Vision Cast for Youth Ministry
Youth Takeover Sunday 2025
Youth are welcome // Matthew 19:13-15
A famous story in the Gospels where Jesus welcomes and blesses children.
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Context
In contrast to our culture, where we often devote an enormous amount of energy into our children and give them priority, children were not seen as cute or particularly valuable in themselves.
And they definitely weren’t seen as worthy of an important teacher’s time.
And Jesus was, even at this point in his ministry, even before his biography came out, seen as an important person,
He was someone whose time was precious and valuable, having to physically remove himself from situations where he was needed just to get a second to breathe.
Story
People are bringing their children to Jesus
Probably lots of children, once the trend catches on
They want Jesus to lay hands on them and pray
Blessing
Protection
Provision
Goodness
They had seen Jesus do miracles for children and adults
They wanted that same blessing for their own children.
But the disciples, trying to protect the precious time of their teacher, tell the people to go away.
Your kids are not as important as saving the world
You are wasting the resources and blessings of God
But what the disciples didn’t realize was that Jesus was saving the world through and for these children, not in spite of them.
He tells them to “let the little children come to me” and he even prays for them and blesses them.
Jesus used his precious time to bring the Kingdom of God to the least respected people in society.
Jesus saw children as a worthy use of his time and resources, which cannot be said universally.
Jesus had priorities and children were never un-prioritized in the name of efficiency or some other greater mission.
Application
Jesus welcomes children and makes them a priority. We as a church need to be a place that welcomes children and youth.
Youth are formed // Psalm 78
Context
I have been in seminary for the past 5 years slowly getting through an M.Div
Early on in my theological studies, when I was in an Old Testament survey class at Western seminary for whatever reason I became fascinated by the book of Deuteronomy.
And through my interest and studies in this book I began to pick up on an ongoing theme in the old testament that younger generations need to be taught and formed to continue the covenant.
From the beginning of Israel’s history most if not all of their issues came from a lack of remembrance about what God has done.
This problem is only exacerbated when stories are not passed along between generations.
This past spring I had a Hebrew exegesis paper on the Levite’s prayer from Nehemiah 9, where they are returning to God after being in exile.
Recounting their history as a people.
Reading it and being confused at where I was, repetitiveness. Losing my place because I’m bad at Hebrew and because the words kept repeating.
But then I realized that even the authors of this prayer were sick of repeating this same story over and over again.
“And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.” Nehemiah 9:28
This pattern in the old testament is so sad, yet so predictable.
God’s people forget God, they sin, they suffer, they repent, then they forget, sin, suffer, repent, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
And Psalm 78 speaks to this need for inter-generational discipleship.
My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants;
We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Exegesis
Throughout the Old Testament God reminds his people time and time again to teach the next generation.
Psalm 78 offers 5 pieces of guidance on how we can form the next generation, how we teach them
Things that our “Fathers have told us” v.3 — Our Legacy, generational succession
The Glorious Deeds of the Lord v.4 — Our redemption, how God has worked in our lives
To put their hope in God v.7 — Our Faith
Keep his commandments v. 7 — Our practices, not just the who to follow but how to follow
That they should not be like their fathers v. 8 — Our mistakes, that we would reflect on our own shortcomings and steer the course of history back to Jesus
Application
We as the people of God have a responsibility to teach the next generation about Christ. About our legacy, redemption, faith, practices, and mistakes.
Supporting the formation of the next generation is a commandment that applies to all Christians, whether you have your own children or not.
Movements that stop investing in the next generation of leaders will inevitably fade away.
If you want to make sure that the church doesn’t exist in 30-40 years, stop caring about kids, stop caring about youth, stop investing in those younger than you.
There are so many ways you can support the formation of the next generation.
SERVE - Kids or Youth
MENTOR - Anyone younger than you
GIVE - To projects that support the development of children and youth, to schools, to programs like teach one to lead one, to your church that is trying to make more room for emerging generations.
Youth are empowered // 1 Timothy 4:14
Context
Timothy’s mom was a faithful disciple of Jesus who taught him the scriptures (Acts 16)
Paul, a cornerstone leader in the early church, takes Timothy along as his apprentice, to learn ministry alongside working with him
Paul and Timothy develop a lifelong relationship where Timothy becomes Paul’s right hand man
Through Timothy’s formation he is empowered through the Spirit to be a leader of God’s people.
Exegesis
Paul is writing to Timothy in this letter to encourage him as a young pastor, facing many of the same pastoral issues we face today: false teachers, people walking away from the faith, tensions between people in the church, and people caring way too much about how they look.
And Timothy, now on his own, as a young pastor is expected to manage all these problems and shepherd these people.
So Paul encourages him with these words:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Paul sees the giftings and abilities in Timothy and entrusts this congregation to him.
Despite Timothy’s young age he is called and encouraged to continue leading.
He isn’t expected to come out with a cool new community program, or even to grow his church.
Timothy is called to keep the faith, for himself and for his generation.
Application
Timothy had been formed and mentored by Paul to be the type of person who could lead God’s people.
And now that leadership that Paul exercised over him was entrusted to him.
The end result of welcoming and forming youth is that the legacy of leadership is entrusted to the next generation.
We as a church need to be perpetually investing in the next generation with the expectation that we will pass the torch off to them, not just when we are dead, but when we are still alive.
Conclusion
My life has been transformed through the work of those who went before me, from leaders, pastors, and mentors who spent countless hours nurturing my development. One of those people was Chris Tansey, who serves on our board now. Through the countless hours he spent nurturing the spiritual formation of our youth group many of us still carry the faith of Christ.
And now I have been given the opportunity to create those same opportunities for the next generation.
There is nothing better in ministry than watching the progression of these young leaders.
To go from Thad not being able to tie his own shoes at his first winter camp to him leading worship on Sunday nights in a room with almost 100 people.
To go from seeing students wreck their lives with stupid decisions to having them teach others to not make the same mistakes.
To watch a middle schooler eventually graduate high school and become someone who is prepared to lead others in the faith.
This is what ministry is all about.
And I invite you to participate in this story.
To welcome and create more room for youth and children at our church.
To mentor and teach the next generation about who God is and what life with him is like.
To empower young people to be the future leadership of the church.
