"Thirty-thousand Teens Reached for Jesus in 2008." What if you
woke up one morning and your newspaper, Heaven's Daily News, ran
the above statement as its lead headline? Can you imagine? Believe
it or not, it could happen.
By the time you read this, more than 30,000 youth workers from
across the world will have received this message. You may only be
one youth worker--but you are more than just one. Together, this
group of 30,000 youth workers has an incredible potential for
changing the world for God.
Can you imagine a "band of 30,000 youth workers" committing to pray
for each other everyday in the coming year? Can you imagine the
feelings we will all have everyday knowing that over 30,000 youth
workers brought our youth ministries before God? Better yet, can
you imagine the joy in heaven if each one of our youth groups
reached at least one teen for Christ in 2008?
We all know what Christ did with 12 apostles. Can you imagine what
He can do with a "band of 30,000"? We don't have to be rocket
scientists to figure out that if each one of our youth groups
reaches one teen for Jesus that will mean 30,000 more teens saved.
The only word that comes to mind is AWESOME!
God does not see "one" as too small a number to reach. In fact,
Jesus taught several parables about the value of one sinner coming
to repentance:
Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a
hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the
ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until
he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his
shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors
together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I
tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who do not need to repent.
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she
not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she
finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and
neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost
coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke
15:3-10, NIV)
Size doesn't matter. God can work wonders with a youth group of two
just as He can with a group of two hundred teens. What matters is
that we are all together for one cause: to reach teens for Him.
Don't get hung up on the size of your group. If my group is made up
of only two teens, that simply means that God has put me where I am
to minister to two teens and reach out for more. If my group is
made up of two hundred teens, that means that God has put me where
I am to minister to two hundred teens and reach out for more.
What an honor and privilege it is to get out of bed everyday
knowing that we get to serve God by working with teens. Yes, teens,
those young impressionable minds that most people want to avoid
until they are around thirty. Can you imagine your group being on
fire for Jesus with the focus of reaching one more teen?
Draw your group into the plan and let them have ownership in
reaching others for Christ. Can you imagine what would happen if
your teens came up with the idea of reaching just one more? What I
really have a problem imagining is what kind of celebration will go
on in heaven when we all dedicate our groups to reach one more.
Thanks for all you do for God and His teens,
Al and Paul
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