There is so much that changes from year to year in student ministry — games change, music change, parenting styles change, schools change, slang changes and the list goes on. Change is one of the few constants in student ministry. However, the one thing that should never change is the content of our messages.
While we can be drawn into a world of topical messages, our mainstay should be God’s Word. The Bible is our source of hope, life and salvation. It is literally a book God wrote for us so we can know how to function in this world as we seek to follow Him. But please take note, we are not the main character of this book — it is Jesus. As Jesus serves as the star of our messages, students’ lives will be changed. We will be able to serve a lifetime as we share the unchanging Word of God.
If you want to have a ministry that lasts for the long haul, it is important to base your ministry on something that is not going to shift every few years. By making the Bible the center, we have an unmovable signpost. How do we infuse God’s Word into the very core of our student ministry? Here are a few ways to get you started:
• Teach from the Bible. I have shared this statement before and will probably share it again. We must make the Bible our primary textbook as we speak, teach, and preach. While we can speak into the culture from the lens of the Bible, we don’t want to simply share our own thoughts and opinions about current events. We need to pull our teaching from God’s Word. We don’t want to simply teach morality. We want to work our way through God’s Word and help our students fall in love with the Bible. It is easy to look to social media or television/films to come up with entertaining series. However, those messages are quickly forgotten. Let’s give our students something that will last.
• Encourage personal Bible study. As the leader of your student ministry, it is important to encourage Bible study in two groups. One, speak to your volunteers about their own time in the Word. They need to have a growing understanding of the Bible and how it impacts their lives. They can’t lead your students to embrace the Word unless it is a part of their lives. Teach and instruct them on different approaches if they feel weak in this area. Two, we need to help our students spend time in the Word. We should work to provide them with a variety of ways to get into the Scriptures. The SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) method of journaling is a great way as well as the HEAR (Highlight, Explain, Apply, Respond) method by Replicate Ministries.
• Make Bible memorization a regular part of your ministry. Too often, we leave memorization behind as our students exit children’s ministry. That is a huge mistake. Our students and leaders should be working to infuse God’s Word into their hearts. As a leader, give your students and leaders great passages to memorize. In addition, join them on this journey. Don’t expect them to work if you aren’t willing to work. When we place God’s Word in our hearts, the Holy Spirit can pull those verses to memory when we need them. Recently, my friend, Pastor Wade Allen, shared with me about Versify, a free app that helps people memorize Scripture. Check it out.
• Constantly evaluate your activities against the principles of God’s Word. What and how you do things in ministry matters. It is important to stay true to biblical principles in every aspect of our work with the church. We may have a tendency to be more loose with the application of those principles in student ministry, but it doesn’t mean we should. Are we honoring God with our activity? Are we teaching biblical truth? Are we presenting the gospel through our actions and activities? Are we expressing love and care to our students? We must constantly evaluate what we are doing against the unchanging Word of God.
We must never express that the Word is boring to our students. Because it isn’t. The Word is funny, exciting, directive and powerful. Let’s make the Word the heartbeat of our ministries. That intentional choice will allow us the opportunity to extend our service in the kingdom and make a powerful impact in the lives of our students.
Join the conversation on how you highlight God’s Word in your ministry at facebook.com/groups/StudentMinistryMattersCommunity.
