Student Ministry June 2017
Dear Church Family,
Well, here we are! It’s summer time! This is the time of the year where the living is easy and people are out having fun in the sun. Summer time has always been one of my favorite times of the year, but it has also been a very dangerous time for me. With the fun of summer activities, more free time, and many temptations, summer has been a time when it was much harder to say no to sin. I think that students and their parents need to be aware of this and take precautions to stifle sin before it awakens.
How do we guard ourselves from sin especially when it feels inescapable and surrounding? How can parents help their students be prepared to make the right decisions when faced with temptation? What do we do when we fail to triumph over that which is enticing us? How do we celebrate when we victoriously conquer trials and snares? The answer to these questions, I believe, is the key to living for and growing in Christ. The answer to these questions will be the decisive element that parents must have to raise their children to be godly people. But before I give the answer to those questions, there are two other questions that need to be asked. For the answer to the above questions to actually be helpful, you need to ask yourself these questions: Is this summer going to be about me and my pleasures, or is it going to be about Christ and His kingdom? Secondly, are my desires for the lives of the
students I know in line with what Christ desires for and from them? Essentially these are the same question, but one is about yourself and the other is about the students in your life. They are both asking if Jesus and His desire for our lives is going to be what we actually pursue for ourselves and for others.
The reason we must ask ourselves that question is because we often take it for granted that we are living for Christ without ever evaluating what motivates our actions. We think, “of course I’m living for Jesus and showing others how to live for Him.” But when we start really evaluating our choices, our motivations can be frightening. If living for Jesus in the mundane simple everyday things is not our motivation, then we will not find the answer to the first four questions to be very helpful. That’s because the answer is the gospel.
The gospel is the answer to all our struggles in life. This is because the gospel is the only thing that can truly make us more like Jesus. The gospel is the only thing that can motivate students to fight temptation, have peace when sin prevails, ultimately overcome sin, and then give thanks to God when the temptation is far behind them. The gospel is what we need to be focusing on and motivated by every single day. When we think about what Christ did for us on the cross and remember that He is here with us even now, we are motivated to live for Him. More than that, when we rest in His righteousness (His perfection and right relationship with God) that He has given to us, we are empowered to overcome sin and grow more like Him.
This is how we fight sin! This is how we teach students to fight sin! We look to Christ and rest in the gospel of His death and resurrection for us. But, this answer will only be helpful to you if you desire Christ and His kingdom and His will for students’ lives above all else. So, I will ask you the question I must ask myself; which do you love more? The summer and its pleasures, or Christ and His kingdom?
Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren