Mission-Minded Middle School Ministry

May 1, 2013 By 2 Comments

Mission Minded Middle School MinistryThere are two other posts on this topic: #1 is Here and #2 is Here. Click them to catch up.

I wanted to update you on the Mission-Minded Middle School Ministry we are employing here at Living Faith. Some of the most amazing things can happen when you give 12-14 year olds the space, inspiration, and the sheer belief in them, to dream and seek God’s Spirit.

This past week was Dream Week. Essentially, we took some time to brainstorm and dream of what would be the thing that could accomplish any of the mission that they dreamt could happen. We decided that because of what Ephesians 2 says about being saved by grace and being made in a specific way and what Matthew 5 says about being a light to the world, there are a few criteria that help us understand what it is that God wants us to do.

  1. Platform- God has placed each of us on a platform. He has given us a place of opportunity where we all can be seen, heard, and watched. Whether that is a big stage or a small stage, we all have been given a stage because of the gifts talents and abilities we were made with.
  2. People- In just about everything that we do, there are people all around us. There are people that are impacting to us, impacted by us, or could be intentionally pursued by us. When we begin to see those people in the right context, we begin to have healthier relationships with the right people.
  3. Purpose- Essentially, we all need to recognize that God has created “good works” that have been “prepared in advance for us to do.” Each of these things has a message to be proclaimed. That message is our lives and the Savior that has made us alive with him.

In all of this, we came back to the key phrase:

We don’t do stuff to be loved, we do stuff because we are loved.

I must tell you, last week was pretty awesome. Students were coming up with ideas, sharing people that they new they could impact, and dreaming about what they could do to impact their world. They are dreaming. They are seeing visions. God is getting ready to do some great things.

The main thing thing I am seeing is this:

When students discover their mission, they discover part of themselves.

Our middle schoolers are beginning to discover that they can use the things that they are passionate at, talented at, and enjoy to give God glory, be the hands and feet, and ultimately, change their world. But this takes a lot of pastoring and shepherding to ensure that they see this as an experiment, an experience, in discovering more of how they were made up.

The next step in our process is to put some legs to the process. I’m excited to see where this goes! What are you doing in your ministry right now?

Filed Under: Featured, GenerationNow, Living Faith Student Ministries, Youth Ministry

GUEST POST: BE the Difference in a Student’s Life

April 25, 2013 By 4 Comments

I love Steak ‘n Shake. It’s hard to beat a place that offers a juicy hamburger, crunchy fries, $1 sweet teas, and a milkshake all for under $10…and my wife and I love it.

We enjoy going there, laughing with each other, and spending time talking to each other.

But I’ve found something that bothers me soooo much, and it never fails to happen every time we go there. I get so upset, and often keep it inside, but I have to get it off my chest. Here’s what happens:

A normal looking family walks in and sits down. Before the waitress can even bring them waters and menus, communication instantly shuts down, and out comes the cell phones and iPods. Dad is looking at a screen, checking e-mails. Mom is playing games and checking Facebook. Oldest brother has headphones in, tweeting his latest actions. Little sister is texting her friends, while snapping photos for Instagram.

And this lasts the whole meal.

Seriously?!?!

In Walt Mueller’s Youth Culture 101, he lists 6 changes that are affecting families:

  1. increase and acceptance of divorce
  2. rise in cohabitation and out-of-wed-lock births
  3. crisis of fatherlessness
  4. increase in number of mothers who work outside the home
  5. decrease in amount of time parent sare spending with their kids
  6. more teenagers are victims of family violence

Plain and simple, a majority of students in our nation are living in unhealthy homes. In a time of searching for truth and seeking their identity, teens are looking elsewhere for influence and value:

  • music, advertising, and television
  • social media
  • peers

Do you see the danger here? If not, take a minute and wake up….

In a world of “if”s and “maybe”s, students are searching for “yes”s and “definitely”s.

… and the places they’re searching are feeding them lies!

Students want and need loving adults in their lives. 

So you want to make a difference? Do you really want to know how to effectively reach a teenager in trouble?

Just Be.

Be in their world. Spend time with them. Doing things they enjoy. Without an agenda.

The fact that you care about them and want to spend time with them and give them attention will be priceless to them. They will treasure that more than the programs you run or material items you throw in their face.

No iPhone, iPad, iPod, or iAnything will stand a chance to face-to-face time together. Go to Steak ‘n Shake. Grab a milkshake. And just be.

You may be amazed at what happens.

Travis Geisel is a youth worker with YFC-Fort Wayne working with Summit and Woodside Middle Schools. He loves students, IU basketball, and his wife. Connect with Travis through Facebook or follow him on Twitter: @travisgeisel

Filed Under: Faith, Featured, GenerationNow, Ministry

CLFL13 Follow Up

April 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

So, you really need to check out this video. It has great music, I’m in it, AND it recaps some of what took place down in Florida during #CLFL13, Campus Life Middle School Spring Break. Check it out:

Filed Under: GenerationNow

Middle Schoolers are Visionaries not Dreamers

April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Mission-Me MOTTOIf I am going to identify that we are short-changing middle schoolers, I probably better come up with some ways to encourage them. I am not even going to propose that I have this figured out. But I can tell you where we are going with things at Living Faith.

This month, we are engaging in a new series called “Mission:Me” where we are asking the question: “What am I Here For?” The promise in Ephesians 2:10 that has rocked my world for the past 5 years and is the basis for this first step is that God, in his infinite knowledge and grace, made each of us in a specific form, for a specific set of functions. The passage reads: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

In Joel 2:28, God promises that he will pour out His Spirit on all people. That “your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” So, the old men will have these dreams of what could be and the young men will have visions of how to see it come to fruition. What an amazing promise, especially when it comes to my context.

So, this month, we are going to ask “What are we going to do” and I’m having both Middle School and High School begin to ask that question. We are going to discover, discern, and then set a destination where God wants us to go and what he wants us to do. No restrictions. No pre-planned destination. Just an opportunity to dream dreams that produce visions.

It’s an incredible thing to dream of what is in front of us. When we dream, we may not have a concept of reality, or the burden of dealing with potential consequences; we just dream of what could be. And when we allow people to dream, we give those dreams the opportunity to become visions; Visions that change people’s lives.

So that’s where we are starting. What are you giving Middle Schoolers to do that is at their actual “pay grade” as visionaries?

Filed Under: firstFollower, GenerationNow, Living Faith Student Ministries, Youth Ministry

Stop Counting Middle Schoolers Out

April 8, 2013 By 3 Comments

CLFL13One of the biggest things that I get frustrated with in ministry to students is how much we have short-changed middle schoolers. I was a high school pastor for about 4 years and really focused in on developing leaders and ministry in the life of high schoolers. Even then, I was guilty of expecting more from high schoolers than I did from middle schoolers.

The reality is this: Middle Schoolers, when engaged with an crazy idea, are more apt to jump at the opportunity to try and accomplish it than any other age group I have ever connected with.

It shouldn’t come at a surprise that the youngest of the “Next Generation” is ready to jump at the opportunity to change a world that they have not been so jaded and skewed by at their age. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that a generation that will hear more messages about “what they are supposed to be” and “what they are like” will rise to the occasion to prove the rest of the world wrong.

As a pastor, I am convinced that some students can begin to find “who they are” by discovering what God has placed in them to do and accomplish. I can’t wait to see what happens in this group of students as they continue to pursue all that God is placing before them.

Filed Under: Living Faith Student Ministries, Youth Ministry
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