I know that there are plenty of youth ministry resources available about getting out of the boat in the Christian life. There is even a book about it. But recently I was studying the passage again about Peter getting out of the boat to walk on the water I found some things in it that I believe our very valuable lessons for youth ministry and these were honestly perspectives that I had not heard yet.
1. When we meet Jesus crazy things happen. - Have you ever really stopped to think about it? Peter meets Jesus and decides that He can walk on water. And later on the disciples face persecution and death to spread the Gospel. Jesus leads to radical changes in our lives. This will definitely be true in our students and we need to be ready for that and nurture that. Our students may meet Jesus and say they're going to witness to their parents and bring their family back together. They may say they are going to reach their campus for Christ. They may say that they are going to work to make sure the needs of everyone in their schools are met. You never know what it might be and you never know if they might be able to do it. So when our students meet Jesus and have that fire burn inside of them we must not put it out with discouragement. Instead we must encourage them and pray faithfully that their vision becomes reality. And hopefully it will. I mean hey, Peter walked on water. what's a few lives being changed?
2. Some students need help getting out of the boat.- Jesus still had to tell Peter to come. He needed to speak that encouragement and cast the vision for Peter that this could be done. We need to do the same for our students. In our youth ministry we need to make sure we have a culture that dreams about big things and does them. We need to make sure that our students know we are not only holding the bar high for them but that we are giving them opportunities to reach that bar in their lives.
3. Getting out of the boat is a daily things.- We cannot allow our students or ourselves to have one great moment spiritually and then allow them to just rest in that for the rest of their lives. We need to daily remind them and ourselves that we must commit to Christ today. We must share the Gospel today. We must reach others today. We must do big things for God today. Because this is how our world will change. A daily commitment to obediently follow Jesus and not just a one time big moment.
Maybe these lessons were not new to you but they were to me. Hopefully though you can take them and apply them in your youth ministry so your students can become followers of Christ who find ways to get out of the boat every single day.
1. When we meet Jesus crazy things happen. - Have you ever really stopped to think about it? Peter meets Jesus and decides that He can walk on water. And later on the disciples face persecution and death to spread the Gospel. Jesus leads to radical changes in our lives. This will definitely be true in our students and we need to be ready for that and nurture that. Our students may meet Jesus and say they're going to witness to their parents and bring their family back together. They may say they are going to reach their campus for Christ. They may say that they are going to work to make sure the needs of everyone in their schools are met. You never know what it might be and you never know if they might be able to do it. So when our students meet Jesus and have that fire burn inside of them we must not put it out with discouragement. Instead we must encourage them and pray faithfully that their vision becomes reality. And hopefully it will. I mean hey, Peter walked on water. what's a few lives being changed?
2. Some students need help getting out of the boat.- Jesus still had to tell Peter to come. He needed to speak that encouragement and cast the vision for Peter that this could be done. We need to do the same for our students. In our youth ministry we need to make sure we have a culture that dreams about big things and does them. We need to make sure that our students know we are not only holding the bar high for them but that we are giving them opportunities to reach that bar in their lives.
3. Getting out of the boat is a daily things.- We cannot allow our students or ourselves to have one great moment spiritually and then allow them to just rest in that for the rest of their lives. We need to daily remind them and ourselves that we must commit to Christ today. We must share the Gospel today. We must reach others today. We must do big things for God today. Because this is how our world will change. A daily commitment to obediently follow Jesus and not just a one time big moment.
Maybe these lessons were not new to you but they were to me. Hopefully though you can take them and apply them in your youth ministry so your students can become followers of Christ who find ways to get out of the boat every single day.
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