P's of a Successful Youth Ministry.  Each week for 10 weeks we'll cover another "P".

5. Perfection. “Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). When this verse is read I always hear the disclaimer, “Jesus was using a hyperbole in this verse. We can’t expect to be perfect.” Both of those statements may be true, but that shouldn’t stop us from making an attempt at perfection.

If we never put perfection on the list, we will never make it. Strive for excellence above and beyond the average ministry.

Excellence does not necessarily mean...

• The biggest youth group.

• The coolest gadgets.

• The most popular church.

• The most trips taken in a year.

• A church van that actually runs.

We're talking about excellence as God measures...

 I Corinthians 12:13 "...and now I will show you the most excellent way."

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
 

How do we pursue perfection in our youth ministries?

Through LOVE.

Your Partners in Youth Ministry,

Paul & Al

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Esther Lesson 3... http://tinyurl.com/2z8btu

Pre-marital questions (Jul 20, 2007 at 12:57 PM) - Several youth ministers have asked about pre-marital counseling. Listed are a few suggestions to help you get started.

<!-- can use tags: short_date, long_date, short_time, long_time, headline, preview_text, author, link, updated_short_date, updated_short_time, updated_long_date, updated_long_time -->Combat Zone (Jul 20, 2007 at 1:06 AM) - Several youth ministers have asked about pre-marital counseling. Listed are a few suggestions to help you get started.

<!-- can use tags: short_date, long_date, short_time, long_time, headline, preview_text, author, link, updated_short_date, updated_short_time, updated_long_date, updated_long_time -->Teaching Tip (Jul 18, 2007 at 11:00 AM) - Choose your subjects by what your teens need to hear not by what they want to hear.

 

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