph. 4:11-13). I want them to be the catalyst for reaching the lost. That is what I see in scripture. God uses His people to reach those in need. I want to show the students how to be used by God to make an impact on this world.

There may be some who will disagree with this ministry philosophy. “What student wants to come to church when it’s not all about having fun together??” someone might say. Be encouraged! Students who love Jesus will come. They will also go and make disciples of their friends who will then come too. Lost students want to come to church only when it no longer looks or feels like church. That is why we must be equipped to go to them and share with them where they are. If only 20 of our students shared the gospel with only 5 people each year, and only 1 of those 5 got saved each year and repeated the
process, then in three years 140 people would get radically saved. 140 people… My prayer is for the Student Ministry at Oakhill to be used by God to make an impact on Evansville like never before! But for this to happen, we will need to be patient, faithful to the Lord’s way, and prayerful. Would you please pray with me for our students and their friends who need the gospel?

Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren

FEBRUARY 2017 STUDENT MINISTRY

Dear Church Family,

It has already been quite a year for some of us this past month. As I talk with students, there are still a lot of troublesome things going on in their lives. This could lead one to
despair and sorrow. For many, anxiety-driven depression can take hold and deal heavy blows to their lives. This is the reality that our students live in. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (https://www.adaa.org), over 27 million people
experience General Anxiety, Panic Anxiety, or Social Anxiety yearly. Most of these people start experiencing these feelings at a very young age. One of the most frequent conversations I have with students is about anxiety and depression. One wonders how this could be. What is the cause of such hopelessness in the lives of our young ones?

There are probably a million factors as to why students experience anxiety and
depression. If we wanted to eliminate all of those factors in order to secure an anxiety and depression free life for them, it would be impossible. Is the problem social media? Is it bullying? Is it self-esteem issues? Is it boredom? Is it cell-phones? Is it entitlement? In one sense, it is all of these and many more. In another sense, it is none of these. These things are symptoms of much deeper heart issues. As any good doctor knows, if you treat the symptoms but not the illness, then the patient will not recover. So what is the illness? What is the solution?

This is a problem that I think the Word of God ultimately answers. The definitive problem is our sinful desires. This does not mean that God or the Bible simply overlooks all those things like bullying or self-esteem. Those are very important issues that the Bible speaks to; and the Word of God gives us everything we need to overcome those issues. Ultimately, Christ is the One who gives students the grace they need to overcome worldly woes. As sin causes us to be bound to depression, addiction, fear of man, lust for entertainment, unhealthy relationships, and the like, Christ gives us all we need to overcome and live healthy, godly lives. 2 Peter 1-3 says:

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

This means that Jesus is what our students need. Don’t get me wrong; students may need to see a professional and talk about the problems in their lives. There may be symptoms of the problem that need immediate attention. But that should not replace the antibiotic of the gospel of Jesus Christ being preached to them in their circumstances. Do not doctors often prescribe medicine for the symptom and an antibiotic to kill the illness? That is what the gospel is for our lives. The cure to our anxieties and sorrows.

This month, if you or people in your family are suffering with anxiety or depression or anything really; remember that Christ is the final solution. In Him you can find peace and grace to overcome this world.